EDIBLE: A dozen different delicious things to dig in Monterey County food in 2015.

I blame the Rock Scully memorial benefit last weekend for the sweet nostalgia that compels me to take a last look back at 2014 before chomping into all the interesting food-and-drink developments coming in 2015.

At the Scully party at Museum of Monterey, the stories of the Grateful Dead he managed – like the time they “liberated” equipment and played at MPC in a flatbed truck with Jimi Hendrix – were blurry and beautiful. U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, a childhood friend of Scully’s who backpacked Europe with him, even shouted from the stage, “Let’s keep this museum around! Let’s make this a living place for Monterey Pop Festival! With something happening every night! We can bring Alvarado Street to life!”

From 2014, several things still thump heavy in my heart, in different ways, well beyond the best restaurant lists I put on the blog, www.mcweekly.com/edible.

On the spicy side of the equation, I discovered my favorite new taqueria is a truck hiding in a concrete desert in Salinas. It’s called Taquizas La Paloma (484-3456) and parks at 352 Griffin St. The vampira is a must-try. (Get the link on the blog, along with each of the other stories mentioned.)

On a more human side, the most important food movie of the year wasn’t Chef, but Food Chains from Eva Longoria and Eric Schlosser. It provides easy ways to make your food purchases work for farmworkers and fairness.

On both a human and personal front, I watched one of my oldest friends stare down cancer and chemo and take on the steep 13-mile Spartan obstacle race at Toro Park as part of his recovery. “In a lifetime where you haven’t pushed,” he told me, “you haven’t lived a full life.”

Finally, I lost an inspiring soul. Ed Leeper was a piece of work, a pariah, a prophet and a pilgrim. He was also an instinctive artist whose eccentric serial productions – hash marks on thick paper for each of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, or his 1,000 white crosses on Window on the Bay during the Iraq War – changed the way I look at art.

He once told me he wan’t doing anything more than “taking something and turning it into something else.”

Like turning me into a more curious human being.

~ ~ ~

When it was brand new, way back in 2005, Jose’s Mexican Restaurant in New Monterey inspired the very first Weekly food story I wrote.

Last year the lease got too pricey, though, so Ozzie Maldonado shut Jose’s and took the liquor license and great margaritas to the original Jose’s in Seaside.

The best news to emerge from the closure: Mike Gilson, co-owner of Big Sur Bakery, has signed a lease with the landlord, Peter Mungridis, who owns Epsilon in Monterey. Construction is happening inside and its debut will prove one of the biggest food stories of the year.

Not far away, brand new and owner-operated Zab Zab Thai (747-2225) now dishes a big menu of noodles, fried rice and spicy seafood in the former Henry’s Famous BBQ, after opening quietly with the turn of the new year. Get tasting notes on the blog, and expect it to be one of the more popular new restaurants of 2015.

Mundos 3 should open softly this week near the post office in Monterey, unleashing Argentinian brisket, chicken pesto and fire bell sandwiches on its expanding cult following, and giving it another location to go with the North Monterey (#1) and Marina (#2) outposts.

Tarpy’s Roadhouse (647-1444), riding the creative mania of Exec Chef Todd Fisher, a review from Shiho Fukushima, and a Los Angeles staff trip to 20 or so restaurants in two days, has a fresh seasonal menu with things like blistered salmon belly buns, polenta gnocchi and foraged mushroom hash about to debut.

Justin Cogley of Aubergine enjoys a real chance at the area’s first Best Chef West title from James Beard, which awards its Oscars of the food in May.

The Best of Monterey County readers poll crowns another class of winners for Best Burrito, Best New Restaurant and dozens of other categories, with voting already going on. (Hit the blog for more.)

Rappa’s on the Wharf, the relatively recent acquisition for Jim Gilbert’s restaurant group, the same people behind Beach House at Lovers Point, Whaling Station and Abalonetti’s, has its new name/sign/project passing through city approval. “It’s a fairly radical change,” says partner Kevin Phillips, who declines to reveal what it is. “If we can’t do it the way we want to, we may go another direction.” A new brunch menu and locals menu long on values (see also Beach House’s wildly popular Supper Club) come with the sign. The Beach House’s proposed downstairs coffee shop with local joe and patio seating, meanwhile, is strategizing how to win approval from the Coastal Commission. (The city of P.G. has given the go-ahead.)

Lalla Oceanside’s birth will come in 2015 down on Cannery Row in the old Paradiso’s, providing a sister spot to Lalla Grill, Lallapalooza and Lalla Lounge.

Will’s Fargo Steakhouse (659-2774) will celebrate its new Holman Ranch ownership with a stylish-and-big-eating menu, with things like quail, double-stuffed spuds and a new wine done exclusively for the Carmel Valley institution.

Craft beer will appear at farmers markets, after Assembly Bill 2004 creates a certified farmers market sales permit.

Gusto, from Basil Carmel co-owner Denis Boaro, will take over Lucky’s Roadside in spring, giving Seaside a hip, affordable and authentic Italian eatery.

Finally, The Chocolate Dipper (754-1931) will earn a Monterey congregation with its new spot on Alvarado after doing that on San Miguel in Salinas, with help from caramel apples and chocolate strawberries.

QUICKBITES

➔ Foie gras is legal again in the golden state, and chefs are freaking out. Check out reactions on the blog.

➔ Horace Mercurio of Coffee Mia is this year’s recipient of the John “Spud” Spadaro hospitality award. Get more on the blog.

➔ Barmel’s music permit went before the planning commission in Carmel last night. Check back for word on whether it will survive the town’s Draconian Footloose law.

➔ Rio Grill (625-5436) has new brunch items like griddled corn cakes and tequila-cured salmon with caviar and quail eggs ($19) starting Sunday, Jan. 18.

➔ Jerry Argust is the new manager and Francisco Amaya is in as chef at Kula Ranch Island Steakhouse (883-9479), as are new menu items, from pastas to pizzas to dinner entrees like Alaskan halibut and a royal Hawaiian prime rib.

➔ Ron Schletewitz of Schletewitz Family Farms, a longtime local farmers market participant, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 2. He’ll be missed.

➔ The local capital for old-school cocktails and dog-friendly happy hour, Cypress Inn (624-3871), has an updated bar area.

➔ Free MRWMD composting workshop 10-11:30am Saturday, Jan. 24 (384-5313 to register) teaches how food scraps become great garden fertilizer.

➔ In conjunction with the Monterey Symphony’s “Charismatic Glow” concert, up pops a three-course dinner 5pm Friday, Feb. 20 at Portobello’s, and 5:30pm Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21 and 22, at Andre’s Bouchee. Harmony for the tastebuds ($65, 646-8511).

➔ Cowgirl Winery (298-7030) celebrates its second birthday 1-4pm Saturday, Jan. 24, with chili, cornbread, games, music, $5 glasses of wine and 20 percent off cases (30 percent for members). Free and open to the public.

➔ Looking forward to sipping a Cloak of Escobar ($11), with Hornitos and La Pinta tequilas, fresh lime juice, ginger beer and a float of fresh berry puree, to simulate blood. See story, p. 6.

➔ C.S. Lewis: ”Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different?”