The biggest joy from this year's Best of Monterey County Readers Poll was not standing on the top of Bixby Bridge in a giant bottle costume. (Bixby won for Best Architectural Treasure.)
In fact, it wasn't holding cats, kittens and puppies at SPCA Monterey County in said outfit either. (SPCA won for Best Place to Volunteer.)
Instead was all the great tastes we enjoyed along the way, from the winner for Best Wine Tasting Room (Scheid) to Best Place for Brunch (Red House) to Best Pizza (Gianni's Pizzeria).
One definite highlight was the well-curated craft beer and habit-forming brisket at Salinas City Barbeque, which won for Best Barbecue.
After the amount of fun Weekly team had running around town dressed as a gorilla for the Best of Monterey County 2013, the publication might just make costumed photo shoots an annual affair.
In the meantime, here's a look at some of my favorite winners for great grub, from the Best Specialty Foods category that calls treats like the aforementioned pizza and brisket home..
Best Bakery (2015)
Paris Bakery
271 Bonifacio Place, Monterey
(831) 646-1620
1232 Broadway Ave., Seaside
(831) 394-7798
Charmant. It’s the French word for charming, and Paris Bakery has charm in abundance. And that’s just the atmosphere—casually comfortable, a place to kick back with friends or grab fresh and delicious food to go. Paris Bakery also has cakes as colorful as wildflower fields, and loaves of bread as long as fireplace mantels. It also has cookies that look like jewels. Lunch specials change daily—will it be a salmon sandwich that tickles your tastebuds, a bowl of split pea soup to warm your tummy or a healthy bowl of fresh greens topped with grilled chicken to up your veg and protein intake?
Best Barbecue (2015)
Salinas City Barbeque
700 W. Market St., Salinas
(831) 758-2227
The warning on the menu—brisket may run out early—is no joke. It really might—it’s meltingly tender, with just a hint of smoke and the perfect platform for a drizzle of spicy barbecue sauce. Ribs are nearly fall-away tender and smoky, the chicken succulent. Also, portions are huge. Dropping $50 is enough to feed six adults with leftovers. The well-curated draft craft beer selection, meanwhile, rivals the meats in strength and depth.
Best Beer (2015)
Alvarado Street Brewing Company
426 Alvarado St., Monterey
(831) 655-2337
The six-way taster of the superb house beers is the recommended way to play and really the only way to keep up with the flavorful creativity of brewmaster J.C. Hill and company. Some of the standouts from a year filled with them included the single-hop citraveza, jalapeño cream ale, Duane’s World IPA, Grains of Wrath saison and California Beer Festival in Aptos’ best beer winner Mai Tai PA. If that weren’t suds enough to wet the whistle, a carefully curated range of guest taps and a new cocktail program await. In a word, cheers.
Best Butcher Shop (2015)
Grove Market
242 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove
(831) 375-9581
The secret ingredient at this grocery store of ingredients (also voted Best Neighborhood Market) is customer service. That also applies to the well-stocked butcher counter, where you can order just a single chicken leg or a single slice of bacon, so only the freshest meat heads home. Everything is packed to order—no pre-shrink-wrapped section like some bigger shops, but that doesn’t mean Grove Market skimps on variety. Carnivores can find all their favorite cuts, plus a growing number of organic and free-range options.
Best Catering (2015)
Michael’s Catering/Wild Thyme Deli & Cafe
445 Reservation Road, Marina
(831) 884-2400
Hosting a catered event savors risk. But Michael’s high-end catering prepares your curiously appetizing dreams to come true. You have to see it to believe it. The proof shines on the faces of your happy hundred guests because Michael’s customizes your Wild Thyme event with specific custom food dishes. Anticipate above-and-beyond items like nostalgic-area beverages, crustless frittatas, grilled Castroville artichokes, chicken liver pâté, 18-hour-smoked Texas style brisket, double chocolate bourbon pecan Bundt cake, various Central Coast wines and ample microbrews. The one-time American Culinary Federation “Chef of the Year” Terry Teplitzky has been making dreams come true on the Monterey Peninsula for 20 years.
Best Clam Chowder (2015)
Old Fisherman’s Grotto
39 Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey
(831) 375-0604
Stroll down the wharf, and teensy plastic cups of clam chowder are being shoved in your face every 10 to 20 feet. Pass them up. There are righteously plump clams in a perfectly garlicky and rich, creamy, bisquey-style base waiting for you at the Grotto. Thin soup is for the other guys. Plus the calamari is unparalleled. You won’t find rubber fish here. Nope. The texture’s their thing: plump and bite-able, not a gooey mess that twirls in your trap. Pair it with the chowder, some chilled vino and that view, and you’ve stumbled into God’s country.
For the full list of Specialty Foods winners, jump to the Monterey County Weekly Best Of results for that category.
Best Deli Sandwiches (2015)
Compagno’s Market & Deli
2000 Prescott Ave., Monterey
(831) 375-5987
You don’t become a 13-time winner by cold cuts alone. Compagno’s has some primo meat options that could make a vegan jealous, with chicken Parmesan, chicken cordon bleu and Italian sausage so good you want to enroll at the Defense Language Institute just to be closer. An array of armed forces themed specialties like the Air Force Special with turkey, cream cheese and cranberry sauce (aka the Lucky 13) represent mightily, because this is Amurrica. And a large feels like enough gourmet yum to feed a platoon.
Best Pickle (2015)
Happy Girl Kitchen Co.
173 Central Ave., Pacific Grove
(831) 373-4475
Happy Girl Kitchen co-owner Jordan Champagne says the key to a good pickle is tasty mix of integrity and simplicity. They start with cucumbers grown at a small farm deep in the Hollister hills, keeping to the Pacific Grove cafe’s locally-sourced loyalties, then slowly cure them with a carefully mastered selection of pickling spices. Good ingredients all around, it’s that simple. Happy G also pickles a ton of other veggies and offers classes. They know what they’re doing on Central Avenue.
Best Red Wine (2015)
Boekenoogen Pinot Noir
Boekenoogen Vineyards and Winery
24 W. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley
(831) 675-3549
Located on 150 acres atop the Santa Lucia Highlands foothills, the winery is one of the few that grows, produces and bottles onsite. Owner John Boekenoogen, who in 1998 transformed his family’s five-generation cattle ranch into a vineyard, says it all starts with the grapes and explains that only diamond-quality grapes are used to make their wines. He jokes that Boekenoogen is hard to say but easy to drink, as depicted on the T-shirts sold in his Carmel Valley tasting room.
Best White Wine (2015)
Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc
Bernardus Winery
5 W. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley
(831) 659-1900
Fresh-cut grass, grapefruit notes and a hint of melon means this clean, easy-drinking sister stole the crown from her own family, as Bernardus’ Chardonnay won Best Local White Wine last year. Hey, our palates change over time. Grapes hailing from the storied Griva Vineyard in Arroyo Seco plus a hint of Griva Semillon (a blending grape that can add more texture and depth) give Dean de Korth, one fine maker of wine, all he needs to work with to create the ultimate special sauce.
Best Pizza (2015)
Gianni’s Pizza
725 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey
(831) 649-1500
www.facebook.com/giannispizzaca
This being-the-best thing is nothing new to Gianni’s. With pies like the monstrous Meat-zilla, the 18-inch behemoth called the Big Wheel and the vacation for your mouth known as the Hawaiian Delight, it’s no wonder they’re back on top. With Gianni’s build-your-own calzones and pasta dishes demonstrating they’re not a one-trick pony, this represents something like their 20th Best Of for the pizza pies, born of a family recipe that hasn’t changed one bit in 41 years. Even if “Gianni’s” wasn’t written on the building, that irresistible smell on Lighthouse would still have people flocking for the secret sauce on the incredible crust.
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