Crown and Anchor

Ducking into the Crown and Anchor a few steps below Franklin Street in Monterey, you'd swear that if the walls could talk, the stories would go back a hundred years or more. Which was sort of the idea, according to proprietors Tony and Sarah Sutton-Deakin, who opened the doors just a few short weeks ago. Owners of the Penny Farthing in Salinas, the couple accumulated antique nautical art and artifacts for years with the idea of doing another authentic British pub, this time in a style reminiscent of the watering holes of Portsmouth, England where blokes have been gathering to tip a pint since the Mary Rose sank like a stone while Henry XIII looked on from the shore in horror.

Whether you're on your lunch break with a briefcase in tow or just dropping anchor after coming ''round the Horn, the Sutton-Deakins offer respite from the fray with the style of hospitality that has been part of British culture for generations. "In England, pubs are so much a part of the life that you literally grow up in them," Tony explains. "They''re very social places where the same families with children may gather year after year. They''re particularly popular with business people for lunch. It''s the kind of place where you can be completely comfortable stopping in for a pint and some fish and chips, or a cup of coffee and some conversation. Public houses originated as homes that were opened to the public where travelers could stay and were made to feel at home and welcome. That''s the kind of cozy, nice warm environment that we wanted to create here."

Spending five months renovating the former site of Franklin Street Bar and Grill, Tony designed each feature of the floor plan from the capstand that rises from behind the burnished copper bar top to the placement of the blocks and pulleys that divide the room. Heraldry gleams golden, displayed on black wainscoted walls next to portraits of the pride of Her Majesty's Navy and mounted antique pistols, ("The pistols are actually fakes," Tony laughs, "although I almost didn't make it through the Heathrow airport with them!") Cozy and warm sums up the net effect.

Tony and Sarah combined their efforts in designing the menu, offering perennial English favorites as well as items popular with American tastes. For preferences that lean to this side of the Atlantic you''ll find a selection of no fewer than 15 sandwiches running the gamut from barbecued tri-tip to vegetarian and spicy Cajun chicken. Loyalists, on the other hand, will delight in the roasted top sirloin with Yorkshire pudding, bangers and mash, braised lamb shanks, and corned beef and cabbage. There is also a variety of savory meat pies-from cottage pie with ground beef and vegetables under a crust of mashed potatoes, to steak and mushroom or chicken, both served under a crown of puff pastry.

"We're also pleased and a bit surprised at how popular our curries have already become," Tony notes. "We'll make them mild all the way to vindaloo, according to how hot you prefer," he says, offering curried chicken or prawns over fresh vegetables with chutney and rice. And with a nod to regional cuisine, along with traditional-style fish and chips-cod that is dipped in batter made with English ale-calamari is also featured.

Along with the substantial menu and a full bar with twenty beers to choose from, the Sutton-Deakins point out another amenity that they take pride in. "We think you'll find that like the Penny Farthing, the Crown and Anchor is a place where you can come to visit and enjoy yourself, without getting bugged by loud music or a bunch of yobbos." ("Yobbo" being a term that's interchangeable with "yahoo".) While yobbos are encouraged to bugger off, everyone else is encouraged to come and get comfy and stay a while.

-Catherine Coburn