Liz and Kelvin Jacobs are fresh into their first few months of restaurant ownership in Pacific Grove and they’re delighted with their new home. “We’re so thrilled to be part of this community! It’s going really well and we’ve been getting wonderful feedback,” says Liz. “It takes time to build up a customer base and to get the word out when you are starting from scratch. We’re building a network within the community, and we’re getting great support from the local chamber.”
The couple found the spot for their new Wild Fish restaurant at 545 Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove while visiting the area last fall. Says Liz, “We’d been looking for a suitable coastal location for a second restaurant.” They were taking their annual vacation to celebrate their anniversary and attend the Monterey Jazz Festival last September when they discovered Favalore’s was for sale.
“We started thinking about this and then got into a complete spin about our new project. It was a good size, and a charming Victorian building. A lot of our ethos is old world and it matched up with what we wanted to do. We thought Monterey Bay was a great area to be associated with our name, where we could have the chance to showcase local fish,” she adds.
It’s proving to be a different experience from their first restaurant outpost in Little River, just south of Mendocino, which they opened in 2011. There, they turn away 300 people per week, as they are just too small to accommodate the crowd that wants to eat there. Here, they’re just starting to build their clientele and are realizing that Pacific Grove is not quite yet the dining destination it could be. But it’s definitely on the way to becoming one, with upscale cuisine that draws on local farm connections, native seaweed providers and creative plating prowess.
You may be just the people they’re looking for, especially if you’d enjoy feasting on a whole red snapper with coriander crust gorgeously cedar planked or their addictive Ahi Tuna sashimi seared in oil “Nobu” style, accompanied by wild black trumpet mushrooms and watermelon radishes. Or perhaps you’d rather dive deep into their velvety bouillabaisse, brimming with fresh fish, mussels and prawns, or grab a forkful of tender crispy crusted sablefish with fava tips, drizzled with fennel oil and candied kumquats. Fresh oysters and a salad of garlic marinated snow peas, green garlic and ricotta, dressed with rhubarb vinegar and fresh horseradish and topped with hazelnuts make lovely starters to share. Finish with sticky toffee pudding, if the fog rolls in.
“We’re 100% local and 100% organic. We buy no frozen fish. We buy only whole fish so we can see the eyes and properly inspect the condition. We’re finding the fisherman who can provide us with the proper traceability. We believe in “trace and trust” and want to know where everything comes from and how it was caught. It’s what sets us apart. We take sustainability very seriously and being here by the Monterey Bay there is this incredible network and community of like-minded people,” says Liz.
Jacobs says her recent experience appearing on a panel with other members of the culinary community at a #chefsforfish forum, including representatives from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Real Good Fish, the Monterey Fisheries Trust and Seafood Watch, made her keenly aware of the challenges of getting local fish to market. “It was a great platform for exchanging perspectives. Our values are all aligned. We share the same ethos. I’ve never had this kind of cooperation before. But these are challenges for which it truly takes a community.”
What are some of the unusual components that set their menu apart? Jacobs says they’re looking at sourcing Pacific Grenadier, a deep-sea denizen that fishermen sometimes consider trash fish, because of its big head and relatively meager flesh. “But it’s so sweet and delicious!” says Jacobs. “Like a true cod, only sweeter and more buttery.” They are planning to create a new appetizer and main course featuring it. They’re also going to start using box crabs, which may not look like typical crabs, but are wonderful, as well as razor clams, another off-the-beaten path item.
Fresh native seaweeds, grown by Mike Graham, are a key ingredient that features in the dishes. Jacobs says most people have never eaten fresh seaweed, “It’s like oysters, sweet and briny as the sea, but not as strong-flavored as dried seaweed.”
“We’re not big buyers like the larger restaurants, so we’re working with 3 or 4 independent fisherman. You have to find the people that share your values.”
They also have some natural assets that will definitely play to their favor, not the least of which are great new neighbors, like Poppy Hall, a new brewpub coming next year and a piano bar going into the lobby of the Holman building. Plus a florist just opened around the same time Wild Fish did and Liz is thrilled to have her support and to feature her flowers in their restaurant.
Jacobs points out, “We have a beautiful party room in the back of our new restaurant, which means we now have the luxury to do wedding rehearsal dinners, corporate events, private birthday parties: things we’ve never been able to do at our first location.” And, she adds, they have an outdoor patio.
Living in the “fog belt” in Pacific Grove is a new experience for the Mendocino-based couple, whose house there is in the “sunbelt” inland from the coast. “We love the architecture and the history here in Pacific Grove. It’s so charming. We’ve become part of the ‘café crowd!’ We’ve been to every bakery here. When we need to warm up, we go to Carmel Valley Village!”
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
