Found Treasure: Lonewolf ‘Wild’ Oysters and Fry Bread Tacos

May 9, 2025—Indigenous foods “chieftess” Christina Lonewolf Martinez claims some high-powered kitchen cred after apprenticing at Sierra Mar in Big Sur and helping open Stokes Adobe and Cella Restaurant & Bar in Monterey. 

But for her, the most compelling place she’s cooked, and continues to cook, doubles as her favorite: On native Esselen land down the South Coast, ideally accompanied by post-meal storytelling by Little Bear around the fire and children like her own toddler roaming about.

“I feel most alive when I’m doing dinners on Esselen ‘property,’ being around other indigenous people, congregating and having food, all the kids running around,” she says. “That’s my magic right there.”

Those dinners can be hard to access because of geography and head count, however, so it’s welcome news that she has a series of public-facing events on the docket, starting with a Mother’s Day celebration this Sunday, May 11. 

That mama hang happens noon-4pm at Rustique Wines on River Road, and features live music, fresh flowers, featured pours, an artisan shopping gallery and Lonewolf Martinez helming the oyster bar. 

She’s prepping Robbie’s Oceanfresh Seafood bivalves in styles both classic (lemon, hot sauce, horseradish) and “wild” (pickled sea grapes, seaweed caviar, red wine-hibiscus mignonette).

Subsequent events include:

• Fry bread tacos—with chile rojo-braised bison, charred onion crema, micro cilantro and radish and hibiscus pickled shallot—at Other Brother Beer Co. June 9.

• Carmel by the Sea Culinary Week appearances June 4 and 6, for “Boho Bites & Beats” and “Soiree by the Sea.”  

• MEarth cooking classes Aug. 4-8, centered around indigenous pizza made with acorn flour sourdough crust, wild boar sausage, duck prosciutto, cheese from Carmel Valley Creamery and ingredients foraged from the lush school gardens. 

Along the way, Lonewolf Martinez balances her preferred sources of inspiration.

“Fusing both sides,” she says, “Indigenous ingredients and things we produce locally that are awesome.”

As she’s described for Edible in the past—as part of a Found Treasure on Wahpepah’s Kitchen—her idea is the re-Americanize “American” food to ground it in a more native place.

That effort involves work with Cabrillo College’s Horticultural Department doing dinners built around original ingredients grown from native seeds like sunflower shoots and miner’s lettuce.

While she pairs private cheffing duties with the pop-up slate, her main gig is momming little Mateo, whose second birthday was yesterday—she made an organic vanilla cake with Earthbound strawberries and cream cheese frosting—and whose most prized treat is dark chocolate chia seed pudding with bay laurel whipped cream.

The cumulative sum of activity has her sounding at peace, and ready for meaningful work ahead, including contributions to a Cookbook November – with Intertribal Buffalo Council of South Dakota. Central Coast Chef. Using Big Sur acorn flour, native to the Central Coast 

“It’s a purposeful feeling,” she says, “that I’m really heading in the right direction.”

More on Lonewolf Martinez’s Chieftess Monterey Instagram page.