Interview with Chef Scott Clark, Owner of Dad’s Luncheonette

How surfing inspired a world-renowned chef to start a diner built out of a train car in Half Moon Bay, CA.

Scott Clark photographed by Cheyenne Ellis.

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I recently came home and found a book sitting on the kitchen table — a gift from my brother-in-law Paddy who lives in Half Moon Bay. It caught my eye right away. It was called "Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Road Trip."

Since I'm currently on a cooking kick, I ripped right into it. Often when I pick up a cookbook though, the tone of the intro leaves me feeling alienated and I rarely return to it. The opposite occurred as I read the intro penned by Chef Scott Clark. This dude was speaking to me. And while I'm a novice in the kitchen, the book's philosophy and story made me want to go pro.

Clark's story is an interesting one. Following a career committed to working and thriving in some of the world's finest restaurants, including a time as three Michelin star chef de cuisine and a run at Saison in San Francisco, Scott reprioritized his lifestyle. Surfing and fatherhood served as a catalyst for this big change.

That inspiration led him to open Dad’s Luncheonette — a diner built out of the caboose of a train that sits in Half Moon Bay, California. The place is iconic already and Scott is quite the personality behind the counter, conducting everything that comes out of that caboose — which is an incredible nine-item menu inspired by the land and ingredients of California. It is a must-stop and must-eat.

I had the opportunity to talk with Scott and wanted to share. We touched on surfing, cooking, California, addiction, Fire Cider and how to make perfect scrambled eggs, of course.— Travis Ferré

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Inherent Bummer: You discovered surfing while working as a sous chef at Saison in San Francisco. What was that first experience like?

Scott Clark: That discovery moment was a hefty one. One of my best friends had quietly started surfing and he's like, "Hey man, I've been surfing a bunch and I think you'd like it. Do you want to come out?" So I roll up to Noriega and Great Highway. He just throws me a board and a wetsuit and was like, "Yeah, I think you could figure it out, just paddle out."

First paddle out, first experience at Ocean Beach, and just getting absolutely nuked on and just so fucked up and beaten down. But I got out and was floating around in the lineup with him just completely green, no clue. I ended up catching a couple waves that day. And from that moment on, it was over because I felt like surfing was dangerous and weird.

How did surfing fit into your demanding chef life? 

I was transitioning into another role within Saison at the time doing R&D work, so I would go in early and then be able to leave early. I had all of this time to myself and I would go in at six, and then leave the restaurant at four, have my board in the truck, and then haul ass to the beach from the restaurant. It was also this thing that I was not telling people that I was doing at work because who cares? 

In the kitchen world, you have to be very organized, a little sneaky and super diligent to get those moments of peace and calm to yourself throughout the day.

Do you see parallels between high-level cooking and surfing? 

I do think that there's a road that surfing and hardcore line cooking travel together on. They definitely dissect at some points, but then they do have union with each other in the spirit and drive of what it is to do the thing.

Surfing in its core is meaningless as well as food is. You're renting time with something that doesn't have a lot of inherent meaning to it until you put the meaning in it. And cooking in itself is really selfish. It's a very selfish industry to get into. You have no time for anybody else. You don't even have time for yourself.