tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7127716491614102012024-03-12T20:32:44.292-07:00Special EdibleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger204125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-20384062766152132242011-02-02T10:56:00.000-08:002011-02-02T17:53:04.702-08:00Special Edible's New Home (and a Baby Monkey on the Back of a Pig)The people demanded an answer. Their rebukes came at tasting events and by confused texts or awkward e-mail. One chunk of outrage found me at a class where it was otherwise super-sunny skies—and how could it not be? We were pickling carrots and Brussels sprouts at <b>Happy Girl Kitchen</b>—and went a little like this:<div><br /></div><div>"WTF, bro. WTF. What's with the blog."</div><div><br /></div><div>They thought I was lazy, or AWOL, or laying face down in a corner booth, dead from over-researching my beat.</div><div><br /></div><div>The real truth reveals a dark side to food journalism detailed beautifully in this film about a sensitive chef with a sharp blade. </div><div><br /></div><div><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/17851904" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/17851904">Product Placement</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1763554">Cailin Yatsko</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p></div><div><br /></div><div>Only I was not offed and eaten as retribution for bitter evaluations of an articulate and angry chef. </div><div><br /></div><div>Special Edible never stopped, it was merely munching along in <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/weblogs/edible-complex/">a new place found on the new Weekly website under Food Blog</a>. I was prevented from updating you here about that until now by a sequence of technological burps that can best be described as life-shortening.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, though, in that new Food Blog slot I've unspooled <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/weblogs/edible-complex/2011/jan/19/whales-waffles-waterfalls-and-wine-a-taste-adventu/">an epic 36-hour loop through Big Sur and Paso Robles</a>, posted <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/weblogs/edible-complex/2011/jan/31/a-farmers-report-from-ecofarm-2011/">an EcoFarm report from an actual organic farmer</a> and listed <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/weblogs/edible-complex/2011/feb/01/2011s-top-10-food-events-in-monterey-county/">2011's top food events</a>, among other palatable posts.</div><div><br /></div><div>And wait'll you see what's coming soon: scenes from the <b>Napa Wine Train</b>, insider scoops from the blockbuster <b>Clambake for a Cure</b> and the best food commercial series I've ever laid my ravenous eyes on (I can't tell what country it's from, but it doesn't much matter when you are laughing that hard). </div><div><br /></div><div>I do want to thank you for putting up with the transition. And I see no better way of doing that than with a monkey-wrapped porkchop:</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="400" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5_sfnQDr1-o" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Mark C. Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03794823516393279427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-36204556930736807052011-01-12T05:32:00.000-08:002011-01-12T05:32:00.777-08:00Hidden Gem #1 of 2010 (and Three Other Top Tucked-Away Treasures)There are different reasons each of these qualify as undetected treasures—maybe they're off the beaten path, or enjoy a chef with credentials you might not expect to find there. But they don't differ when it comes to taking care of people and clearly loving what they do. You can taste it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSumR9nD1iI/AAAAAAAACQI/bI0qxVaoE9M/s1600/menu%2B%252B%2Bdanielle.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSumR9nD1iI/AAAAAAAACQI/bI0qxVaoE9M/s320/menu%2B%252B%2Bdanielle.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560720992445388322" border="0" /></a>1. <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/11/tiny-place-for-great-crepes.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Viva La Crepe</span></a> (601-4847)<br /><br />It's not uncommon to hear small places compared to closets, but in this case, that might be a disservice to closets.<br /><br />VLC rents space inside an ice cream and coffee joint that's already petite, on the first horizontal branch of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fisherman's Wharf</span>, where few locals would ever think to look for food, let alone thoroughly authentic and delicious, sweet and savory crepes made with unbelievable buckwheat batter.<br /><br />Owner-operators <span style="font-weight: bold;">Thierry Crocquet </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Daniel Peron</span> clearly love what they’re doing. I do too—try the homemade caramel apple sweetie or the seasonal veggie with two kinds of cheese.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TS0PU7ovTgI/AAAAAAAACRw/OjhnpZLbr_A/s1600/cobb.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TS0PU7ovTgI/AAAAAAAACRw/OjhnpZLbr_A/s320/cobb.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561117967152795138" border="0" /></a>2. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2010/2010-Mar-25/great-eats-from-country-club-to-trailer-grub/1/@@index">Courtside Café at Chamisal</a> (484-1135)<br /><br />Chef <span style="font-weight: bold;">David Frappeia</span> could cook in any kitchen in county, but here—where few realize the restaurant is open to the public (and the courts, pools, saunas and such are too, for $20/day)—seems to fit since he's such a fitness nut.<br /><br />He also loves great ingredients, which makes for great crab benedicts, sandwiches, salads and even French-inspired dinners. The sand dab sandwich I had in the Corral de Tierra sun was heavenly; the robust cobb (above) was on its game in a major way. He's actively evolving the wine list, continuing wine dinners and generally kicking ass.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSulOZUPZmI/AAAAAAAACPo/GxEjpHj9D-c/s1600/DSC_2384.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSulOZUPZmI/AAAAAAAACPo/GxEjpHj9D-c/s320/DSC_2384.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560719831651542626" border="0" /></a>3. <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/04/river-road-revelation.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Element Tasting Bar and Pizza Bistro</span></a> (998-7045)<br /><br />Buried in a strip mall next to gas station on River Road, this place bursts with familial affection, thanks to welcoming owner-operator <span style="font-weight: bold;">Misty Romassa</span> and the hardy but deferential growers and vitners from the neighboring plots who have made it their regular spot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSulPJSiQ-I/AAAAAAAACPw/kBJNKvCioHU/s1600/DSC_2391.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSulPJSiQ-I/AAAAAAAACPw/kBJNKvCioHU/s320/DSC_2391.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560719844529292258" border="0" /></a>Massive prime ribs, tasty pizzas and excellent tastes from a solid selection of wines—featuring family label <span style="font-weight: bold;">Addamo Winery</span>—rank among the main draws.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TS0PVaOzBYI/AAAAAAAACR4/Q8cdzetcYSw/s1600/fried%2Bchk.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TS0PVaOzBYI/AAAAAAAACR4/Q8cdzetcYSw/s320/fried%2Bchk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561117975365485954" border="0" /></a>4. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2007/2007-Nov-08/Article.feast/1/@@index">Brophy’s Tavern in Carmel</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>(624-2476)<br /><br />Anyone who can tell a a pint from a piña colada knows this is one of Carmel's favorite watering holes, and a good place to watch the game and grab a bite too.<br /><br />But they may not realize the man behind the quietly excellent—and still improving—menu is one of my favorite chefs anywhere,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Brian Christensen</span>, formerly of landmark <span style="font-weight: bold;">Stokes Restaurant</span> in Monterey.<br /><br />Sneaky: a top chef simmering greatness at a little bar-grill. I love it—like I loved the fried chicken sandwich and unbeatable Kobe sliders I had New Year's Eve.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-38560290894455271322011-01-11T07:40:00.000-08:002011-01-13T11:05:50.741-08:00Zmak Some Sense Into You<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPahUze2I/AAAAAAAACQ4/FbjJRQQv-Es/s1600/2NC_7054.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPahUze2I/AAAAAAAACQ4/FbjJRQQv-Es/s320/2NC_7054.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560977325680720738" border="0" /></a>Maybe you are like me. Not so bright.<br /><br />It took my remedial self repeat visits to Marina—to the largest ginger purveyor in the world, <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Ginger People</span>, to the under-appreciated Italian hideout <span style="font-weight: bold;">Frutti de Mar</span>, to new addition <span style="font-weight: bold;">Noodle Bar</span>, to always good <span style="font-weight: bold;">D'Anna Thai</span> and city standby <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dishes Bistro</span>—to actively remember that Marina is an excellent destination for lunch and dinner.<br /><br />A big contributor to that shift in understanding wasn't word that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tommy's </span>has $1 breakfasts or insider knowledge that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kula Ranch </span>claims some of the best sports-watching specials (and dog menus), though they do. It was the <span style="font-weight: bold;">International Flavors of Marina</span> annual event. The party's a bargain, and always leaves my belly stuffed with well-crafted snacks and my pockets stuffed with business cards.<br /><br />I test drove Mayor <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bruce Delgado's </span><span>electric car at the last one</span><span>.</span> Soon after, Delgado charged up an effort to better announce those flavors with signs and promotions during the <span style="font-weight: bold;">U.S. Open</span>, which helped score a sizeable boom in restaurant business.<br /><br />Now, Marina is doing its own Restaurant Week Jan. 22-28, something only possible in a town this size with enough quality restaurants and industry cohesion.<br /><br />Ten restaurants are involved in the sophomore run. I asked longtime champion of Marina, event chair and Chamber of Commerce player <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tina Zmak</span> for her recommendations at the establishments involved, and she hit me with the following insights after consulting with similarly qualified Marina taste testers like her husband <span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Susan </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Jay Boettner</span>.<br /><br />Each of the restaurants or other food movers below is involved in Restaurant Week, in which guests earn passport stamps for each place visited, which are then translated into entries in a prize drawing for free dinners. Eat at seven spots, get seven chances to win a package of 10 dinners.<br /><br />Here are Zmak's favorite ways to enjoy 10 top Marina spots:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPZKsrWiI/AAAAAAAACQY/_5YixU7HOGw/s1600/coffeemia0019NC.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPZKsrWiI/AAAAAAAACQY/_5YixU7HOGw/s320/coffeemia0019NC.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560977302426966562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Coffee Mia Brew Bar</span><br />Caprese gourmet panini (tomato, mozzarella and basil w/ pesto on green onion focaccia) and a cannoli for dessert<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">El Palmar</span><br />Two sopes with guacamole (a vegetarian special)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">English Ales Brewery</span><br />Fish and chips with a Black Hound Stout<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPZxpIsbI/AAAAAAAACQo/K0Dn2O6qiO8/s1600/marinafarmersmarket024NC.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPZxpIsbI/AAAAAAAACQo/K0Dn2O6qiO8/s320/marinafarmersmarket024NC.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560977312881095090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Everyone’s Harvest Marina Farmers Market</span><br />Anything fresh and organic!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Francisco’s </span><br />Clam chowder in a bread bowl and Francisco's enchilada (with chicken)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPZtKpdgI/AAAAAAAACQg/Lwdfuf9cqSM/s1600/kularanch0014NC.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPZtKpdgI/AAAAAAAACQg/Lwdfuf9cqSM/s320/kularanch0014NC.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560977311679477250" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kula Ranch Island Steakhouse</span><br />Fire-roasted artichokes appetizer and certified Angus filet mignon<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Marina Village Restaurant </span><br />Everyday breakfast special (two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages and choice of pancakes, French toast or rice for only $5.75)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Michael’s Grill & Taqueria </span><br />House burrito (charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, rice, cheese)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPaW0h3BI/AAAAAAAACQw/62-a3LM0J8g/s1600/7%2B-%2BBottles%2Band%2Blights.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSyPaW0h3BI/AAAAAAAACQw/62-a3LM0J8g/s320/7%2B-%2BBottles%2Band%2Blights.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560977322860993554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Otter’s Den</span><br />Wine Down Wednesday complimentary assortment of cheeses when you order a glass of wine<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wild Thyme Deli & Cafe</span><br />Greek salad served with hummus and pita chipsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-61291923371922578372011-01-10T14:16:00.000-08:002011-01-10T14:39:07.015-08:00CRBC: Suddenly a Music Venue Too<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSuFXmP1P6I/AAAAAAAACPQ/3DTFkYB16GI/s1600/1NC_4227%2Bcopy.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSuFXmP1P6I/AAAAAAAACPQ/3DTFkYB16GI/s320/1NC_4227%2Bcopy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560684805369446306" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cannery Row Brewing Company</span> had the liveliest dance floors the Row has seen outside of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sly's</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bullwackers</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Blue Fin</span> in some time on New Year's Eve thanks to a friend and colleague of mine, <span style="font-weight: bold;">DJ Hanif Wondir</span>.<br /><br />Now they're going even bigger, with a late-breaking show booked by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Fletcher</span>, the local promoter whose biggest coup was his <span style="font-weight: bold;">Roots</span>-<span style="font-weight: bold;">Michael Franti</span>-<span style="font-weight: bold;">Cake</span>-led <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey Music Summit</span>.<br /><br />After a Friday show at the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey Maritime Museum</span>, Los Angeles-based <span style="font-weight: bold;">Morgan Nagler</span> of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Whispertown</span>, the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Heartstring Symphony</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jake Bellows </span>of<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Neva Dinova</span> decided to stick around for an encore, as <span style="font-style: italic;">Weekly</span> scribe <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sarah Rubin</span> describes with <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2011/2011-Jan-06/if-you-missed-their-show-on-friday-this-ragtag-quartet-plays-again-tonight/1/@@index">a recent news flash</a>.<br /><br />Should be interesting to see how the singer-songwriter fans mingle with the <span style="font-weight: bold;">BCS Championship Game</span> crowd.<br /><br />Best part: The 8pm show is free.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-25548360063255632352011-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:002011-01-06T11:42:45.688-08:00A Look Back at 2010: Most Missed DeparturesPlenty of restaurants famously fold up their tableclothes every year, let alone in years when disposable income is in the garbage disposal.<br /><br />Monterey County saw a typical wave of turnover in certain spots that can't seem to retain any venture, like the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mucky Duck</span>-adjacent space when <span style="font-weight: bold;">Karma Cafe</span> came and went (in the wake of a flopped sushi joint and a surrendering French outpost)—though the most recent occupant, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cabo Blue Taco Shack</span>, makes a mean and authentic torta (more on that soon).<br /><br />This list, the first of several looking-back rankings, isn't so much interested in identifying those flash-in-the-sauce-pan spots, but honoring longer and more dearly held operations that bid us adieu in '10.<br /><br />7. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rancho Cellars and Cepage Deli</span><br />This Carmel Crossroads standby didn't evaporate for lack of traffic or the acidic economy, but because the building’s owners sold. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jacques Melac</span> and chef-wife <span style="font-weight: bold;">Janet</span>, who ran the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cepages Deli</span> within the store, “don’t know how the wine business is going to make it through the next two years,” so they weren't too stressed about taking a break. Just months later, Janet is cheffing fabulously at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fifi's</span> and Jacques is helping run the show at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cannery Row Brewing Company</span> before he jumps ship for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pacific's Edge</span>.<br /><br />6. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lattitudes</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tene Shake </span>had a prime tourist spot, but he also made it attractive for locals with various discounts, a strong happy hour and regular lounge music. Anytime you can eat tasty crab rangoons and sip an alcoholic milkshake overlooking the Pacific—at reasonable prices—it's a win, which gives this Lovers Point loss its place on the list.<br /><br />5. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amarin Thai </span><br />Though this sucker sat on arguably the most trafficked corner of the county—across from the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Aquarium</span>—shockingly few folks knew its killer coconut soups even existed. Nothing insanely mind-blowing, but above-average Southeast Asian in a cute storefront with good people in a strategic location. Alas.<br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey County Herald local food coverage</span><br />People understandably think that I'd be stoked that the <span style="font-style: italic;">Herald'</span>s beheaded its food coverage. Not so much. There is so much good stuff that deserves attention there's no way we at the <span style="font-style: italic;">Weekly</span> can spotlight it all. Plus, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike Hale</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Melissa Snyder</span> of "He Said She Said" are insightful, intuitive writers. My colleague and longtime local food critic <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ray Napolitano</span> may have put it best: "It doesn't seem very sensible," he said at the time. "My guess is that is a good barometer that, financially, the paper is in deep sh*t. In a community like this where there are more resturants per capita than almost anywhere, to not have a connection between the local daily and the restaurants is really a sad and mournful day."<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Zocalo</span><br />One of the most consistent and popular Mexican restaurants in Pacific Grove said adios, as did its Salinas branch. The good news: Much of the staff is back in P.G. with Mando's, though the results are hit and miss, as new <span style="font-style: italic;">Weekly</span> food writer <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ulia Zettie</span> details in <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2011/2011-Jan-06/fast-acting-mandos-quickly-fills-a-beloved-mexican-spot-in-pacific-grove-with-attentiveness-and-flavor/1/@@index">this week's review</a>.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Clementine's Kitchen</span><br />This one hurts. Every time I needed something useful and fun for a friend who likes food and cooking, I could be found finding my way here. They had it all: mustards, wines, trippy tools you never knew you couldn't live without. Practical things with personality, interpreted by a classy and good-humored staff that might even have a wine tasting going on while you shop. Last visit there I tracked down an imported Chianti, a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in delicious oil and a elegant little kitchen contraption that diced, scooped and chopped—all for maybe $25. They also did cooking classes in a little demo kitchen and always brightened your day with their sunny disposition.<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tastes Like Chicken Ranch</span><br />Speaking of pain, this is a stinger with big-picture revelations. TLC's free-range chickens and pigs delivered amazing eggs and bacon, but more importantly, their small family farm did everything right, asked their customers to pay for it, then paid for it themselves. Their ultimate failure speaks to the flaws with a system that cultivates big, nasty factory farms but demands ultimately way too much from the little guys for them to have a real chance at profit, let alone a reasonable quality of life. Owner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jim Dunlop</span>, an <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALBA</span> alum, wasn't shy about pointing out the land-access and meat-processing problems with said system, as I detailed with <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/10/powerful-lessons-from-tlc-ranchs-recent.html">a post this fall</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-90426651602889059222011-01-05T08:37:00.000-08:002011-01-05T10:31:25.812-08:00Monterey Cookhouse Owner Earns Nice Nod<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq7gW-GZjI/AAAAAAAACJw/suaAW1qoJHI/s1600/IMAG0385.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq7gW-GZjI/AAAAAAAACJw/suaAW1qoJHI/s320/IMAG0385.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555959254911182386" border="0" /></a>The <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey Cookhouse</span>'s (642-9900) supremely welcoming owner-operator <span style="font-weight: bold;">Linda Cantrell</span> (above) received a much-deserved honor the other day with the inaugural<span style="font-weight: bold;"> John "Spud" Spadaro</span> award, named for the late iconic owner-chef behind longtime Salinas institution Spado's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq7gHXpyBI/AAAAAAAACJo/XO3t1BWztLg/s1600/IMAG0384.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq7gHXpyBI/AAAAAAAACJo/XO3t1BWztLg/s320/IMAG0384.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555959250723391506" border="0" /></a>This plaque honoring her achievement will appear on the wall from here on. Longtime industry vet <span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny Aliotti</span> hatched the idea for the award and spoke to her warmth in front of a packed house there for a surprise ceremony at the Fremont spot.<br /><br />"She represents everything that this award is about," he said. "You've seen it. She makes everyone feel good. Not many people do that. She knows and hugs almost everyone who comes in the door. John was the same way. He was all hospitality."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-21440220686049068372011-01-04T09:55:00.000-08:002011-01-04T11:14:53.621-08:00Eat Like a "Web Superstar"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqQ6c9DPI/AAAAAAAACKw/8YUGcdRBe10/s1600/2NC_5854.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqQ6c9DPI/AAAAAAAACKw/8YUGcdRBe10/s320/2NC_5854.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558403203906473202" border="0" /></a>Fame is often just a detail or two away.<br /><br />The right conversation in an elevator. The right lactose-free smoothie in the morning. The proper wording in a press release. The right choice for which mountain to ski.<br /><br />Seriously. Local semi-celeb and <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2006/2006-Apr-27/Article.831/1/">Cachagua resident <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kevin Klein</span></a>, who has appeared on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Comedy Central</span> and at scores of national events as a <span style="font-weight: bold;">George W. Bush</span> impersonator, told me he was discovered skiing around at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Squaw Valley</span> in Lake Tahoe. What if he went to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Heavenly</span> that day?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqQZZE5AI/AAAAAAAACKo/Cp-4v7RXrbE/s1600/2NC_5889.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqQZZE5AI/AAAAAAAACKo/Cp-4v7RXrbE/s320/2NC_5889.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558403195031839746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Snappy Shelly Steinbeck</span>, an African leopard tortoise who lives at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Salinas Public Library</span>, is now a bone fied superstar: <a href="http://salinaspubliclibrary.org/children/snappy">The webcam that tracks his snacking and napping</a> and just reached 1,000,000 webcam views with the close of 2010—the most ever for a tortoise, according to library spokespeople and Justin TV, who provides the streaming service.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqO1kFnjI/AAAAAAAACKQ/1fjA1bTXO8I/s1600/2NC_5821.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqO1kFnjI/AAAAAAAACKQ/1fjA1bTXO8I/s320/2NC_5821.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558403168234479154" border="0" /></a>The detail he owes his web dominance to? Might just be his diet. It's all organic, local, garden-grown lettuce, radicchio, cherry tomatoes, grass, strawberries, nopales and the occasional plum, says head turtle caregiver/library clerk <span style="font-weight: bold;">Valerie Henderson</span>. He even chows native weeds like wild dandelion.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqPTOiP0I/AAAAAAAACKY/lKCHR5h10XA/s1600/2NC_5846.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TSNqPTOiP0I/AAAAAAAACKY/lKCHR5h10XA/s320/2NC_5846.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558403176197144386" border="0" /></a>"You gotta eat healthy, you gotta eat right," she says. "It's a very healthy diet. He's got a good appetite. He eats a lot and grows a lot."<br /><br />It's remotely possible it's not his diet—though studies have shown that 40 percent of how you feel is based on your last meal. If it's not, here's the other best contenders for what makes Snappy special enough to reach Internet superstar status appear below:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">He's well-connected.</span><br />"Everybody knows Snappy," Henderson says. "When he's on his walk, people on their lunch break say hi, even the mailman knows Snappy. There’s a church across the street that provides meals and things to disadvantaged people. They all know Snappy."<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">He's an intellectual.</span><br />The guy's always hanging out at the library, after all. "Snappy’s very smart," Henderson says.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">He's on message.</span><br />His favorite thing to tell kids: Reading makes you smart. At the weekly Snappy Time (Tuesdays at 4pm) kids read a nature-themed book and get to visit with the little reptile before doing some Mother Nature affiliated crafts. Yesterday <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gabriel Xavier Morales</span>, 6, of Salinas, bought a book about reptiles because of Snappy. "I like that he can swim and go inside his shell," Morales said. "It's cool."<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">He's a political playmaker.</span><br />"I don’t know if Snappy can run for mayor," Henderson says. "But [Salinas Mayor] <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dennis Donohue</span> is a fan of Snappy. He actually invited him to a press conference when [Snappy] was getting close to a million hits. Donohue awarded him a special recognition that posted in his habitat, for his service."<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Courier;"></span><!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-40850202894595152782011-01-03T07:46:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:57:35.563-08:00Taking the Leap: An Inspiring 2010The apparently sauced knucklehead in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jimmy Buffe</span>t t-shirt jumping off <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bixby Bridge</span> in front of an objecting <span style="font-weight: bold;">CHP</span> officer has to rank among the most striking single moments of 2010 in Monterey County.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QNfgu-bYEvc?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QNfgu-bYEvc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />But it's a cumulative accomplishment from our culinary community that is much more striking, if not downright inspiring.<br /><br />In an atmosphere where people can't go more than several syllables without bemoaning the state of the economy, a wave of inspired new restaurants jumped into the soup.<br /><br />It's impossible to measure the boost that gave all of us. We can look back at some favorites that came to be and that we covered in the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Weekly</span> and in this space, with a blog that also found its start in 2010:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Happy Girl Farms</span> (372-GIRL) is suddenly making preservation and pickling sexy again in P.G.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seaside Farmers Market</span> (3-8pm Mondays in University Plaza) got fresh across town.<br /><br />In Marina, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Noodle Bar</span> number two (384-6225) built upon a fun family business that occupies a tiny coffee-bar-style spot in Seaside. Just up from the little Seaside Noodle Bar, their cousin Mikey Nguyen opened Asian fusion spot <span style="font-weight: bold;">Chopstix</span> (899-2622), packing enough people in to earn itself another outpost, coming very soon across from Del Monte Center.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Element Tasting Bar and Pizza Bistro</span> (998-7045) made a name for itself on River Road.<br /><br />Not far from there, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rancho Cielo</span>, landmark vocational educational center for troubled kids who need a new take on troubled life, added <span style="font-weight: bold;">Drummond Culinary Academy</span> with the crucial aid of a number of excellent local chefs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bellagio Pizzeria</span> (643-9500), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Habanero’s</span> (375-3700) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Luxe Lounge</span>, meanwhile, filled in where Croce's and Doc's once reigned in downtown Monterey.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sakana Sushi </span>(375-7375) is newly doing clever maki around the corner from there. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />MYO</span> number two (649-FROY) is bustling just up Alvarado.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Flanagan’s Irish-American Pub</span> (625-5500) gives Carmel's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Barnyard</span> a much-needed watering hole (and the best fries this side of Maryland), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Michael’s Taqueria</span> (754-8917) is uplifting Oldtown Salinas, and much-ballyhooed <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cannery Row Brewing Company</span> gives Cannery Row and the wider Peninsula nothing less than a game-changer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miss Delish </span>(612-1884) rode farmers market acclaim to a storefront on Lighthouse. Former Duffy Hunter's Tavern owners opened up <span style="font-weight: bold;">Down Under Deli</span> (625-DELI) in Mid-Valley.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pastries and Petals</span> (620-1400) does ambiance, style, savory and sweet on an off-beat street in Carmel while<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Babaloo Cuban Cuisine</span> provides our first real food truck with pick-up.<br /><br />The homegrown <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bakery Station</span> (783-1140) transformed a dilapidated gas station into a hub of fresh-daily creations.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">KT’s Sweet Lunch </span>(214-7465) now redefines the delivered business lunch as healthy, easy and affordable.<br /><br />Even in a Valley with standouts like the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wagon Wheel</span>, new French countryside-style <span style="font-weight: bold;">Toast Carmel Valley</span> (659-8500) can make a claim to best breakfast—and lunch and dinner ain't bad either.<br /><br />Elsewhere in the Valley, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tim Wood</span> is ushering in a new era of eating at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carmel Valley Ranch's Lodge </span>(625-9500) and beyond.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Otters Den</span> (883-1227) is totally repimped in Marina, huge news for the college crew.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey Bay Salt Company</span> (760-6993) got grinding with help from <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pebble Beach Food & Wine</span> connections.<br /><br />Tiny <span style="font-weight: bold;">Viva La Crepe</span> (601-4847) raised the bar for French flavor on the Wharf, of all places.<br /><br />The inspiration also emanates from the vital rebirths happening in time-honored spots, with <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Penny Farthing Tavern </span>(422-5652), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pajaro Street Grill</span> (783-1285) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fresh Cream Restaurant </span>(250-7943) ranking near the top. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Terranova Fine Wines</span> (333-1313) also enjoyed a second coming with upgraded technology and ambiance.<br /><br />We're lucky to have them. Here's to all of 'em for taking the jump.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-15683441985223164392010-12-30T17:53:00.000-08:002010-12-31T10:52:58.633-08:00Cannery Row Animal<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwHEiLYNh5Vfa0v4RjTZnlz204zhI7nfG6YbJV0ZjXbRjqD2LRstRLyXm7hDdSGEMVCA30rQEkjr5pMc1JGHA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />The coolest thing on Cannery Row isn’t the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Forrest Gump</span> haircut on the look alike guy or the pygmy seahorses.<br /><br />It’s the mechanical bull <span style="font-weight: bold;">El Mariachi Restaurant</span> (324-4953) has in its dining room. I went in the other night for some <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday Night Football </span>and the place was dead empty, but that was OK with this cowboy because it meant as many rides as we wanted, instant service from a cool bartender and quick delivery of some sturdy super nachos.<br /><br />Turns out three turns on the bovine is just fine (and the operator/barkeep said he was taking it easy on us). The happy hour’s pretty good (half-price apps, $3.50 margaritas, beers that start at $2, 4-7pm weekdays) too.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-13835131670350726172010-12-29T07:48:00.000-08:002010-12-29T08:38:43.160-08:00Breakthrough Technology Alert: Beer Taps at Your TableThough the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Niners</span> stink like a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Porta Potty</span> in the sun, there are some good things going on this football season. Like <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/10/sports-bar-nirvana-new-knuckles.html">the redone <span style="font-weight: bold;">Knuckles</span></a>’ (372-1234) menu—Kobe beef mini dogs! California cheese steaks with sun-dried tomatoes and avocado!—and their tableside tap service, aka the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Table Tender</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq-hSLOwJI/AAAAAAAACKI/e-efTWhM2JE/s1600/IMAG0272.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq-hSLOwJI/AAAAAAAACKI/e-efTWhM2JE/s320/IMAG0272.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555962569338830994" border="0" /></a>It is actually pretty cool. I was thinking it was a gimmick/dangerous to have a beer spout right there rising from your table, but on a busy game day, it is totally clutch to be able to tap yourself some<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kona Longboard</span> or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Coors Light</span> rather than tackling a waiter. It bills by the ounce.<br /><br />It’s $40 to reserve, but if no one has roped it off, you can swoop in there as we did and let the good times flow.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq-gkCWuAI/AAAAAAAACJ4/I8xRnIBv4os/s1600/IMAG0269.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq-gkCWuAI/AAAAAAAACJ4/I8xRnIBv4os/s320/IMAG0269.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555962556953573378" border="0" /></a>Standing record for a day, I’m told by 20-year vet <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cindy</span> the Superserver (seen here demo-ing the spout), is 1,300-plus ounces, which are tracked by the little digital monitor in the wall.<br /><br />Extra point: Go in on a Tuesday and have a 50/50 chance of having your food paid for—they flip a coin as part of a promotion they’re calling “Toss It Up Tuesday.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-75035355147175749652010-12-28T11:13:00.000-08:002010-12-28T20:37:43.169-08:00The Mucky Duck's Deal of the Year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq3vB--qVI/AAAAAAAACJY/HSb53ta2CDg/s1600/IMAG0217.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq3vB--qVI/AAAAAAAACJY/HSb53ta2CDg/s320/IMAG0217.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555955108929251666" border="0" /></a>The one and only <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mucky Duck</span> (655-3031), where the food is underrated and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jean</span> the bartender is my hero—you owe it to yourself, if you like shooters, to try a Jean’s Genie, above—has the best deal in town Wednesdays with half-price night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq3veL_ASI/AAAAAAAACJg/hIvTYyYw5A8/s1600/IMAG0232.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq3veL_ASI/AAAAAAAACJg/hIvTYyYw5A8/s320/IMAG0232.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555955116499992866" border="0" /></a>They celebrated the holidays by extending the deal to the whole week. The last day is this Thursday. That means half-price nachos....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq3uGEOZ4I/AAAAAAAACJI/noma9yAWwQM/s1600/IMAG0220.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRq3uGEOZ4I/AAAAAAAACJI/noma9yAWwQM/s320/IMAG0220.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555955092845127554" border="0" /></a>...and fried pickles! A burgeoning magazine club and I descended on a recent Wednesday, ate and drank to our literary hearts' content—six of us—and still only spent $100, tops.<br /><br />You know what to do.<br /><p class="text"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-8680937752741222012010-12-27T11:41:00.000-08:002010-12-27T12:36:29.189-08:00Feeding the Need<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRjsSIHZJBI/AAAAAAAACJA/2WeNCbu1g5E/s1600/truck.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRjsSIHZJBI/AAAAAAAACJA/2WeNCbu1g5E/s320/truck.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555449936521798674" border="0" /></a>Angels live among us.<br /><br />Evidence—extensive evidence—lingers no further than the ever inspiring <a href="http://www.montereycountygives.com/Welcome.aspx"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey County Gives!</span> website</a>, which profiles the scores of local nonprofits participating in<br />the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey County Weekly Community Fund</span>'s annual fund-raising push.<br /><br />Surprisingly few food/hunger-centered groups are involved—the Health, Wellness & Food category includes just two—but they are about as vital to our area's well-being as any organizations out there.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRjsRyb-u8I/AAAAAAAACI4/k_dQcQg1uYM/s1600/KDeWitt.cooler.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRjsRyb-u8I/AAAAAAAACI4/k_dQcQg1uYM/s320/KDeWitt.cooler.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555449930702568386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ag Against Hunger</span> feeds millions with what essentially would be thrown away. Without the Spreckels-based nonprofit, 11 million pounds of produce would have ended up in compost heaps or in landfills this year, instead of at local food banks which in turn distribute the food to groups that need it. The growers who produced that food would have had to pay a fee to dispose of it, and hungry people in three counties on the Central Coast, as well as those elsewhere in California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Washington, would not have access to fresh produce.<br /><br />“We can actually feed one person for one pound of produce, and given that 11 million pounds were saved last year,” Ag Against Hunger spokeswoman <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lindsay Coate </span>told me last week. "That’s a staggering amount of people."<br /><br />Much of their goods go to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Food Bank for Monterey County</span>, which leverages every dollar donated into seven pounds of food for the neediest bellies in town.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRjsRj588mI/AAAAAAAACIw/oPpWOpBDH_Y/s1600/3fieldworkers.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRjsRj588mI/AAAAAAAACIw/oPpWOpBDH_Y/s320/3fieldworkers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555449926801748578" border="0" /></a>Donating to these do-gooders, or any of the many assembled on the <a href="http://www.montereycountygives.com/Welcome.aspx">Gives! website</a>, is easy. I picked five of my favorites to give to and completed the donation in about two minutes.<br /><br />Even if it's just a couple bucks that still helps a given group compete for bonus funds for drawing the greatest number of donors (or donors under 35). Better yet, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Weekly</span> is adding $100,000 in donations to match reader giving.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-73072243659052299572010-12-23T09:58:00.000-08:002010-12-23T10:16:55.080-08:00A Christmas Gift For You: Three Rockstar RecipesYou can't spell celebration without e, a and t. To honor the holiday spirit of generosity and good eatin', three standout chefs from the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sardine Factory</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">the Preserve</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Domenico's/Cafe Fina</span> have shared unique and uniquely delectable dishes with Special Edible readers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI8qltnqbI/AAAAAAAACHc/ielIij-Vi4I/s1600/CalamariPuff1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI8qltnqbI/AAAAAAAACHc/ielIij-Vi4I/s320/CalamariPuff1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553567992876870066" border="0" /></a>I was sold at "lollipop," but, like the Sardine Factory—which just added a new tapas menu and upgraded the front lounge—it gets better: You can eat the "handle." The Factory was already one of our local capitals for calamari, now they do it with even more style. And you can too.<br /><br />Calamari Puff Lollipops<br />Bert Cutino<br />Sardine Factory<br /><br />Serves 8<br /><br />2 ½ lbs cleaned squid, filet only <br />½ medium onion, chopped <br />1 egg <br />1 parsley, chopped <br />1 bunch green onion, finely chopped <br />½ tablespoon granulated garlic <br />¼ cup cracker meal <br />¼ cup bread crumbs <br />1 tablespoon salt and pepper <br />oil to fry<br /><br />Chop squid into small pieces. Add onion, egg, parsley, salt and pepper and granulated garlic into bowl. Mix thoroughly. Add half of cracker meal, baking soda and bread crumbs into mixture. Form into little two-ounce oval balls (about 1 inch in diameter) and roll balls into remaining mixture. Lay on sheet pan with parchment paper. Let set. Fry at 350°. Cook balls in a deep fat fryer until golden brown. Serve hot with your favorite sauce.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI8qE8UmNI/AAAAAAAACHU/2wq0qmaZd20/s1600/crab3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI8qE8UmNI/AAAAAAAACHU/2wq0qmaZd20/s320/crab3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553567984080165074" border="0" /></a>"We’ve been eating crab at my Nana’s on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve every year since I was born,” says <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dominic Mercurio</span>, owner of Café Fina and Domenico’s on the Wharf.<br /><br />Mercurio gets King Crab for his restaurants directly from the F/V Time Bandit, made famous on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Discovery Channel</span>’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Deadliest Catch</span>.<br /><br />“King crab is so sweet and flavorful, like lobster," he says, "you don’t have to do much to it,” He usually serves it simply with butter and a few drops of lemon. Or he will crack the legs down the middle and serve them open-faced with a light scampi sauce.<br /><br />When it comes to local Dungeness crab, he deploys a range of treatments: chilled with cocktail sauce and lemon; steamed with drawn butter; cioppino-style in a savory, light tomato broth; sautéed with crab butter, a bit of sweet wine, butter, green onions and a touch of hot sauce; and finally, his Nana’s Sicilian Salad-style, with an oil and vinegar-based marinade.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Nana’s Sicilian Salad-style Dungeness crab recipe</span><br />Domenic Mercurio<br />Cafe Fine • Domenico's<br /><br />¾ cup of extra virgin olive oil<br />¼ cup of red wine vinegar<br />2 tablespoons chopped garlic<br />¼ cup of chopped flat leaf parsley<br />1 tablespoon Dijon mustard<br />Juice of one lemon<br />Salt and pepper to taste<br /><br />Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl large enough for the three crabs. Add crab, stirring every 15 minutes for one hour to let the marinade saturate. Serve chilled. Preparation can be done in the morning or afternoon, as it is perfectly fine to let the crab sit for up to five hours refrigerated.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI8pvhroyI/AAAAAAAACHM/nQMsQgPixs0/s1600/Candy%2BCap%2B4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI8pvhroyI/AAAAAAAACHM/nQMsQgPixs0/s320/Candy%2BCap%2B4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553567978331284258" border="0" /></a>While the rain drives some insane in a nasty way, it moves local fungifiles to happy insanity. One of the most revered treasures they uncover: candy caps, a fragrant, syrupy sweet mushroom used in cooking to flavor foods like vanilla or truffles.<br /><br />Santa Lucia Preserve Chef Carlton Lepine is a fungi pro who leads hunts through the ideally damp redwood and oak underbrush. When he scores these spores, the Preserve's residents and members win big. And while a lot out there off Carmel Valley Road costs hundreds of thousands, now you can eat like them without the massive mortgage.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Candy Cap Blondies </span><br />Carlton Lepine<br />Santa Lucia Preserve<br /><br />1 1/2 cups light brown sugar firmly packed <br /> 1 cup unsalted butter <br />¼ cup candy cap mushroom, dried, ground fine <br />2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour <br />¾ teaspoon baking soda <br /> ½ teaspoon salt <br />2 large eggs <br />1 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />¾ cup butterscotch chips <br /><br />Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish.<br />Put the sugar in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a small skillet or in the microwave in a glass measuring cup. Stir the butter into the sugar until smooth, cool to room temperature.<br />In another medium bowl, whisk the Candy Cap mushrooms, flour, baking soda and salt together.<br />Beat the eggs and vanilla into the sugar mixture. Add the flour mixture a bit at a time and mix until a smooth thick batter forms. Fold in the chips, as desired.<br />Spoon the batter to the prepared dish and spread evenly to fill the dish. Bake until the Blondies are light brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.<br />Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Invert onto a rack and cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-5181098402911831062010-12-22T09:33:00.000-08:002010-12-22T09:38:50.304-08:00The Bacon Revolution Is Just Beginning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRIwXbvQlzI/AAAAAAAACG8/FeDbrwCvahw/s1600/DSC_1749.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRIwXbvQlzI/AAAAAAAACG8/FeDbrwCvahw/s320/DSC_1749.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553554469642344242" border="0" /></a>Maybe you're like my editor, who's had enough of the bacon insanity that has been sizzling in our culture for the past few years.<br /><br />"Bacon is our god," she says. "We are worshiping our pork-belly master."<br /><br />Or maybe you're like me. I was attacking bacon-wrapped dogs from L.A. food carts before <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tonya Harding</span>'s goons were attacking <span style="font-weight: bold;">Nancy Kerrigan</span>'s leg. I've believed a breakfast joint is only as good as its bacon since I could say "over easy." I once named a kitten after a Baja California dish that wrapped prawns and jack cheese in you know what. (T<span>he little baller's name was</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Shrimp Papagayo</span>.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI3YiaPR5I/AAAAAAAACHE/XQXU_TcL2bQ/s1600/Bottle-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TRI3YiaPR5I/AAAAAAAACHE/XQXU_TcL2bQ/s320/Bottle-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553562185194489746" border="0" /></a>In a culture obsessed with bacon, I'm not just a member, I'm an early adopter and enthusiastic card-carrier. Just the other day I discovered NorCal's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bacon Hot Sauce</span>, ordered some online and blew through two bottles ($14.99/three-pack; check out www.baconhotsauce.com).<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZfbTO0GlONU?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZfbTO0GlONU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />But as cooks began chicken-frying bacon in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Snook, Texas</span> (check out the above vid), bakers started stuffing it in scones, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Whole Foods</span> kept slanging chocolate-bacon candy bars...<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9T866GHqyDw?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9T866GHqyDw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />and <span style="font-weight: bold;">YouTube</span> freaks went on greasing us with videos on <span style="font-weight: bold;">candy bacon</span> (above) or weaving bacon into whole blankets, I figured we were approaching reached a saturation point.<br /><br />Nope.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rGyKp3G6r2A?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rGyKp3G6r2A?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />Now you can give your baby<span style="font-weight: bold;"> My First Bacon</span> as its best friend. This piece of pork has more going for it than a slick personal statement (“You’ve got a friend in meat!”). The cute little guy’s three feet long, nice and squooshy like a stuffed animal, with cartoony eyeballs.<br /><br />And (!): This is a creature that speaks for itself. Truly. Press the button behind where his left ear would be and the masculine-sounding meat says, “I’m Bacon,” in a low baritone that sticks in your head like turkey bacon to the pan.<br /><br />ThinkGeek is the brains behind the bacon. Check out their "stuff for smart masses" <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/">website</a> for more.<br /><br />Did someone say best Christmas gift ever?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-65816256670825336212010-12-20T12:09:00.000-08:002010-12-20T13:13:29.723-08:00Adventures of Crab Santa<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-6AWQzufI/AAAAAAAACG0/vnLEs9RbsOc/s1600/IMAG0296.jpg"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5_20VmMI/AAAAAAAACGk/uQmMZNL8Ngs/s1600/IMAG0298.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5_20VmMI/AAAAAAAACGk/uQmMZNL8Ngs/s320/IMAG0298.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552861372269041858" border="0" /></a>Last week insider sources tipped me off to a cracking deal on fresh crab. So I promptly appeared on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wharf Two</span> Friday afternoon to pick up 11 from a lady fisherman named DeLay.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5z554NdI/AAAAAAAACF8/jT3hbwrTrp8/s1600/IMAG0293.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5z554NdI/AAAAAAAACF8/jT3hbwrTrp8/s320/IMAG0293.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552861166939157970" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jane DeLay </span><span>ain't your average crabber. A dancer and former executive director of the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Forest Theater Guild</span><span>, she normally spends her time studying to be a nurse at</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> MPC, </span><span>working at the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation </span><span>and serving Greek grub at </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Episilon</span><span> in Monterey</span><span>. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't give it all up, as she did in taking a month off.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br />"I'd fish full-time," she says, "but with all the shortened seasons, that's not the reality."<br /><br />She grabs her crabs in Half Moon Bay—the nearby San Fran bay nursery grounds and sandy bottoms tend to yield the biggest and most mature crabs early in the season, she says—aboard her captain friend Mike Ricketts' (no relation to Doc) Sea Hauk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5zvlFcsI/AAAAAAAACFs/hfZ8-ysCtRk/s1600/IMAG0288.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5zvlFcsI/AAAAAAAACFs/hfZ8-ysCtRk/s320/IMAG0288.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552861164167590594" border="0" /></a>She calls herself the crew of the operation; Nellie here is security detail when they get back to shore.<br /><br />They throw traps with favorite crab snacks like mackerel or squid or sardines, pull them up snapping with crab, and steam back here to the commercial wharf, where Royal Seafood’s Gino Pennizi kindly lets her use a tank and a workspace to slang her crustaceans.<br /><br />Here's a peek at the tank and a good old fashioned Crab Battle in a Bucket over at Royal, still my favorite place for seafood in town:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzlS1r3LmHu-ECInnAibtZFjI_VkQnQeY1upKo39dpVhrCLc_IYd7-_XdfvezTDVkqEr2I2Z5xtHHXqzwx8vw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Market price at the moment was $6 per big fatty—DeLay says they are averaging between 1.9 pounds and 2.25—and an extra buck for her to cook them if that's too complicated for her customers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5zjrCeRI/AAAAAAAACF0/c3ROTVYEMR4/s1600/IMAG0291.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5zjrCeRI/AAAAAAAACF0/c3ROTVYEMR4/s320/IMAG0291.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552861160971335954" border="0" /></a>Her recipe is nice, easy and tasty in that way that lets the crab speak for its own fresh self: Once the water in your crabpot is boiling, throw the suckers in with lemon juice and salt, bring it back to a boil and then cook them for 12 minute even.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-6AWQzufI/AAAAAAAACG0/vnLEs9RbsOc/s1600/IMAG0296.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-6AWQzufI/AAAAAAAACG0/vnLEs9RbsOc/s320/IMAG0296.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552861380709956082" border="0" /></a>She bagged my babies and I took to delivering to fridges around the Peninsula.<br /><br />Crab Santa struck twice.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5_U3RRtI/AAAAAAAACGU/xpIXTvwUPHY/s1600/IMAG0301.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5_U3RRtI/AAAAAAAACGU/xpIXTvwUPHY/s320/IMAG0301.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552861363154536146" border="0" /></a>Later we spread newspaper everywhere as four friends and I had a supreme messy feast of chilled crustacean in hot garlic butter, garlic bread, salad, Sauv Blanc and Chardonnay.<br /><br />DeLay says she'll be back on the high seas once the weather eases off the 10-foot-swell stress around Friday. Reach her at whaledances@yahoo.com 383-9681 for availability.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5_n2t48I/AAAAAAAACGc/4dKHZKmh5RY/s1600/IMAG0299.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQ-5_n2t48I/AAAAAAAACGc/4dKHZKmh5RY/s320/IMAG0299.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552861368252490690" border="0" /></a>Fresh and sweet, simple and sublime. 'Tis the (crab) season.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-91501227827061882722010-12-17T09:54:00.000-08:002010-12-17T10:46:29.338-08:00Way Cooler Than Keanu Reeves<span style="font-weight: bold;">Leo</span> might be "the one" to save us from <span style="font-weight: bold;">The</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Meatrix</span>.<br /><br />Or maybe not.<br /><br />Take the red pill and find out.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rEkc70ztOrc?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rEkc70ztOrc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />If you found that swine in sunglasses as undeniable as I did, the sequels await:<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VAN6G8sBNIE?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VAN6G8sBNIE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aGK3Rqoeux8?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aGK3Rqoeux8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />It was several years ago when these viral animated shorts began zooming around cyberspace. Now they've not only reached a ton of people—according to the Meatrix website, they have been translated into more than 30 languages, reached more than 15 million viewers and represent one of the most successful online advocacy campaigns ever—but provide <a href="http://www.themeatrix.com/what">easy and practical avenues</a> to eating more consciously, including <a href="http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home">a pretty handy guide</a> to help people find good food sources.<br /><br />Better yet, they make effective elements for teachers to use with students, as they do at the <a href="http://www.carmelhabitat.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MEarth Hilton Bialek Habitat</span></a> in Carmel.<br /><br />Onward with the revolution.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-83269702388117762642010-12-16T15:43:00.000-08:002010-12-16T16:33:56.987-08:00Channeling Christopher Walken and Other Tim Wood Goods<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqakN7vEaI/AAAAAAAACFc/jWAcD_n6QBA/s1600/scallops.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqakN7vEaI/AAAAAAAACFc/jWAcD_n6QBA/s320/scallops.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551419437693735330" border="0" /></a>Over the course of a six-part tasting—including delicious day boat sea scallops with satsuma mandarin, citrus brown butter, shiso greens and black truffle shavings (hidden among the wonton crisps above)—<span style="font-weight: bold;">Carmel Valley Ranch</span> Executive Chef <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tim Wood</span> showed what he can do mighty well. (Read more about the <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2010/2010-Dec-16/hyatt-heir-john-pritzkeraposs-vision-of-turning-carmel-valley-ranch-into-an-alwaysopen-everyonewelcome-version-of-summer-camp/1/">new Carmel Valley Ranch experience and ownership</a> in this week's issue, including a companion piece by yours truly about <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2010/2010-Dec-16/chef-tim-wood-reinvents-comfort-at-carmel-valley-ranch/1/">the restaurant's revival</a>.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQql-xGLJcI/AAAAAAAACFk/UC_wzEPzx0A/s1600/wood%2521%2521.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQql-xGLJcI/AAAAAAAACFk/UC_wzEPzx0A/s320/wood%2521%2521.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551431988437263810" border="0" /></a>We grazed on Wood's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Angus</span> sliders with New York cheddar and red pepper jelly, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Swank Farms</span> organic beet salad with shaved fennel and olive oil croutons, delicious lox and latkes (it was <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hannukah</span>, after all)...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqaKrlldcI/AAAAAAAACFE/xVXpy4WmZAc/s1600/profit.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqaKrlldcI/AAAAAAAACFE/xVXpy4WmZAc/s320/profit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551418998977295810" border="0" /></a>...and a double-stuffed profiterole that had me reconsidering my long-held suspicion of them.<br /><br />Captivating tastes, all. But it was his commentary that captivated us the most.<br /><br />He riffed on growing up in the Catskills, the intense types he worked for in New York at spots like Manhattan's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Butterfield 81</span>, the early days with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cal Stamenov</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Christophe Grosjean</span> at<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Bernardus</span>' beginning, dropping in impressions of bosses and colleagues as he went.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqaKaKT1OI/AAAAAAAACE8/_pjPBRi7pGA/s1600/kitchen.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqaKaKT1OI/AAAAAAAACE8/_pjPBRi7pGA/s320/kitchen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551418994299491554" border="0" /></a>As the commentary continued—"I'm the one they send VIPs when they need to be entertained and they don't know what to do," he says—he toured us through the kitchen, where he paused to help a cook he calls "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Earrings</span>" (for his huge lobewear) master a sauce with notable clarity and cool...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqaLN_ek4I/AAAAAAAACFU/i-kOFdOFoPg/s1600/test%2Bkitchen.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQqaLN_ek4I/AAAAAAAACFU/i-kOFdOFoPg/s320/test%2Bkitchen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551419008212702082" border="0" /></a>...then through a backstage demo kitchen adjoining a ballroom. He's already scheming some inspired <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Iron Chef</span>-style events.<br /><br />My favorite part of his free-flow had to be the comparisons he drew between himself and the rampant wild turkeys cruising the property—"I'm like the turkey up there on the branch, wobbling back and forth, with everyone watching"—and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Christopher Walken</span>.<br /><br />"I'm like the Christopher Walken of chefs," he says. "I don't use punctuation."<br /><br />Here's hoping Wood can dance like C.W. too:<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aZbckwYY9r4?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aZbckwYY9r4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-9177085282723245142010-12-15T02:46:00.000-08:002010-12-15T10:05:11.214-08:00Alberto's Celebrity-Quality Italian Crowns P.G.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0PI94gKI/AAAAAAAACEs/a-WJ8BaZqm0/s1600/veal%2Bfor%2Breal.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0PI94gKI/AAAAAAAACEs/a-WJ8BaZqm0/s320/veal%2Bfor%2Breal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550673606699679906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Richard Nixon</span> and I never had much in common. With the help of one of the most memorable personalities in Pagrovia, that has changed.<br /><br />The other night at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alberto's</span> (373-3993) at the top of Forest Hill, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alberto Bonatelli</span> made a pal and I the same veal scallopini piccata he prepped for ol' Tricky Dick.<br /><br />As guilty pleasures go, this might be one of the most pleasurable. I now get what a friend who grew up in P.G. meant when she told me it's the best she's had, stateside or in Italy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0HzVuvAI/AAAAAAAACEU/QfWAqhBC3xE/s1600/ravioli.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0HzVuvAI/AAAAAAAACEU/QfWAqhBC3xE/s320/ravioli.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550673480635038722" border="0" /></a>Plenty came along with the piccata. Like imported Chianti light enough to counterbalance rich ravioli carbonara worth writing the Old World about. And a chicken saltimboca up to the name. And a caprese salad with a nice proscuitto-cheese twist.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0Gnl-oqI/AAAAAAAACEE/M8w4l2wTAN8/s1600/basilcello%2B%2B.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0Gnl-oqI/AAAAAAAACEE/M8w4l2wTAN8/s320/basilcello%2B%2B.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550673460302095010" border="0" /></a>And homemade basil-cello was as good as it sounds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0IoMJbHI/AAAAAAAACEc/X86lfrbI_ZE/s1600/tiramasu.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0IoMJbHI/AAAAAAAACEc/X86lfrbI_ZE/s320/tiramasu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550673494821923954" border="0" /></a>And tiramasu, moist and chocolatey in all the right ways, enough to meet a high challenge—namely, delivering a closing taste potent enough to appropriately punctuate such a strong sequence of flavors.<br /><br />But that's only part of what Bonatelli dishes out. After he pulled a chair up to our table, turned it backwards and slid into it like a gun into a holster—"This is my home," he replied to my amazement at how well he fit in it—he proceeded to drop more names than the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Yellowpages</span>.<br /><br />He and his <span style="font-weight: bold;">Orsini Restaurant</span> were the darling of California’ cushiest bit of coastline, Malibu (nouth of Santa Monica), for the '80s and then some, and he came away with waves of raves and stories. Late nights with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Frank Sinatra</span>. Rubbing aprons with Nixon and a number of other heads of state. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Neil Diamond</span>'s affection for his veal parmesan. In between glory stories he'd dash away to the nearby intimate kitchen and return with more riches and snuggle right up to our table.<br /><br />Check out this article (click on it to make it bigger) for a taste of his celebrity cred/obsession:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQj1UgppVHI/AAAAAAAACE0/yuwu7pokAkA/s1600/alberto.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQj1UgppVHI/AAAAAAAACE0/yuwu7pokAkA/s320/alberto.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550956273444934770" border="0" /></a>Lightly legendary local food expert <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ray Napolitano</span>, my <span style="font-style: italic;">Weekly</span> colleague going on about half a decade, is the one who mandated I visit. I asked him what he thinks differentiates Bonatelli.<br /><br />"What you get there is him cooking," he says. "Really that's what it boils down to. There's something about the way he puts food together. It's not like recipes are out of this world—they're mostly standard. That's what it's about: I've always felt like you could give 10 people the same ingredients, equipment and nine of them will taste similar and one won't. It's an art. He's an artist. He is [literally] an artist too, he paints and everything else. [Bonatelli does the funky murals that adorn the walls of his one-room restaurant.]<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0JPmJw9I/AAAAAAAACEk/36oBHXKFkoo/s1600/veal%2Band%2Bchicken.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQf0JPmJw9I/AAAAAAAACEk/36oBHXKFkoo/s320/veal%2Band%2Bchicken.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550673505399981010" border="0" /></a>"When guys like him do something it's an art form. It's inexplicable. Doesn't look like he's doing anything different. When he cooks, especially when he's inspired, he simply does an amazing job. The first time I walked in there, I ordered linguini putanesca, a simple dish with four powerful ingredients that can screw it up if unbalanced. I was like s***, this is amazing."<br /><br />For my part, as I left for a starlight hike through neighboring <span style="font-weight: bold;">Del Monte Forest</span> to dent the small innertube that had migrated to my midsection over the last couple of hours, I couldn't resist thinking Alberto's has a legitimate claim to the best-Italian-in-town crown.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Joe Rombi’s</span> (373-2416) deserves a nomination, but is a little fancier and spendier. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Peppoli</span> (<span style="visibility: visible;" id="search">647-7500)</span> is incredible but even more expensive, even by Pebble Beach standards. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gino’s</span> (422-1814) is an institution that deservedly earns our readers' best Italian food vote, but it deploys a different, spaghetti-and-pizza, more family-centered style. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cantinetta Luca</span> (625-6500) does modern-hip Italian with aplomb, but tends more toward Cali-Itali fusion than classic fare.<br /><br />Why doesn't he get more traffic, then? Maybe because it’s tucked into a strip mall. Maybe because he relies on word of mouth. Maybe some would prefer less forward hospitality. I won't linger too long on those queries—besides, the restaurant community certainly are aware of him, as are locals in the know—because I'm happy to keep it our little secret. I know Tricky Dick is good at that.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-15745624666025791922010-12-14T06:29:00.000-08:002010-12-14T09:13:32.815-08:00Because It's Not a Road Trip Without In N Out<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQaspce7BHI/AAAAAAAACD8/TCtPS9U5F78/s1600/spread%253Aburger.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQaspce7BHI/AAAAAAAACD8/TCtPS9U5F78/s320/spread%253Aburger.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550313418801218674" border="0" /></a>I’d like to believe in free will. But every time I go on a road trip, I get a tasty reminder that my fate isn’t so much my own to manage, because I inevitably end up at the only chain I frequent, a little place you may have heard of called <span style="font-weight: bold;">In N Out</span>.<br /><br />A recent visit inspired me to contact In N Out headquarters to get <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-n-out-off-menu-moment.html">the real deal on the off-the-menu items</a> I hadn’t figured out yet. As it turns out, I had no idea what a "Flying Dutchman" existed, let alone what it might be.<br /><br />On this roadie, I tested two new off-the-menu ideas (while only temporarily abandoning my long-ago-established classic "secrets," the grilled cheese with grilled onions and the animal-style fries).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQaso83tlDI/AAAAAAAACD0/MUhi0v0D8Qs/s1600/fries.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQaso83tlDI/AAAAAAAACD0/MUhi0v0D8Qs/s320/fries.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550313410315260978" border="0" /></a>First up: fries cooked to order, like a burger. (The In N Out rep at headquarters said they can do well-done/extra crispy, "light well" and "light," salt-free and with just cheese, in addition to the grilled-onion-cheese-and-special-sauce animal-style approach).<br /><br />I felt a little diva-like ordering "medium well" fries until the sunny young lady replied, "Medium well done well done or lightly medium well"?<br /><br />I took the former (pictured above on the left, compared to standard issue on the right). I don't think I'll order any other way from here forward—they're crispier and more flavorful thanks to bonus sizzle and grease time. The road trippers with me unanimously agreed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQasobKleKI/AAAAAAAACDs/yOQy7gVUdC0/s1600/catsup.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQasobKleKI/AAAAAAAACDs/yOQy7gVUdC0/s320/catsup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550313401267615906" border="0" /></a>I also soaked up a Neopolitan shake. I'll never have to choose between the vanilla, chocolate or strawberry seduction again. It's even better than the strawberry-chocolate combo.<br /><br />Also, to stem the boring cascade of ketchup, I asked for some special sauce they put on animal style items and got a couple of packets (above right). Just what some medium well well fries needed.<br /><br />For more on the secret menu and developments at the Seaside In N Out to be, check out <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-n-out-off-menu-moment.html">my post from earlier this year</a>.<br /><a id="publishButton" class="cssButton" href="javascript:void(0)" target="" onclick="if (this.className.indexOf("ubtn-disabled") == -1) {var e = document['stuffform'].publish;(e.length) ? e[0].click() : e.click(); if (window.event) window.event.cancelBubble = true; return false;}"><div class="cssButtonOuter"><div class="cssButtonMiddle"><br /></div></div></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-67974514254101299302010-12-13T08:59:00.000-08:002010-12-13T09:08:12.929-08:00The Goofy Monday Morning Food Vid You CraveUnearthed this one from the annals of the Internet to help you manage the standard Monday morning mayhem. Cue the edible entertainment/relief.<br /><br />(Bonus points if you can guess what's going on before the end of the ad reveals it. And if you can tell me where else udders get the spooky CGI treatment.)<br /><br /><object width="400" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aD9KAb_eqes?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aD9KAb_eqes?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="385"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-30872439027926822182010-12-09T17:15:00.000-08:002010-12-12T17:57:04.272-08:00New GM, Chef at Restaurant 1833<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQF7mL_QhmI/AAAAAAAACDk/CScP44dCGRc/s1600/1833-GM-and-Chef-LR.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQF7mL_QhmI/AAAAAAAACDk/CScP44dCGRc/s320/1833-GM-and-Chef-LR.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548852111880521314" border="0" /></a>If you had to chose one word to describe <span style="font-weight: bold;">Restaurant 1833</span>, the destination restaurant that will eventually occupy the Stokes Adobe and, if plans click, a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mount Rushmore</span>-sized spot in the local eating landscape, <span style="font-style: italic;">ambitious</span> just might be it.<br /><br />After all, the place is planned to accommodate upwards of 200 in distinct spaces ranging from a apothecary-style bar area to a loungy "library" to an outdoor patio-garden concept that is reportedly morphing from a collection of secret garden-style pocket sanctuaries into a more open venue for major events. Anyone who visited <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pacific's Edge</span> while <span style="font-weight: bold;">Coastal Luxury Management</span> co-founder <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rob Weakley</span> was at the controls knows he and co-founder <span style="font-weight: bold;">David</span> "Not Afraid of a $5,000 Bottle" <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bernahl</span> have designs on a wine list that can compete with heavyweights <span style="font-weight: bold;">Marinus</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pac Edge</span>. The menu will be high concept rustic by way of humble and elegant ingredients, and I predict the cocktail program will prove as heady as either by itself.<br /><br />That's a lot. So it stands to reason that they recruit a world beater to manage the big fat multifaceted dream, and to fill the shoes of departed CLM standby and local hospitality legend <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary Obligacion</span>.<br /><br />That they did.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tobias Peach </span>already had a resume laden with foodie-seducing fruit when he stepped into his biggest gig yet in the summer of 2009. He had already opened Vegas' <span style="font-weight: bold;">Craftsteak</span> with Top Chef <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tom Colicchio</span>, turned heads as GM of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Flor de Lys</span> for another celeb chef in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hubert Keller</span>, and managed the staff at San Francisco's revered <span style="font-weight: bold;">Postrio</span> before he took that gig, but the stakes were even higher : He was not just opening a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sage</span> restaurant at the brand new, five-diamond <span style="font-weight: bold;">Aria Casino & Resort</span>, he was hiring the entire staff, ordering and receiving all the starting supplies and stocking and managing the entire beverage program.<br /><br />The result? A Best New Restaurant nomination from the <span style="font-weight: bold;">James Beard Foundation</span>—the epicurean equivalent of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Motion Picture Academy</span>'s Oscar nomination.<br /><br />His work there bodes very well for all aspects of the similarly scaled 1833. I'm particularly pumped on the beverage program after seeing what he did with absinthe for a <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Seven</span> magazine piece.<br /><span style=";font-family:";" ><o:p></o:p></span> <!--EndFragment--><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qf3Ee87gMrE?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qf3Ee87gMrE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Xania Woodman</span> is the ace nightlife reporter/"career carouser" who directed the short and has been scouring Vegas' VIP booths, wine cellars and stainless steel bars for upwards of seven years.<br /><br />"He has a spectacular food and beverage pedigree," she says. "He spent his time kind of taking a career tour of respected chefs of the world. Assuming that someone takes something with them everywhere they go—in addition to leaving something of themselves—imagine what he’s picked up. He impressed me a number of times with his beverage program. His food prowess is well known. At Fleur his absinthe cart ran over other programs. It was spectacular.<br /><br />"He’s the kind of GM that builds personal relationships with purveyors, builds rapport with distillers, spirit brand owners, that sort of thing. He was able to offer things you’re simply not able to find elsewhere."<br /><br />Hanging out with him Saturday night at a packed <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cannery Row Brewing Company</span>, I could tell from his down-to-earth demeanor that those relationships come naturally. The best news here has to be that it was Prunetucky that helped the Peninsula net one of Vegas' hottest young playmakers. He has family there who he wants to be close to while he still can, and we are the lucky bastards that get to benefit.<br /><br />He'll be joined at 1833 by Chef <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jon Mathieson</span> of Washington D.C., another big-city coup of sorts, and himself a quiet visionary.<br /><br />His <span style="font-weight: bold;">Inox</span> restaurant in the 'burbs of the capital earned him lofty praise—one columnist described the scene in the kitchen thusly: "In my line of vision I have perfect food, a gorgeous kitchen, a chef who clearly loves his job."<br /><br />Coastal Luxury Management's discovery of Mathieson involved no small amount of serendipity. He was the chef at the restaurant adjoining the offices of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Red Zone Entertainment</span>, which owns CLM partner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dick Clark Productions</span>.<br /><br />"We've never had a bad course there," Weakley says. "He just knocked it out of the park three straight times. We couldn’t be more stoked—and we're excited for Monterey."<br /><br />More on Mathieson's past menu magic and what it will mean for 1833 soon.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-37727232162985561682010-12-08T11:48:00.000-08:002010-12-08T16:17:28.507-08:00Luxe Lounge Makes an Official Grand Opening<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQAfMBz7SdI/AAAAAAAACDM/iUzCKRfeBsw/s1600/IMAG0032.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TQAfMBz7SdI/AAAAAAAACDM/iUzCKRfeBsw/s320/IMAG0032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548469032425572818" border="0" /></a><br />After a soft opening that experienced <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/11/luxe-lounge-pump-fake.html">a little hiccup</a>, <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/11/luxe-lounge-lands-in-former-docs-in.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Luxe Lounge</span></a> is making its official grand opening this Friday.<br /><br />As <span style="font-style: italic;">Weekly</span> staff writer <span style="font-weight: bold;">Walter W. Ryce</span> reports: "Luxe Lounge is open and ready to take on downtown Monterey nightlife in the former space of Doc’s Dance Lounge. Entrepreneur <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dennis Barwick</span> opened the doors of the spot, sandwiched between his <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bellagio Pizzeria</span> (643-9500) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Habanero’s Grill & Cantina </span><span>(375-3700)</span>, two weeks back. Tonight, it’s a live venue, hosting the funk, acid jazz and classic R&B of the Joint Chiefs."<br /><br />The Chiefs spark the party at 7pm. $10 cover. Call 643-1100 or 262-5656 for more.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-9969509902541845962010-12-07T07:15:00.000-08:002010-12-07T09:53:20.897-08:00Further Evidence Food Rules the WorldFood is fundamental.<br /><br />It's our culture, our identity and our obsession.<br /><br />And, now, it's ready for world domination.<br /><br />Some genius with some free time and a gift for animation put together a brief history of combat from around World War II forward. You've never experienced food like this:<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/e-yldqNkGfo?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/e-yldqNkGfo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="400"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-6121868242070085202010-12-06T06:18:00.000-08:002010-12-06T08:49:16.780-08:00Kula Ranch Dog Duty<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPxMG8YwarI/AAAAAAAACC8/Gk9ECgo05pA/s1600/DSC_0994.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPxMG8YwarI/AAAAAAAACC8/Gk9ECgo05pA/s320/DSC_0994.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547392523186498226" border="0" /></a>Marina's preeminent full service bar-restaurant has another way of getting people down to the dunes beyond the fire pits, steaks, fish tacos and ravishing Hawaiian nachos (with peanut sauce and wonton chips).<br /><br />Dogs.<br /><br />I'd bet a dog bone that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kula Ranch Island Steakhouse</span> (883-9479) marketing maven <span style="font-weight: bold;">Marci Bracco</span>, who loves her French bulldogs more than <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr. Dre</span> loves bad-ass beats, had something (read: everything) to do with this new promotion.<br /><br />"Owner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Loeffler</span> has opened the restaurants patio up to four legged friends, daily from 11:30am to closing," the hype master e-mailed. "Rain or shine, the patio offers a covered deck and fire pit for two-legged and four-legged friends to enjoy!<br /><br />"Want to make sure your dog has a treat while you are enjoying island-inspired food and Mai Tais? Loeffler has created a new dog menu. Four-legged guests can choose from a grilled chicken breast for $4 or gourmet burger (no bun) for $5. All four legged friends enjoy complimentary milk bone treats."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TP0QhixL8nI/AAAAAAAACDE/8COVUoacnfw/s1600/doggies%2521.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TP0QhixL8nI/AAAAAAAACDE/8COVUoacnfw/s320/doggies%2521.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547608484445155954" border="0" /></a>Coincidentally, Bracco just added a third pup to her tribe, which includes <span style="font-weight: bold;">Geno </span><span>(above right)</span>, who can moan the National Anthem. (The other two, from right to left, are new baby <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hugo</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lulu</span>.) She just so happens to be the one who alerted me to the new restaurant policy yesterday—and told me when I asked for a picture of her pups that the three dogs can come by the Weekly World Headquarters to sing jingle bells if we'd like.]<br /><br />In a related note, there's a huge <span style="font-weight: bold;">Patriots</span>-<span style="font-weight: bold;">Jets</span> game tonight, and KRIS's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday Night Football</span> deal continues to be one of the best in the game. Every Monday beginning at 4pm—while six flat screen HD TVs and a 4-by-6-foot big screen deliver the action—Loeffler and friends spit roast an entire pig and guests get after pulled pork rib sandwiches, double teriyaki cheese burgers, turkey sliders, teriyaki prime rib sandwich or pork and pineapple sausage sandwich, all $5 each, and Bud Light drafts, micro brew pints and margaritas and mai tais are $2, $3 and $4 each.<br /><br />Is that my stomach growling or Geno getting warmed up for another National Anthem?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712771649161410201.post-77659357251520327152010-12-05T14:17:00.000-08:002010-12-05T15:06:46.272-08:00Whalen Away: A Special Dinner and a New Gig<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPwXtnZB-gI/AAAAAAAACCs/Rx-8kABXdjs/s1600/Cauliflower%2Bsoup%2Bwith%2Bmarcona%2Balmonds.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPwXtnZB-gI/AAAAAAAACCs/Rx-8kABXdjs/s320/Cauliflower%2Bsoup%2Bwith%2Bmarcona%2Balmonds.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547334913449130498" border="0" /></a>Local toque <span style="font-weight: bold;">Michael Whalen</span> of Pacific Grove—who in addition to earning a loyal following through his <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/08/velvet-underground-inside-semi-secret.html">underground dinner series</a>, has written <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/search?q=%22Michael%20Whalen%22">a range of food-and-wine stories for the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Weekly</span></a>—has new chef duties at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Michelin</span>-starred <span style="font-weight: bold;">Plumed Horse</span> in Saratoga (408-867-4711).<br /><br />The move was in part precipitated by his collaboration with the Horse's head chef, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Peter Armellino</span>, for a recent <a href="http://ediblecomplex-mcweekly.blogspot.com/2010/08/holy-delish-dishes-batman-michelin-star.html">Red Cross benefit dinner in Pebble Beach</a>, which came on the heels of a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Harvest Carmel </span>event that further helped the chefs get familiarized with one another.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPwXtNcJghI/AAAAAAAACCk/i_gEqGxrOFM/s1600/Amuse%2Bbouche%2Btrio.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPwXtNcJghI/AAAAAAAACCk/i_gEqGxrOFM/s320/Amuse%2Bbouche%2Btrio.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547334906482885138" border="0" /></a>That does mean, however, that his latest dinner, his most ambitious and expensive ($150) yet, might be the last one for awhile. It's happening Monday, Dec. 13.<br /><br />"The menu was developed to feature all Pinot Noir pairing," Whalen says. "Unlike a normal Sunday Supper Club, where participants bring wine, I will be pulling select bottles from my personal wine cellar. As you'll see on the menu, there will be no shortage of wines."<br /><br />Here's the menu (click on it to see a bigger version). Call 805-451-6023 to learn the secret location and grab one of only a few seats available:<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPwZHxjHByI/AAAAAAAACC0/WapoEIzN0cs/s1600/Pinot%2BSSC%2Bmenu.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcCH0i-l4ko/TPwZHxjHByI/AAAAAAAACC0/WapoEIzN0cs/s320/Pinot%2BSSC%2Bmenu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547336462363985698" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com