March 31, 2023 – Most explosions come with consequences.
In the case of Monterey Bay’s recent explosion of new eateries—both traditional sit-down restaurants and non-restaurant restaurants alike—it meant some Found Treasures were lost in the shrapnel.
So it went with Cafe dal Mare, hiding in plain sight on arguably the best (and one of the most trafficked) restaurant blocks in the tri-county area, easy. (For the record, that’s Dolores Street in Carmel, where the likes of La Bicyclette, Cantinetta Luca, Little Napoli, 7th & Dolores Steakhouse and Mulligan Public House all dish their goods.)
Cafe dal Mare’s been open for around a year. Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau public relations manager Emily Evans first alerted me to it, with a specific reason why.
“It is a fantastic little café, pastry and gelato shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea,” she told me. “I go back every chance I get for the pistachio cake.”
That recommendation arrived after she sent out a blast celebrating a range of new spots.
The list proves formidable, with a number of notable restaurants Edible has covered—Aabha Indian Monterey, Foray Restaurant, Alvarado on Main, Phil’s Fish Market, Chez Noir, Albatross Ridge Winery & Kitchen, Maligne (now under revision), and El Charrito Express and Alejandro’s among them.
Evans contends there were so many new restaurants on her radar she didn’t have room to include Mare.
“Not everything could make it in,” she emailed, “or else it would go on for pages and pages.”
The pistachio cake merits her allegiance.
It somehow tastes better than it looks, with well-proportioned ribbons of flour gateau, whipped ricotta and emulsified pistachio against a nutty crust.
It’s both fluffy but substantial, subtle yet sweet, textured and still soft.
It also disappears way too fast. I may have licked the doily to extend the experience.
The biggest endorsement for the p-cake, which is more like a slice of magic mousse than a “cake,” comes not from Evans but Imad Hala, the patriarch of the family business—which on my visit was helmed by his son and recent high school graduate Austin Hala.
The pistachio cake is Imad’s favorite item in the place, made fresh daily by a local Sicilian baker Austin couldn’t identify by name.
I also tried the turkey-sausage-cheese English muffin sandwich and a cafe au lait, which both did the job, but underwhelmed.
The made-to-order cannoli (a rarity around these parts, as Edible revealed last year around this time) looks captivating. The strawberry and pistachio gelato I tested both impressed, as did the peach sorbet. Those are shipped fresh from Milan four times a week.
The stylish chocolate hazelnut and mini lemon pie I tried on a subsequent visit were sublime, albeit not on the atmospheric level of the pistachio cake.
And there’s more where that came from. Let’s just say a peek at their picturesque Instagram should come with some sort of diabetes warning.
A fun bonus discovery: The Halas also run Nectar & Ambrosia at Ocean and Dolores, next to Flaherty’s walkway.
It opened there on the same timeline as Mare, bringing a high-end epicurean specialty things like caviar, fancy chocolates and Italian sodas.
Suddenly a pair of new family-run places in the heart of Carmel are exploding with possibilities, the bomb pistachio cake leading the way. Boom.
Cafe dal Mare • Dolores btw Ocean & 7th, Carmel. Follow Cafe dal Mare on Instagram for more.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
