Thanksgiving, our delightfully gut-busting national holiday is around the corner, if choose to opt out of cooking during this 2014 Thanksgiving holiday and need to find a yummy turkey dinner at a local restaurant check out the links below.
Not all restaurants are open on Thanksgiving, but here are a few list of places open:
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Our friend, Peter L., recently visited Carmel Food Tour. Here is what he had to say about this unique way to enjoy Carmel. Five well-earned stars. Staci has put together about the most informative, fun thing you can do in beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Our three hour tour included some of the best restaurants and wine tasting rooms in the town as well as interesting, informative stops and meanders along the way. I live here and didn’t know any of the historical and anecdotal tid-bits she wove into the tour.
She is fun, witty and timely – the trip was perfectly timed. And the food/wine/sweets were just 
enough.
GO!!!
For more information about this stroll through Carmel to taste foods and wines from local restaurants and boutique shops, visit CarmelFoodTour.com.
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Pacific Grove Certified Farmers’ Market
Mondays – 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM –Â Central and Grand Ave
The Pacific Grove Certified Farmers’ Market’s new location is Central and Grand Avenue, right in front of Jewell Park, the Natural History Museum, and the Pacific Grove Library, where parking is easy.
This is where you will find native Pagrovians on Monday afternoons! At the Pacific Grove Certified Farmers’ Market, you will find fresh quality fruits and vegetables (many certified organic) from small-scale family farmers who bring you the best from their fields, their gardens, and their orchards.
When you shop at California Certified Farmers Market, you are supporting California growers and your local community, as well as doing something great for yourself and your family!
 
 
 
Old Monterey Marketplace
Tuesdays – 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM –Alvarado Street between Del Monte and Pearl
The Old Monterey Farmers Market, established in 1991, covers an amazing 3.5 city blocks and runs every week of the year – rain or shine. During the summer, it’s the largest gathering of people in Monterey County, attracting more that 10,000 locals and tourists in one location.
You will most certainly run into someone you know! In fact, many attend just for the social experience! You will travel the world in just three blocks, finding not only a vast array of produce, but also local arts and crafts, handmade jewelry, furniture, clothing, international food, flowers, and pastries.
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I mean, do squid around… cause there’s gonna be oceans of family fun at Monterey’s first annual Clam Chowder and Calamari Festival, May 26-28.
Clam Chowder and Calamari?
Yep. Let it never be said that the city of Monterey has trouble finding excuses to celebrate. This free festival at the Custom House Plaza at Fisherman’s Wharf will feature music and entertainment, arts and crafts, marine exhibits, cooking demos, and plenty of food and drink. (Besides soup and squid, there will be fish and chips, pasta, sandwiches, strawberry shortcake, caramel apples, cookies, ice cream and more.)
Beer, wine and margaritas will be available, and three live bands will play each day, including John “Broadway” Tucker, the Cachugua Playboys and Red Beans and Rice.
Hours are 11am – 7pm Saturday and Sunday and 11am – 6pm Monday.
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Just doin' our job! Photo by Interface Visual
Like Woodstock, it was held in a field. And like Woodstock, there were rockstars.
But in this case, the rockers were the stars of the cooking world—and the attendees were a joyous throng of food and wine aficionados under a giant white tent at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine’s “Grand Tasting” on April 15th.
The culmination of the four-day epicurean extravaganza, the Sunday afternoon event featured the culinary creations of celebrity chefs along with wine, beer and spirits from over 200 purveyors.
And I will testify: a fine time was had by all.
Since we were in a brunch kind of mood, we started with spicy chicken hash and a perfectly poached egg atop a sweet corn cake courtesy of the godfather of Nuevo Latino cuisine, superchef Douglas Rodriquez.
From there on it was a delicious blur of tasty bites in a sea of champagne and Chardonnays… until we graduated to the Pinots and Cabernets, that is.
Photos courtesy of Interface Visual
Belvedere Vodka poured tempting summery cocktails, while in the Stella Artois corner, many raised the chalice in praise of their excellent brews (including our snap-and-sip photographer Wayne Capili of Interface Visual, who happily reported that Stella comes in not one, but THREE flavors).
The Patron lounge beckoned like a dangerous daydream—but knowing that someone had to drive—I resisted. (Friends reported sampling a silver tequila steeped in fresh cucumber that was to die for, though.)
Our last “main” course was fried arancini with lamb bolognese created by the chefs of REDD, the Yountville restaurant everyone’s talking about. No wonder.
And then we dove recklessly into as many mini-desserts as we could sample, like a dreamy chocolate mousse/coconut pudding/chewy almondy-roca concoction that made us want to wear disguises so we could grab a second one.
But the winner: a small-but-deadly square of exquisite chocolate ganache served on a thin cracker by Ethan Howard of Sausalito’s Murray Circle. Washed down with a velvety swish of 2006 Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon, I submit: does it get any better than this?
Guess we’ll have to wait till next year to find out.
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It’s the most luscious event of the year: a weekend extravaganza of wine and food tastings, cooking demos, luxurious luncheons, decadent dinners (and golf!).
The fifth annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine celebration kicks off on April 12 with The Celebrity Chef and Winemaker Golf Tournament, followed by the Lexus Opening Night Reception and after hours party.
On Friday, April 13, the choices are gastronomical. Here’s just a taste:
- Jacques Pepin: “Six Decades of Culinary Magic”
- Todd English: “Cooking in Everyday English”
- “Pairing Cheese and Wine with the First Lady of Fromage” (Laurie Werlin)
(And we haven’t even mentioned “Cooking Beyond Fusion” with Roy Yamaguchi, “Cult Cabs in the New Millennium,” “Farewell to Foie Gras,” and “Vineyard, Farm & Sea” – a celebration of Monterey’s bounty with Restaurant 1833.)
And then there’s the Belgian Beer Lunch. Yikes. Sounds like a nap might be in order.
Because that evening there’s an Iron Chef Dinner, plus tributes to winemaker Jess Jackson and chef Thomas Keller – followed by another after hours party.
On Saturday you’ll have to choose between “Cook Like a Rockstar!” with Anne Burrell and the “Ultimate Indulgence: Chocolate & Wine.” Learn how the pros hunt for wine treasures, and watch top sommeliers do a blind tasting of white wines.
The Lexus Grand Tasting, featuring celeb chef Guy Fieri, will be under the big tent from noon to 3 pm. Fieri’s dinner that night is sold out, but you can still get tickets to Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chefs” Alumni dinner or “The Grand Finale” dinner sponsored by Dom Perignon.
(We like anything sponsored by Dom Perignon.)
Sunday morning Tyler Florence presents “Ultimate Dining” while Veuve Cliquot pours champagne. Or you can sip sparkling rose’s from around the world at “Pretty in Pink” … either way you’ll be ready for another Grand Tasting by Lexus from noon to 3 pm.
Packages start at $995 and tickets to individual events are available.
We have a very tasty family home available in Pebble Beach over this special weekend.
It’s close to the ocean, in the Country Club area: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a carpeted converted garage with a big leather sofa and a 60″ flat screen TV… a great place to host your “own little food and wine event” (or recuperate from the big one.)
Contact Debra@MontereyRentals.com
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Maybe it’s sipping a latte from a real china cup. Or the tall terracotta pots spilling with brilliant flowers, or the bubbling fountain that reminds me of a Roman piazza.
Maybe it’s the way the sea rushes right under the pilings, swirling shades of emerald and jade.
Maybe it’s the large patio with tables and umbrellas overlooking Monterey Bay and the whole coastline.
Some people still swear by Starbucks, but Cafe La Strada at 400 Cannery Row is hands down my favorite place for coffee on the Peninsula. They brew Peet’s coffee, the service is great, and they have a good selection of panini, pastries, quiche and salads.
The cozy interior makes it a great place to hang out when it’s cold outside. But on a good day…. it’s all about the sea and the sunlight. Soak in the sunshine, listen to the waves crash: it doesn’t get any better than this.
Believe me, you don’t even have to drink coffee to love Cafe La Strada.
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The Breakfast Club tabletop
I asked the gang for a list of their favorite breakfast spots, and they scrambled to answer:
Rhiannon McCraner said everything is good at Holly’s Lighthouse Cafe in Pacific Grove, and Chris Navarro recommended “the huevos rancheros at Rondita’s.” After fruitlessly searching Google, I realized that his wife is named Rhonda. Very funny, Chris.
Then our faithful property inspector Howard Hartman chimed in. Now, Howard knows a lot about breakfast spots (playing golf or racquet ball five mornings a week, the man needs his nourishment!).
Here are a few of his favorites:
- Wagon Wheel Coffee Shop, Carmel Valley: “The steel cut oatmeal.”
- First Awakenings, Pacific Grove: “Huge blue germ pancake with blueberry compote.” I told him I thought “blue germ” sounded a bit unsavory, and in between forwarding funny emails on his iPhone (how else would we know that rubber bands last longer when refrigerated?) he responded, “U have to try new things!”
- Best Western Hotel, Del Monte Beach, Monterey: “Best breakfast views on the Peninsula. The potato skillet with vegetables—but no cheese, please.” (Howard is vegan-ish.)
- Porter’s Grill, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach: “Good food and great golf course views.”
- The Breakfast Club, Seaside: “Omelet with fruit on the side.”
He said he had more, but he had to go to breakfast.
Property manager Frank Gallagher (our version of Don Draper, but without the martinis and cigarettes), seconds Howard’s vote for The Breakfast Club, adding that the coffee is good—and that his kids love the Mickey Mouse pancakes.
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