It doesn’t happen very often that Dan and I dine in a restaurant so extraordinary that we are put in mind of Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. (For those of you who don’t already know about Milliways, the best short description of it can probably be found here; scroll down to ‘M’.)

But tonight, we were very, very close.

The name of the restaurant is Tidal Raves, in Depoe Bay, Oregon. Okay, so we didn’t deposit a penny a million billion years ago to pay for the meal, but even with wine and a martini, dinner for two came to less than a hundred dollars. The service was outstanding. The food (fresh wild coho salmon with dungeoness crab risotto; wild Pacific snapper with smoked salmon potato cake; summer vegetables; salad with berries and shrimp) was superb. And the view…

Well, that’s what makes Milliways Milliways, isn’t it?

We sat at a corner table by the windows and looked out over the Pacific ocean as the evening descended.

And there were grey whales breaching in the waters just outside. It just doesn’t get any better than this.