Blue Heron BBQ, a 'West Coast Barbecue' Restaurant, Fires Up Point Reyes

Point Reyes Station will welcome a newcomer to its ranks this summer, with the addition of Blue Heron BBQ. Behind the casual barbecue spot is Sheryl Cahill, owner of the Station House Café, located just around the corner. Blue Heron takes over the former location of the Pine Cone Diner, which closed last fall after 19 years in business. Now it will offer low-key, "West Coast-style" barbecue to the locals and many tourists who stream through the small West Marin town.

Cahill worked at Station House Cafe, which opened over forty years ago, for many years before purchasing it in 2005; she told Eater that though she's enjoyed running the Station House Cafe, she's excited for the opportunity to try something completely different, and less steeped in tradition. (The Bay Area, and especially the North Bay, isn't known for its love of change.)

The same dedication to local ingredients will prevail, however, as SHC was one of the first customers for now-venerable producers like Niman Ranch. Now Cahill and chef Josh Calderon, a native Texan and current head chef of Station House Cafe, are working on a menu of barbecue favorites like pulled pork and rotisserie chickens. There'll be beer and wine on the menu, as well as the option of family-style takeout for locals and picnickers.

Blue Heron aims join the likes of neighbors Osteria Stellina, and Cowgirl Creamery sometime in late summer, if construction and permitting goes according to plan. Stay tuned for more details.