A Pagan shall be queen.

Sunday, March 22, the Monterey Bay Chapter of the American Culinary Federation will name the Culinary Center’s Mary Pagan Chef of the Year as part of its 35th annual dinner and president’s ball.

ACF chapter president Paul Lee tells me her work on behalf of the many benefits and nonprofits in the area – from Cooking for Solutions to the TomatoFest – are downright inspiring on their own, let alone given how much she takes on as chef-owner of the CC. “To be a chef-owner takes a lot of courage,” Lee says. “People admire that.”

Pagan sees it differently.

“I feel really lucky to get to do this as a profession, to go to the beautiful place where the center sits everyday,” she says. “There’s a few places in the world really known for food. This is one. Being honored by peers I hold in such high esteem – who I think are some of the best chefs in the world – I’m floored.”

The ACF event happens at the Monterey Marriott following a reception in the Ferrante Room on top of the building. To purchase tickets ($100) or for more info, contact Lee at 333-0475. Executive Chef Willi Franz will man the kitchen (the lobster ravioli and crab cakes I tried there at an AT&T Pro Am reception bode well for attendees); the event will also honor Christie Greenwall as student culinarian of the year; Sierra Meats as purveyor of ’08; and Mark Ayers as celebrated chef.

Celebration over an idea Ayers helped cultivate, the Super Abs appetizer menu at Pacific’s Edge, has earned the only-here-style special an extended run. His appetizer series features the new, devoutly sustainable abs raised by Monterey Abalone Company – deemed “super” for their robust size and red color (which results from their special diet of red kelp). Previously geared to gallop only through February, the offer will extend through the spring with two traditional treatments (pan fried with lemon and parsley, and seared with cauliflower purée and lobster butter), and two creative dazzlers (ceviche with citrus “caviar,” and “steak and eggs,” lacquered bacon, onions and a sunny-side up quail egg).

There’s an Aquarium exhibit that contains neither otters nor anenomes, sunfish or sharks – but it’s easily my favorite.

The reason is simple. The species it displays are far more rare: an award-winning bartender with a eye for illustration and charismatic chefs with a gift for inspired seasonal-sustainable fare – and, often enough, a chill jellyfish expert (Chad Widmer) and a head electrician who moonlights as a George W. Bush impersonator (Kevin Klein).

Ray Isaacs, the Aquarium’s Portola Restaurant barkeep, is a skilled artist and graphic designer (www.raphaelisaacs.com), but I like him more because he recalls his regulars’ backstories, won the people’s choice award at Willy’s barman showdown a year ago and knows the menu. Similarly, I admire Chef de Cuisine Estevan Jimenez because he’s a great guy who’s contagiously crazy about well-sourced food, but I like him more because he knows what to do with it. I tried two recommended plates off the new Ocean View evening menu, available 3-5pm: a Dungeness crab trio (a rice paper roll, crispy fritter and crab cake, $11.95) and pan-fried haloumi cheese ($8.95). The sequence of made-to-order fritters in avocado aoili and delicious cubes of cheese with crispy capers had my tastebuds dancing like a seahorse in heat.

Despite the appeal of the other exhibits (the Secret Life of Seahorses arrives in April), I know the cover’s a little stiff for locals – but MBA’s 25th anniversary celebration includes free admission on the 20th of every month through the fall.

Something different is stirring in Sand City. Eddison & Melrose Personal Chef Services & Fine Catering owner Karen Ann Murray – famous for her award-winning Karen Ann’s Granola (grab it at Clementine’s, Cornocopia and Grove Market) – is holding her third “Ladies Night” Friday, March 20. The monthly getaway/networking event, for women of all ages and interests, is set in Murray’s 4,000-square-foot kitchen, has drawn around 30 ladies its first two nights, and stars heart-healthy fare that hints at Murray’s other gig (personal trainer). This month she’ll serve Mediterranean orzo, Thai noodle and Salinas Valley salads and treats from Mary Font/Mrs. Delish’s Cupcake Boutique. It goes down 6-9pm Friday, March 20, at 354 Orange Ave. It’s $10 a pop; RSVP to 601-4851; learn more at www.eddisonandmelrose.com.

Food is art. And art can feed the soul. Kim Solano and company at Moss Landing’s Haute Enchilada Art Cafe get it – and show it with great food and an upcoming art reception with savory tastes from the kitchen Sunday, March 15, 2-5pm. Come March 21, one of their regular dinner shows – this time, it’s ¡flamenco! – hits town. 633-5843, www.hauteenchilada.com… ChefDavid Kinch of the celebrated Manresa in Los Gatos battles Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America Sunday, March 15. Why should we give a micro green? Because it reminds us Kinch will soon be here for Pebble Beach Food & Wine, which just inched within five weeks away. Oh hell yes. And happy St. Paddy’s.