Stillwater Grill, The Lodge at Pebble Beach

My last night on the Monterey Peninsula and a dinner at the Stillwater Bar & Grill at the beautiful Lodge at Pebble Beach.  The view outside the window is the famous golf course and ocean view.  I found it hard to concentrate on the menu because I couldn't stop looking outside. We ordered the Smoked Trout and Fuji Apple Salad with Local Petite Greens, Apple Vinaigrette and Candied Walnuts and from the Live Tank Selection, Monterey Bay Red Abalone with Capellini Pasta, Organic Baby Mache Lettuce, Lemon Truffle Vinaigrette.  We enjoyed glasses of champagne with the appetizers.  The local greens and salad ingredients...

Read more »

Fresh Cream Restaurant, Carmel

Fresh Cream Restuarant is a charming French restaurant in Carmel, California.  The setting is intimate and warm, the menu varied and detailed.  We started with glasses of Louis Roederer Brut Champagne with the Housemade lobster mousse raviolis, lobster sauce, Riesling beurre blanc, and caviar and the Burrata mozzarella with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic syrup, basil & parsley salad and sourdough crostini.  Both were excellent, but I particularly enjoyed the crostini.  Balsamic syrup brings me back to my dining experiences in Italy earlier this year.  For entrees we ordered the Premium Angus Beef Filet Mignon,...

Read more »

Wine Dinner, The C Restaurant and Bar, Cannery Row

The C restaurant + bar in the Intercontinental Hotel, Cannery Row, is clean, classy, and a place to be seen, judging by the crowd attending the wine dinner. The restaurant has a wide open view of the Monterey Bay and is in a word, elegant. What a lovely setting for the wine dinner, hosted by John Jordan, owner of Jordan Winery.  The menu read, "Tonight you will have the opportunity to try these fantastic wines that have made Jordan Winery and Vineyard a well known brand worldwide." The majority of the wines featured were Cabernet Sauvignon, which happens to be my favorite wine, and the Jordan wines did not disappoint.  I would...

Read more »

Sierra Mar, Big Sur

 The day started with a drive to the Big Sur Bakery and Cafe, a place I had always wanted to visit, ever since having purchased the cookbook a couple years ago. I was fascinated by the setting, the food, and the people described.  We arrived and were told the only food available was in the pastry case, so we stood in line and purchased some pastries, a chard quiche and a berry ricotta pastry.  The cashier asked it I wanted it warmed up (like I would eat it cold?)  It was dim and drafty inside and we were found a table near a sliver of sunlight.  We were completely underwhelmed. I still love the...

Read more »

Cafe Rustica, Carmel Valley

The 11 mile stretch of road from Highway 1 to Carmel Valley Village was always a gorgeous drive but in the many years since I've lived in the area things have changed.  Now there are a number of wineries and wine tasting rooms , such as Chateau Julien Winery, Durney-Heller Estate, Bernardus, Georis, Jouillian, Talbott, and others.  But before the winery tour, we would have a memorable lunch at Cafe Rustica, described by Zagut as follows:  "It's understandably "crowded with locals", but carloads from the coast declare it's "worth the drive inland to laid-back Carmel Valley" for the "friendly hospitality" and "reasonably...

Read more »