Mike,
All good suggestions.
Passionfish has been a constant here for twenty or thirty years. Their wine list is great, markups are minimal, service is excellent – their seafood advocacy is commendable, and not surprisingly what they do best.
Jeninni has been the best new restaurant the area has seen for a while. Thamin is pure class and Jeff Weiss is very creative, a jamon nut and an ex competitive figure skater. Watch him in the kitchen, he pirouettes.
1833 has fallen off a bit, especially since their opening wine director moved on. They also just switched chefs, but I haven’t heard much on the results. The bar is one of the nicest in town. I tend to avoid steakhouses, but the whaling station is supposedly the best. Chef Todd Fisher just took over Tarpy’s and updated the menu, but I haven’t been there recently (young twins, not much time).
My favorite in the cannery row area is Bistro Moulin. Colleen is the wine director there and, in addition to being great at her job, she is a load of fun. Pierce tasting room is two blocks down, I make their wine for them. Ask for the Arinto…
Gabe and Brandon at Mundaka are great and get better every year (as evidenced by their constant expansion), their new bar next door has a wonderful cocktail program and bar menu, though I continue to question their choice of name (“Barmel”). There are a handful of other worthwhile restaurants in Carmel, with La Balena likely heading the list. Both highly recommended.
I’m going to a popup at Happy Girl Kitchen tonight. My friends Todd and Jordan own the cafe and cannery. Best pickles anywhere, hands down.
Other things of note: Monday nights at the Cachagau Store (reservations required), if you’re looking to splurge, Aubergine is incredible and Justin Cogley is a locale treasure, Marinus at the Bernardus lodge, or Sierra Mar, even for drinks and an app. Not as expensive, but the views for lunch at Nepenthe are worth the trip. Ocean Sushi in Monterey is full on legit, as are Parker-Lusseau pastries. I’ll probably be making my way to Garapata Beach sometime this weekend, and if you want to know about great mexican, that’s a whole other exhaustive post.
I’ll be around. Much to do before the harvest comes.
Ian