  Scott Campbell Sea bass with vegetables at Marinus at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley, which holds a Wine Spectator Grand Award. Please note that owners, chefs, menu items, prices and other details can often change, and we recommend that you call ahead before you go. All of these restaurants accept American Express, Visa and MasterCard unless otherwise noted.
Fiala's Gourmet Deli |
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MONTEREY BAY AREA
BouchéeMission St. (between Ocean and Seventh)
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921
Telephone (831) 626-7880
Web site www.boucheecarmel.com
Corkage $25
Open Dinner, Tuesday to Sunday
Cost Entrées $23–$29; tasting menus $54, $92
Best of Award of Excellence
Chef Walter Manzke, who also runs the kitchen at L'Auberge Carmel, seeks out local ingredients to craft intensely flavored continental-inspired dishes at Bouchée, a 49-seat restaurant in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea. Prices range from $5 to $17 for the 20 wines poured by the glass. More than 400 are available by the bottle, with the emphasis on France and California.
L'Auberge Carmel Restaurant
Monte Verde at Seventh
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921
Telephone (831) 624-8578
Web site www.laubergecarmel.com
Corkage $25
Open Dinner, daily
Cost Entrées $21–$26; tasting menus (available Thursday to Monday) $110, $205
Dinner at L'Auberge Carmel is like an evening with a brilliant conversationalist who has attention deficit disorder: fascinating, but peripatetically challenging. On a recent evening, chef Manzke offered an eight-course tasting menu that started in Mexico then hopscotched to Japan, Thailand, France and Italy. Were it not for the consistent excellence, that much travel might be discomfiting. Manzke crafts highly inventive food with precise, intense flavors meant to startle and delight. Starters included a plump Kumomoto oyster with a shot of tart green apple juice, followed by a Japanese course of four variations of raw Maine scallop. Another dish offered juicy squab over decadently rich calamarata pasta stuffed with a truffled mousse of foie gras and sweetbreads. Although individual dishes are very wine-friendly, ordering by the bottle presents challenges. Champagne, such as the Krug 1990 ($350), is as good a bet as anything. There are also 32 half-bottles. The list includes 475 wines, with California, Burgundy and Bordeaux showing the most depth. The sommeliers are quite adept at pairing wines with the tasting menu.
Marinus at Bernardus Lodge
415 Carmel Valley Road
Carmel Valley, CA 93924
Telephone (831) 659-3131; (888) 688-9463
Web site www.bernardus.com
Corkage $30
Open Dinner, daily
Cost Entrées $35–$52; tasting menus $70–$200
Grand Award
The wine list alone would justify a trip, but so does the brilliant cooking of Cal Stamenov. At a recent dinner, there were no off notes, from the Parmesan gougères that started the meal to the remarkable assortment of chocolates made by pastry chef Ben Spungin that ended it. Highlights included a memorable salad of sweetbreads, served with black trumpet mushrooms, fat wedges of meaty chanterelles and a bacon vinaigrette, and an entrée of pan-roasted scallops, nestled on a spinach puree with buttery lobster cannelloni. A Meyer lemon soufflé was a satisfying dessert, light yet bracing. After seven years at Marinus, wine director Mark Jensen knows his 1,800-bottle cellar well. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, from both Burgundy and California, are well-represented, as are California Cabernet and German Riesling. More than 100 wines are offered in half-bottle format. Plenty of 750ml bottles cost less than $40, and there are several wines by the glass for less than $10.
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PASO ROBLES
Bistro Laurent1202 Pine St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Telephone (805) 226-8191
Web site fp.tcsn.net/bistro/laurent.htm
Corkage $20
Open Lunch and dinner, Monday to Saturday
Cost Entrées $18–$29
Award of Excellence
This restaurant serves satisfying bistro fare, such as onion soup and braised rabbit with red wine sauce. The wine list of 150-plus bottles has one foot in the California Central Coast and the other in France (primarily the Rhône, Bordeaux and Burgundy). Paso Robles estates get top billing, including plenty of hard-to-find bottlings, such as Linne Calodo, L'Aventure and a five-vintage vertical of Justin Isosceles.
Villa Creek
1144 Pine St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Telephone (805) 238-3000
Web site www.villacreek.com
Corkage $20
Open Lunch, Tuesday to Saturday; dinner, daily
Cost Entrées $19–$27
It seems that practically everyone visiting Paso Robles wine country passes through Villa Creek. That's easy to understand, because this winemaker hangout serves up youthful energy, satisfying food and an exciting wine list with excellent prices. Most of the menu suggests Southwestern cuisine, such as the hearty posole, a stew made with braised pork shoulder, chicken stock, chiles and hominy. Prices couldn't be much better on wines like the Elderton Shiraz Barossa Command 2000 ($90) and the Lewis Napa Valley Alec's Blend 2003 ($65).
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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
Miró8301 Hollister Ave.
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
Telephone (805) 571-4204
Corkage $25
Open Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday
Cost Entrées $32–$49; tasting menus $65, $125
Best of Award of Excellence
Miró pays tribute to Joan Miró, and like everything at Bacara Resort, the restaurant dresses the part with two original sculptures by the Spanish artist, flamenco red leather chairs and custom-designed dishware bearing Miró motifs. The menu focuses on upscale interpretations of Basque and Catalonian cuisine, with chef Gerald Hirigoyen of San Francisco's Piperade consulting. Sometimes the nod to things Iberian is subtle, as with the light dusting of smoked paprika on roasted free-range chicken, served over a fricassee of chanterelle, black trumpet and oyster mushrooms. The wine cellar holds more than 700 labels, with all but a few priced above $50. About half are from California, with 23 by-the-glass options. Diners seeking that special bottle won't have to look far: Five vintages of Château Pétrus, for example, are available, going back to the 1979 ($2,300).
Restaurant at Ballard Inn
2436 Baseline Ave.
Ballard, CA 93463
Telephone (800) 638-2466
Web site www.ballardinn.com/restaurant.html
Corkage $10
Open Dinner, Wednesday to Sunday
Cost Entrées $24–$27
Outside the urbane confines of Santa Barbara proper, many restaurants tend toward meat and potatoes. Not the Ballard Inn, where chef Budi Kazali has built an enthusiastic following for his creative fusion fare. Appetizers tend to be explicitly Asian, such as hamachi sashimi with soy-yuzu vinaigrette. Others, such as a soup of velvety, pureed peas (sugar snap and English) and chicken stock, highlight local products. There's an eclectic 150-bottle wine list, featuring Santa Barbara Pinot Noir as well as Chardonnay, Syrah and assorted red and white varieties from a range of Central Coast appellations.
Wine Cask
813 Anacapa St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Telephone (805) 966-9463; (800) 436-9463
Web site www.winecask.com/restaurants_sb.cfm
Corkage $25
Open Lunch, Monday to Friday; dinner, daily
Cost Entrées $24–$35; tasting menu prices vary
Grand Award
It's no surprise that the Wine Cask, Santa Barbara's only Grand Award winner, has an otherworldly, 53-page wine list. What might raise eyebrows, however, is that Burgundies, not local bottlings, account for the largest portion of the cellar. Practically all of the big names (Coche-Dury, Georges de Vogüé, DRC) are amply represented, as are plenty of smaller players. A strong assortment of local Pinots, cult Cabernets, Austrian, Italian and German wines round out the list. Decor in the Spanish Mission-style dining room is casual but upscale, with elegant touches such as dark, handpainted oak-beam ceilings. Much of the menu reflects the influence of either continental or Asian cuisine. Because the cellar is meant to hold center stage, many of the dishes are easy foils for wine, such as the entrée of roasted lamb loin served with flageolets, or the seared ahi tuna with a soba-noodle salad and miso broth.
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