Special Edible

Special Edible's New Home (and a Baby Monkey on the Back of a Pig)

2011-02-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

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 Happy Girl Kitchen—and went a little like this:

"WTF, bro. WTF. What's with the blog."

They thought I was lazy, or AWOL, or laying face down in a corner booth, dead from over-researching my beat.

The real truth reveals a dark side to food journalism detailed beautifully in this film about a sensitive chef with a sharp blade.

Product Placement from Cailin Yatsko on Vimeo.

Only I was not offed and eaten as retribution for bitter evaluations of an articulate and angry chef.

Special Edible never stopped, it was merely munching along in a new place found on the new Weekly website under Food Blog. 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.

In the meantime, though, in that new Food Blog slot I've unspooled an epic 36-hour loop through Big Sur and Paso Robles, posted an EcoFarm report from an actual organic farmer and listed 2011's top food events, among other palatable posts.

And wait'll you see what's coming soon: scenes from the Napa Wine Train, insider scoops from the blockbuster Clambake for a Cure 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).

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:

Hidden Gem #1 of 2010 (and Three Other Top Tucked-Away Treasures)

2011-01-12T05:32:00.000-08:00

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.

1. Viva La Crepe (601-4847)

It's not uncommon to hear small places compared to closets, but in this case, that might be a disservice to closets.

VLC rents space inside an ice cream and coffee joint that's already petite, on the first horizontal branch of Fisherman's Wharf, 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.

Owner-operators Thierry Crocquet and Daniel Peron clearly love what they’re doing. I do too—try the homemade caramel apple sweetie or the seasonal veggie with two kinds of cheese.

2. Courtside Café at Chamisal (484-1135)

Chef David Frappeia 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.

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.

3. Element Tasting Bar and Pizza Bistro (998-7045)

Buried in a strip mall next to gas station on River Road, this place bursts with familial affection, thanks to welcoming owner-operator Misty Romassa and the hardy but deferential growers and vitners from the neighboring plots who have made it their regular spot.

Massive prime ribs, tasty pizzas and excellent tastes from a solid selection of wines—featuring family label Addamo Winery—rank among the main draws.

4. Brophy’s Tavern in Carmel (624-2476)

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.

But they may not realize the man behind the quietly excellent—and still improving—menu is one of my favorite chefs anywhere, Brian Christensen, formerly of landmark Stokes Restaurant in Monterey.

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.

Zmak Some Sense Into You

2011-01-11T07:40:00.000-08:00

Maybe you are like me. Not so bright.

It took my remedial self repeat visits to Marina—to the largest ginger purveyor in the world, The Ginger People, to the under-appreciated Italian hideout Frutti de Mar, to new addition Noodle Bar, to always good D'Anna Thai and city standby Dishes Bistro—to actively remember that Marina is an excellent destination for lunch and dinner.

A big contributor to that shift in understanding wasn't word that Tommy's has $1 breakfasts or insider knowledge that Kula Ranch claims some of the best sports-watching specials (and dog menus), though they do. It was the International Flavors of Marina annual event. The party's a bargain, and always leaves my belly stuffed with well-crafted snacks and my pockets stuffed with business cards.

I test drove Mayor Bruce Delgado's electric car at the last one. Soon after, Delgado charged up an effort to better announce those flavors with signs and promotions during the U.S. Open, which helped score a sizeable boom in restaurant business.

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.

Ten restaurants are involved in the sophomore run. I asked longtime champion of Marina, event chair and Chamber of Commerce player Tina Zmak 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 Steve and Susan and Jay Boettner.

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.

Here are Zmak's favorite ways to enjoy 10 top Marina spots:

Coffee Mia Brew Bar
Caprese gourmet panini (tomato, mozzarella and basil w/ pesto on green onion focaccia) and a cannoli for dessert

El Palmar
Two sopes with guacamole (a vegetarian special)

English Ales Brewery
Fish and chips with a Black Hound Stout

Everyone’s Harvest Marina Farmers Market
Anything fresh and organic!

Francisco’s
Clam chowder in a bread bowl and Francisco's enchilada (with chicken)

Kula Ranch Island Steakhouse
Fire-roasted artichokes appetizer and certified Angus filet mignon

Marina Village Restaurant
Everyday breakfast special (two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages and choice of pancakes, French toast or rice for only $5.75)

Michael’s Grill & Taqueria
House burrito (charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, rice, cheese)

The Otter’s Den
Wine Down Wednesday complimentary assortment of cheeses when you order a glass of wine

Wild Thyme Deli & Cafe
Greek salad served with hummus and pita chips

CRBC: Suddenly a Music Venue Too

2011-01-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

Cannery Row Brewing Company had the liveliest dance floors the Row has seen outside of Sly's, Bullwackers and Blue Fin in some time on New Year's Eve thanks to a friend and colleague of mine, DJ Hanif Wondir.

Now they're going even bigger, with a late-breaking show booked by Joe Fletcher, the local promoter whose biggest coup was his Roots-Michael Franti-Cake-led Monterey Music Summit.

After a Friday show at the Monterey Maritime Museum, Los Angeles-based Morgan Nagler of Whispertown, the Heartstring Symphony, and Jake Bellows of Neva Dinova decided to stick around for an encore, as Weekly scribe Sarah Rubin describes with a recent news flash.

Should be interesting to see how the singer-songwriter fans mingle with the BCS Championship Game crowd.

Best part: The 8pm show is free.

A Look Back at 2010: Most Missed Departures

2011-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Plenty of restaurants famously fold up their tableclothes every year, let alone in years when disposable income is in the garbage disposal.

Monterey County saw a typical wave of turnover in certain spots that can't seem to retain any venture, like the Mucky Duck-adjacent space when Karma Cafe came and went (in the wake of a flopped sushi joint and a surrendering French outpost)—though the most recent occupant, Cabo Blue Taco Shack, makes a mean and authentic torta (more on that soon).

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.

7. Rancho Cellars and Cepage Deli
This Carmel Crossroads standby didn't evaporate for lack of traffic or the acidic economy, but because the building’s owners sold. Jacques Melac and chef-wife Janet, who ran the Cepages Deli 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 Fifi's and Jacques is helping run the show at Cannery Row Brewing Company before he jumps ship for Pacific's Edge.

6. Lattitudes
Tene Shake 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.

5. Amarin Thai
Though this sucker sat on arguably the most trafficked corner of the county—across from the Aquarium—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.

4. Monterey County Herald local food coverage
People understandably think that I'd be stoked that the Herald's beheaded its food coverage. Not so much. There is so much good stuff that deserves attention there's no way we at the Weekly can spotlight it all. Plus, Mike Hale and Melissa Snyder of "He Said She Said" are insightful, intuitive writers. My colleague and longtime local food critic Ray Napolitano 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."

3. Zocalo
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 Weekly food writer Ulia Zettie details in this week's review.

2. Clementine's Kitchen
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.

1. Tastes Like Chicken Ranch
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 Jim Dunlop, an ALBA alum, wasn't shy about pointing out the land-access and meat-processing problems with said system, as I detailed with a post this fall.

Monterey Cookhouse Owner Earns Nice Nod

2011-01-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Monterey Cookhouse's (642-9900) supremely welcoming owner-operator Linda Cantrell (above) received a much-deserved honor the other day with the inaugural John "Spud" Spadaro award, named for the late iconic owner-chef behind longtime Salinas institution Spado's.

This plaque honoring her achievement will appear on the wall from here on. Longtime industry vet Johnny Aliotti 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.

"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."

Eat Like a "Web Superstar"

2011-01-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Fame is often just a detail or two away.

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.

Seriously. Local semi-celeb and Cachagua resident Kevin Klein, who has appeared on Comedy Central and at scores of national events as a George W. Bush impersonator, told me he was discovered skiing around at Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe. What if he went to Heavenly that day?

Snappy Shelly Steinbeck, an African leopard tortoise who lives at Salinas Public Library, is now a bone fied superstar: The webcam that tracks his snacking and napping 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.

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 Valerie Henderson. He even chows native weeds like wild dandelion.

"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."

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:

He's well-connected.
"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."

He's an intellectual.
The guy's always hanging out at the library, after all. "Snappy’s very smart," Henderson says.

He's on message.
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 Gabriel Xavier Morales, 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."

He's a political playmaker.
"I don’t know if Snappy can run for mayor," Henderson says. "But [Salinas Mayor] Dennis Donohue 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."

Taking the Leap: An Inspiring 2010

2011-01-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

The apparently sauced knucklehead in the Jimmy Buffet t-shirt jumping off Bixby Bridge in front of an objecting CHP officer has to rank among the most striking single moments of 2010 in Monterey County.

But it's a cumulative accomplishment from our culinary community that is much more striking, if not downright inspiring.

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.

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 Weekly and in this space, with a blog that also found its start in 2010:

Happy Girl Farms (372-GIRL) is suddenly making preservation and pickling sexy again in P.G.

Seaside Farmers Market (3-8pm Mondays in University Plaza) got fresh across town.

In Marina, Noodle Bar 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 Chopstix (899-2622), packing enough people in to earn itself another outpost, coming very soon across from Del Monte Center.

Element Tasting Bar and Pizza Bistro (998-7045) made a name for itself on River Road.

Not far from there, Rancho Cielo, landmark vocational educational center for troubled kids who need a new take on troubled life, added Drummond Culinary Academy with the crucial aid of a number of excellent local chefs.

Bellagio Pizzeria (643-9500), Habanero’s (375-3700) and Luxe Lounge, meanwhile, filled in where Croce's and Doc's once reigned in downtown Monterey.

Sakana Sushi (375-7375) is newly doing clever maki around the corner from there.

MYO number two (649-FROY) is bustling just up Alvarado.

Flanagan’s Irish-American Pub (625-5500) gives Carmel's Barnyard a much-needed watering hole (and the best fries this side of Maryland), Michael’s Taqueria (754-8917) is uplifting Oldtown Salinas, and much-ballyhooed Cannery Row Brewing Company gives Cannery Row and the wider Peninsula nothing less than a game-changer.

Miss Delish (612-1884) rode farmers market acclaim to a storefront on Lighthouse. Former Duffy Hunter's Tavern owners opened up Down Under Deli (625-DELI) in Mid-Valley.

Pastries and Petals (620-1400) does ambiance, style, savory and sweet on an off-beat street in Carmel while Babaloo Cuban Cuisine provides our first real food truck with pick-up.

The homegrown Bakery Station (783-1140) transformed a dilapidated gas station into a hub of fresh-daily creations.

KT’s Sweet Lunch (214-7465) now redefines the delivered business lunch as healthy, easy and affordable.

Even in a Valley with standouts like the Wagon Wheel, new French countryside-style Toast Carmel Valley (659-8500) can make a claim to best breakfast—and lunch and dinner ain't bad either.

Elsewhere in the Valley, Tim Wood is ushering in a new era of eating at Carmel Valley Ranch's Lodge (625-9500) and beyond.

The Otters Den (883-1227) is totally repimped in Marina, huge news for the college crew.

Monterey Bay Salt Company (760-6993) got grinding with help from Pebble Beach Food & Wine connections.

Tiny Viva La Crepe (601-4847) raised the bar for French flavor on the Wharf, of all places.

The inspiration also emanates from the vital rebirths happening in time-honored spots, with The Penny Farthing Tavern (422-5652), Pajaro Street Grill (783-1285) and Fresh Cream Restaurant (250-7943) ranking near the top. Terranova Fine Wines (333-1313) also enjoyed a second coming with upgraded technology and ambiance.

We're lucky to have them. Here's to all of 'em for taking the jump.

Cannery Row Animal

2010-12-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

The coolest thing on Cannery Row isn’t the Forrest Gump haircut on the look alike guy or the pygmy seahorses.

It’s the mechanical bull El Mariachi Restaurant (324-4953) has in its dining room. I went in the other night for some Monday Night Football 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.

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.

Breakthrough Technology Alert: Beer Taps at Your Table

2010-12-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Though the Niners stink like a Porta Potty in the sun, there are some good things going on this football season. Like the redone Knuckles’ (372-1234) menu—Kobe beef mini dogs! California cheese steaks with sun-dried tomatoes and avocado!—and their tableside tap service, aka the Table Tender.

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
Kona Longboard or Coors Light rather than tackling a waiter. It bills by the ounce.

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.

Standing record for a day, I’m told by 20-year vet Cindy the Superserver (seen here demo-ing the spout), is 1,300-plus ounces, which are tracked by the little digital monitor in the wall.

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.”

The Mucky Duck's Deal of the Year

2010-12-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

The one and only Mucky Duck (655-3031), where the food is underrated and Jean 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.

They celebrated the holidays by extending the deal to the whole week. The last day is this Thursday. That means half-price nachos....

...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.

You know what to do.

Feeding the Need

2010-12-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Angels live among us.

Evidence—extensive evidence—lingers no further than the ever inspiring Monterey County Gives! website, which profiles the scores of local nonprofits participating in
the Monterey County Weekly Community Fund's annual fund-raising push.

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.

Ag Against Hunger 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.

“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 Lindsay Coate told me last week. "That’s a staggering amount of people."

Much of their goods go to Food Bank for Monterey County, which leverages every dollar donated into seven pounds of food for the neediest bellies in town.

Donating to these do-gooders, or any of the many assembled on the Gives! website, is easy. I picked five of my favorites to give to and completed the donation in about two minutes.

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 Weekly is adding $100,000 in donations to match reader giving.

A Christmas Gift For You: Three Rockstar Recipes

2010-12-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

You can't spell celebration without e, a and t. To honor the holiday spirit of generosity and good eatin', three standout chefs from the Sardine Factory, the Preserve and Domenico's/Cafe Fina have shared unique and uniquely delectable dishes with Special Edible readers.

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.

Calamari Puff Lollipops
Bert Cutino
Sardine Factory

Serves 8

2 ½ lbs cleaned squid, filet only
½ medium onion, chopped
1 egg
1 parsley, chopped
1 bunch green onion, finely chopped
½ tablespoon granulated garlic
¼ cup cracker meal
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon salt and pepper
oil to fry

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.

"We’ve been eating crab at my Nana’s on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve every year since I was born,” says Dominic Mercurio, owner of Café Fina and Domenico’s on the Wharf.

Mercurio gets King Crab for his restaurants directly from the F/V Time Bandit, made famous on the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch.

“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.

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.

Nana’s Sicilian Salad-style Dungeness crab recipe
Domenic Mercurio
Cafe Fine • Domenico's

¾ cup of extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
¼ cup of chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

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.

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.

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.

Candy Cap Blondies
Carlton Lepine
Santa Lucia Preserve

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar firmly packed
 1 cup unsalted butter
¼ cup candy cap mushroom, dried, ground fine  
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
 ½ teaspoon salt  
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish.
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.
In another medium bowl, whisk the Candy Cap mushrooms, flour, baking soda and salt together.
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.
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.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Invert onto a rack and cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

The Bacon Revolution Is Just Beginning

2010-12-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

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.

"Bacon is our god," she says. "We are worshiping our pork-belly master."

Or maybe you're like me. I was attacking bacon-wrapped dogs from L.A. food carts before Tonya Harding's goons were attacking Nancy Kerrigan'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. (The little baller's name was Shrimp Papagayo.)

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 Bacon Hot Sauce, ordered some online and blew through two bottles ($14.99/three-pack; check out www.baconhotsauce.com).

But as cooks began chicken-frying bacon in Snook, Texas (check out the above vid), bakers started stuffing it in scones, Whole Foods kept slanging chocolate-bacon candy bars...

and YouTube freaks went on greasing us with videos on candy bacon (above) or weaving bacon into whole blankets, I figured we were approaching reached a saturation point.

Nope.

Now you can give your baby My First Bacon 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.

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.

ThinkGeek is the brains behind the bacon. Check out their "stuff for smart masses" website for more.

Did someone say best Christmas gift ever?

Adventures of Crab Santa

2010-12-20T12:09:00.000-08:00

Last week insider sources tipped me off to a cracking deal on fresh crab. So I promptly appeared on Wharf Two Friday afternoon to pick up 11 from a lady fisherman named DeLay.

Jane DeLay ain't your average crabber. A dancer and former executive director of the Forest Theater Guild, she normally spends her time studying to be a nurse at MPC, working at the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation and serving Greek grub at Episilon in Monterey. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't give it all up, as she did in taking a month off.

"I'd fish full-time," she says, "but with all the shortened seasons, that's not the reality."

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.

She calls herself the crew of the operation; Nellie here is security detail when they get back to shore.

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.

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:

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.

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.

She bagged my babies and I took to delivering to fridges around the Peninsula.

Crab Santa struck twice.

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.

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.

Fresh and sweet, simple and sublime. 'Tis the (crab) season.

Way Cooler Than Keanu Reeves

2010-12-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

Leo might be "the one" to save us from The Meatrix.

Or maybe not.

Take the red pill and find out.

If you found that swine in sunglasses as undeniable as I did, the sequels await:

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 easy and practical avenues to eating more consciously, including a pretty handy guide to help people find good food sources.

Better yet, they make effective elements for teachers to use with students, as they do at the MEarth Hilton Bialek Habitat in Carmel.

Onward with the revolution.

Channeling Christopher Walken and Other Tim Wood Goods

2010-12-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

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)—Carmel Valley Ranch Executive Chef Tim Wood showed what he can do mighty well. (Read more about the new Carmel Valley Ranch experience and ownership in this week's issue, including a companion piece by yours truly about the restaurant's revival.)

We grazed on Wood's Black Angus sliders with New York cheddar and red pepper jelly, Swank Farms organic beet salad with shaved fennel and olive oil croutons, delicious lox and latkes (it was Hannukah, after all)...

...and a double-stuffed profiterole that had me reconsidering my long-held suspicion of them.

Captivating tastes, all. But it was his commentary that captivated us the most.

He riffed on growing up in the Catskills, the intense types he worked for in New York at spots like Manhattan's Butterfield 81, the early days with Cal Stamenov and Christophe Grosjean at Bernardus' beginning, dropping in impressions of bosses and colleagues as he went.

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 "Earrings" (for his huge lobewear) master a sauce with notable clarity and cool...

...then through a backstage demo kitchen adjoining a ballroom. He's already scheming some inspired Iron Chef-style events.

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 Christopher Walken.

"I'm like the Christopher Walken of chefs," he says. "I don't use punctuation."

Here's hoping Wood can dance like C.W. too:

Alberto's Celebrity-Quality Italian Crowns P.G.

2010-12-15T02:46:00.000-08:00

Richard Nixon and I never had much in common. With the help of one of the most memorable personalities in Pagrovia, that has changed.

The other night at Alberto's (373-3993) at the top of Forest Hill, Alberto Bonatelli made a pal and I the same veal scallopini piccata he prepped for ol' Tricky Dick.

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.

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.

And homemade basil-cello was as good as it sounds.

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.

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 Yellowpages.

He and his Orsini Restaurant 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 Frank Sinatra. Rubbing aprons with Nixon and a number of other heads of state. Neil Diamond'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.

Check out this article (click on it to make it bigger) for a taste of his celebrity cred/obsession:

Lightly legendary local food expert Ray Napolitano, my Weekly colleague going on about half a decade, is the one who mandated I visit. I asked him what he thinks differentiates Bonatelli.

"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.]

"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."

For my part, as I left for a starlight hike through neighboring Del Monte Forest 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. Joe Rombi’s (373-2416) deserves a nomination, but is a little fancier and spendier. Peppoli (647-7500) is incredible but even more expensive, even by Pebble Beach standards. Gino’s (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. Cantinetta Luca (625-6500) does modern-hip Italian with aplomb, but tends more toward Cali-Itali fusion than classic fare.

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.

Because It's Not a Road Trip Without In N Out

2010-12-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

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 In N Out.

A recent visit inspired me to contact In N Out headquarters to get the real deal on the off-the-menu items 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.

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).

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).

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"?

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.

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.

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.

For more on the secret menu and developments at the Seaside In N Out to be, check out my post from earlier this year.

The Goofy Monday Morning Food Vid You Crave

2010-12-13T08:59:00.000-08:00

Unearthed this one from the annals of the Internet to help you manage the standard Monday morning mayhem. Cue the edible entertainment/relief.

(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.)

New GM, Chef at Restaurant 1833

2010-12-09T17:15:00.000-08:00

If you had to chose one word to describe Restaurant 1833, the destination restaurant that will eventually occupy the Stokes Adobe and, if plans click, a Mount Rushmore-sized spot in the local eating landscape, ambitious just might be it.

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 Pacific's Edge while Coastal Luxury Management co-founder Rob Weakley was at the controls knows he and co-founder David "Not Afraid of a $5,000 Bottle" Bernahl have designs on a wine list that can compete with heavyweights Marinus and Pac Edge. 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.

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 Gary Obligacion.

That they did.

Tobias Peach 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' Craftsteak with Top Chef Tom Colicchio, turned heads as GM of Flor de Lys for another celeb chef in Hubert Keller, and managed the staff at San Francisco's revered Postrio before he took that gig, but the stakes were even higher : He was not just opening a Sage restaurant at the brand new, five-diamond Aria Casino & Resort, he was hiring the entire staff, ordering and receiving all the starting supplies and stocking and managing the entire beverage program.

The result? A Best New Restaurant nomination from the James Beard Foundation—the epicurean equivalent of the Motion Picture Academy's Oscar nomination.

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 Seven magazine piece.

Xania Woodman 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.

"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.

"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."

Hanging out with him Saturday night at a packed Cannery Row Brewing Company, 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.

He'll be joined at 1833 by Chef Jon Mathieson of Washington D.C., another big-city coup of sorts, and himself a quiet visionary.

His Inox 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."

Coastal Luxury Management's discovery of Mathieson involved no small amount of serendipity. He was the chef at the restaurant adjoining the offices of Red Zone Entertainment, which owns CLM partner Dick Clark Productions.

"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."

More on Mathieson's past menu magic and what it will mean for 1833 soon.

Luxe Lounge Makes an Official Grand Opening

2010-12-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

After a soft opening that experienced a little hiccup, Luxe Lounge is making its official grand opening this Friday.

As Weekly staff writer Walter W. Ryce reports: "Luxe Lounge is open and ready to take on downtown Monterey nightlife in the former space of Doc’s Dance Lounge. Entrepreneur Dennis Barwick opened the doors of the spot, sandwiched between his Bellagio Pizzeria (643-9500) and Habanero’s Grill & Cantina (375-3700), two weeks back. Tonight, it’s a live venue, hosting the funk, acid jazz and classic R&B of the Joint Chiefs."

The Chiefs spark the party at 7pm. $10 cover. Call 643-1100 or 262-5656 for more.

Further Evidence Food Rules the World

2010-12-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

Food is fundamental.

It's our culture, our identity and our obsession.

And, now, it's ready for world domination.

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:

Kula Ranch Dog Duty

2010-12-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

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).

Dogs.

I'd bet a dog bone that Kula Ranch Island Steakhouse (883-9479) marketing maven Marci Bracco, who loves her French bulldogs more than Dr. Dre loves bad-ass beats, had something (read: everything) to do with this new promotion.

"Owner Joe Loeffler 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!

"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."

Coincidentally, Bracco just added a third pup to her tribe, which includes Geno (above right), who can moan the National Anthem. (The other two, from right to left, are new baby Hugo and Lulu.) 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.]

In a related note, there's a huge Patriots-Jets game tonight, and KRIS's Monday Night Football 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.

Is that my stomach growling or Geno getting warmed up for another National Anthem?

Whalen Away: A Special Dinner and a New Gig

2010-12-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

Local toque Michael Whalen of Pacific Grove—who in addition to earning a loyal following through his underground dinner series, has written a range of food-and-wine stories for the Weekly—has new chef duties at Michelin-starred Plumed Horse in Saratoga (408-867-4711).

The move was in part precipitated by his collaboration with the Horse's head chef, Peter Armellino, for a recent Red Cross benefit dinner in Pebble Beach, which came on the heels of a Harvest Carmel event that further helped the chefs get familiarized with one another.

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.

"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."

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:

Wine Bar Rebirth in Downtown Monterey

2010-12-03T17:29:00.001-08:00

Terranova Fine Wines (333-1313) is back.

And, in a word, better.

They now offer over 30 wines at a time in self-service pours of 1, 3 and 5 ounces, with prices differing depending on the size and the provenance of the bottle (the 1 ounce servings run $1 to $2.20; 5-ouncers go $5 to $14). You get a little card, pad it with what you want to spend, pop it in the slot at the red wine island (pictured above) or white wine wall panel (below), it deducts the amount and the automated dispenser pours your juice.

The wines for sale include everything from white Bordeaux to Pessagno Pinot. Old World and New World in your modern goblet.

Meanwhile, it’s a $5 fee for five tastes of Richard Oh's Otter Cove Pinots, Syrahs, Merlots and Chardonnays (his premium Pinot is very good—though the reserve flight's $8 for seven tastes) at the bar, which gets waived with any purchase of a bottle ($16.50-$45).

Jeff Alexander, seen here demonstrating the tasty technology, is the manager. He collaborates with owner Kelli Gillam to curate the wine selection. "Most of the wine is California wines," he says. "We'd like to be known for California wines. The vast majority of the California wines are boutique wines." Think Boëte, Joyce and McIntyre.

The values look good. As Alexander says, "Our price is the same you'll on the winery's own website or a little bit less."

The three flat screen TVs and comfy chairs tip the idea that this is intended to be more a hang-out than a house of overly refined sniffing. Lallapalooza delivers quesadillas, oysters, seared ahi and a variety of pizzas through a little partnership—Alexander says it takes 15 minutes. A handful of bottle beers like England's Samuiel Smith and all three Chimay labels plus a pair of French beers served in corked 750-milliliter bottles, plus Heineken and Shock Top suspects.

The joint's open daily noon to 8pm (or until foot traffic stops) and Sunday until 6pm. Don't be an ass, raise a glass.

Free Parking for the People

2010-12-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

About a week back I mentioned my new favorite Frenchie joint, Viva La Crepe on Fisherman’s Wharf; the week before I spotlighted the benefit Domenico’s and Cafe Fina are doing in conjunction with the area business collaborative/Custom Plaza ice rink: Bring a ticket stub from the ice action and gain a chance to donate a chunk of the check to local schools who need it.

Both are all the more attractive because parking is free for two hours at the adjacent city parking lots with local ID—local meaning anywhere in the county—and parking garage spots remains free after 4pm for locals down by Cannery Row, though I think folks need to show a zip that starts with 939 (just get back before the attendant leaves or you have to go to the city parking office near Montrio to avoid paying)…

A Beer for the White Trash Working Class Soul in All of Us (or at Least Me)

2010-12-01T05:47:00.000-08:00

The enclosed box pictured above has a handle. It also has five Mexican beers and a 5-ounce glass bottle of Mexican-made tequila inside: Five beers and five shots. And it can be yours—or a pre-wrapped Christmas-colored gift for a friend?—at just $10.99.

Oh yes.

But these, my friends, are just three of roughly 13 reasons why I heart the new Blanco Basura 5-and-5 pack.

We might as well run through the others now.

• Its creator, Scott D. Gold, lives just across the bay in Santa Cruz. The Cruz's own W.T. Imports handles the importing side of the equation.

• There is also a whiskey edition.

• "Blanco Basura" is remedial Spanish for "White Trash." Beneath the emblem: "Welcome to the working class."

• The box also includes a shot glass (which, like the pudgy lil' tequila bottle, is also made of glass, not plastic).

• Gold has a mission statement of sorts printed on the side of the box.

"Blanco Basura is bad Spanish for 'White Trash' and we don't care," Gold writes. "We do care about giving you a quality drink at a blue collar price. I used to pick up a six-pack of beer and a pint of tequila, it pissed me off that it cost 20 bucks, that's why I developed the Blanco Basura five-pack. Five beers with a crisp, clean flavor. Five shots of premium* gold tequila or aged Kentucky bourbon. One commemorative shot glass. That's what I drink, and I'm proud to share it with you."

*Note: I don't know if I'd call the tequila "premium," but it's a close enough approximation to Jose Cuervo, probably a tick cleaner and lighter. You could say the same thing about the beer and Tecate—comparable, with BB's coming off a little more drinkable.

• Gold told me that the most he's taken down is three in a night. As in three boxes. "But that’s all night," he says. "Going out, strip clubs, starting at 7[pm] and going to 6 in the morning. You’d drink three too."

• The emblem on the box and the beers—and at the bottom of the shot glass—is of a three-legged dog. Turns out it's the silhouette of his late pal Isabel, a brindled pit bull who lost her leg chasing a van through unincorporated Live Oak and getting caught under the wheel.

• On the inside flaps is a picture of Gold and an invitation to party with him as part of the Blanco Basura Army. A 20 spot nets a T-shirt, a hat, stickers and VIP status at I'm not exactly sure what.

• Another part of the flap has a comic strip called "Las Aventuras de El Güero Culero," which I'm not prepared to translate here, that steers people to the BB website.

• Star Market (422-3961) in Salinas carries it, and Couch distributes it. According to Star manager/beer purchaser Chris Reyes, the cases are moving "OK" off of shelves, and the Blanco Basura six packs are a decent value by themselves at $5.99.

• Gold calls someone who can finish five beers and five shots in five minutes a five-star general. ("We can't promote that, though," he says.) I call him John Belushi.

• Lots of time spent at his grandparents' place in Baja inspired the Mexican heritage of his sauce. He says he had to buy a small fraction of the third biggest beer factory in Mexico to license what he calls it "the original beer of Mexico." Primary owner and partner Federico Cabo also distills the tequila. (Gold is proud to report that his is the only brewery of the top three, including Heineken's Tecate plant—which happens to set up shop in the same Tecate town as his—and Budweiser's Modelo, that is Mexican-owned.)

• Blanco Basura scored a victory in the courts over Budweiser to patent the "5-pack" idea so central to their atypical marketing. "We had to fight it out," Gold says. "It was a scary time. It would've been the end of the American Dream if Bud won."

• Gold is heavy into racing, and sponsorships are a big part of the nascent company. He and his race partners and friends do everything from off-road to NASCAR to 24-hour women's races. Next year BB plans to be all over the U.S. sponsoring tracks and racers.

• Gold previously worked as a contractor—and as a Capitola cop.

Let's Get Festive: Five Notable December Events

2010-11-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Maybe you just wish—just once—Santa would drop a bowl of Cal Stamenov's white truffle risotto in your stocking. Or that Hanukah could be eight nights of fine añejo tequila tastings.

That may not happen, but some character rich holiday time activities will. They do make good gifts—after all, studies have shown experiences are much more rewarding than material things over time.

Here are a look at some upcoming events that caught my eye.

Thursday, Dec. 2: Intercontinental-Piper Champagne Dinner

Get in good with a great chef and you might be surprised how much he or she finds Champagne an under-appreciated power in food pairing—bubbly goes beautifully with far more than caviar and raspberries.

Tonight guests see what they mean. And with gusto, given the two parties doing the pairing, namely C Restaurant Executive Chef Jerry Regester and Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Ambassador John King. GM Sonny Petersson’s orchestrated another seductive one here.

A quick teaser: Nantucket scallop ceviche with Piper Sonoma Brut; lightly smoked arctic char with
Piper-Heidsieck Brut, NV; and thyme-roasted duck breast with Piper-Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage.
A taste of King of Cognacs in our Louis XIII Lounge follows the seriously celebratory affair. Seating goes 5:30-9:30pm, $95++, 375-4800.

Friday, Dec. 3: Aquarium Members' Holiday Dinner

The best 2010 Halloween costume of the county had to be my friend and local artist Amanda Burkman's homemade leafy sea dragon get-up. As she tires of me begging her to put it on, here comes a welcome work around: epicurean inspiration to get by the Aquarium to look at her little cousins while testing the new foodie waters astir with the arrival of fresh star "culinary partner"/food director Cindy Pawlcyn and exec chef Jeff Rogers.

The Aquarium hosts its Members' Holiday Dinner featuring Pawlcyn's farm-to-table style and Rogers' favorite food sources, with seatings at 6 and 7pm. $36/adult; $15/under 12, (866) 963-9645.

Saturday, Dec. 4: Beatles Tribute Day

Steve Jobs ain't the only dude with the hots for the Beatles these days. Gary Ozuna's been goofy for 'em long before they reached iTunes, but he's celebrating the historic democratization of the Fab Four with a tribute day that includes a free "mop top topping"—25 all told—on ice cream orders at his Beatles and Classic Rock Museum and Memorabilia Ice Cream and Coffee Shoppe (642-9789) in P.G.

The day will feature a chance to hear alternate takes and special recordings from obscure sessions. Check out the old-school milkshake machines while you're there, maybe taste some egg nog ice cream, one of dozens of Lappert's Ice Cream flavors. 1-10pm, free admission.

Monday, Dec. 6: Lopez Restaurante Tequila Tasting Event

The family of brothers behind Lopez aren't going to win any regional awards for the ambiance at their windowless downtown Monterey destination, but their Mama Chela conjures some mean mole sauces and her kids know how to assemble a serious cavalry of nice tequilas—I think they have 100 at their bar already.

That makes this tasting a pretty good looking deal at $15 (in advance). Maestro Dobel, Donna Linda, 1800, Asombroso and Azcona Azul will roll out everything from diamond blends to expertly aged añejos, while Chela sends signature appetizers from the kitchen and the casual camaraderie that is a hallmark of the family presides. 6-10pm, $15/presale, $20/at the door, 324-4260.

(In other news, the Lopez dudes took over the former Casa Bodega just across Del Monte from Wharf Two, and are adding their tasty Mexican grub to the popular sandwich lineup. I went by the other day; more on that soon.)

Friday, Dec. 10: 14th Annual Truffle Dinner at Marinus

Bernardus revisits its seasonal sensation, the annual truffle dinner. The math on this one is easy: The world's most precious food-stuff + Cal Stamenov = sold out every year (despite the spendy sticker price), so get moving.

A 6:30pm cocktail reception with champagne and Sobieski-black truffle martinis precedes a six-course truffle tasting menu paired with wines hand plucked by Mark Jensen. (And the following Saturday there's a chocolates and desserts cooking demo and tasting 1-3pm with stud pastry guy Ben Spungin for $85 inclusive. Looks like an epic excuse to stay the night.) Friday, Dec. 10, $500++, 658-3550.

Fight For Your Right to Big Mac

2010-11-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

Apparently a new cry has supplanted the "Know your farmer!" refrain or the "Keep your crazy hormones out of my meat!" mantra:

"Don't let them take away your McRib!"

Sigh. So it goes with our reactionary, polarized and unnecessarily politicized society. Now the Sarah Palins and Rush Limbaughs of the world are attacking smart and healthy food policy as "lies" and elitist propoganda.

With today's article about the trend, though, the Washington Post's Brent Cunningham and Jane Black—last seen locally at Cooking for Solutions—wisely point out that while the right's argument that Twinkies are healthier than we think (Limbaugh) and rises in meat prices are part of a lefty conspiracy to turn us into vegetarians (Glenn Beck) might be "wrong-headed," there is a growing culture gap that bears monitoring and addressing.

The gap, which in part recasts a nutrition-based approach to healthy eating as a debate between wholesome food-eating elitists and budget-constrained everymen, is as dangerous as obesity. Just take a peek at the gridlock that's resulted from the false conversation over climate change. With ourselves and the environment, we can't choose to think the existing ailments have nothing to do with what we're feeding into the system.

It's also vital, even and especially considering prices like Whole Food's, to keep the debate focused on what's most valuable and cost effective all told (as the article points out, obesity-related disease costs a cool $150 billion annually) and not what's cheapest right now ($2.59 McRib), and even more important to fuel food-stamp system implementation at farmers markets whenever possible.

And as the authors are figuring out, with some planning, quality foodstuffs aren't cost prohibitive in the least—about the cost of a McRib, by their calculations.

The article's worth checking out. There's a reason it's been e-mailed more than any other Post piece on this Monday.

Cannery Row Brewing Company's New Deal

2010-11-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

Like its parent company Coastal Luxury Management, Cannery Row Brewing Company (643-CRBC) has a lot fermenting at once. On a recent Monday night they had a full bar tuned in to the NFL game, diners swung through for a special Monterey Restaurant Week menu and a lively 30th birthday party for Sierra Nevada—remember when they touched off the craftbrew revolution?—happening on the patio.

There's more where that came from.

A debut happy hour is in place now that the initial honeymoon surge and summer crowds have filtered away: select drafts and spirits and snacks are half off 3-6pm weekdays.

On Sunday there's a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar with premium pours like 42 Below Vodka, El Jimador Tequila and Bombay Gin for $6, mimosas for $4 and $1 off a range of draft beers.

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" includes a strong brunch menu with items ranging from the Red Zone Burrito (pulled pork, chili verde, potatoes, cheddar cheese, refried beans and pico de gallo, $9.95) to the "Hamms & Eggs" (scrambled huevos, bacon, potatoes and an ice-cold can of Hamm's, $11.95).

Discount deals equal happy locals.

And in other CRBC news, the corporate CLM team, fresh off a team retreat to the American Music Awards in L.A., is about ready to move into their minty new polished-cement-and-exposed-brick corporate office upstairs.

Their resident mascot, friend and porkchop pal, Bacon the teacup pot-bellied pig, will not be joining them. She has packed on 20 pounds and been relocated to another assignment, not for lack of resident affection, but out of traditional workplace practicality.

"We all loved the pig," CLM co-founder David Bernahl says, "but I had to be the bad guy after it got a little crazy—I'm on a conference call with the president of American Express Publishing and there's this squealing going on.

"He's like, 'Where the heck are you?'"

The biggest news of the moment, though, is yet to go public: Fresh off founding GM Gary Obligacion's farewell, CLM's importing top talent from Las Vegas and D.C. to supplant Obligacion and former Restaurant 1833 chef Tim Mosblech.

The opening of the restaurant still appears weeks, and maybe months, off: A planned American Institute of Wine and Food event there in early December was moved to the Sardine Factory.

More soon as things keep brewing.

Hopefully Your Thanksgiving Is a Little More Promising Than This

2010-11-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

The scorpion-snake liquor I bought in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City is professed to have healing powers.

In my kitchen, however, it seemed to only have the power to turn my friends' faces into dried apples.

Hey, scorpions aren't for everyone. But some people love nothing better than a good scorp or cockroach or centipede or tarantula on their plate.

Like these freaks, for instance:

If you haven't arranged your own holiday grubdown, I have good news: You won't have to resort to mining the garage for cockroach protein.

Arguably the best local blog going, the Monterey County Visitors and Conventions Bureau's See Monterey, has your back. That's where Nicole Gustas put together a nice rundown of eating out options for Turkey Day.

The best value I've seen so far might be from Exec Chef Mark Ayers at Cannery Row Brewing Company (643-CRBC). Just $24.99 for a choice between pumpkin soup, squash raviolis in brown butter or a grilled Caesar; your pick between a five-hour smoked prime rib or a beer- and apple cider-brined, seven-hour smoked Diestel turkey and a bunch of sides like homemade cornbread stuffing, double butter smashed potatoes, brown sugar candied and roasted carrots, roasted Brussels sprouts with doublecut bacon and pearl onions and pumpkin pie with brown sugar almond brittle crust.

Might merit a pilgrimage.

A Tiny Place for Great Crepes

2010-11-23T07:31:00.000-08:00

Chef conversation floated about the closet-sized kitchen in fluid French. (Yes, that's the kitchen.)

Autumnal sun lightly baked customers eating al fresco along the sea. Authentic buckwheat crepe batter sizzled, its savory scent all sensorial seduction.

It was Friday afternoon. On Fisherman’s Wharf front deck. At a semi-hidden new place—tucked inside an ice cream-coffee shop—called Vive La Crepe (601-4847).

One of the chefs, Thierry Crocquet (above), is a recovering tile contractor.

“I work twice as much and make half as much,” he says. “But I’m 10 times as happy.”

He’s also the undercover Frenchie of the two principals—even though he’s the one born across the pond and can speak fluently, Crocquet has no detectable accent.

Daniel Peron (above), meanwhile, has a distinct French lilt, but was born in New York City to Brittany-born parents.

Make no mistake, though. Both have Old World flavor beyond the imported striped French shirts and berets. They know what they are doing, as foodie citizens and industry pros alike—including spies from other creperias—are picking up on.

My favorite element of this story might be its genesis: crepes as familial comfort in tough times.

At least that’s how Crocquet tells it. He lost his mom not long ago, and realized he had a way to hold on: through the food that defined her family. So he started cooking more crepes for his kids, using the recipe he knew from summers in Brittany, the birthplace of crepes, with his grandma, and began incubating an idea to make something more of his affection.

The next steps came serendipitously. Crocquet’s then-sweetie took him to her favorite crepe place in Stockton. He was intrigued by the undeniably authentic photos on the walls from Brittany and ceremoniously wowed by what he ate.

“I thought my grandma’s were the best in the world,” he says. “Then I thought, ‘Sorry grandma. This is better.’”

He mentioned his aspirations to owner-chef Peron, who was eyeing his own change of scenery. Today, now that Peron has moved to Monterey to help launch the endeavor, even this imperfect Yankee palate can identify the collaborative excellence here.

Journo-of-the-future Janet “Up and Up” Upadhye and me tried three on that afternoon, a brie and caramelized onion number ($8.50), a seasonal veggie-cheddar-jack ($5.50) and a caramel-apple sweet one ($6.50) from a chalkboard list that includes strawberry-cream cheese ($6.50) and turkey-jack-cheddar ($6.50).

It was all systems “whoah.” I sensed genius seasoning, then realized that flavor came not from salts and spices but from the perfectly thin and rustic buckwheat skin—or in French, galette—and the onions they stir to sauteed superiority for up to 90 minutes.

The sweet one is a little hard to eat with plastic forks, but enjoys an unmistakable slow-cooked quality born of batter that isn’t doughy or eggy and housemade salted caramel.

My only beef with these dudes: Lose the all-disposable plastic flatware. Kills the buckwheat-beautiful buzz, brothers.

Should they shape up on that front, I’ll be back for the crepe Crocquet says he favors: the brie-caramelized onion-and-salmon special ($9.50). It's not on the menu, but it's on my mind like a mo fo.

Vive la Crepe indeed.

New Aquarium Exec Chef Is In

2010-11-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

It was a day little girls dream of. Everything was perfect.

Only it didn't start that way. Rain came. Right at ceremony time. For an outdoor wedding.

But the bride's brief trembling was soothed enough to proceed. Umbrellas were assembled and trees lent shelter. A gathering came closer.

The adorable family dog and the tiny niece somehow made it down the aisle successfully. The first-time officiant spoke without stumbling more than once or twice—of themes big and small, laughter and love, family and friendship, rings on fingers and coffee in bed.

A collective breath was taken, and hearts thumped in unison at all the right moments. And even the clouds eventually parted long enough to let the dream day come completely in.

Then more magic: The food was transfixing. The dance floor might've done the food one better—I've never seen anything like that cross-generational freak out—but it couldn't have happened without fuel from one of the most pitch perfect wedding meals I've seen assembled al fresco, rain or no.

Jeff Rogers (above center) helmed the dinner as a special favor to his colleague and friend Courtney Porras, who worked with him at Quail Lodge.

It's good to have friends like "Chef," as Porras (now Ferrante) calls him: roast free-range rosemary chicken that tasted like he was mastering one grilled piece of chicken for the governor instead of scores for all of us. Tender grilled prime beef. Swank heirlooms in a killer, classic caprese. Blue Lake green beans with Marcona almonds. Yukon Gold potatoes roasted just crispy. Quince with spicy toasted pumpkin seeds. It was all served family style by lazy susan, chased by Layers cakes, mini milkshakes and Italian cookies.

As it so happens, that meal made Rogers' credentials that much fresher in my head when the announcement came last week that he's the new executive chef at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

New MBA supreme culinary commander Cindy Pawlcyn (Mustards Grill) will oversee menus and the various operations under the Aquarium umbrella—from myriad special events to representation at festivals to the Portola Restaurant approach—but Rogers will be our local play caller, applying the same knack for farm-fresh tastes that made his name at Quail Lodge and Highlands Inn.

The guy sources as well as he seasons. Looks like a great choice from here.

And congrats to Courtney and Vince.

Luxe Lounge Pump Fake

2010-11-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, those lights are nice (they're brand new). But yes, that dance floor is empty.

Luxe Lounge got off to an inauspicious start on its opening night because it wasn't, well, open.

When I stopped by owner Dennis Barwick (above left, in full explanation mode) blamed the fire department for a last minute inspection that revealed his front doors wouldn't open in an emergency.

I blame him for having a door that doesn't open.

He assured me that it would be open today, but the wires hanging from the ceiling, the empty cigarette dispenser, the empty bar shelves and bare walls hinted at another time line.

At least the sound resonated nicely and all the security staff was there getting acquainted with the joint, so they have that going for them.

Luxe Lounge Lands in Former Doc's in Downtown Monterey

2010-11-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

One of Monterey's major nightlife venues is back. And it's schizophrenic.

Tomorrow, Nov. 18, Luxe Lounge (643-1100) will suddenly open in the Monterey nightlife venue that was previously Doc’s.

And I have to say, a split personality disorder never sounded so sexy.

By day (starting at 11am), owner Dennis Barwick (above) says, it will be a family sports bar banked with dartboards and big-screen TVs.

By evening, he says it will transition into a dueling piano bar. (Holy crescendo.)

By night, he’s talking thumping disco action, with touring DJs on the ones and two.

Come 2am, he’s thinking coffee shop-dance hall fueled by cappuccinos and late night grub.

The “corner”—which includes the neighboring/connected eateries Bellagio Pizzeria (643-9500) and Habanero’s Grill and Cantina (375-3700, above) that Barwick also owns—will stay open until 4am Wednesday through Saturday.

When I mentioned that other local outlets have unsuccessfully aspired to maintain later hours, Barwick, a consultant who has done handsomely rescuing service industry businesses for years, seemed nonplussed.

“We believe there’s a social life after 2am. It’s something we have to build up,” he says. “Denny’s is full. Ultimately when folks find that there is a place there, somewhere just to have a late night snack, that will be a place people will eventually migrate to.”

Several times a month, meanwhile, he’s pledging to pull in big-ticket musical acts—he says he’s in negotiations with Randy Travis and Michael Bolton—and comedy acts from Vegas.

“I’m looking at this as a long-term project,” he says. “We have to walk before we run, but it’s a dream to not have to drive 100 miles to get real upscale entertainment.”

His team has stocked the bar with 60 tequilas and 30 beers by the bottle to complement the 20 beers on tap—“We believe we have one of the best stocked bars in Monterey County,” Barwick says. “We spared no expense”—and patrons can order from Habanero’s and Bellagio or from Luxe’s own limited lineup of grill-style stuff like hamburgers, dogs, onion rings and wings.

While some renovations remain, Harwick—who previously partnered with former Monterey Live owner Gary Smith on the project, before a hold on Smith’s liquor license helped dissolve the deal—
is eager to get going. “My work as a consultant gave me an appreciation for bringing in something different,” he says. “We’re trying to come in with a concept that’s fresh and innovative.”

Just send the schizophrenia shrink bill to the dance floor fiends of the area, who have to be stoked to see such a key spot back and (hopefully) bumping.

Belly Button With a Major Appetite

2010-11-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

I don't know what makes you hungry for tuna, but for me it's a ravenous screaming navel.

Local Boy Brews Good

2010-11-15T05:07:00.000-08:00

Maybe you know Jeff Moses. He's good people, with good beer. The last luxury taste he's turned me onto: Stoney's all natural suds. Good stuff.

He triggers the Monterey Beer Festival every summer, and as of last year, launched a hyper-high-grade cousin event in collaboration with BevMo! in San Francisco.

Learn more about the BevMo! Holiday Beer Fest at the website.

I don't normally highlight out-of-the-county excitement, but this is a great value, and he's a local dude. And last year's event assembled more tiny batch, cleverly unique, high-retail beers than I've seen in one place, which speaks to how serious Salinas' BevMo! gets after their beer selection.

Here are the tastes that'll flow 5:30-9pm Saturday, Nov. 20, 5:30-9pm at Fort Mason by the bay, poured out here like one big beerstream of consciousness.

21st Amendment Back In Black Monks Blood Ace Cider Hard Cider Affligem Noel Al Hambra Negra Alaskan Brewing Alaskan White Ale Alaskan Winter Ale Ale Industries Fuzzy Snow-Beck Allagash White Dubbel Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale Liberty Ale Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Anheuser-Busch Pumpkin Spice Winter Bourbon Arend Tripel Belgian Triple Ale Asahi Super Dry Brewmasters Select Asphal Hard Cider Baltica Dark Porter Barbar Winter Bok Bard's Tale Gluten Free Batemans English Ale Bear Republic Old Baba Yaga Beer Valley Highway to Ale Belhaven Wee Heavy Big Sky Powder Hound Big Sky IPA Moose Drool Trout Slayer Bison Brewing (Organic) Ginger Bread Ale- Chocolate Stout(Organic) Black Diamond Winter Ale(Belgian Abbey Style) Blue Frog Big Dippa 3 IPA McPhrog Scottish Bockor Belgian Ale Bosteels Triple Karmeliet Boston Beer Winter Lager Coastal Wheat Camberry Lambic Bourgogne des Flanders Wild Sour Ale Brasserie Dubuisson Scaldis Noel Brasserie Dupont Bons Voeux X-Mas Ale Saison Foret Bridgeport Hop Czar Ebenezer Brunehaut Belgian Blond Ale Buckbean Black Toddy Cable Car Winter Brew Castelain St Amnd French Country Ale Chang Thailand Lager Chau Tien Holiday Pale Ale Chimay Grand Reserve Clausthaler Classic and Amber Non- Alc. Coastal Fog Holiday Ale IPA Smoked Porter Crispin Hard Cider DAB German Beer De Koninck Belgian Ales De Proef Belgian Ale Delirium Tremens Belgian Ale 2010 Deschutes Jubelale Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA Midas Touch Palo Santo Marron Drake's Jolly Roger Ale Dues Brut Des Flanders Dundee Ales & Lagers Firehouse Hops on Rye Firestone Union Jack IPA - Walker Reserve Porter -Velvet Merkin Oatmeal Stout Fox Barrel Mulling Cider Franziskaner Dunkelweiss Full Sail Wassail Winter Ale Session Black Lager Brewmaster Reserve Vesuvius & Wreck the Halls Gageleer Belgian Sweet Gale Ale - BIO Genesee Cream Ale Goose Island Christmas Ale Gordon Biersch Winterbock Gouden Carolus Noel 2010 Grand Teton Black Cauldron Imperial Stout Cellar Reserve Green Flash Green Flash Imperial IPA Guinness Draft and Foreign Extra Stout Guldenboot Belgian Wild Berries Ale - BIO Hacher-Pshorr Dunkel Weisse He'brew Jewbelation Heineken Lager Hermitage Ales of the Hermit IMP & 2 TUN Hermitage HOTOPIA MALTOPIA WHEATOPIA Menage a Singe Black IPA Heylissem Triple Brown Ale Heylissem Triple Brown Ale Hopf Dunkle Weisse Hornsby Cider Hard Cider Iron Springs Epiphany Amber Irondale Double Chocolate Stout Jessenhofke Belgian Triple Ale with Garlic John Henry 3 Lick Spiker Ale Karl Strauss Amber Lager Red Trolley Tower 10 IPA Klaster Czech Dark Beer Kona Pipeline Porter Konig Pilsener König Ludwig Weiss Beer Krusovice Bohemian Lager and Cerne La Trappe Belgian Triple Ale Lagunitas brown sugga' Left Coast Hop Juice Double IPA Lhasa Nepal Lager Lost Coast Winterbraun Lucifer Belgian Ale Mad River John Barleycorn Barleywine Magic Hat Howl Magners Cider Hard Cider Malheur Belgian Ales Marin/Moylans White Christmas Winter lager Hoppy Holidaze Spiced Ale Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale MateVeza Yerba Mate IPA Maui Coconut Porter Meantime Coffee Porter Mendocino Brewing Oatmeal Stout MillerCoors Chill Moretti Italian Lager Napa Smith Bonfire Winter Ale Lost Dog Nectar Hemp Ale Ninkasi Total Domination IPA Sleigh'r Double Alt North Coast Brother Thelonious Old Rasputin Old Speckled Hen English Ale Oud Beersel Kriek Geuze Blond Triple Ale Paulaner Fine German Beers Pyramid Snow Cap Radeberger Pilsner Pilsner Redhook Winter Hook Rogue Ales Santa's Private Reserve Sagres Portuguese Lager San Miguel Dark Santa Cruz Ale works Oatmeal Stout IPA Barrel Aged Porter Schneider Aventinus Weizen Eisbock Aventinus Doppelbock Shiner Cheers Ale Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin & Imperial Porter Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale - Celebration Ale - Pale Ale Six Rivers Brewery Chile Pepper Ale Slavutich Premium Lager Smithwicks Irish Ale So Duh! Craft Sodas Spaten Spaten Optimator Double Bock Munich Dunkel Speakeasy Black IPA - Doube Daddy IPA Satachmo Stout Sprecher Winter Brew St. Feuillien Cuvee du Noel Steinlager Pure Stiegl Austrian Beer Stone Double Bastard Ale & OAKED Arrogant Bastard Straffe Hendrick Bruges Belgian Triple Ale Strongbow cider English Cider Strubbe Flemish Red Ale - Grand Cru Sudwerk Marzen Super Bock Portuguese Stout Telegraph Winter Ale and our Oatmeal Stout Tied House Holiday Ale Cascade Amber Timmermans Lambic Trumer Brauerei Trumer Pils Tucher Heff Hefeweizen Uncommon Brewers Siamese Twin Ale an aged Baltic Porter Golden State Ale and American Special Bitter Unibroue La Fine du Monde- Chambly Noire- Maudite Warsteiner Pilsener Dunkel Weihenstephan Vitus Weizenbock Wells & Young Banana Bread Ale Widmer Brrr Ale Woodchuck Hard Cider Wyder's Canadian Hard Cider Youngs Double Chocolate Stout Zhiguliovskoye Golden Moscow

Mandatory Viewing: Organic Supermarket Star Wars

2010-11-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

Sometimes words just get in the way...

(I just can't believe this has been floating around the universe for five years and no one told me.)

Gary Obligacion Reflects on Leaving Coastal Luxury Management

2010-11-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

At the start of the year, when I was asking Coastal Luxury Management principals David Bernahl and Rob Weakley why their world takeover should involve two new restaurants—I was thinking Pebble Beach Food & Wine and American Institute of Wine & Food and their myriad other epic endeavors, including Bernahl's Pacific Tweed, were plenty to manage already—they told me they had a really compelling reason to take them on. That reason: their then-chief of ops Gary Obligacion (above).

CLM's Number Three had a decorated restaurant rez that includes Chez Panisse, Pebble Beach and Bernardus. Great restaurants are what he does, they said, and does damn well. Plus they had the capital, and the opportunity, and the talent, to make Cannery Row Brewing Company and 1833 Restaurant go. With Gary O. playing GM, they were like Denzel Washington on a train: Unstoppable.

Later Obligacion told me that as much as he loves CRBC, 1833 would be his coup—a real game changer of a place and space, the restaurant Monterey County had been long missing, and his base of operations. Though he could have a spacious office above CRBC, he told me, he was going to set up shop in the claustrophobic upstairs office of the old Stokes Adobe so he could be on site at the signature spot that would further define and differentiate CLM as the hottest thing since grilled cheese. (Read more about CLM's rise and the plans for 1833 here.)

Only now, with the opening of 1833 as little as a few weeks away, Obligacion is gone from the CLM mothership.

Here's what I wrote in this week's Weekly, out today. What follows is thoughts from a candid conversation I had with Obligacion right as we went to press.

It’s like the San Francisco Giants sending Tim Lincecum packing on the cusp of the World Series. OK, maybe Kung Fu Panda. Whatever the case, news that Coastal Luxury Management is parting ways with its restaurants chief Gary Obligacion on the eve of the debut of his baby, Restaurant 1833, in the old Stokes Adobe, comes as a brush-back pitch.

The parties concerned seem good with it. Granted, David Bernahl and Obligacion are as on-message as they come, but even conversations with the more shoot-from-the-hip Rob Weakley—whose wife Michaela was toting around their newborn Allysa at Big Sur Food & Wine—echoed the same refrain: They had diverging visions of what the plan for the landmark eatery should be.

“You don’t want to open a restaurant if you’re not on the same page,” Weakley says. “You don’t want your coach leaving midseason.” (Gary O. as Bruce Bochy?)

The team remains “dear friends.” Obligacion is already considering “new projects and generous offers.” 1833 chef-that-was Tim Mosblech will join him.

Now, without further ado, highlights from my talk with Gary O.:

On the move:
"It's a leap of faith...thankfully in this 26-year career I've had, I've never intentionally burned a bridge. I've gotten some very flattering phone calls. And I have a family, and I don't have the money to go six months without a job, so I'm looking at lots of things."

On word that he wanted to be in a bigger market:
"That's not the case. I do not have any desire to be a star. It's not about that at all for me. If I wanted to be famous, I never would’ve left San Francisco."

On whether all the surprises at 1833—the historic building code hassle, the endless funky rehab and repairs, etc.—fed frustration with the project that led to his leave:
"It had nothing to do with city, nothing to do with code. That's all been incredibly educational. The city's been beyond accommodating, as has the planning commission. [The change] is more due to internal function. I don’t think we as an entity knew what we were trying to do before we got started. [Coastal Luxury Management] doesn’t have a 10-year plan.

"And thank God. Because if they did, CLM wouldn’t be where it is today. They wouldn’t have Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Harvest Food to Table, all these little pieces that now encompass CLM. That said, there comes a time where you stop and see where you are."

On the massive momentum CLM has going:
"Growth is great. They're at a point when a one-year or a three-year or a five-year plan become handy tools—to know that, if if we as a group are going on a trip, and plan that, great. But we haven't decided where we’re going or when we're going. You show up with a suitcase and I say, 'What are you doing? We're not leaving for six months.'

"I think my giving notice was a wake up call of sorts. They’re understanding there is a need to slow down and get to the next logical step. They’re saying that. I’m very optimistic for CLM. The company has a structure and look at the talent pool in that room: [CLM V.P. of Brand Relations] James Velarde, [V.P. of Operations] Anand Menon. When you start walking around and naming names, you see a kick ass team (above).

"They have the ability to move mountains. How they got where they are is due to the members of that team. Each one of us feels failure is not an option. That kind of passion made this crazy success possible. I'm only part of the team that’s done this. I just happened be there day 1, that December, when the only ones on payroll were [Senior Event Coordinator] Tonyia Sampognaro, Rob Weakley and me. I was number three there. Now the employees are well over 100."

On the nuttiness that was starting up PBF&W:
"One of those nights I worked a 43-hour shift to get year one going. Dude, it was crazy what we did to make year one happen. No one has any idea how physically hard it was to make it happen. There were days where Rob and I will tell you we never worked as hard as we did then. Dave was definitely burning the candle at both ends."

On his recruitment from Bernardus:
"You bring in talented people so you can allow them to exercise their talent. 'Here comes Gary'—his aptitude is restaurants, that’s the rhetoric, and it happens to be true. I’ve always been allow to control my environment, shape a restaurant, to enjoy some autonomy, tweak if necessary, make substantial changes if necessary. When I got to [Pebble Beach Company's] Stillwater Grill, it was just a fish house. I was able to teach service points to a staff to where it was the first time when Roy’s didn’t win best restaurant in Pebble Beach, because we provided an experience people didn’t realize could happen outside of Roy’s. When I got to Bernardus, staff was with me, and against me. If you want to change everything, they told me, do it. Over four years, I changed it little by little, building loyalty, and got the template at Marinus and Wickets and started something special.

"Now here we are with 1833, Dave and Rob are much more hands on with details."

On the hype behind 1833:
"Looking at the situation, it's a beautiful, beautiful physical space, and the buzz around it, the hype around it, couldn’t be bigger, and the expectations, we’re gonna open, we're gonna open, there’s gonna be backlash, and if it’s not perfect, now what? Have they raised expectations to point where, well, can they be met?

"If I could adjust one thing, it would be to make it a smaller restaurant, the size of Big Sur Bakery, or Mundaka, or Wickets. Doing something that big that by definition has to appeal to a broad range of people, that's not as much my thing. And the style, it would be a hybrid of those three."

On the departure:
"It never got ugly or nasty at all. The opportunities with CLM were incredible. I couldn’t be more proud of Pebble Beach Food & Wine. No one can ever take away fact that we did the first—it can go for another 50 years or four years, but we did the first, the wonderful template is what we built. When economy was in a tailspin, we grew. As pessimistic as everyone was, we were optimistic to the extreme in another direction.

"We’ve been able to employ a lot of people and make a lot of friends. Dave and Rob (above), are a one-two sales punch that no one can match. That can be polarizing—but they refuse, because they refuse to fail themselves, they know how good they can be, they want the best of the best to come out of the organization.

"Anything they touch, CLM wants it to be the best."

Salinas Field Fresh Recipes Hit TV

2010-11-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

Top chops TV food personality Laura McIntosh (above left) has got a little rock star to her, and not just because of her charismatic stage presence, or because she styles her half-hour home cooking show "Bringing It Home" as a sort of a cousin to an MTV mainstay. (“You’ve heard of MTV’s 'Behind the Music'?,” she says. “I see our show as ‘Behind the Food.’”)

Her rock star credentials, rather, are rooted in her affection for the classic elements of rockin' grub: farm-fresh California produce. She scours fields for the finer flavors, then arranges a jam band of chefs to deliver ideas (and recipes/sheet music) so us ham-handed mortals can play along at home.

Just the other day she and her production team rolled into the Salad Bowl of the Globe to harvest—and film—straight from the fields themselves. She plucked local romaine for Cannery Row Brewing Company's Mark Ayers to run his harmonies on. Here's the recipe for his screamin' Caesar starring grilled lettuce, a surprisingly satisfying tweak.

Wood Grilled Caesar Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Classic Caesar Dressing
2 Lemons, juiced
½ cup Garlic
2 oz Anchovies, whole
6 oz Pasturized Egg Yolk
5 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup Parmesan Cheese (to taste)

Combine garlic, anchovy and egg yolk in food processor and puree till smooth. Add lemon juice and with machine running, slowly add the oil and emulsify liquid. Add parmesan cheese to food processor and if necessary, thin with a little water.

Salad
1 Romaine Lettuce Heart, sliced in half with stem still attached
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ cup crouton
1 serving Classic Caesar Dressing (recipe below)
4 oz. Cooked Bacon, chopped
Fresh shaved Parmesan Cheese, to taste (optional)

Directions:
Preheat grill to medium high. Drizzle oil and lemon juice over romaine and season with salt and pepper. Place on grill and cook for 1-2 minutes per side. Place cooked romaine on 2 plates and drizzle with Caesar dressing and top with shaved parmesan cheese, bacon and croutons. Enjoy!

Next she had Ayers take viewers through the signature CRBC belly bombers:

•••

She also grabbed some of Salinas-based Andy Boy broccoli rabe for Chef Tim Luym of Attic in San Mateo.

Stir Fried Rabe Fried Rice
Serves 4-6

5 cups cooked Jasmine Rice, cold
1/4 pound Broccoli Rabe, stems trimmed, blanched
1 cup Sweet Peas
1 pound Cooked Chicken Breast, diced (can sub any protein)
1/4 cup Chinese Sausage
1/2 cup Scallions, green parts only, chopped
1/4 cup Onions, diced
2 tablespoons Garlic
2 tablespoons Toasted Sesame Seeds
5 tablespoons Sesame or Canola Oil
Salt & white pepper to taste

For the sauce:
(Mix all ingredients)
1/3 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1/8 cup Sesame Oil
2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce (can substitute favorite hot sauce)
1/8 cup Chinese Cooking Wine such as Shao Xing (optional)

Directions:
It is important to use cold rice when making fried rice to ensure the best texture.

Using a wok or large sauté pan, add oil, Chinese sausage, onions, and garlic over high heat. Quickly stir in the cold rice, broccoli rabe, and chicken. Continue to stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until rice begins to crisp at the bottom of the pan. At this point, add the sauce and mix evenly. Next, add the peas and scallions and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes. Season to taste, transfer to a bowl and add sesame seeds for garnish.

A Glance Back at Big Sur Food & Wine Year Two

2010-11-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

There was a rare feeling permeating every bottle, smile and snack at the extensive lineup that constituted the second annual Big Sur Food & Wine this weekend past: a kind of camaraderie that comes from close affiliation with our area’s tastemakers and an abiding affection for the goods they give us.

Way too much epicness to fit in here—from the head-shakingly generous auction items to the pitch-perfect new opening event to the celebratory sell-out dinners—so I’ll leave it at what event conductor of chefs Adam Olthof said to me at the grand public tasting (check out former Esalen chef Charlie Casio talking goat cheese, Pig Wizard slicing sausage and much more from that Henry Miller-centered Saturday event—who needs a rain plan, right?).

“We slayed it, didn’t we?” he asked me.

Well...hell yes you did.

Suddenly, unmistakeably, wonderfully, BSF&W is officially on my short-short list of can’t-miss events of the year.

Check out more Nic Coury photos from the public grand tasting here.

The Democracy of Delicious

2010-11-08T08:42:00.001-08:00

Saturday at Spanish Bay the Panetta Institute honored journalists David Brooks, Cokie Roberts and Tom Brokaw for their service of democracy with a big Pebble Beach crystal glasses and heartfelt appreciation.

The greater honor, though, might have been a seat at the tables where the top chefs from the Los Angeles Lakers, Facebook and the Pebble Beach Company all collaborated on a blockbuster—and surprisingly creative—spread. (Buffalo tenderloin carpaccio and kimchee sliders?!)

Local legend Bert Cutino led Weekly writer/lover of democracy/devotee of good food Walter Ryce through the annals of the operation. Here's what Ryce came back with (read his discussion of the honorees' remarks here):

In the moments before the start of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy Jefferson-Lincoln Awards gala at the Inn as Spanish Bay on Saturday, “Dinner Expediter” Bert Cutino (above right) is gregarious, welcoming, and not at all nervous.

“Here we are, another show,” the Sardine Factory co-founder tells photographer Randy Tunnell. “Everyone knows what to do; they know the drill.”

He’s so unharried that he offers to take me behind the scenes to see the machinery of an operation that, in two hours, is going to deliver more than 440 four-course meals to a well-heeled capacity crowd.

He walks through empty ballroom, immaculately appointed with wine glasses, place settings, centerpieces, candles and gift boxes—44 10-tops, all told—with enthusiasm, talking as we go through a door in the back that opens to the staging/plating area, where some of his team are prepping the hors d’oeuvres that are currently circulating among the pre-gala reception.

They include confit of duck on pepper buttermilk biscuit with huckleberry jam and blue cheese, and incongruous but intriguing buffalo tenderloin carpaccio and kimchee sliders.

As he navigates us to his bustling kitchen—which reminds me of the seminal Copacabana scene in Goodfellas, which might explain why Cutino conjures Paul Sorvino— he says, “Each course plays to the chefs’ strengths. We’re contrasting classical and experimental. We’re not held back by ethnic tradition. Years ago it would be suicide. But talents want to be creative. The ultimate judge, though, is the consumer. If they don’t like it, fuggedaboutit.” He laughs heartily.

That talent, on this night includes a deep (and all volunteer) roster of L.A. Lakers Executive Chef (and committed environmentalist) Jeffrey Mora, former Google and current Facebook Executive Chef Josef Desimone, Pebble Beach Resort’s own Corporate Chef John Hui, and more than a baker’s dozen other esteemed colleagues, from El Camino Hospital’s Jacques Wilson to Johnson & Wales University’s James E. Griffin.

Together they constructed a dinner course that followed the hors d’oeuvres with a seasonal offering of soup of local porcini mushroom fume, to a terrine of Castroville artichokes and fresh beets (using 1,500 of them, hand peeled), alighting on the main course of roasted center-cut filet mignon Oscar with crab lump meat and asparagus bread pudding, ending on an indulgent "white chocolate fantasy" of white chocolate mousse filled with dulce de leche with warm cherry and pistachio compote.

Many of the vendors who provided the food did so for free. And for their own free and valuable labors, the chefs were marched through the ballroom, filled with guests prior to the ceremony, lead by bagpiper Becky Jenkins.

Democracy, it turns out, tastes damn good.

Eating Las Vegas: A Sustainable Story

2010-11-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

In a Las Vegas land where life is writ huge—note the 10,000 square foot hotel suites, giant Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower—it's the little things that got me grinning. Not the massive Viva Las Vegas showgirl production, but the sweet little hotel cleaning lady dancing with her vacuum in a lonely hallway. Not the ever-expanding Strip but the overlooked old downtown-Fremont Street area and its speakeasy-style bars and taverns. Not the huge Luxor pyramid and sphinx, but the midget Elvis inside. Not the endless MGM buffet (though that was good), but a little bite of salmon belly nigiri.

In that nigiri, against a backdrop of record foreclosures and unemployment doubling as a cautionary tale against explosive growth, I found some hope for sustainability.

And hope tasted fantastic. Rick Moonen, the chef-owner behind the salmon, snapping fresh oysters and mouthwatering uni and I lunched on at his RM Seafood, first caught national attention for his groundbreaking work steering people away from endangered swordfish while trendsetting in NYC. The flavor behind, say, his atmospheric ahi tuna duo was already unreal; the fact that he fastidiously sourced the big-eye that went into it is a powerful departure from the wash of sushi joints here and elsewhere that have no regard for fisheries that are threatening to fold worldwide.

I first encountered Moonen’s well-schooled and charismatic campaign for sustainable seafood at the Aquarium’s Cooking for Solutions a couple years back. Now the Aquarium authorities have named him 2011’s Chef of the Year.

Xania Victoria Woodman, Vegas icon/writer/editor and bona fide “career carouser,” as her biz card announces, joined me for lunch and later adjourned to the field where Moonen was prepping a “Project Dinner Table” meal for 125 folks sitting at a table 100 feet long in the middle of a field. There she says he somehow dished out whole-roasted Idaho Farms rainbow trout (with Brussels sprouts and double-smoked bacon) from a catering truck for the scores of people of present.

Check out his recipe for chicken-fried trout with green tartar sauce and Asian slaw below–and make plans to marinate more hope at Cooking for Solutions in May. Get more sustainable recipes here.

Chicken Fried Trout (Serves 4)

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped scallions
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon chile paste (sambal oelek)
4 trout fillets (7 ounces each)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground white pepper
All-purpose flour for dredging
Corn or peanut oil for frying
Green tartar sauce
Asian slaw

Directions

Combine the buttermilk, onion, scallions, dill, garlic, zest, and chile paste in a baking dish. Whisk or stir well.

Lay the fillets in the marinade, making sure you've got them completely coated. Cover with plastic and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to eight hours.

When you're ready for dinner, remove the fish from the marinade and season it with salt and pepper. Coat the fillets well with flour.

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a heavy skillet (this is a good time to pull out your cast-iron pan) until very hot but not smoking. Fry the fish in batches for about 1½ minutes on the first side, then turn and fry for another 45 seconds. The crust should be golden.

Drain on paper towels, and serve with the tartar sauce and Asian slaw.

Big Sur Food & Wine: The Glory Is Almost Here

2010-11-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

I had to travel to the bottom of the world to realize how powerful Big Sur's beautiful bounty really is.

It was there in Tierra Del Fuego, surrounded by the soaring rock towers, the giant-chandelier glaciers, the swooping Southern Lights and the four-hour sunsets—which collectively had me thinking blinking is just a bad idea—that I didn't know how I'd be able to return home. I mean, how could I leave that?

Then it hit me. I always had Big Sur. If I ever felt like I needed world-class wonder, Highway 1 could shuttle me there in minutes.

Then the seemingly unthinkable happened. Big Sur, though already perched atop the list of Bestest Places in the World, got even better.

For those locals who just emerged from the marine canyon, the South Coast hosted an utterly absurd sequence of bands this summer and early fall: Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, Colin Oberst (playing with the Felice Brothers), Al Jardine and Cat Power among them. The best music we had going in Patagonia was some whiskey-fueled freestyling.

And now here comes something that ups the natural Big Sur appeal even further: Big Sur Food & Wine, act deux. (The food in Tierra Del Fuego: surprisingly tantalizing instant mash potatoes and garlic chopped on a Frisbee.)

The festival represents the most sumptuous symptom of the foodification of Big Sur. Few restaurants can hang with Big Sur Bakery's oven-fired steaks, or Deetjen's eggs Benedict or Ventana's view (and scallops). This weekend those unparalleled hubs for the hungry and their Big Sur brethren come together with, oh, nearly 60 hand-picked wineries like ROAR, Roederer and Alma Rosa. They gather in greatest quantities for Thursday's "gateway" opening at Hyatt Carmel Highlands ($100) and Saturday's grand tasting at Henry Miller Library ($60/general; $40/resident). A complete list of participating wineries appears below:

Au Bon Climat	L'Aventure	Talbott
Ridge	Continuum	Paul Lato
Pisoni	Clos Pepe	ROAR
Siduri	HdV	Testarossa
Patz n Hall	Drew	Chappellet
Breggo	Alma Rosa	Kunin
Bernardus	Roederer	Margerum
Wind Gap	Hitching Post	Lioco
Adelaida	Ramey	Tobin James
Arcadian	Miura	Heller
Justin	Galante	Bonny Doon
Qupe	Demuth	Cold Heaven
Kristi-Lynn	Tablas Creek	Windy Oaks
Perception	MacPhail	Wrath
B Kosuge	Morgan	Brewer Clifton
Saxum	Thomas Fogarty	Morgan
Alban	McIntyre	Poppy

Madeleine	Torbreck	J.Lohr
Hahn Estates

Along with waves of wine dinners, super-savvy panels arranged by wine director Matt Peterson and a big closer at Ventana on Saturday—learn more at the Big Sur Food & Wine website—that's a nice backbone.

But maybe my favorite thing about the nascent festival might be the unfakeable friendships it's founded upon. The main organizers are more than double identity talents—Vice Pres Aengus Wagner, for instance, is a world champion Ultimate Frisbee hustler, volunteer coordinator Alicia Hahn and VIP liason Rosalia Moon Byrne are gifted fire dancers and exec expediter Peggy Giles is a skilled synchronized swimmer—they are pals.

The Dinner With Friends is no false title: The bonds they enjoy with one another, their fellow hospitality pros in Big Sur and the visiting winemakers is for real.

So is the potential for this to go long and strong into the future. As Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery—who has seen his fair share of food-and-wine soirees—wrote event president Toby Rowland Jones after year one in '09:

Wow!!

Congratulations on the most successful first time event in which I have ever participated.

You hit a home run and deserve the appreciation and gratitude of all.

Thank you for allowing JUSTIN to be a charter participant.

Get some well earned rest.

Justin

The assembled will include other wine stars like Paul Draper (above right), John Alban, pioneer of Rhone varietals in the Golden State, Pax Mahle of Windgap, Tim Mondavi, Justin Smith, of sought-after small production Saxum Vineyards, Gary Pisoni, Au Bon Climat's Jim Clendenen; and Bonny Doon's Randall Grahm.

The standout chefs will also be numerous. Chefs Craig von Foerster (Sierra Mar), Cal Stamenov (Marinus), Matt Bolton (Pacific’s Edge), Kent Torrey (The Cheese Shop), Domingo Santamaria (Deetjens), Michael Woods (Treebones), Cy Yontz (Rio Grill) and Michael Jones (Cachagua General Store) anchor the opening event.

Amid the mirth, though, there will be some very heavy hearts, particularly within the close and cohesive Big Sur community. On Sunday night, local star photographer, Apple Pie Ridge resident and all-around sweetheart Rachel Short, fresh off a beautiful photography opening in Carmel next to Mundaka, was critically injured in a car crash and is in serious condition. Sadly, it looks like paralysis is the likely outcome.

Hundreds of hearts are with her, certainly, as is a wider plead for mindful Highway 1 driving during events like this. And if I might be so bold as to remind folks that maybe the most awe-inspiring elements of Rachel Short's spirit has always been her eyes—what they show, what they know and what they capture in ways the rest of us only wish we could. May they remain fiery forever.

It's Not Overeating, It's Saving for Later

2010-11-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

Between the gymnastic maneuvers I've seen Bonkers perform along the top rungs of his cage, and his hamster-ball steering, I know hamsters can be heroic. And I hadn't even seen sign of this sort of caloric storage.

There's an epicurean lesson stuffed in there with the carrots and seeds. I'm not sure just what it is, but it's in there.

Profile in Staying Power: Carmel's L'Escargot

2010-11-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

For me, one the spots that jumped off the page when looking over the Monterey Bay Restaurant Week roster was L’Escargot (620-1942).

The divine snail's been sliming around my mind for some time because two worldly Weekly food writers, Jeanne Howard and Tony Seton, have both emerged from experiences there thoroughly impressed. For years previous, my predecessor in the food columnist chair, the indomitable Ray Napolitano (last seen plotting a Chardonnay Summit), regularly raved about chef-owner Kerry Loutas warmth and way with the kitchen. And it seems the perfect kind of special spot to hit during restaurant week because Loutas will assemble some great trademark tastes that highlight what he does best for a fixed price.

Seton stopped by the other day. His thoughts follow, paired with pictures from Nic Coury:

The restaurant business is a tough one. It may be that 90 percent of new such ventures don’t make it through the first year. Good restaurants, where you invest your time savoring your meal, are suffering during this economic downturn. Ironically, if understandably, fast food emporiums are doing very well; nutrition be hanged, you can stop your stomach from grumbling for a buck.

But back to dining...for a restaurant to survive, it needs to develop a following among the locals. That means quality and consistency. Few establishments in the country have done as well in these terms as L’Escargot in Carmel. The proof is in the fact that they have been pleasing patrons for more than half-a-century.

L’Escargot was founded in 1958 by Yvan Nopert and his family. Today it is in the talented hands of chef-owner Kericos Loutas. The fact that a considerable number of Peninsula culinary cognoscenti are regulars is testimony to the wonderful country French ambience, the fine service, the smile-watering preparation and the delicious cuisine.

In all too many restaurants, the food is prepared by assistants according to recipes. At L’Escargot, some of the dishes like the salads are left to capable assistants but the primary elements of every meal – from the appetizers to the deserts—are managed personally by Chef Loutas himself. This is an important distinction because measuring spoons and timers can get a tyro cook close to the mark, but it is only the master, using his all of his senses, who can deliver perfection.

The L’Escargot menu offers Small Plates and Appetizers, including veal sweetbreads with forest mushrooms in a Madeira sauce and frogs’ legs sautéed in garlic butter and lemon for $12; escargots in garlic-parsley butter ($10); fresh Maine mussels with shallots and cream, or the Paté du Jour for $9. Also there are several different salads, French onion soup gratinée, and a soup du jour. Plus there are several specials.

There are seven entreés plus several specials that the chef decided upon based on what was fresh in the market that morning. Among the regular dishes are panko-breaded sand dabs served with an exceptional risotto ($19), several lamb dishes including a whole rack with Dijon mustard crust and garlic lamb jus ($34), Yvan Nopert’s chicken with black truffle-Madeira cream ($32), sautéed prawns scampi ($29) and medallions of veal with wild mushrooms and dry white wine ($29). There is also a grilled New York steak with black truffle-shallot butter ($32). The steak comes with their renowned pommes frites and if they aren’t part of your meal, order a side ($5) to share.

For those who would like a little guidance, L’Escargot has a three-course prix fixe dinner for only $36. There is a salad, soup, or paté to start, then a choice of entreés including a fish of the day—that night it was a marvelous petrale sole in beurre blanc—coq au vin, and the New York steak. Two of us went ala carte and two chose the prix fixe. We all cleaned our plates, except Denise who had to take some of her grilled leg of lamb home in a box.

We all also had dessert, guiltily I might add after the rich treats of the meal, but we quickly dispelled our resistance. The prix fixe dinner includes five selections, among them apple tart and a chocolate brownie that brought new meaning to the word. And a speciality of the house...a poached bosc pear with vanilla ice cream and Merlot syrup. The desserts rang $7.50.

It would be fair to say that L’Escargot is at the very opposite end of the dining spectrum from fast food. We spent 3½ four hours at our table. We didn’t have to wait for our food; it was served in a timely fashion. Nor did we ever feel rushed or ignored. This is an establishment that understands the noble purpose of enjoying a grand meal.

None of us are major tipplers and it was over this sumptuous evening that we gently consumed two bottles of wine. I mention this because L’Escargot has a very nice wine list to meet a broad range of tastes and budgets. A special treat for you oenophiles—Wino Wednesdays...on Wednesdays, all of their wines are available at half-price.

L’Escargot is a success because of the talents of Chef Loutas in maintaining the quality of this landmark restaurant—he will start his twelfth year in December—and his innovative approach that complements the popular dishes with fresh ideas designed to spark new awareness in the cultured palates of those who regularly enjoy his work.

Another reason the restaurant succeeds is that they don’t exceed their capacity to assure quality. They are normally serving only fifty to seventy-five dinners each evening, though it should be noted that on Bastille Day they rose to the challenge of a reservations-only sell-out and fed 100 happy patrons.
Of course the regulars know how to find L’Escargot, but for people unfamiliar with Carmel, you really have to know where you are going to find their entrance; it’s at the back of a small courtyard. There’s a sign at the sidewalk—don’t you love the quaint signage rules in Carmel?—but when you get within a block, you can likely follow the compelling olfactory invitation.

L’Escargot
West side of Mission between Fifth and Fourth in Carmel • Open seven nights a week at 5:30 but call for reservations because they may be booked for private parties. • 620-1942.

Monterey Bay Restaurant Week Returns

2010-10-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last year's virgin adventure (promoted in the above vid) succeeded in giving locals a chance to test out restaurants they've always wanted to in accessible ways—by way of set menus designed to highlight what they do best at affordable price points ($25/$35/$45)

This year's dates—Nov. 11-17—were just announced. They are going to have to throw this thing together quickly.

Fortunately they've already scored some nice spots like Basil, L'Escargot, Montrio, Jacks at Portola, Cafe Rustica, Andre's Bouchee, Lalla Grill, Rio Grill, Fresh Cream, TusCA, the Chart House and The C Restaurant.

The list of restaurants is growing at MBRW's website.

Buen provecho, mi gente.

Halloween Appropriate Food Fun

2010-10-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Think pumpkin carving, only more imminently edible.

You may never look at cauliflower or that roll in the bread basket the same again.

Only in California: Alvarado's Sakana Sushi

2010-10-27T00:21:00.000-07:00

Some folks might balk at the sight of Jordanian prepping their sushi.

Those folks would likely miss out on having the superior Sakana Sushi experience, where owner-chef Fadi Nimri often steps in for his main chef, as he did the night some friends and I came in to celebrate a birth-to-be in the family.

The new spot in opened in the high-ceiling space right next to the Golden State Theatre, a space last seen used as a satellite gallery for Alternative Cafe's stirring art exhibits. It's a perfect size for a handful of tables, including a couple of window two-tops.

We sat at the cute little five-seat sushi bar so we could talk with Nimri and see the rolls come together with jewel-like pieces of yellowtail and salmon from Monterey Fish Company.

As Nimri schooled us on how fish is treated on the boat—he says sashimi grade is bled on deck so a purer cut results—we happily grazed on the results.

Like most California sushi dens, specialty rolls, or maki, proliferate here. Like the appropriately prodigious Godzilla ($15.95), with tempura shrimp, avocado, salmon and cucumber, which is all fried, sauced and crowed with tiny slices of green onion.

Or the Elissa ($13.95, left), with blended krab, roe and cucumber, topped by barbecued eel and tare sauce, and the exotic and surprisingly cohesive Rio Roll ($11.95), with eel, avocado, mango, macadamia nuts with a touch of tare sauce. (Of note: each special roll comes with miso soup or a simple salad.)

The Falling Stars ($9.95) starts off with a plate full of spherical fish cakes packed into the best balls on the boulevard, deep-fried and dressed with a sweet reduction and chives...but they disappear quickly.

Given the dearth of Seafood Watch friendly sushi spots around here—coincidentally, October is National Seafood Month (scroll down for the list of local restaurants who honor the Watch)—it's nice to see many maki options that go vegetarian. There's the big "Arti-san Roll" ($9.95, above), for instance, which brings artichoke hearts, goat cheese and sesame seeds to the taste equation. Turns out goat beats cream in pulling things together. Nice idea.

While he whisked together more maki, we suggested that a lot of conscious eaters would flock to the first sustainable sushi spot anywhere near here.

The house blended, unfiltered saki flows happily at $2.95 a tall shot. So does the draft Sapporo or Kirin, albeit less happily given the steep price ($6.50) for a pint—though Nimri says he is open to price adjustments.

A little family history helps put the welcoming ambiance in perspective. Nimri's brothers are involved in two of the genuinely friendliest restaurants between Point Reyes and Pismo, International Cuisine (formerly Chili Great Chili) in Pacific Grove and Dametra Cafe in Carmel.

"Out family just likes to take care of customers," says older brother Faris Nimri, who pulls off his own cross-cultural wonders at International Cuisine. "To be honest, not like we're faking it, it comes naturally, we like people, like the industry and there are a lot of nice people we have as customers."

Seafood Watch Local Partners
Café Fina, Monterey
Courtside Café at The Chamisal Country Club, Salinas
The C Restaurant and Bar at The Clement Hotel, Monterey
Domenico's on the Wharf, Monterey
The Duck Club Grill at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, Monterey
Esteban Restaurant at the Casa Munras Hotel, Monterey
Favaloro's Big Night Bistro, Pacific Grove
The Fish Hopper, Monterey
Hula's Island Grill and Tiki Room, Monterey
Jacks Restaurant at the Portola Hotel And Spa, Monterey
Montrio Bistro, Monterey
Old Fisherman's Grotto, Monterey
Otter Bay Restaurant at California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside
Pacifica Café and Bar at the Embassy Suites, Seaside
Passionfish, Pacific Grove
Peter B's Brewpub at the Portola Hotel And Spa, Monterey
Portola Café and Restaurant at The Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey
The Restaurant Ventana Inn And Spa, Big Sur
Sardine Factory, Monterey
Schooners Bistro at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, Monterey
TusCA Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency, Monterey

Running the Game: Notes From the Wild Game Barbecue

2010-10-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

As field scouts go, it's tough to top this dynamic duo, Weekly enviro reporter-Assistant Editor Kera Abraham and photographer-chef Hanif Panni. They've got more than an expansive appetite for good grub going on—they know how to document the deliciousness for the rest of us with aplomb. For the Wild Game Barbecue yesterday, they jotted notes and took pictures, respectively:

A gentle rain didn't intimidate the hardy fishermen, hunters and other supporters of the Carmel River Steelhead Association, who turned out in force for the Wild Game Barbecue on Sunday, Oct. 24, at the Carmel Valley Trail & Saddle Club. The crowd of 200 packed the family-style picnic tables in the dining hall and spilled onto tarp-sheltered tables outside, where the air smelled fresh and earthy in the drizzle.

Among our personal best in show: 1. "Cowboy-style" sea bass, cooked tender and smothered in a smoky, peppery barbecue sauce, by chef Horace Mercurio of Coffee Mia Brew Bar in Marina. Just as good was Mercurio's white sea bass with pesto sauce, lemony and basily in just the right proportions.

2. Wild boar bourgignon, by Bruce Brown of Otter Bay Restaurant & Catering. I'm guessing that it took hours of slow-cooking to tenderized the swine that in some other dishes was gristly and tough.

3. Hungarian Hunter's venison stew, by Roberta Campbell Brown of Two Chefs Catering. The deer was in its natural habitat in a thick brown sauce evocative of the valley floor in autumn: multi-layered and rich.

4. Oak-grilled Sicilian-style albacore, by Rose Di Girolamo of Carmel Valley Fish House. Not much needed to dress up this fresh-caught tuna: just a smoky, oaky essence wrapped protectively as a poncho around the flavorful white meat. Every half-hour the rubber-booted CRSA volunteers picked a lucky raffle winner, who got to select a prize from a table full of trinkets.

Meanwhile, Barry Brandt hawked the higher-stakes items in the silent auction, from a gorgeous pair of Big Sur jade earrings to a burly camp-kitchen set. And wine, lots of it, to keep the outdoorsfolk toasty.

Rival bidder Bob Perkins gracefully let us prevail on a set of vintage bottles from Roy Thomas' Monterey Peninsula Winery, dating back to 1974, 1975 and 1976.

A careful corking will reveal whether they're liquid gold or vinegar, but the local history—Thomas' own daughter tells us her 5-year-old feet were among the stompers back in those Carmel Valley flower-child days—makes them precious enough already.

All told, the event raised as much as $6,000 for CRSA's good work on behalf of the valley's most imperiled native fish: rescuing steelhead trapped in dried-up stretches of the river, building a new fish ladder and trap at Los Padres Dam, breeding captive steelhead to replenish the threatened gene pool, helping supplement the water in the Carmel River Lagoon and working to re-establish woody debris in the lower river. Now we'll just have to wait for Cal Am to comply with state orders to stop sucking the Carmel River dry.

Sports Bar Nirvana: The New Knuckles

2010-10-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have seen the future of sportsbar. It arrived with the Knuckles (647-2039) makeover at the Hyatt Monterey, which is now complete.

And it has conveniently shown up in time for the S.F. Giants' first shot at breaking their half-century championship drought.

The fanciest bell/whistle of the future: the Table Tender, which will appear at one table and provide two taps for patrons to self-dispense; beer will be metered out by automated ounce. (Ironically, the Knuckles staff has always been pretty darn attentive. You don't have many servers with this much seniority, which tells you they are doing something right.) Hyatt's hype machine calls the Table Tender the first of its kind in the Golden State.

The place looks a lot slicker and sleeker and silvery—note the year 2075 bar—but might have lost a little of its local character with the exodus of the area memorabilia. The 24 flat-screen HD TVs will help people cope, including an 84-incher.

Among the important notes:

• Sierra Nevada will remain available in many flavors, more (10) than anywhere outside the S.N. brewery. So will the free popcorn and peanuts.

• There are a league of new menu items…

Anticipate appetizers like locally harvested clam steamers cooked with Gilroy garlic, lemon, white wine and butter and served with sourdough bread ($11); sea salt calamari with peppadew pepper aioli ($9); warm Castroville artichoke dip with toasted ciabatta bread ($7); Buffalo spiced cheese sticks and jack and blue cheese sticks with green onions and spicy ranch dipping sauce ($8); and wild boar ribs dry rubbed and slow roasted with honey chipotle barbecue sauce and pineapple slaw ($10). Yes, wild boar. That's good game.

The new signature sandwich ("The Knuckler") brings some gargantuan game of its own: shaved beef rib eye, slow roasted pork, a fried egg, avocado, fried onions, portobello mushroom, shredded lettuce and a three-cheese sauce luxuriously slapped on a sourdough bun and sided with Gilroy garlic fries ($16.50). They're also promising new salads, build-your-own burgers and pizzas.

Then there's a new carnitas quesadilla with roasted tomatoes, green onions, Monterey jack, smoked cheddar cheese and chipotle salsa ($11), and fish tacos with locally caught cod, cabbage slaw, pico de gallo and Oaxaqueño cheese ($11).

New closers include a Guinness and vanilla ice cream float ($8) and a Snickers pie with brownies, caramel, peanuts and a tart cream cheese filling ($6).

• A new pool table and a "kids gaming area" are coming soon. I hope that might means a little boxing ring, maybe a putt-putt arena and Ski-ball. But I think it means shotgun shooting range video games. That part's not quite done yet, though.

• The most daring food deal in town continues on Tuesdays. For Toss Up Tuesdays, a coin flip decides if you win your dinner (food only). Even a loss nets a $5 food certificate to use another time.

Yes, the future is fun. Game on.

Sardine Factory Cellar: High-End Holiday Dinner Inspiration

2010-10-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

Intrepid Weekly food contributor Tony Seton went down to the cellar the other day and came back dizzy with delight. Apparently this wasn't just any cellar. I'll let him explain.

Though the room is a catacomb, it has a surprisingly similar feeling to the great dining hall in the Hearst Castle at San Simeon, in part because of the large table and the high-backed chairs. Mostly though it’s because of the sense of history. One can see and smell—even hear—the years of living that have gone on in this room. Grand moments in the lives of important individuals. And maybe those not so important, or at least not well known, but the hours they spent in The Wine Cellar beneath the Sardine Factory were significant.

This was my first experience of this extraordinary place. I was a guest at a political fundraiser. I have been in a number of wine cellars in restaurants, vintners, and private homes, both here and in Europe. They can vary as much as rooms used for other purposes. But here at the Sardine Factory, as at a few others I’ve visited, there is a spirit that is much deeper than the grapes.

It’s actually a small room, only 14 feet wide by 30 feet long with a nine-foot ceiling, and even though it is filled by an immense table, no one feels cramped. Around this dining room are myriad racks where the Sardine Factory stores its wine, with more than a hundred private lockers where various individuals keep their own private stock. Terminator and Dirty Harry both have lockers there. Altogether there are some 35,000 bottles in the cellar, among them some historic works, including a $10,000 1870 Lafitte Rothschild.

There’s something about dining amidst such time-honored splendor; something akin to perusing a good book in a private library filled with only the leather-bound and many of them first editions.

The dining area itself is rich in history. Two huge wooden doors lead into it. They were discovered and “rescued” from the old stone Christian Brothers Winery in Napa Valley, during a remodel for the Greystone campus of the Culinary Institute of America. Inside is the massive table. It was built from a thousand-year-old Sequoia that had fallen down in Big Sur and was, with special government permission, brought to Monterey, where it was cut into appropriate form using chain saws specially ordered from Alaska. The pieces were then brought down to the cellar and assembled into the table.

The former tree—there was much left over—also contributed its grand wooden self into beams to support what was built above, plus the stunning bar that sits in the ante-room to the dining area. Many people enjoy a glass of something before they take their seats inside. For us, Veuve Cliquot was certainly a good starter.

Complementing the huge table are heavily but delicately upholstered high-back chairs that once graced the elegant dining room aboard a 19th Century luxury steamship. There are 14 on each side of the table with comfortable spacing between them. The table has three leaves that can be removed for more intimate parties.

On the walls are wonderful paintings and along them other artifacts, some of which once lived in a Spanish abbey during the 16th Century; other pieces hail from the Louis XIV era.

The dinner was staged by the Cellar Master Giovanni Sercia—he has worked for S.F. founders-owners Ted Balestreri and Bert Cutino for 35 years and held his current position for 10—and was ably abetted by two assistants. We started with crab ravioli in a truffle sauce that I would have re-ordered several times. It was followed by a salad of mixed greens and vegetables in a red wine vinaigrette. Next came something of a pièce de resistance, at least visually: each of us received a dish of sorbet served in an ice swan, lit from below.

We had a choice of entrees...pan-seared wild Alaskan halibut fillet in tarragon beurre blanc sauce, chicken breast in a Madeira wine sauce, or filet mignon in a port demi sauce. I got a taste of the halibut next to me—you don’t reach across the table at an event like this—it was delicious, and thoroughly enjoyed my beef. The entrees came with risotto with chives or potatoes and sautéed vegetables. The meal ended with chocolate Marquis, a surprisingly and pleasantly light dark chocolate sponge cake with vanilla crème anglaise.

The wines were an excellent 2005 Rombauer Chardonnay and a 1995 Galante Red Rose Hill Cabernet Sauvignon. Plus there was a glass of delicious 1970 Taylor Port with the dessert.

A dinner in the Wine Cellar in the catacombs beneath the Sardine Factory is clearly a special occasion. If you have the inclination to so celebrate, you will have the opportunity to custom design your meal and your wine pairings. The cost factors include not only the victuals and libations, but of course the number of people. There is no charge for the room; the minimum expenditure is $1,900 on food and drink, plus tax and 17 percent gratuity...figure $2,400 and up. Don’t expect to necessarily get your first choice around events like AT&T and Concours. Contact Dawn Rodriguez at 373-6625.

Food Self Control: The Concept

2010-10-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

Maybe the best way to test your will power would be to leave you alone in a room with a steaming-hot piece of Pizza My Way's Big Sur pizza. Or a glass of Heller Meritage with five Bourdeaux varietals blended into heavenly harmony. Or a Wills Fargo steak with cauliflower gratin.

For the purposes of this simple experiment, it was a marshmallow. The results make for one of the best edible videos on YouTube:

One Sheep's Story: Clint and Clyde

2010-10-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, Clint Eastwood knelt low over “No. 36”—one of Mission Ranch’s iconic sheep had a shattered leg. (Eastwood owns MR.)

When my colleague asked me if I heard what happened next, there was only one word to mutter.

“Mutton?”

Nope. Eastwood, Banquet Director Michelle Alway reports, “decided that No. 36 deserved another chance, and gave the OK to drive him up to UC Davis Large Animal Teaching Hospital for surgery.”

No. 36 got a plate in his leg, a cast and a new name, applied courtesy of the UC Davis vets. He’s now called Clyde, after Clint’s sidekick oranguatan in Every Which Way But Loose.

Maybe I’m weird, but that makes me hungry for some Mission Ranch (625-9040) brunch.

It goes 10am-1:30pm Sundays, and might be the best one in the county at $29.95 per person ($13.95 for children age 5 through 12).

Chef Owen Appelt's menu, which includes a complimentary glass of champagne or a mimosa

Salad station
Fresh Fruit
Chinese Chicken/Napa Cabbage Salad
Caesar Salad
Traditional Salad Bar with Fresh Field Greens and Condiments
Other Assorted Seasonal Salads

Savory Station
Classic Eggs Benedict
Whole Baked Salmon with Dill/Crème Fraiche Sauce
Pasta Primavera
Prime Rib Beef Burritos with Mole Sauce
Mission Ranch Boston Clam Chowder

Omelet Station
(made to order with choice of fresh eggs or egg whites)
Fillings include:
Cheese, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Avocado, Tomato Salsa, Ham, Bell Peppers, Bacon, Zucchini, Red Onions, Scallions

Carving Station
Roast Prime Rib of Beef with a jus
Nueske Baked Ham

Traditional Breakfast items
(included on buffet)
Homemade Granola
Fresh Croissants and Rolls
French Toast with Pure Maple Syrup
Pork Sausages or Bacon
Home Fried Potatoes

Dessert Station
(freshly baked)
Flan
Coconut Cake
White Eclairs
Variety of Cheesecakes
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Lemon Bars
Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Key Lime Pie
Fresh Cookies
Fudge Brownies
Fresh Fruit Tarts
Tiramisu

Go Wild: Annual Wild Game Barbecue Benefit

2010-10-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

These guys know how to hunt. And they know how to eat.

So they will have everything on the grill—everything, it seems, except squirrel.

Here comes the wild boar bourguignon. The oak-grilled, Sicilian-style albacore, back by popular demand, after it was done so deliciously by Village Fish House's Rose Girolamo a year ago. She's joined by other Carmel Valley studs like Cachagua General Store's Mike Jones—doing chile verde, "Cachagua style"—and Wills Fargo master of grilled meats Jerome Vail. The chefs keep coming from there, Bruce Brown of Otter Bay Restaurant, Horace Mercurio of Coffee Mia and Roberta Campbell Brown of Two Chefs Catering among them.

With them comes what benefit co-organizer Brian LeNeve calls "the most diverse" lineup of grub he's seen at this annual event, which is saying something.

He says that means lobster bisque. Yellowfin tuna poki. Pheasant pear sauce. Dove, wild turkey and quail. White sea bass done two different ways—with pesto and "cowboy style" (I'm told that means it's got some kick). All the game is procured by the Department of Fish & Game and licensed individuals, and the $40 ticket ($20 for kids under 16) benefits the Carmel River Steelhead Association.

It happens 1-4pm Sunday, Oct. 24, at Carmel Valley Trail and Saddle Club , 85 E. Garzas Dr. in Carmel Valley. Call 626-6586 or 625-2255 for more.

Wild.

How Sweet It Is: KT's Sweet Lunch Delivers

2010-10-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

Allow me to introduce last Friday's lunch: a half turkey sandwich with red pepper pesto and carmelized onions on ciabatta, packaged with a peach and a mixed green salad armed with apple, avocado, walnuts, blue cheese and a connective tangerine dressing, and...

a little homemade treat: a mini caramel-apple cake.

Not bad, huh?

It gets better.

The packaging is all compostable, from the bags to the containers to the fork. The fresh goods are delivered for free if eight amigos and/or colleagues jump on board (it's $3 otherwise). And it costs $8.

Such succulence is possible Wednesdays and Fridays thanks to a new venture called KT's Sweet Lunch (214-7465), Monterey Culinary Center grad Katie Martin's answer to what she sees as a preponderance of overpriced and unhealthy lunch options.

"And I love cooking and baking for other people," she says. "It comes naturally, and I love it."

Sign up to get her menus by e-mail at the start of the week by way of her website and log your order by 2:30pm the day previous. She compiles them with farmers market fare at The Kitchen in Sand City and then rolls out.

The options with her soup-salad-wrap/sandwich staples are many. You can combine half orders of two of the three or just get after a full serving of your favorite (the wrap, above, is joined by some savory baked chips).

My sandwich was delicious, with a nice sweet and smoky note from the onions balanced by the earthiness of the ciabatta and the tasty red pepper pesto.

The salad's stars—blue cheese, walnuts, avocado and apple—always play great together, but do so even more socially with the help of the smooth tangerine dressing, which was a nice surprise.

I also tried the curried sweet potato chowder, which was robust to the point of chunky. (Don't be fooled by the big container; Martin ran out of the half-size vessels so this looks deceivingly like a skimpy order.) The peas provided a nice presence and I loved the pepitas in there. The only thing it was missing something to counteract the potatoes' sweetness—like some heat. My colleague/design guru Gretchen Miller suggested some chipotle action. I second the motion.

The bonus closer, a caramel apple cake, underwhelmed, which is surprising because it's Martin's signature and the first dessert I've had from her that didn't completely rock. I'm gonna chock it up as an aberration.

If life is to be sweet, lunch should be too. How sweet KT's is.

Coincidentally enough, Martin sent out this week's menu right after I posted this. Here it is:

Menu for Oct. 20 and 22

Sandwich/Wrap
Pulled Pork, Mozzarella, BBQ sauce on Caramelized Onion Bread (from the Bakery Station) with Kettle Chips

Salad
Roasted Pumpkin, Chicken Sausage, Roasted Red Peppers, Green Beans, Lettuce, & Feta with a Mustard Balsamic Vinaigrette

Soup
Beef, Shiitake, & Barley Soup

Saturday: Made for Farm Fun

2010-10-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

No fewer than three cool local gardening/farming open houses sprouted up this Saturday (tomorrow)—including one starring a couple who abandoned urban life to live closer to their food—so Weekly contributor Janet Upadhye, herself a recent transplant from San Francisco, take a closer look at this Saturday's earthy possibilites (scroll to the bottom of the post for event specifics and addresses and links):

When it comes to gardening, Cole Canyon Farms owners Steve Rehn and Pamela Mason are good at giving advice to the clueless. They once were somewhat clueless themselves—coming from San Francisco’s theater district they were worlds away from rural farming.

But they had it in their blood. Mason comes from three generations of farmers and Rehn’s mother was an avid gardener with quite a green thumb. When Mason got a job with Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, they knew they should follow their own green thumbs and migrate down to farm country.

With genes like theirs, it didn’t take long to learn what grows well in this area and when (like capers!, above). Heading into fall and winter, they are particularly eager to remind locals that in Monterey County you can plant edibles year round if you know what to use. Hence the inspiration for their sale/open house, A Celebration of Winter Gardening at Cole Canyon Farms.

This event caters to newbie food growers and old hats alike. Check out the selection of seedlings and perennial herbs at up to 50 percent off, ready to be planted in the fall, and gain first hand knowledge on how to not kill your new babies, and how to actually turn them into something edible.

Then stuff seedlings in your basket for veggies such as broccoli, cabbages, and multiple members of the greens family and stick in some herbs like oregano, sage, and rosemary, and go home and plant them. Come winter you’ll be making homegrown stew from your own garden in the backyard. Imagine.

Or just stop by to see up to 34 varieties of tomato in one place.

Over in Salinas, ALBA's Let’s Go To The Farm offers fresh, organic produce, straight from small local, organic farms and a chance to talk with farmers and get all the secrets to getting your own little farm into the ground.

Bring your own bag and load up on produce from the heart of the Salinas Valley salad bowl.

Hayrides will also tour the fields—there is no better way to see the farm than from the cush seat of your jacked up tractor of hay. And last, decorate and carve your own local pumpkins for Halloween. ALBA, a local nonprofit that aims to incubate small organic farmers with limited means.

Earthbound Farms offers more fall farming with Fall Fun and Flavor Days at their Farm Stand in Carmel Valley. On Saturdays in October behold their famous pumpkin and squash poles. Think totem pole of multi-colored gourds straight into the sky.

Also participate in cozy autumn activities like cornhusk doll-making and pumpkin carving. If you get hungry, stop by their certified organic kitchen (only the third open in the US) for smoothies, bakery goods, soups, salad bar and in October some special fall goodies. Scarf down your treat out on the deck among their organic flower garden. And don’t leave without attending a cooking demo to learn what to do with all your fresh new food.

Really, the tagline of Cole Canyon Farms sums up the joy of the harvest: If we forget how to grow our own food—others will decide what we eat. Never let anyone decide for you.

“A Celebration of Winter Gardening with an Open Greenhouse & Sale” at Cole Canyon Farm, 1495 Cole Road, Aromas. Saturday, Oct. 16, 9am-4pm. www.colecanyonfarm.com

“Let’s go to the Farm” at ALBA, 1700 Old Stage Road, Salinas. Saturday, Oct. 16, 11am-4pm, Suggested donation $5/group, www.albafarms.org

“Fall Fun and Flavor Days” at Earthbound Farms, 7250 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel. Saturdays Oct. 16, 23, and 30. 11am-3pm, Free admission, www.ebfarm.com

Herald Food Bites Bites the Dust

2010-10-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

Monterey County plays home to hundreds and hundreds of restaurants. Every single resident is impacted by the industry, either fundamentally (because they're one of the masses who works the kitchens and tabletops from Moss Landing to Lucia), or directly because they eat out, or indirectly (because restaurants and events like Pebble Beach Food & Wine bring in big crowds and big income). Most of us are impacted in more ways than one.

So when the Monterey County Herald quietly scrapped two regular food columns—which happen to be some of its strongest elements, food or not—it didn't make a lot of sense to this omnivore with an admitted appetite for good food, wine and journalism.

"He Said, She Said"—the restaurant review in Go!—is sayonara. Same goes for "Food Bites," Mike Hale's stew pot of food updates and items, most recently appearing in Wednesday's Taste section.

I know the corporate fathers of the paper are more into bottom lines than community commitment, and find savings in slashing staff (I sense more cuts coming) who covers local beats in favor of vanilla fare from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. But still.

The insiders I know weren't ready to go on the record with their understandings of why the food coverage was skewered like jerk chicken. "There's no right answer I can give," one said. So I called Publisher Gary Omernick.

My three or four calls went unanswered. Somewhere in the sequence I noticed his outgoing message changed to an out-of-the-office reply (coincidence, I'm sure).

The best I could surmise from my contacts is that his response to the groundswell of e-mails asking Why abandon a helpful local connection point? is this:

The decision to discontinue the food review column was based on readership and available resources… while we believe the readership of the column to be loyal, it was not a comparably large audience compared to other readership initiatives.

May our cleaning staff forgive me for ralphing a perfectly good lunch on the linoleum—is the readership initiative more syndicated stuff like nutritionist Barbara Quinn, which replaced Food Bites this week? Is it more theater stories in Go!, given that they often run several, though there's only a handful of houses in town, counting high school shops?

Ray Napolitano has followed the food and wine scene locally for decades, first as a club/restaurant manager, then as a wine rep, then writing Special Edible's forefather food flavorings, Food Chain, for seven years or so.

"It doesn't seem very sensible," he says. "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."

True dat. Cue the frowny faces. :(...

Oh Clementine's. You're closed. And that sucks.

2010-10-14T03:19:00.000-07:00

They never failed me. Every time I needed something thoughtful for a friend who likes food, cooking or just life itself (read: all of them), that was a go-to spot. There were cleverly engineered pans. Fancy plates. Mustards from France. Crazy tasty oils. Knives. Spices. Bamboo cutting boards. Atypical cookbooks. Cooking classes. Creatively curated wines. So many 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. No fail there.

So perhaps it's fitting that, even as their business failed, the good folks at Clementine's didn't fail to make one thing clear: They wanted to thank the good people who frequented their spot next to Highway 68 and Tarpy's for eight mostly glorious years.

"That's the most important thing: "To really thank people." says Drew Chernoy, partner of owner David Babcock (above, with Bourdeaux, a rescue from Katrina and successor to Clementine, the dog the shop was named after).

Chernoy cites "a combination of things" that won't likely surprise. Local retailers are hit hard by economic slowdowns. The spot they enjoyed was not cheap to lease. Their business isn't must-haves—"it wasn't food, housing and gasoline," he says—but instead gifts bought from discretionary funds. Now he and Babcock can concentrate fully on Babcock's recovery from a stroke in March of '09 that continues to require rehab five days a week.

Now the good news: Clementine's allies-in-arms, Brinton's (624-8541), are still around for those who can make the drive. Closer to home, Lula's Chocolates (655-8527) addicts can swing by the Ryan Ranch factory to feed their fix and Parker-Lusseau (655-3030) lovers can find their third outpost in Ryan Ranch too. And the adorable ladies like whiz-chef Dorothy McNett, Becky Waters and Mary Panziera would all boost a short staff big time.

"It was definitely David's baby," Chernoy says. "It's heart-breaking. We are gonna miss customers as much as they missed the store."

Ugh.

Powerful Lessons From TLC Ranch's Recent Closure

2010-10-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

When an ex-marine beats a horse in a 50-mile race, you know he's up to a challenge. So that tells you how hard it is to keep small organic poultry and livestock farm afloat.

One-time horse-versus-human champ Jim Dunlop and his wife Becky just announced that they are closing up shop at Aromas' Tastes Like Chicken Ranch to travel the country working at small sustainable farms. That sucks.

My first introduction to TLC locked in my adoration immediately. I was committed to a 150-mile-radius diet for a Weekly cover story on eating locally and quickly learning that local bacon was as easy to get a hold of as a greased pig. Dunlop hand delivered some. It wasn't cheap, but it was wonderful. I didn't know if it was from the free-range grass diet, the strict organic upbringing, the expert butchering or the right amount of fat, but I didn't care. It was too good to care.

Now the amazin' bacon and delicious eggs and superior chops are being sold off to their loyal shareholders one last time. The crucial thing in this loss, though, is not to lose the valuable look into what makes such a pasture-fed, organic operation—the kind we want more of in our communities—work or not. That was the priority of the Dunlops' announcement:

"After 6 years trying to create a sustainable farm and a sustainable business, we are throwing in the 'farming towel,'" they wrote to their newsletter subscribers. "Some of you may have already heard, but we wanted to give you a more detailed story of WHY. It is our hope that by understanding why it didn't work for us, you will have a greater appreciation for the farmers and ranchers that continue to provide you amazing food and that you might work even harder to build a mutually beneficial relationship with them.

"We also think it is especially important to support farmers/ranchers that are local to your watershed because they not only provide a huge economic engine to your watershed but they also protect the farming and ranching lands around you by simply being able to continue what they do.

"Likewise, support the new, fledgling, and limited-resource growers who may not have the privilege of land or monetary wealth, but have the drive and creativity to try farming for a living."

The reasons provide passionate and potent (albeit one-sided) insight, and look to me like required reading for anyone with an interest in viable small farms—which, really, should include all of us.

Here's their reasons for closing, in their words:

1. LAND ACCESS
We rent land in North Monterey County, California. Half the land we rent is in an active floodplain and is under water for half the year. The other half of land we rent is a steep, overgrazed, parched hillside with no water to help bring it back to life. For all 48 acres we rent, we pay about 10 times the going rate for pasture.

The best grazing lands in this region are locked up by a handful of long-time cattle ranchers, the fertile bottomland locked up by capital-intensive berry farming, so we are left with the dregs. To top off the over-priced land, our leases are too short to build a long-term business, the landlords too inflexible, and ultimately, we are building no equity for all the effort we put into the land.

What can you do to help solve the land problem for farmers? Make sure your city and county planners don't pave over any more good farmland in your county and don't let them rezone farmland for things like rural "ranchettes" and other developments that carve up viable farmland. If you or your family own farmland, consider offering a low-priced, long-term lease to a good farmer to help them build their business.

2. MEAT PROCESSING
This topic warrants a much longer post, but basically California has only a handful of USDA-inspected slaughter and butcher facilities. Because there are only a few, it is hard to even get an appointment to bring your animals in (one place we called had a 7 month waiting list!).

Also, because these abattoirs don't have much competition, they don't have to provide high-quality customer service to ranchers. They can charge what they want, they can choose not to follow your detailed butchering instructions (for example, put nitrates in the hams that you asked for "nitrate-free", cut all the fat off your pork chops when you asked for 2 inches of fat on them, etc.). These abattoirs charge you by the carcass weight of your animal and then sometime they won't even give you the whole animal back that you paid for, such as taking the head, the organ meats, the feet, etc.

So we work our butt off to raise this amazing animal and then the butchers devalue your hard work. Having zero control over our processing is extremely frustrating and costly. To top it off, the rules for ranchers processing their own meat are different than those for small custom butcher shops.

They can take their meat products to farmers markets without a USDA-inspection but we cannot (Corralitos Meat Market or El Salchichero is an example of this). This is a double standard that most customers are oblivious too.

3. THE ECONOMY & CONSUMERS
We certainly have some amazing customers, some who have been with us since the beginning, others who have loaned us money, and many who put faith in us when purchasing an egg share. We also had over 100 amazing individuals donate to help replace our stolen laying hen flock. We get the occasional compliment like "your eggs changed my life" or "I feel comfortable eating meat again when it is from you".

Yet we have other customers who want our products to be cheaper, for us to stop using organic feed, or for us to lower our standards in other ways. There are people who want us to use a soy-free feed, but yet are not willing to pay the added price that a non soy feed will cost (it takes longer to grow out an animal without soy and laying hens produce fewer eggs when not on soy).

Many customers, in fact, will choose to get eggs from several states away from a farm they have never seen in order to get a soy-free egg or they will buy bacon or sausage that is sugar or nitrate-free but happens to come from some nameless farmer in Iowa. Many people prioritize their personal dietary preferences du jour (I say "du jour" because these preferences change often over time) over supporting an actual local farmer or perhaps over humane animal care, environmental sustainability, etc. I encourage you all to look at the bigger picture and think about what values you want to support.

Added to this, the bleak economy is encouraging many of our former customers to pinch pennies and discard their values for foods that are organic, local, environmentally sustainable, etc. While I understand the need to be budget-minded (we haven't seen a movie in over a year), I don't think people should skimp on the food they put into their bodies and the kind of planet they want to see. If we want local farmers to stay on the landscape, we must support them over the long term.

When we shop around, try to save a few pennies, or preference our dietary fads over the realities of local livestock production, we are taking away that vital support that keeps local farmers around.

4. QUALITY OF LIFE
We both used to be avid mountain bikers, backpackers, rock climbers, all around adventure-lovers. Since starting a farm, we have had almost no time to do anything fun. Our daughter's only 'fun' time is when all three of us are washing and packing eggs to music at night.

We live next to a highway because that was the only land we could find to rent that also had a house for us to live in. We farm in an area rife with criminal activity and had 300 of our laying hens stolen in the spring, but it is the only place we could find that would rent us land.

To top that off, we can't find any good employees that would enable us to work less than 80 hours a week and have some semblance of a life ('cept for Loren & Felicia). So unlike the beautiful, joyous life that many romanticize for farmers, we don't have that. We need a better life.

So off they go, loading their daughter Fiona in the RV to volunteer on farms and ranches "around the country that we admire and hope to learn from."

Just as we have learned from them.

Star Market's New Star: Cat Cowboy

2010-10-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the benefits of shopping locally takes unanticipated shapes.

Former Chamisol GM and friend-to-the-animals/organic farmer Nicole Tonti discovered this one the other day at Star Market (422-3961) in Salinas. It was wearing a leash.

Tonti goes to Star for a lot of things, number one among them, she says, the honeybee goat cheese from Michael Burke's undeniably great cheese constellation.

Victor Kong, meanwhile, keeps a superlative selection of wine intact, and then there's everything else a sturdy supermarket can have if you (for some reason) need more than wine and cheese to survive.

In this era of elections—coincidentally, the district that Star Market belongs to is particularly contested, with incumbent Jill Barnes facing opposition from sunshiny Steve McShane, among others—Special Edible Food Blog believes in equal time, so here's a little video from the opposing camp, dogs.

Shake It For Salvation

2010-10-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

Weekly food writer Tony Seton made his way over to Portola Hotel (866-711-1534) to look in on an annual benefit for the Salvation Army put on by one of the county's first families of food, the Shakes, in honor of their iconic patriarch immortalized by the wooden statue on Fisherman's Wharf, Sabu. Here's what he came back with, alongside some photos from Nic Coury:

Oh what a night! The Shake Family held their third annual “Sabu’s Safari Goes Caribbean” event at the Portola Hotel. It was a grandiose event to honor their iconic father, Sabu Sr., while raising funds for the Salvation Army.

More than 350 attended, among them the incumbent splash of community leaders including supes and councilfolks, a sheriff (above left) and a bishop.

A silent auction featured hundreds of items, among them sports memorabilia, bottles of wine, a few art pieces, vacations, dinners and spa treatments preceded the dinner, with the local glitterati wandering among dozens of tables, writing their bids, sipping libations, and nibbling a delicious array of appetizers including abalone, white anchovies bruschetta, Caribbean papaya with prosciutto, ahi carpaccio...

chevre-stuffed figs (above), and baby artichoke hearts with crab meat.

One of the highlights of the evening was the menagerie of live animals carried among the guests. There was a skunk, a five-foot python named Tarzan, a monkey, an owl who was obviously up before his bedtime, and Wally the alligator. He was only about 20 inches long but would grow to 12 feet; he had his mouth taped shut. The animals were from Wild Things at the Vision Quest Ranch, a primary sponsor of the evening. (Guests also got to have their photographs taken with an animal.)

The main course, of course, was the food. The executive chef was Mo Tabib, who also runs the kitchen at the Fish Hopper (372-8543). He was supported by a number of other culinary pros including Juan Ponce of the Old Fisherman’s Grotto (375-1331), and Jason Giles of the Portola Hotel. And oh my goodness, the food was downright excellent: tables of sea bass, halibut, king crab, lobster, chops, and prime rib, ably supported by steaming dishes of rice and pasta and vegetables, plus various salads and breads. There were also several tables of dessert, including cakes, pastries, and fresh fruit. The food and drink were contributed by dozens of local companies.

The problem with all that food and hours to eat it is that one does one’s best to diligently consume all of these delicious goodies. All-you-can-eat is a marvelous concept if you have a semblance of discipline. Otherwise you eat too much and there’s nothing semblance about the feeling of over-indulgence as you waddle home. Still, it was for a good cause.

There was a video celebrating the life and spirit of patriarch Sabu Shake, who passed to the great restaurant in the sky about a decade ago. And there were stirring reports on all the good that the Salvation Army has done since 1895 when they saw to the needs of the Chinese fishing community in Pacific Grove, and is doing today in our own tough times. Thousands of families, children and individuals get food and shelter, training and counseling, along a path to a better future.

A live auction after the dinner was emceed by KSBW anchor Dan Green, who at one point offered the line that this wasn’t the first time he was upstaged by a monkey in a diaper. He helped raise tens of thousands of dollars (they’re still counting) by bidding out vacations from Kona to the Caribbean, premier treatment at a Giants (baseball) game, and a sparkling variety of special dinners for you and your 10, 20, or 40 closest friends.

The Tropicalismo Dance followed, and then there was dancing to Jeff Narell and the Bongo Beach Band.

The Shake organization ran the affair well, and they were proudly complemented by excellent service by the Portola staff.

Macaroni and Cheese Goes Upscale

2010-10-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

There is simply nothing else like it. It is proof that there is a God/Goddess. It is an childhood mainstay and an American staple. It is gooey oozing comfort.

It is macaroni and cheese. But we're not here to talk about your grandma's mac 'n' cheese, but how the classic's being co-opted by everyone from Tony Baker to Thomas Keller. Now it's gourmet. Luxury. And still mac n cheese.

The San Jose Mercury ran a cool story about the trend earlier this week, pointing out how guys like James Beard award-winning Michael Mina use it as a menu pillar:

"Mina has featured mac and cheese variations at many of his restaurants—a roster that includes four in San Francisco, including RN74 and his soon-to-reopen eponymous bistro. A truffled version with sauteed chicken breast and rosemary appears on the current menu at San Jose's Arcadia, and Mina is constantly reinventing his basic recipe, which gets extra sizzle from garlic, thyme and a nicely aged Parmigiano-Reggiano."

At Harvest Carmel, local chef and Weekly contributor Mike Whalen (above), rocked a truffled mac n cheese with a polenta crouton that blew folks away. The recipe was too complicated—"13.5 kilograms of cheese and 12 liters of wine went into those 1,500 mini-portions!" he says—but he did add this:

"What makes mac and cheese great? C'mon, it's cheesy goodness. You can't beat that home-style comfort food. When you kick it up a notch, it becomes upscale comfort food and you get the best of both worlds: Some thing with home style familiarity, but more, because lobster and truffles taste awesome and we can't afford to cook with them at home."

Whalen ratifies my top local foodie mac 'n' cheese choice: The lobster mac 'n' cheese ($6.50) at Montrio Bistro (648-8880) in downtown Monterey. It's a must order.

"I have young kids and they really like the real mac 'n' cheese we make at home," Chef Tony Baker says, "so we started playing around with it here.

"To make lobster butter we cook down a ton of butter with shrimp and lobster shells, and a crapload of spices, tons of garlic, then strain that with three layers of cheese cloth and get this really shrimp, lobster, spicy butter mixture, then use that to make the rouge that's the base for the cheese."

He adds Spring Hill Jersey cheddar out of Petaluma from a guy who grows his own feed, throws in carmelized leeks, nibbles of Maine lobster (delivered live), some crispy bread crumbs and grated Grano Padano (a less intense Parmesan).

Bam.

And the lobster mac is only $4 during the 4:30-6:30pm happy hour, which happens seven days a week.

I Did Not Burn $200 Million of Napa Wines

2010-10-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that you get people telling you that they saw you changed your 19 felony pleas.

But that's been my Wednesday after a headline appeared on SFGate that went a little something like this:

"Mark C. Anderson gets time to change arson plea."

That's not quite interesting enough to merit a little Special Edible post, though. The story itself, though, definitely is: Dude owned Sausalito Cellars in Vallejo, which stored superb Napa Valley wines for wineries and collectors. The Marin County fuzz accused him of embezzling from his clients and burning the place down, and he entered a guilty plea about a year ago. But now he says his agreement with the judge was misconstrued.

For the record, I have a hard enough time spitting out wine at tastings. No way I could burn three bottles, let alone 6 million—worth some $200 million. And we're talking Napa wines. I know more than a few people that would view this crime as tantamount to mass murder—after all, they'll tell you sooner than I will, a wine is a living thing.

Don't Have a Cow: Meatless Mondays

2010-10-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Ah, college.

Dorm food. Top Ramen. Microwave burritos. Cold pizza.

Not here.

Between the landmark service learning, the state-of-the-art library and the disc golf dominance, CSU Monterey Bay was already a progressive place. Now that they are giving students another sustainable eating option, life as an Otter is even healthier. Not too long after Sodexo made CSUMB one of the first college campuses in the country to go organic, now they are highlighting meatless options at all four on-campus Otter outposts every Monday for the school year.

The aim isn't to take away the carnitas burritos and greasy cheeseburgers, just provide more moving alternatives.

"The idea is to add vegetarian options and to make them visible," says Jennifer Harris, Sodexo's campus marketing and sustainability manager.

The Dining Commons now has a special serving station for vegetarian fare. The library café features veggie hummus wraps, the Otter Express (582-5007) offers veggie sandwiches and the Otter Bay Restaurant (582-5020) has a new Meatless Monday options every week.

The move looks like a no-brainer given tastes trending fresher and lighter as evidence mounts that eating plants, in modest amounts, is the way to eat right by ourselves and the planet. And that trend is particularly strong among students of all ages.

Sodexo realizes that it only helps them to position themselves as a supplier with green savvy.

"Did you know that it takes 2,500 gallons of water to make one pound of beef?" Sodexo's Harris asks.

The Otter play also reflects a national trend, according to CSUMB reps, who says pioneers of the MM-on-campus idea include UC Davis, Yale University and the Baltimore City Schools. The efforts, unsurprisingly, are student-led.

More (vegetarian) nuggets from the press release I received:

• We still aren't fruity enough as a society. "This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a study of fruit and vegetable consumption. It found that only 26 percent of adults eat vegetables three or more times a day—which falls far short of guidelines set by the federal government. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, the average American eats less than half of what public health officials suggest. And that figure hasn't budged since 2000."

• The idea ain't new. "During World War I, people were urged to skip meat one day a week as a rationing effort. Now, that idea has been reinvented as a hip, easy way to be environmentally friendly and health conscious."

• There's a little momentum going on the former Fort Ord. "At CSUMB, students can sign a pledge to go meatless. So far, over 500 students have taken the pledge."

• Hot chefs are feeling it too. "And it's not just schools that have signed on to the idea. When celebrity chef Mario Batali starts to push people to eat their vegetables, you know something is happening. According to the Washington Post, the famous chef and restaurant owner has joined the Meatless Monday movement, which is backed by a broad array of public-health advocates."

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup and an Update on Saigon Noodle

2010-10-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Weekly Staff Writer Walter Ryce loves him some good grub, but he loves it in exotic forms that most wannabe foodies can't cope with, and takes it down in quantities that belie his slight frame.

And, having grown up on the killer kimchi and bimbimbap fare his Korean-native mother makes—and continues to conjure deliciously in a city called Seaside—he enjoys the most textured expertise on Pan-Asian cuisine of anyone I know. (There are reasons we call him "Doc" around the office.)

When he asked what pho spot I could use a report on, that was easy: Saigon Noodle (394-8494), an immediately popular outpost on lower Broadway at its opening less than a year ago, when he was one of the first to attend, but one that has lost a little steam with the departure of its founding leader and warm spirit Grandma Sunshine to make way for new owners. Here's what he came back with:

This is spicy beef noodle soup. Darker broth than chicken pho, more oily.

Thicker, slippery noodles, demanding some dextrous chopstick control. More for slurping into the mouth than shoveling in like you can do with vermicelli noodle chicken pho at Pho King (899-1424), but it tends to flick juices so head low and eyes closed.

The meat comes in good, tender, fatty strips, with slivers of gristle floating about (also good), and half-meatballs. Jo at Saigon Kitchen told me to not add Sriracha sauce because it changes the taste, but this soup is not spicy—until you hit a jalapeño pepper, which game me the sweaty scalp reaction.

It comes with soybean sprouts, two slices of jalapeño, lime and instead of fresh basil leaves, mint leaves and even one square of tofu floating around like a life raft.

New tables and chairs class up the place some, though it was empty except for one woman waiting for take-out. Jo said it's been slow.

The soup's worth a trip: It's a hearty, rich soup for a notch cheaper than a comparable size of Pho King. Feels good and messy eating, then peaceful afterwards.

Something To Do With Yourself

2010-10-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

Look at yourself. You're a mess.

You're so frazzled from a week of abject stress and humiliation while tied to your Blackberry that you haven't assembled anything resembling a nourishing tasting event for the beautiful Indian Summer weekend.

Fear not. Special Edible's got your back. This Saturday, there's an impressive debut event happening al fresco in downtown Monterey. Como se dice, "tequila tasting"?

Reasons you should pull yourself together and get down there...

Number 1:

Number 2:
Number 3:
Number 4:
Number 5-7...

Numbers 8-10:

OK, you get it. One tequila, two tequila...but the real takeaway: The Monterey Tequila and Mezcal Expo looks like an awesome time, what with 70 premium tequilas, mescals and piscos, for $50 ($45 in advance at their website).

The mixer tasting goes 5-8pm and also enjoys Executive Chef Jason Giles of The Portola Hotel and Spa doing a lively tequila cooking show off, Mariachi Aztlan unleashing authentic sounds, art displays, a tequila 101 seminar and hors d’oeuvres.

There's even an after-party concert included in the admission, following an announcement of the tasting winner. The show goes 9pm-midnight in the De Anza Ballroom in the Portola and spotlights Tokezon, which organizers are promoting as "a new concept in Cumbia music."

"Drawing influence from Chicha, the psychedelic, guitar playing and accordion driven band is known for playing popular hard grooves from Colombia, mixing it up with popular 60's and 70's style music," the release reads. "This, combined with reggae-fusion, funk and punk, Tokeson is able to explore different textures and create a unique sonic experience."

Hopefully they draw a little inspiration from tequila (or pisco) too.

Freaky Todd Fisher and Sweet KT

2010-10-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Given his Southern upbringing and latent foodie tendencies, Weekly and Special Edible contributor Stuart Thornton has an in-bred obsession for barbecue. So he drew the 'cue seminar assignment at Harvest Fest last weekend. He got something a little different than he expected:

Even before Chef Todd Fisher officially began his cooking demo at the Harvest Festival, a crowd that had assembled in the shade of the stage was eating up a spicy serving of his sex-driven double entendres. “My nuts are always organic,” he said as he got behind a grill wearing a black chef shirt, camo shorts and red plastic Birkenstocks. “I never put pesticide on my nuts.”

When the cooking demo began, Fisher started to describe how to make a dry rub for a flank steak using fresh ground coffee, fennel seeds, coriander, cumin seed, pink peppercorn, chili pepper, salt and smoked paprika, which he said could be found at Whole Foods.

While rubbing the meat with the ingredients that he threw together, the force behind Sand City’s The Kitchen (206-8401) tossed out tasty scraps of knowledge—“flank steak is like a road map to cutting meat”—along with lots of playful banter with members of the audience, especially The Forge in the Forest Executive Chef Gene Moana.

Serious for a couple seconds, Chef Fisher said the rub should be on the meat for as little as 10 minutes and no longer than two hours before cooking it. As he began heating the steak in a pan, he noted that he was cooking the meat on direct heat for about three minutes per side. As the rub heated up, it began to add a roasted caramelized crust to the flank steak. Smoke wafted into the crowd causing a few people to cough and an audience member to joke that Fisher needed a fan onstage to suck up the smoke.

“All my fans are already turned on,” he said looking out over the audience before honking a horn.

Before samples of the extremely flavorful end product were passed out to the crowd, Fisher conducted a brief Q&A session. It all began with a woman right under the stage asking the Chef what kind of underwear he wears.

“I don’t wear any underwear at all,” Fisher said without missing a beat. “I’m a free spirit.”
~~~
I swung by Fisher's The Kitchen last week to pick up some PigWizard sausage and between the tempura scallops with broccoli rabe by Fisher and gourmet tamales from Hermosa Mexican Food (323-443-5092), tasted a lot of cool things going on. Some of the coolest came from his co-op partner-in-crime, Katie Martin (214-7465), who, like a number of local chefs, uses Fisher's kitchen space as a base for operations.

She does seductive sweets like a tiny strawberry cheesecake and a peanut-butter-cuppy cupcake I tried that night.

She also delivers fresh and healthy lunches for folks (the $3 delivery charge per location is waived when groups order at least eight):

Here's an example of what she does Wednesdays and Fridays, all complete, fittingly, "with a little treat," Martin says. The lunches range $6.50-$8.50. The menu changes each week. Click over to her website to join the e-mail blast that sends out the weekly lineup every Monday. Cool idea from KT:

Weekly Menu for Sept. 29 and Oct. 1

Sandwich/Wrap: Buffalo Chicken with Veggie Slaw & Red Onion on Whole Wheat Roll

Salad: Romaine, Grilled Red Peppers, Celery, Roasted Chicken with Creamy Pesto Dressing

Soup~Beef Stew with Butternut Squash

Give her a call. Great way to be the hero of the meeting/office.
~~~

Also: Fisher's doing a dinner as only he can tonight...save money by bringing your own Bordeaux, enjoy some inventive and delicious grub in an informal and fun loft space there in the industrial streets of Sand City. I've been. It's a blast. Here are the details, direct from T.F. ( I like how he capitalizes "Foodie Friends"):

B.Y.O.W. Local French Dinner
WHEN: 6-10pm Friday October 1st
WHERE: THE KITCHEN 354 Orange Ave., Sand City, CA 93955
WHY: To celebrate great food & wine, meet new Foodie Friends.

MENU:
Zucchini Blossom Beignets with Roast Fennel and Olive Tepenade

Frisee, Lardons and 1 hour egg with Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

Verte Saucisson with French Lentils and Pickled Onions

Loup De Mer A La Provencale

Steak Frite with Sauce Bernaise

Tarte Au Citron

Must RVSP. 206-8401 $65 per person. Seating is limited...

Because You Deserve It: Food Photography That Rules

2010-09-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

From the How-the-Hell-Did-They-Do-That-One file comes "Turtle Burger."

Weekly staff photog Nic Coury dug this up (as only he can), though he was unable to find someone to credit in all its appearances. (If you're out there, e-mail me...Coury may be out of a gig.)

When I asked Weekly readers to send in their best food photos for $100 in shrimp and hush puppies at Bubba Gump, I got nothing this genius. But I got some good ones. Makes me want to open up the contest continuously...send in shots to edible@mcweekly.com whenever and I'll post good ones and work on conjuring some prizes.

Oh My Goat: Chili From God Recipe

2010-09-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

This story started with a potluck. It turned a corner with an insomniac e-mail from an intern. And it ended cushioned by a heaven-sent cloud of chili flavor.

Weekly intern-at-the-time (and current contributor/court translator and former longtime ex-pat in Spain) Daniel DeCamp, pictured above in his habit, brought along his stew to a potluck. It was damn good. I pulled him aside, and asked him to start bringing it by on deadline night, soliciting feedback and honing his recipe, because I suddenly had aspirations for an amateur entry at the Carmel Valley Chamber's Annual Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook-off at Holman Ranch.

DeCamp (seen here talking language theory with sheriff candidate Scott Miller) is prone to firing off essays in the middle of the night, including recent pieces on Spanish food versus Mexican and the problem with dogmatic thinking. One about chili came at me thusly:

"I was in my kitchen, pondering what to do with a massive supply of pork shoulder I had recently bought, when a powerful godlike voice spoke to me," the e-mail begins. "It said: YE SHALL MAKE CHILI! At that moment a sense of divine urgency came over me. I repaired to my study and in a matter of minutes I emerged, like Moses coming down from the mount, carrying a legal pad on which my new chili recipe was scrawled."

The close: "Finally, after much anticipation, I sat down to taste my creation. And it was good. The otherwordly voice spoke again. It said: YOU HAVE DONE WELL MY SON. NOW GO FORTH AND SHARE...

"All my life I've been searching, yes searching for something to give meaning to my life. I thought to myself perhaps this is it. Perhaps this is my purpose. The quest: to be a chili cook-off champion."

He need only perfect his already-excellent stuff. Soon his higher-power pork was replaced with carefully sourced goat to honor some anti-swine eating patterns among our growing champion-to-be team and open up the possibility of a chili called Oh My Goat, which fit with the divine inspiration his e-mail had provided for a theme.

When the day drew near last week, the Weekly angels sprung to action. Folks helped reconoiter the requisite nun costumes, candles and sweet sign designs. We painted a confessions/critiques booth. We crafted the 10 Chili-mandments. Number Seven: Thou shall not steal the OMG Chili recipe. Just ask for it.

Daniel's epic recipe follows, as does another recipe from the pro winner, Marinus Sous Chef Anna Steege.

But wait, you're wondering, how could chili this heavenly, this blessed, lose? My crack expert advice: We were sinfully placed off the main track, tucked into a courtyard away from the lawns, which we didn't so much realize—or mind, since we were between two margarita booths, including Rio Grill's, where Cy Yontz had some boffo buffalo chili going with smoked gouda and blood-orange-serrano pepper margies from Eddie Banaszek.

Almost everyone that did find us thanked the Good Lord they had, whispering, "We were told to find the nuns," but not everybody persevered long enough to get to OMG in the first place.

See...this lady is praying for another refill. Seven types of layered chili pepper can do that. And look at that confession booth with the holy goat. Shoulda been a lock for best table.

This table got top nod...gorgeous tomatoes from a gifted farmer, but creativity that hasn't really ascended too highly. And though you had to admire the great organic sourcing, the chili was plain.

Ah, sour goat milk that can't taint a great event. We had a blast. And now you have some great recipes, delivered directly from the chefs without editing from this mortal flavor-maker.

Wicked Wickets Chili with Short Ribs and Roasted Peppers

Short Ribs 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ½ pounds short ribs
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup, peeled, seeded and chopped heirloom tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup Bernardus Pinot Noir
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 bay leaves
2 quarts beef broth
salt and pepper

Roasted Peppers
1 pablano pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 Anaheim pepper
1 jalapeño pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
½ habanero pepper

1 white onion diced
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon cumin
chipotle peppers (optional)

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large, heavy covered pot over high heat.

Season ribs with salt and pepper – patting it in well with your hands.

When pot is nearly smoking add ribs without crowding them and sear on all sides until they form a brown crust.

Do this in batches if necessary. When all ribs have browned, add onions, celery and carrot: sauté 1 minute to brown lightly.

Stir in tomatoes, garlic, wine, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, pepper and enough broth to cover ribs.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to gently simmering. Cover and simmer until very tender, about 2 ½ hours. Cool and cut into bite sized pieces (most of it will fall apart). Reserve cooking liquid.

Roast all chilies on grill until skins are blackened. Allow to cool in a covered pan. Peel skins and seeds away. Dice peppers.

Heat large sauté pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic and diced onions. Cook until onions are translucent and then add roasted, chopped peppers. Add beef short ribs and remaining cooking liquid to pan and bring to low simmer. Stir in spices and adjust accordingly. Add more beef broth to adjust consistency.

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Oh My Goat Chili

Main ingredients

3 lbs. goat shoulder cut in bite sized pieces

4 cups cooked pinto beans

15 medium roma tomatoes

Vegetables

1 medium onion

2 medium carrots

2 celery stalks

2 garlic cloves

1 jalapeño pepper

1 serrano pepper

1 habanero pepper

1 poblano pepper

1 Thai chili pepper

1 Anaheim chili pepper

Spices and other ingredients

2 tbsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. cumin

1 tbsp. ground coriander seed

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1½ tbsp. salt

Salt, pepper, garlic powder and flour to coat meat

¼ cup olive oil, plus 1 tbsp. for later

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

6 oz. dry Marsala wine

8 oz. organic free range chicken broth

¼ cup all purpose flour

It's a good idea to prep all the ingredients before the cooking begins.

To start, finely chop all the vegetables, except the tomatoes, and combine in a bowl.

Next, blanch and peel the tomatoes, chop them into not-too-small pieces and set aside.

Season the pieces of meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder and then coat with flour.

In a 10-quart stock pot, bring ¼ cup of olive oil to medium-low heat. When ripples form in the olive oil, not smoking, place a small piece of the meat in the oil to see if it's hot enough to brown the rest of the meat.

The oil is ready when the meat sizzles moderately.

Add enough of the meat to cover the bottom of the pot without crowding.

You may need to do it in two or three batches.

Move the meat around occasionally and when it's slightly golden brown, not dark, remove the stock pot from the heat. Then remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.

You can also go ahead and measure the dry spices and combine in a small bowl or container while cooking the meat or at any time during the process.

Now that you have all the ingredients ready, the cooking process can begin. Put 1 tbsp. of olive oil and 4 tbsp. of butter in the stock pot.

Adjust heat to medium-low and wait until the butter is melted.

Turn the heat to medium high and immediately add the chopped vegetables, except the tomatoes.

Keep cooking and stirring until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Next, add the meat back to the pot with all its juices.

Sprinkle the quarter cup of flour into the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes so that the flour is cooked into the juices and coats the ingredients.

Turn the heat to high and add 6 oz. of dry Marsala wine. Stir in for a minute or two or until you see the mixture turn into a thick paste.

Now add the 8 oz. of warmed chicken broth. Pour in the dry spices and stir until the mixture starts to bubble a little.

Immediately add the chopped tomatoes and stir well so they are equally distributed with the rest of the mixture. When it begins to bubble wait about 30 seconds and then turn the heat down to a very low temperature.

Add the pinto beans after about an hour. Allow to simmer for a total of 1½ to 2 hours or until the meat is tender, not chewy, and you can cut it with a fork or spoon.

Stir occasionally and keep the heat low enough so the bottom doesn't burn.

And that's our baaaaad ass goat chili.

New Big Fish for Aquarium Food

2010-09-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

She's had a string of successful restaurants to her credit, including Fog City Diner, Tra Vigne, Bix, Roti, Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse and, in Carmel, the Rio Grill.

She started Mustards Grill—and a resulting MG cookbook pulled in a James Beard award.

She's been a pioneer in demanding sourcing standards from the land to the sea.

And now she has a gig, given the Aquarium's arm length, where she can reach huge populations of people, and tons of chances to collaborate with fellow chefs to elevate their eating habits.

In short, Cindy Pawlcyn looks like a great fit, and a great catch, for the Aquarium.

“For 25 years, I have loved coming to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with family and friends," she says. "I am excited to bring sustainable, locally produced, farm-to-table foods to enhance the culinary experience of a larger audience, and I look forward to working with a new group of farmers, ranchers, fishermen, artisanal cheese and dairy producers, and purveyors from the Monterey Bay region.

“I am pleased to be partnering with [Aquarium food contractor] ARAMARK because of their commitment to delivering outstanding guest experiences, to providing healthy, satisfying food, sourced responsibly, using fresh, seasonal ingredients in the aquarium's café, restaurant, and catering menus, and to the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch program.”

“We are very pleased to announce this new partnership,” adds Julie Packard, executive director of the aquarium. “Cindy Pawlcyn has an extraordinary reputation as a chef and an advocate for sustainable cuisine and Seafood Watch. We’re delighted that our daytime guests, and attendees at evening events, will be treated to dishes that reflect her culinary vision.”

More from the release:

• A pioneer in the development of Wine Country cuisine, Pawlcyn has earned accolades since she opened the first of her three Napa Valley restaurants more than 25 years ago. She is the chef behind the legendary Mustards Grill, which opened in 1983; Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen; and the West Coast seafood restaurant, Go Fish.

• She was a student at the Cordon Bleu and La Varenne in Paris, she has a degree in restaurant management from the University of Wisconsin and is a two-time nominee for a James Beard Award as Best California Chef.