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Esteban's New Breakfast—Including Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes—Are Not What Stunt Pilots Have for Breakfast

Some creative menus now appear in the AM at Esteban Restaurant in Monterey (375-0176), which is new and tasty news.

The most creative stunt pilot to ever grace the heavens, Sean D. Tucker, sets up shop in Salinas and South County, which isn't really news, as he's done so for decades. (Though for local flight fans and community pride, it remains pretty tasty that we can claim him as our own.)

What do the two have in common?

Two things: Breakfast. And eye-opening videos.

Esteban Exec Chef Thomas Snyder—last seen in this space teaching readers how to make pulpo confit easily and deliciously (click above)—has just introduced a promising breakfast menu.

There are reasonably priced omelets ($9.95), classic egg-meat-potato permutations ($7.95) and huevos rancheros ($8.50) among the 16 debut items, but it's the lemon-and-ricotta pancakes ($7.50), French toast with almond honey butter and bananas fosters compote ($8.75) and a Spanish Benedict with Tasso ham, housemade cilantro-and-cheddar biscuit and piquillo hollandaise ( $11.50) that have me itching to get down there 7-10am daily or before 11am on weekends.

(In related news, his paella on the patio party runs 1-3pm this Saturday, Oct. 27, with which $75 translates to tutorials, tapas, drinks and a free paella pan at the end of the meal.)

The other day Tucker asked me what I had for breakfast, and as much as I'm looking forward to that cilantro-cheddar-biscuit beauty, I'm glad I could answer that, on that morning, it was a Clif Bar and a couple pieces of fruit. Because we were about to take on some of the most head-spinning, stomach-flipping, heart-thumping aerobatics I've seen, let alone participated in.

For the record, when I asked Tucker what he had for breakfast, he said a banana-peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich.