When will Daou Ocean wine, food spot open in Cambria?
Construction on a Daou Ocean building on the south side of the oceanview Cambria property could begin as early as next month, a Daou Vineyards and Winery official said in response to online rumors about the facility.
A Daou wine club member had asked on the Cambria Nextdoor website when Daou was going to open on the site that overlooks the Pacific adjacent to Highway 1 north of town.
Another Nextdoor user replied with secondhand details about future plans and an estimated opening time frame, based on information supposedly shared during a Nov. 10 Daou winemaker’s dinner at the Cambria Pines Lodge.
According to Daou hospitality director Christina Rivera-Glenn, “Daou Ocean is nearing the end of the permitting process.”
“We are hoping to begin construction in the next month with plans for opening the building on the right side and garden in front of it in spring,” Rivera-Glenn wrote on Nextdoor.
“We will then begin the remodel of the main building,” she wrote. “We are also in the process of finalizing the design plans, interviewing and hiring for the leadership roles, and are beginning menu development.”
Rivera-Glenn said “honoring the legacy of this property and the sense of place is incredibly important to us. I’m sorry you received misinformation.”
Rivera-Glenn’s statements were confirmed and echoed by Daou Vineyards and Winery co-owner Georges Daou in an email interview with The Cambrian on Nov. 15.
He wrote that “our interest is and will always be aligned with tradition, local citizens and the environment.”
At Daou Ocean, Daou said, “Our goal is to maintain the same profile but enhance it to become an icon in Cambria.
“We plan to support the local community as much as our current guests and members. Daou Ocean is destined to be a happy place for all those who visit this magical piece of earth.”
As for the delays in the process of remodeling the former Centrally Grown facility,” Daou said he and winery co-owner Daniel Daou are “bound by permitting processes which are beyond our control. We, too, would love to see Daou Ocean operational soon.”
Daniel and Georges Daou also own Daou Vineyards and Winery in Paso Robles.
Originally from Lebanon, the two brothers moved to the United States from France and made a fortune in tech before spending more than a decade developing a top-level winery in Paso Robles’ Adelaida district.
The Daous paid $4.3 million at auction for the Cambria property on Exotic Gardens Drive in December 2018.
Since then, they’ve been enmeshed in design and the intricate permitting process for Daou Ocean, described by Georges Daou as a “sanctuary” that is “wine centric, people centric, food centric and ultimately pleasure centric.”
The approximately three-acre Cambria site is a complex property with various constraints of terrain, environment and design, and the previously remodeled main buildings are equally convoluted.
Adapting the property and structures to fulfill Daou dreams while meeting requirements of various governmental agencies is proving to be a labor-intensive, time-consuming process, Georges Daou has said in the past.
According to Rivera-Glenn, anyone with questions about Daou Ocean is encouraged to email inspiration@daouvineyards.com.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 5:10 AM.
