Mark C. Anderson

Monday, June 1 – Rev. Rob Fisher was standing in front of his St. John’s Church on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., handing out granola bars and bottled water to protesters, and generally not planning to make international news. He left his staff for a moment to field an interview about a fire that had been started in the basement of the church by a rogue protester the previous day. Not long after he stepped away, his team found itself fleeing tear gas and pepper spray.

Fisher co-founded Edible Monterey Bay with his wife Sarah Wood. He knows good flavor when he tastes it. Tear gas is not it. But the tear gas was not the only thing which disturbed him. More distressing things would come next.

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Seaside Mayor … Read More

May 29, 2020 – Downtown Dining, the parent company behind local dynasties Montrio Bistro and Tarpy’s Roadhouse in Monterey and Rio Grill in Carmel, has sold to Canadian-Americans.

If that sounds like big news, it is. If it sounds like unfortunate news, it isn’t. What on its surface appears ominous—beloved, locally-grounded institutions sold to outsiders—turns out to be a very promising development, at least on its surface.

More on that in a second. First a reminder why it’s big news.

If Monterey County restaurants had a Hall of Fame, this team would be the only restaurant group with three members in it. If Monterey-area restaurants were England, this would be its Royal Family. If Monterey Peninsula restaurants…OK, you get the idea. 

Between Rio, … Read More

May 26, 2020 – The anticipation of some takeout food from Carmel Belle had me borderline giddy.

Don’t get me wrong. Nonstop bunker cooking has been good to my belly and my soul. But a rustic sandwich and a salad stuffed with free-range chicken, avocado, tomato, Hobb’s bacon and blue cheese was going to be a nice Memorial Day weekend treat.

What I ran into on the way to pick it up threw my appetite for a loop.

Carmel-by-the-Sea was Carmel-by-the-scene. Ocean Avenue was flowing with people, many of them tourists, few of them wearing masks. My unscientific count would be 10 percent of individuals were using facial coverings.

Tuck Box was a swarm of people, adding context … Read More

May 26, 2020 – MEarth’s curriculum of sustainability, gardening and cooking covers all kinds of educational territory. Now it’s learning how to redefine itself.

Normally the 10-acre property at Hilton Bialek Habitat in Carmel—with its grasslands, monarch butterfly and bird habitats, pond, outdoor amphitheater, LEED-certified culinary classroom, outdoor kitchen and extensive gardens—is a hive of activity, schooling Carmel Middle School students on everything from global eco-literacy to vermicomposting to organic pizza making.

But with in-person school suspended, MEarth is reinventing itself as a full-on farm—ramping up to grow three times as much fruit and vegetables as it has historically. While about a quarter of the grounds have been production-oriented in the past—with the rest dedicated to creature habitats, education and flowers—now it’s 100 percent go on growing food.

The vast … Read More

May 19, 2020 – The Monterey Bay Chapter of the American Culinary Federation was ready to celebrate a legend in a few weeks by way of its annual President’s Gala and Chef of the Year Dinner.

For Chef of the Year Bert Cutino, founding chef and co-creator of The Sardine Factory, that came with a little taste of deja vu.

“I told them they could honor another chef since I already won Chef of the Year back in the day,” says Cutino, who received the local award in the 1980s, and has also won ACF Chef of the Year regionally and nationally. “They would not take me up on my offer. Maybe it’s because I’m 80 years old and on my way out.”

But the big event, like so many … Read More