Carmel chef Cal Stamenov's transition has its challenges, including misdemeanor charges.

“This is Cal, chef at Lucia.”

Chef Cal Stamenov pauses a moment and chuckles. “I can’t believe I just did that,” he says.

The slip, in March of 2022, is understandable. He spent 22 years at the Bernardus Lodge restaurant, shepherding it from the original Marinus concept to Lucia, with its emphasis on fresh and seasonal ingredients, earning two James Beard Award nominations along the way.

Six months ago he joined with chef-owner Kurt Grasing, looking to take what was already a destination—Grasing’s Restaurant in Carmel—to new heights. But with a lopsided resume, Stamenov admits it’s a long process.

“You have to start fitting in with everybody, understanding everybody,” he explains. “But things are going good.”

There have been hiccups. Those include his arrest in February and a night in jail for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, with a court date set for tomorrow, March 23, for his arraignment.

However, Stamenov remains on task in the kitchen. A month ago he adjusted the menu—something he plans to do often. And he is rolling out a weekly farmers market menu starting Thursday, taking advantage of the booths just outside the restaurant. The menu will feature three courses for $52.

On offer for Grasing’s first farmers market menu is a salad plucked from local vendors, vegetable risotto and a Meyer lemon panna cotta. 

“I’m trying to bring a little brightness to the menu,” Stamenov says.

The chef hopes to achieve Michelin Star status and believes the restaurant will be at that level for next year's award. Certainly he comes to Grasing’s with the accolades for such a stellar goal.

Before making Lucia one of the Central Coast’s standouts, he worked in France, Washington D.C., San Francisco and other locations with the likes of Michel Louis-Marie Richard and Alain Ducasse.

Lofty stuff. Yet he laughs and refers to Grasing’s “insane” wine cellar. “My job is to sell the big wine.”

Staffing difficulties related to the pandemic and the so-called great resignation, along with the pressure to push success, have been the biggest challenges. Stamenov is struggling to locate a sous chef and others with the advanced technique his cuisine requires.

“They seem to have disappeared,” he points out.

Just after 7pm on Friday, Feb. 11, the chef was arrested on misdemeanor charges of public intoxication/disorderly conduct and resisting a peace officer after he was seen on Ocean Avenue that evening in no condition to walk. Stamenov spent the evening in jail then was released the next morning and resumed his duties at Grasing’s, his head once again on culinary goals.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on the two misdemeanor counts tomorrow, March 23, at 1:30pm at Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas.