Sneak Peek at Cindy's Waterfront Restaurant at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Something miraculous happens at the just opened Cindy's Waterfront (648-4870) restaurant in Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Fugly becomes beautiful.

Maybe ugliest thing in the entire ocean is rendered so pretty you want to lick it. Monkfish are feo enough to make a grouper swim ashore but…the monkfish special ($26)—the fish of the day for our Thursday soft-opening audience now that it's freshly off the red Seafood Watch list—is a magnetic plate, with a thick piece of tender fish decorated with herb pesto, Swank cherry tomatoes, pale green olives and purple-and-gold caramelized Yukon potatoes.

Other epicurean and architectural transformations have taken place, most strikingly in the cafe space and on the menus. (Check out the Aquarium cafe menu here or click over to the Cindy's Waterfront menu here.)

iPad animated messaging about sourcing plus fresh produce on display from Swank Farms gives colorful life to the priorities, including buying local, eating seasonally, going organic and being seafood smart. Big monitors make it easy to switch seasonal menu items—and ample rotating daily specials—at a moment's notice.

Drinks like Cindy's signature iced tea, Peets organic coffee and Firestone's DBA beer appear, but the real stunners include pizzas on dough made each morning and a Cannery Row cobbler with Mary's free range chicken, fresh cream, pearl onions, spicy biscuit crown and other cheesy yum stuff ($10.49, above right).

The curried chicken salads ($11.99)—stacked with more Mary's chicken, golden raisins, toasted almonds and crispy bacon—and gourmet sandwiches are among the items that help take cafeteria food to a fancier place.

The best things here remain free, like the view. On this visit other cost-free wonders include paper straws; use of the new binocs on the table to check out the otter having her own lunch; the Seafood Watch card that tells you every bite of fish can be eaten with clear conscience; and the house-cured California olives on the little plate culinary partner/restaurant namesake Cindy Pawlcyn spins and fires herself in her little pottery shed in Napa Valley. Of course, entry to the Aquarium isn’t one of the best things, as it's far from free and closer to $30 per adult—but move over, mola mola: This kind of food makes for a major membership draw. And more people supporting the Aquarium cause of ocean conservation is a good thing.

Point Reyes oysters ($18 for six) mark a highlight of the meal—wondrously fresh and elevated by a simple mignonette and tequila cocktail sauce.

Monterey Bay calamari ($15) is suddenly a contender for best on Monterey Bay, a big bowl of “frito mixto” that includes long sliced pieces of Castroville artichoke heart, jalapeños, Meyer lemon and garlic-basil-lemon aioli.

The tasty flatbread ($14)—with thick Hobbs' bacon, caramelized local spring onions and gruyere—tips more toward tortilla than pizza, with a crunchy-chewy thinness.

The grilled pasilla ($10) works like a tamale-relleno hybrind, with melted jack and a white corn-meal middle and a couple of superb salsa made from roasted nora chilies.

The Hunan-grilled chicken salad ($14) with peanut sauce on top and sesame noodles below, with a nice Asian herbed slaw, is one of a number of imports from Pawlcyn's celebrated Mustards Grill in Napa, including her restaurant group partner Sean Knight, who is helping orchestrate the Waterfront opening.

The biggest bummer: The bar, and star bartender Rafael Isaacs, are bye bye, though that opens up the simple dining room more.

They have added a new way to enjoy the view with low bar-style seating along the back corner.

New blonde wood helps set off the epic painting that got a little lost in the bustle before.

Some of the things to look forward to trying is the pizza everybody's raving about back in the cafe area. Restaurant indulgences to anticipate include pretty much any one of the daily specials, whether that's the soups (Thursday it was carrot ginger bisque with togorashi spiced yogurt on top, $6.50-$8.50), or the rotating "grown-up" grilled cheeses (A.Q.) or "Cannery Row comfort food" (like Thursday's Oregon bay shrimp mac-n-cheese). I've also got eyes for the West Coast crab roll ($22) with Dungeness crab, avocado, scallions and celery, the true cod soft tacos ($22) and line-caught albacore sandwich with furikake fries ($22).

Executive Chef Jeff Rogers stopped by to talk excitedly about all the fun he's having sourcing things like Swank's epic hot house tomatoes—local, juicy and vine ripened in the offseason—and working with Pawlcyn.

"If you need a quote," he said, smiling widely "Here's one: 'This is cool.'"

Pawlcyn was away traveling with her husband visiting Japan, his family's country of origin. She did check in with an enthusiastic video for the staff saying she had always had two dreams: To open a restaurant by 30 and to open one on the water. Done and done.

The Weekly broke word on Pawlcyn's involvement—and stopped by her Napa house to visit—as part of a Wine & Food special issue in February 2011. (Another special Wine & Food debuts Thursday, coincidentally.) Earlier this month, Edible Complex explored what the new era will mean for local eaters and the world's oceans.

As lunch wound down, Rogers and Aquarium communications chief Ken Peterson even added there may be hope for hours that extend past 3pm. Given the powerful restaurant families along Cannery Row, that would be a monkfish-worthy miracle.