Making Easter plans? Book a table at The Quail’s elegant and sumptuous Grand Buffet Easter Brunch, befitting the stunning setting of the resort, and sure to please with its dizzying array of selections.
“It will feature à la minute omelets, and an eggs Benedict station, with plentiful options,” says executive chef Goran Basarov. “Our clientele loves our hyper-seasonal salads and quiches, and the selection of pastries from our resident pastry chef who has been doing this for 25 years, will be fantastic.”
Brunch will also feature a raw bar—with fan-favorite prawn cocktails—plus a grazing station with local and imported cured meats and cheeses, accompanied by an assortment of tapenades, including chef’s personal favorite red pepper spread.
“We’ll serve Beef Wellington, which I love, plus a riff on an adobo marinated chicken we recently did, but instead applied to a rotisserie-style turkey, for deep, earthy flavors,” says Basarov.
“People go for salmon around here,” he adds, “so we will whole roast a salmon and dress it with lemon caper beurre blanc.” Vegetable sides will include grilled asparagus with Parmigiano and preserved lemon, a seasonal vegetable casserole and ratatouille.
For dessert, The Quail chefs plan to serve strawberry rhubarb pie and a crostada of the fresh stone fruits that are just starting to roll in. Fanciful panna cotta parfaits and puffy profiteroles, plus a large format carrot cake, will add a flair of the festive.
“We are going for fun and approachable: Easter Brunch will be an amalgamation of popular favorites,” Basarov promises. Special selections for children will also be available, including mini pancakes, crudité cups, piggies in blanket, and mac n’ cheese. Starting at $84/pp plus tax and gratuity, Quail’s Easter brunch represents a great dining value. Weather permitting, seating for brunch will be outside on the Covey deck overlooking Mallard Lake.
If you’re planning to attend Pebble Beach Food & Wine, chef Goran will once again be representing Quail, for the second year in a row. Getting to participate in the event for the first time in 2024 was “a bucket list item,” he says, crediting local Chef Whisperer and PBFW chief chef recruiter Dorothy Maras for the kind invitation that came his way last year, as well as support from The Quail food and beverage director Wahid Areso.
Goran enjoys taking expectations and turning them 180. “Eclairs are usually sweet, but for PBF&W last year, we stuffed the pastry with smoked salmon roe and crème fraiche and celery gelee for some pizzaz and zing, and topped them with caviar,” says Basarov. “It was pretty epic!”
While this year’s creation has yet to be revealed (he’s desperately trying to keep it hush-hush internally, even as the ingredients start to arrive for preliminary experimentation), he teases that it will have a “cute and whimsical land and sea” theme. The team is finalizing the dishes and the décor, which will debut on Sunday, April 13 in the Tasting Pavilion. Rest assured it will be a display of his unique background and playful nature.
About Chef Goran Basarov
Born and raised in Macedonia, chef Basarov comes from a long line of bakers, but he initially eschewed the dough and planned to become an ESL teacher until a visit to the US led to him attending a culinary program in LA, which set him on his current path.
And it’s been quite a path, as it took him to Colorado to work at Devil’s Thumb Resort, where he met his wife, who was a pastry chef there. He worked with her as a baker for a while, before pursuing what he calls “the savory side” of his journey. This included opening two restaurants in Aspen for Plumpjack Group, followed by a nearly four-year stint at Balboa Café in San Francisco. He then went south to San Martin’s tony CordeValle, followed by a consulting gig in the Florida Keys. He then returned to California to take an executive sous chef position at Selby’s in Atherton, which proved an immensely valuable experience, especially for ingredient sourcing.
Basarov’s Love Thy Neighbor Wednesday feasts have caught on, and he enjoys the culinary freedom the format gives him to play with the bounty of local ingredients at his disposal, along with the great purveyors he has assembled throughout his culinary journey. Over the weeks since the program launched, he’s cured salmon for a riff on lox and bagels, and has upscaled a favorite dish from childhood, chicken pressé, by substituting duck meat. A typical Wednesday feast might include Row 7 Farms beet and apple salad with prosciutto, Shishito peppers and mustard dressing, plus a butter poached lobster main, along with short ribs.
The dynamic chef aims to elevate the food at Covey to match the surroundings. You’ll notice a definite uptick in the quality of beef served at the restaurant. “We use beef from DemKota Ranch, from South Dakota,” says Basarov “it’s Prime, sustainably raised, with good feed for gorgeous marbling.” New York steak might be his least favorite cut, but he swears theirs is delicious. He sources all his rib-eyes and NY steaks from DemKota, and will occasionally get filets from them as well. He’d love to bring back the dry aging program he initially implemented using Flannery beef, one of his most trusted sources, and may re-introduce a large format porterhouse that serves four people.
Mother’s Day Brunch at Quail
It’s not too early to make reservations for The Quail’s Mother’s Day Brunch, which will feature a three-course prix-fixe menu for $72/pp; children, $30/pp. Appetizers include asparagus and Sogno Toscana burrata salad, with shallots, peas and egg jam; citrus-cured salmon with housemade Boursin cheese and sturgeon caviar; and stone fruit salad. Entrees include croque madame on Ad Astra milk bread with Fra’Mani rosemary ham, Point Reyes Toma and truffle bechamel; chilled crab salad eggs Benedict; Brokaw Ranch avocado toast on croissant with fried egg and crème fraiche; and Angus beef with asparagus, fried organic egg, bravas potatoes and brown butter sauce Béarnaise.
Dessert choices are stone fruit pavlova with coconut and ginger sorbet; millionaire shortbread with Valrhona chocolate and salted caramel; and strawberry shortcake with crème diplomat.
A children’s menu offers housemade chicken tenders and beer-battered fries; junior croque madame with beer-battered fries; croissant sandwich with avocado and a fried egg; mac and cheese, and chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
Says marketing manager Felicia Pfleger, “Last year, we surprised moms dining with us on Mother’s Day with flowers, and mothers staying at the lodge during this holiday weekend were invited to treat themselves to flowers and chocolates in our lobby. We are looking forward to working with Veuve Clicquot to provide the Champagne for moms, which will make this weekend all the more special.”
We’ll toast to that.
For up-to-date details, visit TheQuail
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
