May 17, 2024 – The bar is made of reclaimed church kneelers. Chairs work as seating and wall decor. Windowpanes play in as partitions. Century-old planks compose tables made by hand.
Design takes center stage at the community jewel that is il vecchio. Old is made new. Incongruous finds harmony.
The design that really draws Found Treasure attention, though, isn’t so much that “creative art of executing aesthetic or functional designs” (one of Oxford’s definitions), but a different type, namely “an underlying scheme that governs functioning, developing, or unfolding.”
That scheme is to offer affordable, rustic, simple, thoughtful food and drink, which like the decor, adds up to an experience greater than the sum of its components.
That resonates most with il vecchio’s limited-availability lunch, dished Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
A half dozen traditional pastas, each $13.85, lead the way on value and enjoyment, built on imported DeCecco and Rummo artisan noodles and fresh custom orders from Bigoli in Sand City.
On a recent afternoon, our three-top shared four plates and, pre-tip, the tab was $70. (In Italian, “un buon affare.”)
The burrata salad, mandatory for me at sturdy Italian spots, dropped a dripping-fresh racket-ball-sized mozzarella curd on romaine and balsamic-marinated zucchini and root veggies, plenty to share three ways at $12.50.
The 8-ounce grilled New York steak with caramelized balsamic onions, salad and roasted herb potatoes came (slightly) overcooked but (handsomely) under market at $18.50.
The tasty rock cod puttanesca—also available in a lemon-butter sauce—went for just $15.85 with saffron rice and a salad.
Finally, from the menu of pastas, we took server Regina’s advice, like we did on the rock cod, and tabbed the soft orecchiette with Molinari sausage, peas and cremini mushrooms in a light cream sauce, a highlight among highlights.
Meanwhile, Regina somehow stayed anticipatory with water carafe refills and fresh Parm despite managing the lunch shift on her own.
(Photo: Mark C. Anderson)
It all made for a Friday getaway that felt easygoing and familial, which was owner-operator Carl Alasko’s hope when he imported 15 years of experience living in Italy—and delighting in Rome’s mom-and-pop trattorias—to Central Avenue on the border between Monterey and Pacific Grove.
“We’ve always wanted to be the kind of place you go back once or twice a week, where it’s not a big event, but a welcoming meal at your neighborhood joint,” he says.
It’s a reminder that less, done right, becomes more, in a timeless way evoked in the name, which means “old-style,” “old guy” or, creative license allowed, “oldie but goodie.”
Dinner service (from 5pm nightly) and weekend breakfast (8am-1:30 featuring AM cocktails, big omelets and sourdough Belgian waffles) carry the same style, with a straightforward but satisfying wine list, and $6 peach bellinis with lunch or breakfast.
The ongoing approach reminds me of when il vecchio originally opened.
Like many I was smitten with the capital-D design of the clever recycled materials Alasko’s professional sculptor daughter Ariele assembled. But it was an uncomplicated stroke of experiential design that sticks with me.
As people flocked to the spot, it led to a congested waiting area.
Rather than pass out pagers, il vecchio staffers would distribute flutes of Prosecco.
If you’re buying decent Prosecco in bulk, it’s one of the better import values on the market. For a couple of bucks in cost, a potentially impatient incomer could focus on sipping chilled sparkling, suddenly more likely to wait around and tip bigger.
Something you have in stock takes on renewed utility, and a detail goes a long way, by design.
More at ilvecchiorestaurant.com
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.
