December 15, 2021 – One of the most dramatic dining restaurant properties in the tri-county area is transforming into a diner. Which can seem a little surreal.
That said, if you think about it, surreal feels about perfect for a place called James Dean Burgers and More.
Dean’s life, death and legacy prove nothing if not surreal. They also intertwine with this part of the world more than many might realize.
The surreal part: He rocketed to international icon status with just three movies. Only one of them was released before he died in a car crash on Highway 46 in Chalome, California—at age 24. Along the way he dropped pearls like, “Dream as if you will live forever; live as if you will die today,” “Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse,” and “Immortality is the only true success.”
His next two movies, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, were huge hits and along with his death slingshot him into the stratosphere.
The connections to this area: When he smashed his Porsche Spyder convertible into a Ford Tudor that was making a left hand turn into Dean’s path, he was on his way to Salinas for a race at the airport. His first movie, which proved to be his breakout, couldn’t get more Salinas. East of Eden is based on the book written by Salinas Valley favorite son John Steinbeck and set, in part, in the Salinas Valley. In fact, the property that now bears his name hosted a scene from the movie.
James Dean Burgers and More occupies the former Giorgio’s at 201 Main in the massive and historic building at the corner with Gabilan. While the diner won’t debut until late January, its neighboring sister spot James Dean Sports Bar is now open 4-9pm Thursday, Friday and Monday and 1-7pm Saturday-Sunday, dishing sturdy pub fare and cocktails, featuring a number of items that will also be spotlighted next door.
The rundown includes a Salinas Valley Garden Salad, chicken wings in a variety of sauces like Buffalo, barbecue and mango-habanero, street tacos, loaded fries, fried pickles, and signature grass-fed burgers like The James Dean and the East of Eden.
With the opening of the diner, the menu will at least double in size. A milkshake counter and Sock Hop Fry Bar are in development, as are expanded burger and pizza options. Eric Alvarez serves as chef after working kitchens in Monterey including The Sardine Factory.
While the soaring ceiling, cushy booths, glowing bar and open kitchen remain from Giorgio’s, they’re now joined by quotes and renderings of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and Dean (with his girlfriend Pier Angeli) on the wall.
Like the diner-style food—Dean was a diner fan and stopped at one before his fatal crash—the setting and the music will all belong to his era. Building and restaurant owner Gerry Kehoe reveals himself to be a massive fan of both the man and the decade he represents.
“It’s probably the greatest decade of all time in the memory of most people,” he says. “It was post World War II, the era of the motor car, of people getting their own homes, [when] music broke away from the boring 40s to Elvis and rock and roll, an era of new experiences in life, an era of great new communications, adventure, newness and excitement.
“James Dean was at the center of that. He was the master of cool, the master of youth, the master of rebellion. It’s an amazing thing that a man that only had three movies is standing as the icon number two in the world next to Elvis Presley.”
Kehoe, who spoke to Edible Monterey Bay as his flight arrived in Key West where he lives and owns a hotel, was just getting warmed up.
“He remains the icon of cool, youth and rebellion for people throughout the world,” Kehoe adds. “He’s hugely important to the youth of the world and the young at heart. Therefore, to open a restaurant with the joy of the 50s, the great food of the 50s, the music of the 50s, the new beginnings of the 50s and everything associated with it…is meaningful.
“We believe in James Dean and what we’re doing.”
Longtime performing artist, producer and entrepreneur Noel Saucedo is general manager and a partner on the project. His DJ Booth Music Company just celebrated its 20th year a block away from 201, and his music skills are already being deployed: The various levels at 201 Main host live entertainment every Friday and Saturday, and he has assembled upwards of 60 hours of 50s music, movie clips and comedy to spin, alternating with live acts drawing inspiration from the time period.
“He brings something unique and special to the table in terms of putting the music together,” Kehoe says.
Saucedo anticipates people will be surprised by a couple of different elements at work. The first is the diversity of spaces at the expansive spot.
“Picture it as a hotel in Las Vegas,” he says. “You enter one complex, but you visit different rooms that have totally different feels.” A recent DJ night starred three themes (hip hop, reggaeton and “throwback”).
Manager Melissa Salazar echoes that, noting private events, company dinners and an upscale NYE dinner party later this month.
“This place has many faces,” she says. “A lot of moving parts.”
Another unexpected piece of the puzzle, per Saucedo: healthier takes on rib-sticking 50s classics. James Dean Sports Bar has already partnered with Blue Zones Project to offer a range of vegan options. In fact, I discovered the new spot while there for a BZP food policy gathering around the fire-pits on the patio and tried a dynamite Impossible Burger with superb sauces on multigrain bun and a tasty-but-work-in-progress gluten-free vegan pizza.
“Healthier choices are a real focus for us,” he says.
Licensing the name and rights to sell not just burgers but hats and shirts with Dean’s likeness has been a two-year odyssey for Kehoe, who once owned The Western Flyer that Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts sailed to the Sea of Cortez.
“These are special assets that need to be protected,” he says. “We take the legacy of James Dean very seriously: We want to create the best food, the best entertainment and the best atmosphere to honor him.”
He believes a main reason his team was chosen is the history of 201 Main Street, which was built in 1898, got a nice restoration in the 2000s and adds to the potential of a blossoming Oldtown.
“Coming out of COVID, I think this place is something that’s unique and will help in the development of the [wider] area and Salinas in particular,” Kehoe says.
Then there’s a storytelling—even spiritual—part that has to figure in.
Kehoe describes it as the project completing “a fateful journey.”
Saucedo adds this: “We want everyone to know James Dean made it to Salinas.”
More at 201complex.com and the 201 Main Facebook page.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, EMB's managing editor and "Found Treasures" columnist, welcomes responsible and irresponsible feedback. Correspond via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
