Sarah Miller

Lollipops at the register were the last thing I expected from a plain little sandwich counter near a…

By Sarah Miller · Oct 1

A line of hungry people snaking past a tiny surf shack is usually the first clue that something…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 30

A giant yellow smiley face perched on a roadside roof is not the kind of thing most people…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 30

Seventeen thousand apple trees stand behind one slice of pie in the mountains east of San Diego, and…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 29

Green avocado sauce is the first thing you notice, poured so generously over crispy rolled tortillas that it…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 29

Warm rye with a crackly crust was the last thing I expected to fall for on a busy…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 28

Steam fogging a shop window at six in the morning turned out to be the best road sign…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 28

Yellow pastry boxes riding home on laps in airplane seats gave the secret away before I ever found…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 27

Sawdust crunched under my shoes before I even saw the menu board, and I knew lunch was about…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 27

A basket of warm bread rolled right over my head on a little overhead track, and I stopped…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 26

Red plastic trays stacked high, a spinning column of pork glowing under a heat lamp, and a line…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 26

A burger on a French roll, a secret-sounding sauce, and a blue jay eyeing your fries make an…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 25

Powdered sugar on the dashboard is the first clue that a road trip took a delicious detour. Somewhere…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 24

Split pea soup is not usually the thing anyone plans a road trip around, yet one bowl of…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 24

Eighteen thousand tamales in a single busy day sounds like a typo until you smell the steam rolling…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 23

Smoke drifted across a small-town parking lot long before I ever saw a menu, and it smelled like…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 23

A slice of pie made from a berry you probably cannot buy in any grocery store waits at…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 22

My first spoonful of fresh-pressed olive oil, served straight beside the trees it came from, tasted nothing like…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 22

Ceiling clutter is usually a warning sign, but here in California it turns out to be the first…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 21

A bowl of noodles swimming in glossy, chile-stained beef broth is not what most folks expect when they…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 21

Shredded beef so tender it practically melts before your fork reaches it is not something you expect from…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 20

My favorite memory of the California coast isn’t a fancy overlook or a crowded boardwalk. It’s the soft…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 20

My stomach growled the moment a warm, buttery smell drifted out from a small storefront just blocks from…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 19

Steam curls up from a tiny counter kitchen where cooks fold dough by hand hundreds of times before…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 19

The first bite of a fresh Medjool date is a small shock of caramel that no grocery store…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 18

Rolling your car onto a wooden bridge that has stood for over a century feels a little like…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 18

Waking up to a sheet of glassy water just steps from your pillow changes the whole feeling of…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 17

Blend cold milk, vanilla ice cream, and sweet Medjool dates, and you get a treat so thick you…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 17

Warm spice, soft flatbread, and a plate everyone shares – that’s the kind of meal that sticks in…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 16

Chasing the smell of smoky barbecue down a busy avenue in California can lead you somewhere surprisingly wonderful.…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 15

Smoke curling from a busy kitchen, high ceilings, and a plate so heavy you swear you’ll need help…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 15

A seven-minute detour off a coastal road in California can rearrange your whole idea of a good view.…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 14

Walking past a plain storefront on a foggy California morning, you might never guess that the little diner…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 14

Biting into an apple you plucked yourself, still warm from the afternoon sun, is a small joy that…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 13

Fresh oysters pulled from the water just twenty feet from where you stand sounds almost too good to…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 13

Bagels good enough to make a homesick New Yorker forgive California? That’s exactly the reputation clinging to a…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 12

My car climbed a dusty road in California, and at the top sat a whole town frozen in…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 12

Steam rising off a warm pool while snow-capped peaks glow pink at dusk is the kind of moment…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 11

Some of the best food stories in California start in the most unexpected spots, far from the busy…

By Sarah Miller · Sep 11