Dining Indulgence at Coastal Kitchen’s New Sunday Brunch

October 29, 2024 – I happened to stop by a friend’s place on the way to Coastal Kitchen’s new brunch.

It was 12:45pm. And he almost spat out his tongue when he heard where I was going.

“Brunch at lunch time?!” he cried.

I felt bad for him. 

He clearly doesn’t understand brunch, at its core. 

But it did help inspire this glossary of terms, in alphabetical order, with added motivation from a spectacular meal overlooking Monterey Bay as part of Coastal Kitchen’s new Sunday brunch, which happens 10am-2pm at Monterey Plaza Hotel’s lowest level, on the quieter north side of Cannery Row. 

No, brunch doesn’t have a strict time restriction. Real brunch is governed more by day drinking, ingredients—both breakfast and lunch, sweet and savory, indulgent and inventive and a specific seize-the-appetite energy. Our server Rachel, a longtime hospitality veteran, put it best, “Brunch is a state of mind.” 

Usually when the bubbly has no bottom, it’s a bottom shelf bottle. Not the case here, where Rachel and hostess Emily demonstrated their service chops by pouring Wine Spectator 92-pointer Nicolas Feuillatte Reserve Brut attentively without hovering. “I didn’t realize how much time went by,” my brunch companion said. “And I didn’t expect the Champagne to be that good.”

The Plaza team and Coastal Kitchen’s celebrated chef Michael Rotondo were excited to show off their new production, and I was hungry to oblige. That does mean they knew that I was coming (and covered the bill, so I was only on the hook for a well-earned tip), so evaluating service anonymously goes out the window. But I got the impression the service team genuinely enjoys taking care of guests and the more relaxed pace of brunch.

Just thinking about the smoked salmon flatbread, the bacon-hollandaise baked Morro Bay oysters, the optional seafood tower ($45)—with more oysters, mussels, shrimp, crab claws and a bunch of dressings—triggers nostalgic saliva. 

Oxford’s definition includes “impudent; flippant” (“a saucy remark”) and “bold and lively; smart-looking” (“a hat with a saucy brim”). It does not mention Coastal Kitchen’s ravishing lobster Benedict on a cornbread English muffin with tomato Hollandaise or the croissant French toast stuffed with lemon ricotta and dripping rendered blueberries and Tahitian vanilla cream. I’m betting the huevos rancheros with salsa rojo, and the short rib hash with sunny-side-up eggs, potato rosti, roasted peppers and chipotle aioli are saucy AF—in more ways than one—too.

Sometimes well-intentioned peeps get value tangled up with affordability. The $75 price tag here for the welcome pastries and fancy fruit salad, endless Champagne, choice of two additional courses, and rosemary hash browns, Baker’s Bacon and grilled Evergood sausage included for the table, isn’t cheap, but represents rare value.

Not all views are created equal, and not all views come with binoculars. While the Monterey Plaza Hotel perches right on the cusp of the Pacific, Coastal Kitchen extends out over it, offering intriguing angles on Hidden Beach—where a sea lion rescue was in process. Sister spot Schooners was also part of the view, along with Seaside and even Santa Cruz. “Seafood on the ocean and Champagne with binoculars,” my date said. “This is my dream sequence.”

Coastal Kitchen | 400 Cannery Row, Monterey | coastalkitchenmonterey.com