Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel

A recent weekend trip to the Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel area was ‘just what the doctor ordered’ for my deadline/detail-overloaded mind lately. The Renaissance Man and I took to the rocks along the sea like kids, climbing as far out as we could get, oohing and aahing at big waves and shimmering blue. California is one gorgeous place and there’s a reason why whenever I’ve lived in other states or been away from its shores, it calls me back like a siren song. Whether it was Laguna Beach as a girl or Nor Cal’s windswept shores as a woman, it’s home.

The coast along the Monterey area is spectacularly rich, with moss, vibrant flowers, exploding in purples and feathery waves, rocks just begging to be climbed on. Sunsets are spectacular, and shifting breezes from chilly to warm, are all part of the moods of this ethereal coastline.

Monterey Aquarium: mind-blowing as that jellyfish exhibit is, swimming through the never-ending sea of scrambling kids and strollers was near hellish after a couple hours. Besides walking the streets of Carmel and visiting it’s striking Spanish Mission, best hours were spent watching waves, reading poetry on the sand, taking in sunsets. That’s our backdrop… now where do we eat?!

DRINKS

Hula’s Tiki Room, Monterey – No match for Forbidden Island, it at least has that kitschy, retro charm I love, even if drinks are just alright. They aren’t awful – a Dark & Stormy ($8 – Whalers Dark Rum & Cock-n-Bull Ginger Brew) works. With surfing on the TV and regulars at the bar, it’s a relaxing way to start the weekend… tiki-style!

Sardine Factory, Monterey – It’s old school, expensive, and a Monterey institution. I’ve heard pretty mixed reviews on the food so skipped it, but the multi-room restaurant is uniquely engaging (love the Conservatory and Wine Cellar), and a drink in the bar feels like being a high roller in the ’70’s/’80’s. When the fire is roaring and the piano lounge singer moves deftly from Neil Diamond to the Temptations to Sinatra, you’re feeling goood.

Artisanal cocktails these are not, but I thoroughly enjoyed sipping a Grasshopper (creme de menthe, creme de cacao, fresh cream – it’s been a long time!) in homage to the classy, ’70’s vibe. Singing along by a roaring fire, even the spontaneous dance party that broke out when he sang “Sweet Home Alabama“, made for a delightful evening: partly Vegas/Reno, partly party-in-a-rich-friends’-dated-house. I found myself grateful that places like this still exist. At 10:30pm, it’s a ‘late night’ option for these parts.

The Tuck Box, Carmel-by-the-Sea - A darling little, “down the rabbit hole” kind of spot for tea, it, once again, isn’t about great food (we’re in the ‘burbs now!) but about charm and a place to linger with conversation or a book over tea and scones. This architecture admittedly feels like Disneyland, but it nonetheless is part of Carmel-by-the Sea’s yuppie-gone-quirky appeal.

The Carmel Coffee House, Carmel-by-the-Sea - Through a narrow courtyard of Spanish-style architecture, this is a quintessential California courtyard, ideal for a morning cup of coffee, if you can deal with dog-friendly hordes. The coffee isn’t notable, by any means, but they make a decent cappuccino.

FOOD

Passionfish, Pacific Grove – Pacific Grove (PG, as locals call it) is my favorite part of the whole area. Charming Victorians, sleepy streets and a dramatic coastline all bode well… but also, it housed my favorite meal of the weekend. Service wasn’t perfect in this understated dining room, but it was well-meaning and quite informed of where its local, sustainable seafood comes from, a point of pride on a meticulous menu. Husband and wife owners, Ted (chef) and Cindy Walter, clearly display their passion in each dish – a virtual treat from Berkshire Ham Arancini ($6) to Rosemary Strawberry ice cream with passion fruit & pineapple coulis. Paired with a bottle of 2006 Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc? Brilliance. A layered white blend that to me tastes of honeysuckle, lemon, carmel apple and meringue… with a long mineral finish. Gulf of Maine Scallops ($24), with thyme risotto custard in tomato-truffle butter, were giant, juicy and seared just right. And hard-to-find Monterey Spot Prawns ($24), native to these local shores (and Santa Barbara), were just like our waitress described: the appearance of crawfish with the buttery taste of a lobster. Getting down and dirty to get the tender meat out was a pleasure, especially when there’s lemon brown butter to dip it in. Served with a cauliflower bacon linguine, it’s a filling dish. I’d come back just for the spot prawns… when they’re on the menu.

Flying Fish Grill, Carmel-by-the-Sea – Have long heard raves about this half-underground Japanese haven for fresh seafood. The food showed creativity and portions were large, though often puzzlingly paired with angel hair pasta, local fish and artichokes plentiful on the menu. Service was haphazard: at 8:30pm, we were seated next to an uproariously loud table on one side (in an an otherwise quiet, small space) and a family of about 8 with kids on the other, with nowhere to move. With entrees ranging from $19-33, we were hoping for a slightly more grown-up experience for that price. Too bad, given that the pricey fare stands strong. Free ginger salsa & wontons (basically Asian ‘chips and salsa’) to start, are a little too easy to polish off. Rare Peppered Ahi ($26) was overcooked initially, which the waitress apologized for even as she set the plate down, saying she could take it back. Yes, we want it sent back. It came back actually rare the next time, with an addictive mustard, sesame, soy sauce over angel hair pasta, Chinese cabbage and mushrooms. Another take on fish and pasta is the Yin-Yan Salmon ($24), half the salmon covered in plain sesame seeds, the other in black. This one’s creamy with a soy-lime cream sauce and snow peas.

Neilsen Bros. Market, Carmel-by-the-Sea - For picnic lunches and all-around gourmet selection of meats, produce, mustards, wines, jams, breads, etc… this old-fashioned market is your best stop in town.

And the rest…

Brunch at Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch, an idyllic patch of land in Carmel with sheep-filled meadows and ocean in the distance, is a leisurely experience. At just under $30 a person, it’s all-you-can-eat with one glass of champagne or a mimosa, but the “Jazz Brunch” mention is misleading as it’s one guy on a piano plus occasional drum sequencer which you can only hear inside, not on the large patio where everyone is seated. I’d never recommend for the food (basically a glorified hotel buffet), though the omelet station has plenty of good ‘fixins’, plus a range from steak, salmon, soup, pasta, desserts to fruits, pastries, cereals, eggs. It’s 100% about the setting – on a vibrantly blue day, the Renaissance Man and I read Keats to each other over mimosas… now this feels like vacation!

I wish I could tell you Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Casanova was worth eating at because this fetching house (once lived in by Charlie Chaplin’s chef? Random!) is an absolutely charming spot for lunch or glass of wine, whether you sit inside the house’s alcoves, patios and inner courtyards or the front garden. If you can, it’s worth walking through just to see the space. But food was lackluster at best… and not cheap. $16 entrees for lunch (salads, sandwiches, pastas) and I could’ve had better at a non-descript cafe in San Francisco. Makes me sad since the place truly feels like Europe, as the owners re-created it to be like their childhood European home. If only half as much care went into the food.

Mission Beach Cafe
198 Guerrero Street (at 14th)
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-861-0198
www.missionbeachcafesf.com

I’ve long loved Mission Beach Cafe for Blue Bottle Coffee (perfect cappuccinos and espressos), some of SF’s best pastries and a rockin’ brunch. With Thomas Martinez back, now as Executive Chef (age 22 and already this good? Watch out!), the dinner menu is also a journey worth taking.

If Grilled Flabtreads of the day ($11) all pack the flavor-punch of this one, you’re in for a thrill: Mt. Tam Triple Cheese, arugula, Bahri dates, caramelized pepper bacon, drizzled in balsamic vinegar. They had me at “tripel”.

Avocado Mango Salad ($9) kicks into gear with barrel-aged feta and mango vinaigrette. Another ideal mix? Arugula Strawberry Salad ($9) with shaved fennel and candied “quinoa balsamic cracker”. Order a glass or bottle of the 2007 Voss Sauvignon Blanc ($11/42) and your starters will be brightened by its crisp, grapefruit notes.

Entrees are generous, well-cooked and quite tasty from famed Pot Pies ($18 – come Tuesdays to try all varieties: I’ll take rabbit, thank you), to a beautiful Confit Duck Leg ($21) over fava beans and beets. A medium rare Prather Ranch Beach Burger ($13.50) is lightly blackened (outside), pink (inside), with aged gouda, caramelized onion and mushrooms gushing forth from under the bun. One of the better burgers I’ve had in awhile. Paired with Kennebec fries in truffle oil and shaved Parmesan, it shoots into the stratosphere. You could add bacon or avocado ($2) but that would just be gluttonous.

Desserts, from Pastry Chef par excellence, Alan Carter, are one great pie, cookie or cake after another. You can’t really go too wrong. I crave the tartness of Lemon Velvet Cream Pie or crazy-good Banana Butterscotch Cream Pie (both $6.50).

From a choice of five or so dessert wines and ports, Arrested Zinfandel ‘06 Port from Napa ($12), is robust with a hint of sweet (and a whiff of butterscotch!) Quady Essentia’s ‘06 Orange Muscat ($8) from Madera is bright, apricot-orange, and a sexy finish to a meal. But my top choice is probably Truchard’s ‘05 Late Harvest Botrytis (that’s “noble rot” to you). A viscous acidity reveals hints of pear, peach, honey. Gorgeous.

**All photos in this article by Rick Camargo: www.rickycphotography.com**

BROKEN RECORD
1166 Geneva Avenue (between Edinburgh and Naples Streets)
San Francisco, CA  94112
415-963-1713
http://brokenrecordsf.com

If you can’t hang with dive bars or aren’t willing to venture into the far reaches of the Excelsior, Broken Record may stay off your radar.  But you’d be the one missing out.  Parking is easy, so why not?  Go, and you may, like me, not only keep returning, but become downright giddy with the dynamite combo of top shelf, 150-plus whiskey selection (at crazy-low prices), surprisingly great cocktails, and killer housemade sausages and BBQ, which haunt your nostrils from the moment you enter. This is truly a “diamond in the rough” (emphasis on the rough).

As a bar, it’s divey-comfortable, replete with pool table, darts, jukebox and knowledgeable, affable, tattoo-covered bartenders.  It’s dim but not dirty, mellow early evenings and weeknights, bustling at Friday’s Happy Hour with $2 pitchers of Pabst. The owner, Jason King’s, passion for the brown stuff (the aforementioned whiskeys, bourbons, scotches) shows in his impeccable selection. If you’ve wanted to sample top-notch whiskeys at lower prices than almost any other bar around town, this is place to hone the taste of your inner connoisseur.  They make a beautifully-balanced Sazeracs and a dreamy Manhattan, not to mention Hot Toddies to warm a chilly night… and all for merely $4-5 on average, a rarity at this quality level.  The shock comes when you realize they didn’t skimp on ingredients: yes, that’s St. George Absinthe rinsing your Sazerac glass!  Hey, even I can be a big spender (and tip generously) here.

Then there’s the food.  Head down the hallway to the down-home back room (plus charming outdoor patio) with mismatched booths, tables and chairs, an easy place to bring a group of friends.  Everything is made with care and all under $7.50. Housemade Sausages include spicy Alligator ($7), Hot Links ($5.50), Venison with Cranberries and wine ($6), or my fave, Wild Boar with apples and wine ($6).

Biscuits ($1.50) with honey butter are unjustly good – I’ve tried sharing them and it doesn’t go over well.  Order your own.  Hush Puppies (lightly fried cornbread balls, made here with a touch of cheese and jalapeno, $4) or Buffalo Wings loaded with tender chicken meat, served with blue cheese and celery sticks ($6), are perfect for sharing.  Specials might be a hearty bowl of Crawfish Etouffee ($6), mixed with savory rice and finely-browned roux – no skimping on juicy chunks of crawfish.  BBQ sandwiches ($7.50), Pulled Pork topped with slaw or addictive Beef Brisket with pickled onions, secrete a smoky tenderness soooo good, in a North Carolina-style (read: vinegar-based) BBQ sauce.  I finish with Toffee Crack (75 cents) – a dark chocolate toffee wafer – again, housemade.

I start drooling as soon as I walk into this place, knowing I’ll be treated well (the chefs remembered me by my second visit), enjoy a round of games with friends, and find my wallet unharmed by reasonable prices… I’ve spent $40 on four people and we ate like kings.

CYRUS
Healdsburg, CA

There is no way to quite do this magical dining experience justice. Much has already been written in recent years attempting it, and I’ve been dying to go since it opened. The Renaissance Man made it my birthday dinner surprise (we went the weekend before since my birthday is actually Christmas Day). Possibly the best fine dining experience I’ve ever had! Cyrus sits at the northern end of Sonoma County just a couple blocks from Healdsburg’s town square, with a sophisticated but understated dining room in the Paris-reminiscent Les Mars Hotel. Not only is there a spare elegance to the room, but service is absolutely impeccable from start to finish. I asked the girl cleaning bread crumbs off our table to confirm an ingredient I thought I was tasting in a dish and she knew exactly what went into it. Every server was completely knowledgeable about every last detail of the meal, which impressively speaks of not only the waitstaff but management’s ethos to inform and educate their employees.

Tasting menus run three ($78), four ($90) or five ($102) courses, each your choice, or there’s a chef choice at $130. Decadent extras include a Champagne and Caviar Cart or truffles in a box, shaved over dishes. The wine list is exhaustive and broad, and the cocktails, created by the one-and-only Scott Beattie (check out his recent book, Artisanal Cocktails, which is fast becoming the standard for artisanal, farm-fresh cocktails, are a revelation. The drinks ($12) change each season. Winter includes a sweet apple chip-topped Autumn Apple, made of Germain-Robin Apple Brandy, apple juice, sparkling apple cider, lemon juice, ginger syrup and a thick layer of creamy apple foam. Glorious! The Egg Nog cocktail could be dessert, whipped light and creamy, perfectly balanced with Weller Bourbon, eggs, cream, nutmeg, vanilla beans. But there’s more than seasonal: updated classics are made to absolute perfection, including a Frankfort Manhattan made with vanilla citrus peel-infused 12-year Weller Bourbon, or The Last Word: Plymouth Gin, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, Green Chartreuse, Lime Juice.

We ordered four courses each, each one thrilling in its own right. In addition, there’s an Amuse Bouche “tower”, covering all five taste profiles: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. I’d love to start every meal this way – with all taste buds awakened! There’s divine housemade breads, like Garlic Sea Salt Sourdough or melt-in-the-mouth Gruyere Hawaiian rolls, served with two kinds of sea salt and butters. A palate cleansing Prickly Pear and Lime Popsicle came midway, and a platter of exquisite candy treats finished us off (mini-chocolate Alfajores, Pistachio Cinnamon White Chocolate Truffles, Blueberry Marshmellows… oh, my)!

There was not a disappointing course among the eight I tried… from a Terrine of Foie Gras with Asian Pear, Tamarind, Crumpets, to Crispy Poussin with Brussel Sprouts, creamy Parsnip Puree, Maple Butter Jus, to the sublime Medai (Butterfish) with Curried Cauliflower, Apples, Coconut Milk Foam. I was forced to choose a favorite, however, it would be Truffled Red Wine Risotto with a Parmesan Foam/Broth. I (unsuccessfully) tried to contain a moan of pleasure with each bite, savory truffle complimenting the delicate risotto exquisitely. The Cheese Cart was yet another highlight, with a choice of three cheeses out of many from around the world. I had a strong, smooth Roquefort Blue from France (paired nicely with a housemade Pan Forte), a sharp Cheddar from Modesto, CA, and an ideally-balanced Green Hill Double Creme from Georgia.

If my stomach wasn’t near bursting already, then came dessert! Outside of the cheeses and dessert we chose as part of our four-course dinner, unexpected fun arrived with a birthday treat in a glass case, a balloon attached. They ordered me to deflate the balloon, which released chocolate shavings in a shower over chocolate chip cookies insid. It’s compliment was a playful mini-Brooklyn Egg Cream (milk, Valhrona Chocolate, Club Soda). Now this is a birthday dinner I will remember…

CRUSTACEAN KINGS
I’m a fanatic of all things shellfish, especially crustaceans. It doesn’t get better than fresh, sweet crabmeat! Summer is not crab season in these parts but it’s one of my favorite times to eat crab with a refreshing rose, sparkling wine or minty lemonade.

There are amazing whole roasted crabs at classic spots like Thanh Long or oyster king, Hog Island Oyster Bar in the Ferry Plaza Building, but now, I write about crustacean bars for straight-up, fresh crabmeat, shrimp or oysters.

Nearly hundred year old Swan Oyster Depot serves some of SF’s best seafood … but there’s the equally good, lesser known, Gigi’s Oysteria Sotto Mare, which I’ve long ‘kept mum’ about though I’ve been going since it opened a couple years ago. I didn’t want to see the same long waits at Sotto, but, thankfully, it has stayed chill, filled with locals. Except for usually steady weekend nights, I can walk in and sit at the bar for fabulous crustaceans and oysters… during hours that Swan isn’t even open.

SAN FRANCISCO

Swan Oyster Depot:
1517 Polk Street (between California and Sacramento Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-673-1101
Hours: Monday-Saturday 8am-5:30pm
Price: Mid Range, $5-$30

The King of great SF seafood, Swan is what the Wharf should be, but ain’t. If you live here and haven’t been, you’re not yet a full-fledged San Franciscan. It’s that much of an institution. The line is exasperating, sure. But that’s what 8am is for (!?) If you can stand to eat oysters early morn or mid-afternoon, you’ll cut wait time down, otherwise, hold out for those few coveted (uncomfortable) counter stools.

What you go for is the spectacle of freshness before you: succulent oysters, a mountain of crabmeat in the “salad” (which is really a pile of crabmeat on a bit of iceberg lettuce – I ask for the Louis dressing on the side), and for loveably crusty service from the family (brothers, sons, cousins) who’ve owned it for decades.

New England-style clam chowder is thinner, less heavy than the classic norm, full of savory clam juice and luscious clam meat. Other gems include salmon (fresh or smoked), half cracked crab, plump shrimp (salad or cocktail) and catch-of-the-day fish to take home. Don’t worry: there’s Anchor Steam or wine to pair with it.

Instead of taking that visiting family member and shellfish lover to Fisherman’s Wharf, take them here. You (both) won’t regret it. Don’t bring a group. More than two or three is pushing it here…

96 years old this year (open since 1912), this place is the definition of San Francisco Seafood… old school style. Long live Swan!

Gigi’s Oysteria Sotto Mare:
552 Green Street (between Columbus and Grant Avenues)
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-398-3181

Hours: Monday-Thursday 11am-8:30pm; Friday-Saturday 11am-9:30pm

Price: Mid Range, $7-$25

Ah, Sotto Mare… I’d have written about you long ago, but you’re one of those places I’ve selfishly kept to myself for fear of the entire city descending on it (not that my voice would singularly make that happen… but it has happened to many a favorite).

Much of what’s great at Swan is also great here: sweet crabmeat or plump shrimp, served as “salads” ($11-18) or cocktail style ($8-13), clam chowder, an always fresh selection of oysters ($1-2.50 each). Crab Cioppino ($25) and pastas ($12-15) are unexpected gems. They also grill up some mean Sand Dabs ($17).

There’s a spacious long countertop here, but also a few tables (including sidewalk tables). Though not ideal for a huge group, you can bring a small one, something not possible without suffering for it at Swan.

On top of the food, service and attitude are charming and saucy. The Renaissance Man likes to “hassle” a regular waitress we’ve had most visits, saying she has such a feisty sense of humor, she reminds him of a beloved Canadian Aunt. Great seafood and feels like family? If I lived in North Beach, I’d be a regular.