Hot Picks 02.17.22

Whodunit and Dinner

We have it on good podcast authority: True crime is all the rage. How would you feel if we drop the “true” part and add dinner? Salinas’ Steinbeck House (yes, the famous author’s boyhood home) is hosting a murder mystery dinner in honor of John’s birthday weekend. The event not only promises fun, but also a three-course dinner and, as a bonus, all of it is happening as a fundraiser for the historic home. Get ready to question the intentions of everyone around you. [TCL]

Shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday Feb. 25-27; prepaid reservations are required by Friday, Feb. 18. Steinbeck House, 132 Central Ave., Salinas. $100. 424-2735, steinbeckhouse.com.

Art and Ourselves

The opening of the exhibit “Sustaining: Our World, Our Community, Ourselves” presents both an opportunity to see the work of local artists, and check out a new Monterey business. The show features the work of over a dozen artists including Lily Weisenfeld, Jess Soriano and 7 Ravens Studio. Using different mediums such as painting, illustration, photography and weaving, the artists explore what sustainability means to them and their communities. It is organized by Emerging Artists Alliance Monterey and Monterey’s new coworking space The Pearl Works. [CJ]

6pm Friday, Feb. 18. The Pearl Works, 288 Pearl St., Monterey. Free. RSVP and proof of vaccination required. 645-1165, bit.ly/sustaining2022.

History Dive

How to best archive and preserve local history, and to make it accessible to the public? Executive Director of the Monterey County Historical Society James Perry answers these questions in a presentation titled:“A Local Treasure: The Monterey County Historical Society and Preserving Monterey County,” featuring highlights of the county’s history and the role of the Monterey County Historical Society. Perry will take the audience on a journey spanning over eight decades and chronicling community efforts toward the collection and preservation of regional history. Topics include the acquisition of the historic Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe and future build-out plans of the Boronda Adobe History Center. An array of delicious authentic traditional Sicilian cookies prepared by Chef Rich Pepe will be served after the presentation. [AP]

2-4pm Saturday, Feb. 19. Pacific Grove Art Center, 568 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. Free. RSVP to wendybrickman@gmail.com or 594-1500. mchsmuseum.com.

Local Talent, Local Big Sur Haunt

Jake Padorr, Big Sur’s resident ethereal musician and sound technician, has been hosting a popular open mic night at the beloved Henry Miller Memorial Library the first Thursdays of the month. Padorr has handpicked three folk artists who he says “wowed” him during a recent open mic night, and has invited them to perform a showcase at another beloved Big Sur venue, the back deck of the Fernwood Tavern. Big Sur local Joe Mann, Carmel Valley’s Brianna Mai Colliard and Pacifica’s Kacie Hill will play what Padorr describes as “tender and powerful folk music,” for an all-ages crowd. [CN]

7-9pm Saturday, Feb. 19. Fernwood Tavern, 47200 Highway 1, Big Sur. Free. 667-2422, fernwoodbigsur.com.

Mountain Town

There’s a unique combination of stunning scenery and a hunger for adrenaline that comes through the screen in the Banff Mountain Film Festival, a collection of short films. They celebrate not just nature, but humans’ place in it – and quest for adventure, to get to some incredibly remote (not to mention dangerous) places that makes these films so epic. This year, experience the forest floor from a pooch’s perspective in A Dog’s Tale (5 minutes), learn about the tradition of wooden boat-building at Fretwater Boatworks on the Grand Canyon in Can’t Beat This Place for Fun (14 minutes), watch skiers go through a rock cave in the mountains of Slovenia (Inside: A Hole New Ski Experience, 11 minutes). It makes the Winter Olympics look like kid games. Bonus: This event is a benefit for Return of the Natives, so your ticket purchase goes to getting native plants restored in our local landscapes. [SR]

6:30pm doors, 7pm showtime on Sunday, Feb. 20. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $25. 649-1070, goldenstatetheatre.com.

Something Fishy

What would happen if you opened the fridge and there were four 6-ounce portions of sablefish and a basket of vegetables amongst the other odds and ends? You might ponder and pace, maybe reach for Joy of Cooking. But probably you’d be stumped. Just how many old family sablefish recipes do you have on file? Well, if this is the case, your timing is perfect. Everyone’s Harvest is hosting Wild Fish’s executive chef, Elsah Payne, for a Zoom cooking demonstration and guess what’s on the menu? Yep – sablefish, with roasted market veggies and chimichurri. The chef has already given away a spoiler on the vegetables. You roast them. But you will need to log in to the demonstration to find out about the rest. Chef Payne plans to be lenient. She says it’s a versatile recipe, so if your pantry doesn’t have, say, a head of fennel ready for slicing, she encourages you to sub in another vegetable. Wait, is fennel a vegetable? Maybe it’s an herb. So what is it doing in a roasted vegetable recipe? Zoom in to find out. [DF]

4-5pm Tuesday, Feb. 22. Free. Via Zoom; use passcode 705146 at bit.ly/ElsahPayneCookingDemo.

Investing in Art

For the first time in 2021, the Center for Photographic Art decided to award $5,000 grants to artists pushing the boundaries. Liz Steketee, Bianca and riel Sturchio and Allie Tsubota will present work created during the past year with funds from the program, and their work is now on exhibit. Stekatee was born in Michigan and lives in Marin County; her work focuses on the notions of photography and its role in family, memory and history. Bianca Sturchio is a mixed-media artist who uses her lived experiences of disability and queerness to inform both her professional and creative pursuits. Riel Sturchio is an interdisciplinary artist whose art practice includes film photography, printmaking, artist books, prose, sound installation, sculpture, video and collaboration. Last but certainly not least, Allie Tsubota is a photographer exploring intersections of race, visuality, and the formation of historical memory. [AP]

12-4pm Wednesday-Sunday, until April 3. Center for Photographic Art, San Carlos and 9th. Carmel. Free. 625-5181, photography.org.

HOT PICKS by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier, Dave Faries, Celia Jiménez, Pam Marino, Christopher Neely, Agata Popęda, Sara Rubin and David Schmalz.