Cafe Rustica
10 Del Fino Place, Carmel Valley (831) 659-4444, caferusticavillage.com
You could spend all day watching CNN’s Headline News repeat their half-hour segments and miss the real story: Cafe Rustica fusing Alsacian favorites, Tuscan flavors, a wood-fired pizza oven and even a take on Hungarian goulash to create Carmel Valley’s top restaurant destination. It’s hard to imagine more important news – the Berlin Wall coming down, perhaps? The menu is extensive, from escargot to pasta, lamb to flammekueche, spanning a part of Europe renowned for exquisite country cooking.