Red House Cafe | Anna Bautista
662 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove (831) 643-1060, redhousecafe.com
We eat with our eyes first. (OK, maybe it’s smartphones first.) Most eyes at Red House Cafe are seduced before the food gets there because the brunch menu is so mouthwatering: smoked salmon on a potato pancake with creme fraiche, capers, red onions, fresh dill and poached egg; thick cut cinnamon brioche French toast with orange marmalade butter and berries; crab cake Benedict on a toasted croissant. The kitchen execution matches the eater anticipation, as does deft handling from the front-of-the-house team, starring the one and only Anna Bautista. The key to her service game, she says, is “knowing how to communicate with customers so they leave happy – and leave full.” It’s a living? It’s more than that for Bautista.