Knuckles Up
The baddest sports bar in the land is upgrading its game. Starting this Sunday, Aug.1 through Oct. 1, Knuckles (372-1234) will temporarily relocate to the Pebble Room located adjacent to the current location so workers can remodel the joint. Food and beverage service will be available beginning Monday, Aug. 2 ...
Three Savory Salinas Storylines
1. The Steinbeck Festival's got a lotta love for foodies. The National Steinbeck Center is opening easily its most ambitious and diversified Steinbeck Festival outing ever—its 30th annual—on Thursday, Aug. 5 with a world cuisine highlight reel directed by deliciously talented food artist Wendy Brodie. Brodie’s done more than inspire ...
Salt Rock
Hard not to heart Schooners' patio pretty hard. Though our readers vote Chipotle Best Burrito in Monterey County, they get Best Drink With a View right. The drinks include good wines by the glass, 23-ounce draft Kona "Longboard" Lager or Big Sur Amber ($7.25), and a Patio Boss (with Patron ...
Love for Mundaka Lunch
Beautiful news by the sea: Mundaka (624-7400) is rockin' for lunch 11:30am-2:30pm Tuesday through Saturday... Chef Brandon Miller was the master of the heirloom tower at Stokes, and the guru's still got it. His house-pulled mozzarella remains mighty, the tomatoes meaty-earthy excellent, and the combination of sea salt and a ...
Taste Time Machine to 1833
The wildly anticipated heir to the Stokes Adobe in downtown Monterey is within weeks of a soft opening. The telltale indicator: a two-day job fair 10am-2pm Sunday and Monday, July 18-19, in sister restaurant Cannery Row Brewing Company's banquet room brought out scores of barbacks, managers and servers-to-be. The indominable ...
Things You Should Love
Three geniuses, one dinner. They don't make many tasting experiences like this. Chef Cal Stamenov is the creator of the Zagat-wowing "California natural" ambrosia at Bernardus Lodge’s signature restaurant Marinus, where he handpicks gems from the garden to combine with what his foragers and sources give him to craft things ...
Fresh Chef Todd Fisher Recipe
Why is this man smiling? Because he's a funny mother f*cker who knows how to have a good time and share great food—and because he's doing just that 1pm Wednesday, July 28, at one of the newest farmers markets in the area, the Salinas Farmers Market at Natividad Medical Center ...
Making Better Organic Decisions
Environmental Working Group has a good handle on how to manage budget and healthy produce shopping: In short, pick your spots. With its elegantly simple Shopper's Guide to Pesticides, EWG highlights what edible plants often need the most chemical protection to thrive, and therefore are the best places to purchase ...
Bahama Billy's New Bag
It's official. We can put the rumors to bed for at least a month or two. Anthony Momo is out at longtime locals favorite Bahama Billy's in the Barnyard (626-0430)—and was even able to get out earlier than originally anticipating, absconding for other projects just this Monday. In is Peninsula ...
After Midnight Action in Carmel (?!)
Typically the words "2am" and "Carmel" only appear in the same sentence in the police blotter—along with "raccoon"—so I get it if the next sentence blows a motherboard or two in the vicinity of Sleepy-by-the-Sea. Flanagan’s Irish-American Pub (625-5500) has been holding it down until 2am tomorrow quite often. New ...
Another Chapter in Finding Great Value
Last time I checked, a night out in the lil' ol' underrated epicurean capital of international tastes that is Marina, Calif., jumping from Wild Thyme to Kula Ranch to D'Anna Thai to Coffee Mia, with maybe a bottle of Hahn Chardonnay and a bottle of Manzoni's superb Pinot thrown in, ...
Regestering Victory
It was midconversation late in the evening at last Thursday’s Stag’s Leap wine dinner at C Restaurant (375-4800) when Executive Chef Jerry Regester cracked a wide grin and said, “I’m having fun.” When people have fun doing things they love, good things tend to happen. When said people are as ...
We Heart Garlic
This weekend's L.A. Times Travel page says there's more to Gilroy than garlic. Not that writer Scott Martelle doesn't first acknowledge the upcoming wonder that is the Gilroy Garlic Festival. "The big attraction, of course, is the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival," it reads, "now in its fourth decade and expected ...
How to Eat Nothing and Love It (and Other Things I Have in Common With Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher
Suddenly the Lemonade Diet, the time-honored regimen where the cleanser takes in only a blend of fresh lemon juice, purified water, cayenne pepper and maple syrup (and some teas), is trending near the top of Yahoo! topics. Turns out our favorite self-absorbed celebrities, Demi Moore and Ashton Kucher, are rinsing ...
In N Out Off Menu Moment
Rather than spend my energy penetrating one of the most intricate mysteries of the food universe—why In N Out employees are so damn happy—I’d rather direct it toward what unknown plunder lies off the In N Out (800-786-1000) menu. At least beyond the fabled “4 by 4.” (For the uninformed, ...
Come Again Cupcakes
Weekly intern extraordinaire Ellen Huet was dispatched to scope grand opening weekend at Mrs. Delish's in Monterey, which Special Edible the Blog recently previewed. Here's what she came back with: The grand opening at Mrs. Delish’s was a tiny affair in many ways: as with most boutiques, the store size ...
Super Sub
In the name of chain warfare, there is a rather robust weapon available against the Subway onslaught snuggled between Verizon and Marshall's in Sand City: locally-owned Jersey's Subs (899-7677). I've been meaning to check out their new salad bar for a minute, since there is a dearth of strong options ...
Aussies Rule
Prime picnic-packing places are at a premium come summer. The new Down Under Deli (625-DELI) in the Mid-Valley Shopping Center on Carmel Valley Road qualifies. We grabbed a nice bottle of Yalumba Chardonnay ($15) summoned from a list that grows strictly out of Monterey County and Australia. For those eating ...
Four Nibbles Worth Knawing On
1. You Can Eat Breakfast Like a Cowboy. With the 100th California Rodeo Salinas riding this way—in case you missed it, Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue signed a resolution encouraging everyone to wear western from now till then (good morning, chaps!)—the first annual Cowboy Pancake Breakfast happens 8am–noon Saturday, July 10. ...
Another Great Way to Lay Down an Andrew Jackson
Three flavorful chorizo tacos. Two classic carne asada. Three expert carnitas tacos, made better yet with extra homemade tomatillo green sauce. And six of the best al pastor tacos this side of Salinas—without the headaches caused by trying to track your favorite taco truck. At Mi Tierra Mercado's (394-8113) tucked ...
Old Carmel Charmer
"Everyone loves something that tastes good," says Jeanne Johnston, owner of the shiny new Petals and Pastries at Mission between Fourth and Fifth (620-1400). "I'd like to think we are what old Carmel used to be." Weekly photog and former barrista Nic Coury went and scouted out the place yesterday ...
Attack of the Cupcakes
They appear at weddings as a stylish substitute for mighty-and-once-mandatory $2,000 confections. They have folks flocking to them at farmers markets. One mobile cupcake trailer I spotted at this year's South by Southwest in Austin had a line that stretched a Texas block. They have their own TV show. Their ...
Fandango Restaurant
Pacific Grove