Special Thanksgiving Menus

If you don’t make it home for the holidays, or, if you just don’t want to cook (understandable) why not visit some of the wonderful restaurants that are within walking distance of the Tradewinds.

Andres Bouchee is a Tradewinds favorite and this year they have a TG menu that promises not to disappoint: your choice of free-range turkey, braised spare ribs or local Halibut.

Grasings is another magnificent choice for Thanksgiving. Mouth watering selections include Bronzed Sea Bass, Braised Veal Osso Bucco and Herb Roasted Turkey.

For nontraditional Thanksgiving fare go to the consistently high-ranking Flying Fish Grill. Last but not least is Christopher’s with one of the best California Coastal Cuisine menus in Carmel. Just a tip, we hear the Cornmeal Crusted Chile Relleno with rock shrimp is to die for!

Shopping Black Friday

For a more relaxed shopping experience, many spend Black Friday in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel is usually not as crowded as other shopping destinations. You’ll love the charm and won’t return home as frazzled. Carmel Plaza has a number of fantastic stores including Cole Haan, Louis Vutton, Sur La Table and the famous Cheese Shop. Spending the day with the family in a charming seaside village AND getting your shopping done…priceless!

Best after TG dinner activity

As many families already know, after dinner activities are a great way to bond and, sometimes, to work off calories. Regardless of weather, Point Lobos is a wonderful option. It’s inexpensive ($9 per car) and a late afternoon visit rewards you with breath-taking sunsets.  Walking around the state park and laughing at the raucous wildlife can be a good way for the whole family to get some exercise without even thinking about it.

If Big Sur’s Most Famous and Photographed Road in the World wasn’t enough for you, and the collision of condor, coastline, redwoods and literary legend don’t quite float your two-man kayak either, then you may want to see a shrink.

More affordable than said psychiatry—and wildly more enjoyable, engaging and enlivening—would be a visit to Tradewinds, where a Carmel stroll to the beach from the boutique dream hotel, a stop by one of the hamlet’s venerable restaurants and a recoup in the hotel’s jet tubs sets the mood and the energy for a trip south on the aforementioned Highway 1 and the bounty-for-the-senses that is Big Sur.

For there are more reasons to get to Big Sur than ever before. Here come a six-pack of them, beginning with a burgeoning foodie festival, and closing with a sublime five-pack of the best Big Sur parks, in alphabetical order:

Big Sur Food & Wine Festival

In its first year, people marveled at the amount of wineries with robust reputations (and better wines) and the number restaurants with adept chefs (and warm personalities) who came out for a little first-time benefit in the redwoods.

In its second, they gawked at how, despite the uptick in quantity and quality of the purveyors represented—as they joined the returning collaborators who swore they were in for life—the event retained the feeling of family that any event worth its Big Sur sea salt wants.

Now, in year three, it’s the organizers turn to be shocked—namely, at how quickly their “Magic Mystery Tour” trip (through three breathtaking properties paired with three standout wineries from Paso Robles, Monterey County and beyond plus three top chefs like Dory Ford) sold out.

There’s more indulgent epicurean education where that came from.

Folks from hallowed Big Sur taste destinations like Big Sur Bakery and Deetjen’s join forces with dozens of top wineries from Paso Robles to Santa Lucia (think Isoceles, Garys’ Vineyards, Talbott and Testarossa) for Pacific Coast-size waves of winemaker dinners, grand tastings, an opening gala at Highlands Inn and new events like a pork paradise party at Henry Miller Library called Swine and Wine.

There’s a reason people travel from as far off as Florida to tempt the South Coast’s treasures with as many senses as possible.

More at (831) 869-1341, www.bigsurfoodandwine.org

Andrew Molera State Park

This quazi-secret, 5,000-acre state park stretches along the shore for four full miles, with gotta-earn-it access to one of the longest beaches in Big Sur. Locals surf here religiously even though the waves require a pilgrimage hike from the cars that stretches at least a mile. Molera also offers equestrian trails and picnic facilities, as well as first-come-first-served walk-in camping in a expansive meadow a brief walk from the ocean, with lots of human-friendly trails snaking around the woods and coast too.

Located 21 miles south of Carmel on Highway 1, Big Sur. 667-2315.

Garrapata State Park

Garrapata earns local adoration for its range of difficulties and similar range of payoffs. Think of it as a closer-to-town version of everything deeper Big Sur has to share. Its 3,000 acres encompass scenic shorelines, deep canyons and steep mountains. The Rocky Ridge trail turns inland and upward for some gulp-inducing views of the Santa Lucia Mountains, while the Soberanes Canyon trail is lined with redwoods and offers a rewarding hike without quite as much physical exertion.

Located 10 miles south of Carmel on Highway 1. 624-4909.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

The southernmost state park in Big Sur is worth the drive, given the close-to-4,000 acres stretching from a much-photographed waterfall to the soaring peaks of the Santa Lucia Range. That means hikers can revel in beautiful redwood groves, river walks and views of the picturesque McWay Falls as it empties into the sea, or just picnic near the parking lot.

Located 37 miles south of Carmel on Highway 1. 667-2315.

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

There can only be one king. Established in 1933, this state park is one of the reasons the government had to outsource reservations—it just got too damn popular. Located within its 850 acres are the Big Sur Lodge and cabins, a store, a restaurant, camping, and numerous sites for picnicking, swimming and fishing, plus the über-popular “Gorge” for its river beach and rocks to jump from.

Located 31 miles south of Carmel on Highway 1. 667-2315.

Point Lobos State Reserve

While not technically Big Sur, and arguably “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world,” as landscape artist Francis McComas called it, Point Lobos is hard to parallel, and tougher to describe accurately. Some 14 interconnecting trails wind through native pine forests, cypress groves and breathtaking, rugged coastal scenery that drawn divers and otters alike. Whalers Cove and other locations provide plenty of opportunities to view 250 bird and animal species, including, when the season is right, migrating gray whales. Day use only—but that includes the inspiring sunsets.

Located 2 miles south of Carmel on Highway 1. 624-4909.

(Charlie Rosewood is a regular contributor to the Tradewinds Carmel Hotel Blog. Also see his post on the 2010 Pebble Beach Food & Wine event.)

To better know where you’re going, the saying goes, it helps to know where you’ve been.

That’s a particularly delicious endeavor when it comes to Pebble Beach Food & Wine.

Last year my palate and I traveled to some amazing places over the course of four sensually unforgettable days.

I learned “life savers” from the master himself, Thomas Keller, as he coached a demo crowd on some of his most useful tools at Napa’s Ad Hoc—elements prized for their invaluable versatility—like a sweet onion tapenade for use with meats like lamb or pork or even on crackers with cheese and tomatoes (or thinned with olive oil and seasoned with vinegar to be used on cruidtés, fish or chicken). Later it was Ming Tsai schooling audiences on everything from chicken ( “Kosher chicken might be $3.50 a pound instead of $2.50. It’s worth it.”)  to crab cakes (“Julia Childs would say this about burgers. Pack loosely. Let the spaces fill with juices. Same with crab cakes.”)

At the breathtaking Grand Tastings, I detected two trends: 1) more sweets; and 2) a back-to-basics ethic.

On the dessert front, our own Anastasia Simpson of Spanish Bay whipped up cubical “peanut butter bar” creations whose nougat hat and smooth moussey magic paved a highway to attendee hearts. Celebrated pastry visionaries Angela Pinkerton of Eleven Madison Park and Sherry Yard of Spago conjured predictably mind-blowing sweet dreams—buttermilk sorbet and fudge cookie treats, respectively.

But it was the simple presentations that most spoke to me. One of my favorite tastes of the whole week: grilled cheese. Really. One livid lady—”Oh my God! I could make that myself! It’s pool party food!”—missed the point. You gotta be that much better to impress with an old blue collar friend than with a foie gras-foam-pâté smoothie. And Tommy Habetz and Nick Wood, chef-owners of Bunk Sandwiches in Portland, Oregon, did something extraordinary, melty, rich, delicious, comforting, dynamic, familiar and original with their grilled Tillamook vintage white extra sharp cheddar cheese and apple chutney with slow roasted pork belly. Another simply spellbinding taste also ranked among the very best all weekend. Sean O’Toole of Bardessono in Yountville deployed pata negra proscuitto on a basic slice of sourdough and whoah was it good.

Maybe five minutes after I tried that—I’m telling you, these Grand Tastings are a whirlwind— another understated dose of aha! appeared from Charles Phan of The Slanted Door in San Francisco. The star of nuanced Vietnamese cuisine gave a subtle tumeric-fish sauce marinade to some Alaskan halibut and, in his hands, it was magic.

The next day some delicious escargot with edible flowers and microgreens immaculately presented by Tyler Florence created some of the longest lines of the weekend, and spoke to one of the strengths of PBF&W: The stars themselves enthusiastically serve.

The next longest line was generated by Maine lobster flatbread pizza by Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier of Arrows Restaurant in Maine, named number 14 of the country’s top 50 by Gourmet in 2006.

This is knock-you-silly stuff—and I haven’t even mentioned the wine—as Paul Robertson, aka one-of-the better-sommeliers-on-the-planet-period (formerly of French Laundry and today one of only 127 master soms in existence), put it at a Champagne panel, “We think it should be Pebble Beach Wine & Food.”

He’s got a point. The chefs are spectacular and everpresent, but the wine is truly overwhelming. At the three-hour Grand Tastings, you could sip a nimble Storybrook Zin or test drive a Testarossa Pinot every single minute and still miss out on 80 wineries. (Not wines. Wineries, who were often pouring several tastes.)

This all bodes beautifully for 2011.

Thirteen different dinners approach epicurean absurdity—heck, the lunches are lavish all by their lonesome: Note the $200 “Don’t Mess With Texas,” pulling five of Texas’ best chefs to pair with Penfolds’ nicest wines and Pebble Beach Lodge backdrop.
This year’s $500 “Delicacy Dinner,” for instance, brings together Joachim Splichal (Patina Restaurant Group), Charlie Trotter (Charlie Trotter’s), Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison) and Gale Gand (TRU) with seven wineries like Veuve Clicquot, Hundred Acre and Rubicon.
Demos by Jacques Pepin, Tyler Florence and Tom Colicchio, who is also the focus of a special tribute “10 Years of Craft” dinner—represent sure-fire sell-outs, and the Grand Tastings remain a spectacle unparalleled west of Aspen: You can’t chew twice without stumbling over several Masaharu Morimotos, Tim Loves or Michael Symons or a tiny-production, huge-reputation winemaker. The key is to keep moving, but there are so many tastes and personalities and talents that pull you in that the key is swallowed along with the lobster cones and truffle terra cotta.
April 28 will be here before we know it: 1-866-907-FOOD or www.pebblebeachfoodandwine.com.

Please share comments below with your own memories of gustatory delights, tips for what to do while in town, or whatever comes to mind….

The delights are many on the Monterey Peninsula this season.

Fifty world-class chefs. Names like Ming Tsai. Thomas Keller. Michel Richard. Cat Cora. A full 250 wineries – 250! – Chappellet, Charlemagne, Far Niente and Domaine Serene among the many.

All deliriously, deliciously, stuffed into one giant gourmet ravioli of an event.

Actually, thats not true. There are two Lexus Grand Tastings during the sumptuous lazy Susan of events that is Pebble Beach Food & Wine, which starts spinning Thursday, April 8, continuing nonstop through Sunday, April 11.

It includes rare dinners (with chefs like Charlie Trotter and Thomas Keller collaborating, or five of Food & Wine Magazine’s best new chefs getting busy), demos from guys like Wolfgang Puck and Jacques Pepin, and wine tastings including 30 Years of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, often a handful occurring at the same time. The opportunities can make it darn hard to decide on a plan for the weekend, and can make just a half hour on the website seem hedonistic.

But the seemingly endless epicurean excellence unfolding from the Beach Club to Spanish Bay desists at high noon Saturday and Sunday and the masses skip, hearts thundering, mouths watering, to the Lexus Grand Tasting pavilion, where many of the planets most skilled chefs will assemble in a temporary tent the size of a tennis stadium, in two shifts, and distribute artfully arranged ambrosia morsel by creatively crafted morsel. And while that avalanche seems overwhelming on its own, given all the awesome events, its actually a relief to have so many flavors in one place.

Spring on the Monterey Peninsula is similarly stuffed with events. The Sea Otter Classic sends tens of thousands of bike enthusiasts pedaling to Laguna Seca Raceway April 15-18. The Big Sur International Marathon that inspired Runners World to declare, If we could run only one marathon in our lifetime, Big Sur would have to be it, happens April 25. The Salinas Valley Fair is May 13-16 and The Castroville Artichoke Festival honors the supreme thistle May 15-17. Meanwhile, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has debuted a new exhibit with sea turtles, rare shorebirds and jovial freshwater penguins called Hot Pink Flamingoes.

Better yet there’s more where that came from. Please spotlight your favorite upcoming or overlooked event for the Spring by clicking on the comment button below.