Apple Pie, Anyone?

Big Sur River Inn celebrates 90 years

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHELLE MAGDALENA

Although so much in Big Sur has changed in recent decades, there has been one constant for the past 90 years—a beloved apple pie served up at a historic motor lodge.

The Big Sur River Inn began its life in 1934 as the Apple Pie Inn, and has persisted despite ownership, management and name changes. It lays claim to being the oldest resort on the South Coast, and over the decades has been the scene of weddings, family reunions, parties and many, many vacations.

Its longevity is certainly due in part to the homemade pie, but also to the ongoing hospitality and generosity of a succession of owners, and a willingness to embrace new ideas and amenities to change with the times. The restaurant and inn have become a center of the ever-resilient Big Sur community, which endures fires, floods and highway closures on a regular basis due to the South Coast’s challenging landscape on the edge of the continent.

Recently, the torch was passed to a new generation, with owners Alan Perlmutter and wife Nancy Sanders turning the business over to their son Ben Perlmutter and Ben’s wife Laurel Flagg, who both draw on hospitality backgrounds. Joining them is childhood friend Colin Twohig, a six-year employee of the inn who has been promoted to general manager.

“It is with great joy that our youngest son Ben is taking over as managing partner to continue the family-friendly, communityconscious efforts started by the pioneer Pfeiffer family 90 years ago,” says Alan Perlmutter, 91.

The new managing partners have already had their share of challenges, coping with dual highway closures—one to the south that’s been there for more than a year, and one this past spring to the north—which cut off Big Sur entirely for a while and interrupted visitor traffic for nearly two months. During the closure last spring, the River Inn became a central location where residents could get together and support each other during a trying time.

“The restaurant remained open for the community” during the Rocky Point slide, says Lacey Mazurek, a longtime Big Sur resident and the inn’s social media/marketing maven. The inn also hosted movie nights and live music to bolster spirits of locals who were trapped on “the island” during that time. It’s a welcoming attitude that the Perlmutters have nurtured and that Ben and Laurel intend to continue.

The inn’s recipe for hospitality is baked into its history. It all began when Big Sur homesteaders Barbara and Michael Pfeiffer purchased the 160-acre Pheneger property around the turn of the last century. Their granddaughter Ellen Pfeiffer Brown had an idea that a newfangled thing called a “motel” would draw visitors to the remote area. With more Americans owning automobiles than ever before, car vacations were becoming popular throughout the U.S. Not only that, the creation of Highway 1 had been underway for more than a decade, and a better road would bring tourists to Big Sur. Brown had guest lodgings built, converted her dining room and kitchen into a restaurant on the east side of the coast road and opened for business in 1934.

Ellen Pfeiffer Brown had an idea that a newfangled thing called a “motel” would draw visitors to the remote area.

Brown left Big Sur three years later and her mother, Florence, took over the inn. It was good timing, because the paved highway between Carmel and Hearst Castle was finally completed. The restaurant moved to the west side of the highway, a gas station was added and the establishment was renamed Rogers Redwood Camp.

In 1943, another Pfeiffer daughter, Esther Pfeiffer Ewoldsen, and husband Hans took the helm, and the establishment was renamed yet again, becoming the River Inn. As the story goes, Esther hoped the name change would keep the river out—because during storms, the Big Sur River would invade and flow through the middle of the dining room. (A crack in the dining room floor is the only remnant left of this, Mazurek says.)

The Ewoldsens remodeled the buildings and improved the dining room. Because the two were avid botanists and outdoor enthusiasts, Hans was inspired to build nearby hiking trails that are still in use today.

The property changed hands a few times over the next several decades until Alan Perlmutter and his family purchased the inn in 1988. Mazurek herself has been part of the inn family since she was an elementary school student, serving at a dinner that is still a yearly fundraiser for Big Sur’s Captain Cooper School.

These days, the resort is not renowned quite as much for its pie as it is for something else: “People know us as the place with the chairs in the river,” says Mazurek. The indelible image of Adirondack chairs in the shallows of the Big Sur River, which flows next to the inn, has spread far and wide on social media. The idyllic scene in the shade of towering redwoods is a quintessential snapshot of Big Sur relaxation.

But there’s much more to the inn than those chairs. It’s still very much a comfortable place to stay, with 22 cabin-themed rooms, in addition to the charming stoneand- timber restaurant helmed by chef Adan Chavez.

The food, over the years, has evolved from basic diner fare to California cuisine, although the apple pie is still made according to the same homesteader recipe that Ellen Brown used back in the 1930s. The restaurant dishes up slices from one large pie per day, in addition to other housemade pies and cakes. “It’s a pretty traditional apple pie with an oatmeal topping, all made from scratch,” says Mazurek, who managed the restaurant for many years prior to her current role.

But as to be expected with new management, changes are being made—some of them actually aided by the pause in service forced by the highway closure.

One of the major projects was launching a new website and logo in April, with an online shop added in order to support River Inn business during the closure.

The pause also made it possible to refresh the River Inn’s general store with new paint, furniture and fixtures to make it more open and lively for guests and customers, says Laurel. She and Ben are now looking at ways to improve the business, with ideas and inspiration coming from the staff.

Monthly family movie nights have been a recent addition, something suggested by long-time employee Victoria Perez, so now these are held on the inn’s lawn with popcorn available for locals and visitors.

The couple’s biggest priority is keeping the spirit of the River Inn alive. “It isn’t about making big changes, but rather uplifting how one can feel when they walk on the property. For example, the River Inn will always remain ‘the place with the chairs in the river,’ and will continue to foster an environment where families and visitors feel welcomed,” says Ben.

“We love the rustic, cabin-style feel the River Inn has to offer. It’s important we preserve the Big Sur charm with these changes,” says Laurel.

For the 90th anniversary celebration this year, there’s been a fun addition—a huge 15-ton sand sculpture in front of the inn made by a local artist—and a robust assortment of live music throughout the summer and fall, with a weekly schedule available on the website. A special gathering honoring Jake Stock and The Abalone Stompers, a beloved local Dixieland jazz band, takes place Oct. 6.

Although it’s a far cry from his previous career in software sales, Ben Perlmutter says he and Laurel can’t imagine being anywhere else.

“We feel it’s in our blood,” says Ben. “And we both enjoy waking up every morning to chat about the next big tasks to tackle that day for the River Inn. It brings us far more excitement than nerves.”