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In Stitches: Scott Clark
There’s a particular kind of clarity that comes from spending enough time near the ocean. The pace slows. The noise drops out. You begin to see what’s essential—and what isn’t. For Scott Clark, that clarity arrived after years spent chasing the traditional markers of culinary success.
“Success was Michelin, it was James Beard. It was all of these things that I felt like would finally give me presence, and I would be able to say like, ‘oh look, I’ve done it. I’m real. I’m successful now.’”
By most measures, Scott was exactly where he was supposed to be. But something about that version of success never quite settled. At the time, Scott was working at Saison, one of San Francisco’s most celebrated fine dining kitchens. While the craft was undeniable, the structure began to feel confining.
“We should all be leaving things that don't serve us more.”
“I felt like there were just some parameters that didn’t do it for me anymore,” he explains. Rather than forcing himself to fit a version of success that no longer aligned, Scott chose to step away—and he believes more people should feel empowered to do the same.
“We should all be quitting more. We should all be leaving things that don’t serve us more. And I think we should be doing it with no need to make it make sense for f*g anybody else.”
It’s not about rebellion for its own sake. It’s about honesty. About recognizing when a pursuit—no matter how prestigious—starts pulling you further from the work and life you actually want. That decision eventually led Scott south, to the California coast and the quieter rhythms of Half Moon Bay.
Dad’s Luncheonette—a diner-style eatery operating out of a historic train caboose—grew out of that shift. Not as a rejection of fine dining skill, but as a re-centering of it. “For me, I think that when we’re thinking about coastal cuisine, it’s more of an ethos thing,” Scott says. “Slowing down, un-fussed with, not overly dramatic. It’s a feeling.”
That feeling is present in everything Dad’s does—from the approachable menu to the nostalgic dining room. The food, featuring items like their famous hamburger sandwich and mac & cheese, reflects years of hard-earned technique, but without pretense.
“I wanted to open up a restaurant where I could showcase what I’ve learned through a lot of hard work, but make it available to literally everybody”. Hospitality, for Scott, isn’t about exclusivity. It’s about care. As Scott explains, “Everyone should have the opportunity to go somewhere that somebody truly cares about cooking for them. That, to me, is so special.”
“…coastal cuisine, it’s more of an ethos thing…”
Cooking, by nature, lives in a moment in time. Plates are cleared. Meals end. Moments pass. That impermanence has led Scott into broader reflections—about work, objects, and what’s worth holding onto. “I’m going through a reevaluation of the things that I have and why I have them. Clothes are a big one for me. Will it stand the test of time?”
That question became central to the creation of his cookbook, Coastal, featuring recipes inspired by a road trip that Scott took along the PCH, and the local ingredients and community that inform the cuisine. He explains, “In creating the book, I wanted something to be there forever.” Where food feeds people in the moment, the book offers something more enduring—a record of place, philosophy, and the values Scott has chosen to build his life around.
At the heart of Scott’s story is a question many of us circle at one point or another. “Where is it we find our purpose, right? What is it that is gonna keep that fire burning?” He pauses, then adds, “Because that fire burns really, really hot, but it doesn’t burn for a long time.”
Purpose, as Scott sees it now, isn’t sustained by grinding or chasing external validation. It’s fueled by curiosity, alignment, and remembering why you started in the first place.
“We get older and forget that we are just here to do cool shit and have fun doing cool shit.”
On the coast, with salt in the air and a restaurant built on generosity rather than prestige, Scott Clark seems to have found a version of success that doesn’t need explaining. And maybe that’s the point.
Learn more about Dad’s Luncheonette here, and pick up a copy of Scott’s cookbook, Coastal for recipes inspired by the coast.
