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.
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