Build a restaurant above Half Moon Bay’s crashing waves and next to a top tier golf course and people are bound to flock there, no matter the quality of the food. Still, it was refreshing to learn that a spectacular setting isn’t the only end goal for Navio. Yes, they generously hosted me at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, and they displayed a commitment to showcasing the sea, and not just through the restaurant’s many windows, but also on plates. Navio chef de cuisine Sean Eastwood hails from England, helped to open high end Greek seafood restaurant Kokkari in San Francisco and traveled extensively throughout Greece, Spain and Portugal. During my recent stay at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, Chef Eastwood prepared us a family style seafood feast on Saturday night.

My favorite seafood course all night starred Morro Bay cod. The flaky, seared-on-one-side filets originated on a fish that once swam along California’s Central Coast. The cod joined surprisingly light goat cheese polenta triangles and rested on milky, tangy agrodolce that thoroughly infused a bed of spinach. Navio proved to be a formidable seafood restaurant that was a fitting companion to Half Moon Bay’s grassy cliff tops and whitecaps.