I skipped missed the $75-per-head grand opening of the Malibu pier last Saturday but returned Monday night to check out the new restaurant, The Beachcomber. Which was closed. Well, kind of. Turns out the owners were doing a shake-down cruise for the official opening tonight, serving free food to friends and family. A little finagling by my companion and voila, we were seated at a seaside booth.

It's a pretty room, right where Alice's Restaurant used to be, only not as big and not as loud. The menu's pricey but the food was truly good, even though on Monday night there was a limited menu and waiters were still figuring out where things are and the whole place was running on a generator. David had the seafood potpie, which was amazing, lots of shrimp and scallops and lobster under a buttery crust. I had a clay pot chicken dish, also really good.

And then it was out onto the pier, built by the Rindge family way back when Malibu was a cattle ranch and the whole 17,000-acre rancho belonged to a single family. Imagine.