Grape Escape: A Foray into Foray

August 8, 2025 – It was the last Saturday of Bach festival in Carmel, and every last room—and parking spot—in town was taken. But it was also the day of a special Domaine Messier tasting at the vineyard in Via Quintana, and we wanted to make a day of it. 

When Bob and Susan and I decide to do something, we go all in, which means lunch, winetasting, dinner and an overnight. And usually some amount of sparkling wine, generally Caraccioli. 

Fortunately, there was one last room at the Hofsas House available: a double King/Queen suite, with two en suite baths, a kitchenette with plates and silverware for a family, and a nice big table to hang out. There were also comfy armchairs for TV watching. We know it’s due for a remodel beginning next year, but it’s utterly serviceable, comfortable, exceedingly clean and blissfully quiet at that end of Carmel, especially when compared to properties along Ocean.  Another bonus? It’s within walking distance of Foray, the hot new restaurant in town. My friend Ken insisted we go there for dinner. 

But, first things first, meaning lunch. Oh, Bob and Susan got to Carmel early, and scored a donut at Dutch Door, which they proclaimed absolutely worth the wait. 

Lunch at Nicolás Cocina at Carmel Plaza, featuring the cuisine of chef Susana Alvarez and her son Andres Becerra was excellent. The place is splendidly laid out and furnished, the service is kind and attentive, and the food is truly high end. 

Our guacamole was a bit onion-heavy, but quite tasty, as were the chips. The chile relleno is a star here. A single poblano pepper is egg-battered and stuffed with queso, fried to puffy perfection and served with roasted tomato salsa. The cilantro rice and homemade tortillas came in handy when somewhat spice-averse Bob, who ordered tortilla soup, took a bite of Susan’s chile relleno and of course got the only death defyingly hot part of the pepper. Never leave your water glass empty when eating Mexican food. 

 I also got one of those bites in my huitlacoche chile relleno, a sautéed poblano pepper stuffed with huitlacoche, corn and cotija cheese basking in black bean puree with a sour cream drizzle. Perhaps Poblanos despise being overshadowed by jalapeños and serranos, so they secretly store all their capsaicin in one or two random spots to add drama and excitement. Which, by the way, Bob thought he had carefully avoided by ordering soup. 

Our Edible Monterey Bay publisher Debby Luhrman was pleased with her fish tacos, made with beer-battered halibut, pico de gallo and chipotle aioli, and her husband, Gary, loved his aguachile and flautas, which featured crispy potato and chorizo flautas, and shrimp cured in lime, green tomatillo and serrano sauce. 

Then it was off to Carmel Valley to join the rest of our party and sample the portfolio of estate-grown wines under the Domaine Messier label, led by estate director Stephany Oettinger. We were definitely the “out of towners,” as everyone else was from somewhere in Carmel Valley. Among them were a delightful couple who had been longtime neighbors of Robb Talbott’s until he moved from his now famous Diamond T Vineyard: Patrice worked at Apple (and now occasionally at Morgan) and Patrick was an Art History professor at San Jose State, where he worked with two dear friends we met 25 years ago in the wine industry. From their southwest garb, right out of Cowboys & Indians magazine, it was clear that the other couple in attendance were my kinda folks. Turns out they have a horse property in the northeast hills of Carmel. Wine is the great connector. 

The Domaine Messier wines, made mostly by the Chris and Greg Vita team (at the Caraccioli Cellars facility in Gonzales), were impressive all the way around. The 2023 Rosé of Pinot Noir is as beautiful to behold as it is to drink, and with a total acidity of 9 grams/liter and a pH of 3.08, is a perfect food wine. They sneak-previewed a new 2024 Chardonnay done in neutral oak that really caught my attention (not yet released), although the 2023 Chardonnay, easy on the oak (only 7 months in 40% new French), and plentifully racy (7g/l and 13%), is available now. The Pinotfiles in the group seemed to appreciate both styles of Pinot Noir: the Cuvée Du Nouveau Monde (New World) and the Sagittaire (Old World). Get in on the ground floor on this hot new producer. domainemessier.com

Our foray to Foray restaurant was fascinating. Needless to say, reservations are required. The place is intimate. They have a bar, at which nobody was seated. Thankfully, they do have a bartender, who eventually created some exceedingly tasty cocktails at $22/each. Bob had a rum drink and Susan had the Foray gin and tonic, for which they make their own syrup. My seasonal martini featured olive oil washed vodka with beautiful drops of tincture of basil. It was as delicious as it looked. 

There are two menus to choose from: a three-course prix fixe for $125 per person, and $50 wine pairings, or the Chef’s menu, which mirrored the prix fixe with some additions. A number of complements are available to supplement the meal, but the portions are generous enough. According to the online menu, you can also order a la carte items at the bar. 

There are five appetizer and entrée choices, and four dessert choices. “Get the kale salad!” my friend Ken told us. Bob followed orders, and was very happy he did. This Borba Farms kale was nicely tenderized and finely shredded, joining match-sticked apples in a yuzu vinaigrette with plenty of 42-month Valserena Parmigiano-Reggiano, bedecked with candied walnuts. It was truly the classiest of the field. 

I ordered the Binchotan roasted Mano De León scallop with gremolata, trout roe and pea tendrils, topped with Monterey Bay sea lettuce beurre blanc, served in a scallop shell. Beautifully dish. 

Susan went for the abalone risotto with California grown arborio rice, foraged nettle pistou and abalone liver sauce served in an abalone shell. It was good, but the liver sauce was a bit strong. The other appetizer choices were a Dungeness crab, ricotta and saffron tortellini with English peas and Meyer lemon, and a Masami American ranch wagyu tartare served with quail egg and 25-year balsamic with red onion lavash. I’d come back just to try the other appetizers.  

The presentations are perfect: fancy, but not ridiculous. I’m seriously over the wasteful platings using what looks like firepit rocks or fake ice crystals or even straw. Just bring the food and leave the art supplies in the studio.  

The wine list is fun and filled with local gems, including selections from Caraccioli Cellars, Farm Cottage, Lioco, Kobza, Pisoni, Ridge, Rhys and Tira Nanza. Some thoughtful Napa Cabs, and lots of great imports, with plenty of good Champagnes and prosecco, plus Carbonite’s Albarino sparkling, create a well-rounded selection. 

The order for the prix fixe is done up front, so no changing your mind about dessert. We got our appetizer course before the wines we ordered arrived, which included a glass of Outward Bassi Chardonnay (SLO) and a German Riesling. Both were quite good. 

Susan loves rosé, and who can blame her? She and Bob live in Livermore. We ordered a bottle of the Lucy by Pisoni Rosé, but it turned out they were out of it. Our server came back with a couple of other options, and we selected the 2023 Domaine Raffaittin-Planchon, Rosé of Pinot Noir from Sancerre, France. After a while, she returned, telling us they were out of that. 

Foray general manager Jose Vicente Gutierrez then came over and we had a great chat. He returned with a bottle of that self-same French rosé that they’d miraculously found. At that point, we suggested he might want to add the Domaine Messier rosé to his lineup. You just can’t have too much rosé. 

Our entrées were a study in expectational over and under delivery. Bob and Susan ordered the 10-day in house cured Monterey Bay halibut with Tomales Bay Starbird black mussels. This was a case where a photo of the dish would have reset expectations and neither would have ordered it. Instead of a lovely hunk of pan-seared fish, it was presented more like a sushi roll, wrapped in skin and standing upright in a pool of Brentwood corn purée and mussel reduction with a touch of basil. Almost. 

On the over delivery side, my chicken torchon dish was absolutely brilliant, with stuffed chicken breast, foraged morel mushrooms, nettle gnocchi, English peas and Borba farm cipollini, presented in a gorgeous red wine chicken reduction. This dish looked as good as it tasted, but benefitted from being reheated the next day to get the gnocchi properly cooked. Nettles are tough. 

Other entrées at present are vegetable risotto and Wagyu short ribs with king trumpets and carrot puree, and for a $55 up charge, you can choose the Wagyu strip loin served with Borba Farms tricolor potato pave with 18-month aged Fiscalini cheddar, broccolini and crispy shallot.  Those all sound pretty good, too. This place has much to offer. 

Desserts were wonderful, especially the candy cap mushroom brioche bread pudding with bourbon caramel, Minazzoli Farms chestnut, and Oregon black truffle ice cream. Credit to the dogs who found the truffles. While their names were not listed, thumbs up for all the sourcing details on the menu. 

We’ll definitely foray back this way.