Matt Bolton kinda sorta crushing it on Cannery Row.

Longtime Weekly food-and-drink enthusiast/columnist and all-around man-about-town Ray Napolitano once wrote about a menu so intuitive and enticing he could roll it up and eat it by its lonesome.

That line was the first thing that came to mind once I peeked at Executive Chef Matt Bolton's latest menu.

Look at it: kampachi sashimi with shaved radish, lotus root, miso and yuzu ($17), Dungeness crab salad with avocado, mâche, candied ginger, Meyer lemon aïoli ($19) and his signature day boat scallops with caramelized fennel, Dungeness crab whipped potatoes and electric blood orange emulsion ($38).

Then there's the sustainable Washington state arctic char with cauliflower gratin, wild mushrooms and thyme jus ($32), Hawaiian swordfish with roasted fingerling potatoes, broccoli rabe and white wine caper sauce ($34) and another signature, the Monterey Bay red abalone ($32) with truffled pea purée and abalone mushroom.

Yum.

(OK, The wild mushroom ravioli, $29, with toasted hazelnuts, Bloomsdale spinach, sage-brown butter and Parmigiano Reggiano sounds incredible too.)

I had tried some incredible Monterey Bay salmon and duck croquettes as part of a special Aquarium Sustainability Institute dinner at C Restaurant + Bar in the Intercontinental on Cannery Row, but I had yet to honor an invite from Bolton to further explore the new era on top of the water.

And since I felt compelled to include C in my list of "Best fireplace lounges for a cocktail in Monterey County," I had two reasons to go.

He promptly reminded me why he's a hit among epicures and chefs for his smart flavors and admirable sourcing. 

The highlights included those rich and ungreasy Sonoma duck croquettes ($12), which I could eat every day; a succulent, just-on-the-delicate-edge-between-rare-and-medium-rare rib eye steak ($58); and a "farmhouse cheese plate ($16) my dinner guest returned for the very next day, with P’tit Basque, Shafts Blue Vein, Mt. Townsend Cirrus Camembert and house chutneys.

Two other highlights were the handiwork of longtime barkeep Luis Salinas, who directs traffic in the bar/lounge, and over happy hour 4-7pm Sunday –Thursday, when everything's half off.

He administered a popular "international sparkling flight" ($22), with 2 ounces of Schramsberg, Brut Rose, ‘11, Calistoga; Cristalino, Cava, Brut, NV, Spain; Caposaldo, Prosecco, D.O.C. Brut, NV, Italy; and JCB, Cremant de Bourgogne, #21, Brut, NV, France.

And his off-menu Pumpkin Patch holiday cocktail, which evokes a light and stylish eggnog, only much better, with pumpkin liqueur, tequila, amaretto and a touch of cinnamon, was as magic and memorable as the food.

One of our very best options for sustainable seafood done beautifully is in good hands.