Recent Stories
Grape Caper
Exploring one local winemaker’s obsession with local grapes.
Winemaker Ian Brand’s favorite task is to drive down dirt roads and knock on doors whenever he spots rows of unfamiliar grapevines. With permission granted he “pokes around in the soil to see what’s going ...
Lokal
Crisp Character: Lokal Restaurant slathers unique personality on Carmel Valley’s plate.
Little about Monterey County’s new foodie outpost, Lokal, is business as usual. The rustic DIY aesthetic, servers swooning over the dishes and the cuisine itself all trickle down organically from its unorthodox founder/chef Brendan Jones ...
The Man Who Changed Music
The Peninsula’s Robert Greenfield, a preeminent chronicler of rock ‘n’ roll, turns his pen on late recording legend Ahmet Ertegun.
Ahmet Ertegun signed and/or recorded Ray Charles, Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, Sonny and Cher, Eric Clapton, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Bette Midler, Kid Rock, and many ...
Il Vecchio
Straightforward but sexy tastes at good prices in a crafty environment make il Vecchio an instant local hit.
It’s an unlikely set of qualifications for a restaurateur: two enthusiastic daughters, an adventurous spirit, a doctorate in clinical psychology, a career in psychotherapy, and experience opening an Indian restaurant in Rome more than 30 ...
Lodge Restaurant at Carmel Valley Ranch
Ranch Rules: Lodge Restaurant packs ‘sophisticated rustic’ flavor behind seemingly private gates (hint: they’re not).
After the brief splash made by celebrity chef Michel Richard and Citronelle restaurant at Carmel Valley Ranch, the renamed Lodge Restaurant reflects the vision of the new owner, John Pritzker, a scion of the Hyatt ...
Place Apart
Restaurant 1833 uses setting and gold-plate-pedigree chef to match the hype and then some.
Monterey’s 1833 Restaurant, named after the building’s year of origin, is the latest in a series of restaurants to occupy Stokes Adobe, the home of former mayor James Stokes, whose name stuck with it. The ...
Something Brewing
Cannery Row Brewing Company earns full houses with great tastes at fair prices.
Who’d be crazy enough to open two restaurants in the same year? Robert Weakley and David Bernahl of Coastal Luxury Management – that’s who. The buzz generated by their nascent Cannery Row Brewing Company is ...
Courtside Café
Serious Game: Courtside Café’s David Frappiea hits a winner with an under-the-radar eatery.
Sometimes a place to get a bite to eat pops up in the least expected spot. I can’t think of one more inconspicuous than Courtside Café at Chamisal Tennis and Fitness Club, a public restaurant ...
Brodie to the Max
Wendy Brodie’s cooking classes augment a local legend further.
Is it a class, a demo, a party, or a gallery exhibit? Even all that doesn’t describe my recent cooking course at the Carmel Highlands home of Chef Wendy Brodie and her husband/local hospitality maven ...
Fresh Cream
Fresh Cream Restaurant’s new location is only one of several upgrades.
After 27 years at Heritage Harbor in Monterey, the now 32-year-old Fresh Cream Restaurant broke loose from its moorings. After a short sail south, she dropped anchor in the former site of Bully III, a ...
