Cella Makes Much-Awaited Debut in Old Monterey

January 25, 2022 – Cella restaurant, which soft opened last weekend, has been a long time coming. I’ve written as much in previewing the most anticipated breakthroughs of 2022.

I first started reporting on it a good half decade ago, way back when Donald Trump moved into the White House. 

It’s been so long Cella executive chef Ben Spungin stopped citing a potential opening date…two years ago.

But truth be told, it’s been coming longer than that, in more ways than one. 

Spungin is a perfect and poetic example of that. When he was helping direct the kitchen at Restaurant 1833 up the block, he would retreat to the under-the-radar Cooper Molera Gardens that surround and complement the Cella setting and its sister business, Alta Bakery and Cafe.

“No one seemed to know you could come through the [on-site] museum and access it—many didn’t know the gardens even existed,” he says. “I knew I’d be a part of it if something ever happened with the building. I love what it’s turned out to be.”

Co-owner Kirk Probasco has been incubating this Cella dream even longer—he first got involved with the property in 2010, when the first iPad was introduced. 

He is part of the development team that acquired the go-ahead to reinvent the garden complex— which also includes a second kitchen and impressive barn venue for special events—in partnership with National Trust for Historic Preservation.  

They received a construction permit in 2017 and wrapped much of the buildout in spring 2019, when Alta opened.

So to say he’s pleased that Cella threw open its doors last Friday, around five hours after receiving its occupancy permit, is an understatement.

“It was phenomenal,” he says of the opening weekend. “The food is beautiful, the service is lovely, and the space is great. It’s all coming together. We have 259 details to look after, but it’s all fine tuning.” 

Back in the day, Stokes Adobe was a popular locals destination that Probasco oversaw. (It would become Restaurant 1833 after he moved on and is once again named Stokes Adobe under new leadership.)

That language-of-locals-love surfaces in multiple conversations with the chef team in the weeks and months leading up to its debut. 

Chef de cuisine Aaron Rayor thinks the “neighborhood” identity of Cella will be the biggest surprise for area eaters. 

Spungin evokes the thought in his own way. “We want to be a locals restaurant,” he says. “That’s what helps drive Alta—we always strive to be a neighborhood bakery first.”

A key reason the Cella team could be patient with its opening timeline, and really dial in the details like the immaculate custom kitchen, is the success of Alta, which turns 3 in April. 

“It’s not the best time ever to open a restaurant, but we’re lucky because we have successful Alta,” Spungin says. “We didn’t anticipate how busy we were going to be. We didn’t see any of it coming.”

At Cella the menu occupies a single page. It divides between appetizers (like the grilled squid with fennel sausage and Castel-Franco radicchio salad); raw offers (oysters, striped bass crudo and steak tartare); entrees (black cod with lentils and bacon, pappardelle alla Bolognese, Mary’s half chicken with roasted sunchoke and carrot, hanger steak with chimichurri, a signature double-patty burger); sides (Alta bread with pickle butter, warm white beans, garlic herb fries, charred broccolini); and desserts (yogurt panna cotta, pavlova, chocolate almond tart). 

That’s the same gorgeous radicchio salad, by the way, that appeared in Edible Monterey Bay last spring, with the accompanying recipe.

Three specialty cocktails—including the Alvarado St. (with brandy and green chartreuse) and Molera ‘G’ Tonic (Aviation gin, green juice and Fever Tree tonic)—ride on the backside with wines curated by general manager/beverage director/sommelier Bernabe de Luna.

The setting, meanwhile, benefits from lots of wood, some adobe accents and local collaborations. 

Bernard Trainor composed the art on the walls and Marie Claire crafted the pillows on the banked seating. Carmel Middle School woodshop teacher Matt Ishler designed the stylish stools and wood from the historic barn across the gardens was used for two big community tables. Dani De Sola and Libby Barnes of De Sola.Barnes Architects helped pull it all together, as they did at Alta, in harmony with the rest of the team.

Assembly of covered terrace seating adjacent to the dining room will begin once the restaurant is settled in and running smoothly. 

In the meantime, things are looking and feeling good at Cella. The crazy thing about that is it should get even better with time and patience, which the group is well-practiced with. 

Hours are 5:30-close Tuesday-Saturday, with Sunday brunch in the planning stages. More at Cella’s Instagram page and its website, which is under development.