EDIBLE: Seventh & Dolores throws a bunch of food, mood and creativity at Carmel.

The evidence appears everywhere. It’s there at the raw bar, opposite the full bar, ready to shell out West Coast oysters, clams and juicy shooters with Don Julio tequila, finger lime, habanero pepper and cilantro. It’s there in the bone marrow whipped into the burger grind with short rib, brisket and dry-aged beef. It’s there in the art that hangs on the wall. It’s there in peach jam and pickled cippolini onions that come with the thick bacon steak, and there with the truffle and foie gras add-ons for the steak tartare. It’s there in the seafood tower of Champagne-poached prawns and lobster that approaches 3 feet tall.

The evidence points to a ruling on Carmel’s newest restaurant, Seventh & Dolores (293-7600), opening to to the public Thursday, June 26: It will be as different as it is daring.

Which sounds a lot like hype.

But there are reliable ways to know it’s well-grounded, even if the ambitions soar like the vaulted ceiling of the former bank building. One way: The FolktaleWinery team behind so-called “7D” brought similar boldness, attitude and aptitude when they acquired Chateau Julien, declaring they were going to change the local wine tasting formula, making the experience more social and fun than what people expected. Less than two years into their reign on Carmel Valley Road, they’ve pulled it off, picking up awards like California Winery of the Year from the California Travel Association and Weekly readers’ vote for Best Winery to Visit with chef cookoffs, its stylish atrium lounge and lawn games. I mean, how many wineries can give you a gooey gourmet Philly cheesesteak sandwich from a renowned chef paired with a G Love concert in a huge barrel room? (That was the case just last week; their Live in the Vines concerts with KRML continue monthly. In coming months Folktale will further evolve its wine-garden food-and-drink experience into more of a bistro they’re calling The Greenhouse.)

Two, the cheesesteak chef is bacon-loving Todd Fisher, whose cuisine has long featured playfulness as much as pork (at places like Tarpy’s and Hullabaloo). Here he’s at it again, with marrow-roasted scallops ($37); duck and pork rillettes made in-house ($11); a wedge salad that’s served warm with miso, avocado, radish and grapefruit ($14); “surf” options like the “carpetbagger” – bacon and a cornmeal-fried oyster ($10) – and “turf” choices like a 28-day-dry-aged, 36-ounce porterhouse ($73 for two people). (Note: All prices listed are tentative.)

Fisher is talking about the colorful paintings next to the totally windowed kitchen when he says, “They’re a splash of something unexpected,” but he could be talking about the padrón peppers in the fried calamari, the “carbonara” take on mac-and-cheese or the anchovy aioli in the gem-lettuce salad – or any number of things at Seventh & Dolores.

In his role as Folktale’s culinary captain, he has assembled a team that’s been around the butcher block, and has been training new hires furiously for three weeks. Joe Valencia has long worked at places like Rio Grill and Porter’s in the Forest; he’ll share managerial duties with another hospitality lifer in JaimeMorales, formerly of Montrio Bistro and C Restaurant + Bar. Jeremiah Tydeman comes over from Alvarado Street Brewery to become chef de cuisine.

Tydeman says a highlight has been scheming things like charcuterie ($8-$54) and clams casino ($9) with Fisher – that and syncing with the Folktale team, which includes co-owner Greg Ahn and Director of Hospitality John Fitzgerald.

“They like to do things differently, in their own way, but do it right,” Tydeman says. “They have a different creative approach.”

Fisher likens it to a hosting at home.

“It’s like throwing a house party every day,” he says. “You come to work, you enjoy yourself – that’s the point of a party – and it has a trickle-down effect. We’re hiring people we’d want to spend the day with.”

Drinks like the smoky old-fashioned with actual smoke ($16) and the off-menu Bloody Bull with beef-stock Bloody Mary mix, pickles and bacon ($16) and desserts like the fennel pollen-dusted goat-cheese beignets ($9) feed into a festive feel, though not like any house party I’ve seen. It also connects with his hopes for the culture at a place that can get a good roar going, as it seats 64 voices bouncing off the high ceilings and wood floors inside – and another couple dozen on the sidewalk, which will come later, as will lunch and brunch. (Hours are 4-10pm daily to start.)

The fact that it’s happening on one of the best restaurant blocks in Monterey County, on Dolores between Ocean and Seventh, which recently added Mulligan Public House, makes it that much more of a destination. And since it’s owned by a winery, something tells me the wine list should be good.

That said, Fisher and friends are careful to avoid predictions almost as much as they avoid comparisons. That’s one reason they started a steakhouse stacked with ribeye ($20), Kansas City ($44), cowboy ($52) and filet mignon ($61) provided exclusively by Niman Ranch (which is a first): There wasn’t a steakhouse in Carmel.

“We’re not predetermining what things are going to be like here,” Fisher says. “Saying Carmel is going to be this, ‘a steakhouse’ has to be this. What we’re preaching and practicing is: Every day, create a new experience.”

~ QUICKBITES ~

• Gifted chef Brandon Miller is leaving Mundaka, now Pescadero, for Alvarado Street Brewery & Grill. After 30 years home brewing, and as many manning the kitchen at outstanding restaurants like Stokes and Mundaka, it feels like a magic match. More on the blog, www.mcweekly.com/edible.
• Prediction: When it opens this August or September, Salt Wood is going to be the most-talked-about Marina restaurant in the city’s history. Get the reasons why on the blog.
• The Restaurant 1833 property (not the business) is still on the market for $3.5 million. But maybe not for long.
• Wine educator and restaurateur Pablo Antinao introduces his wine-minded book Taste with a party 5pm Friday, June 23, at Andre’s Bouchee in Carmel (626-7880). He also does wine workshops there Fridays and Saturdays noon-5pm.
• Frutti del Mar (384-8525) aims to open in the former downtown Monterey Turtle Bay by the end of the month.
• Evenings by the Bay are back at Monterey Bay Aquarium (648-4800), with live music, special small bites, wine tasting and reduced admission for locals 6-9:30pm Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 2.
• Sign up for the food E-newsletter (aka foodie newsletter), which hits inboxes Wednesday afternoons, at www.mcweekly.com/subscribe.
• Hahn Family Wines (678-4555) hosts a live Summer Sunday Music Series on their deck noon-4pm every Sunday through August.
• SLO Wine Country (239-0020) hosts a newly expanded Roll Out the Barrels Thursday, June 22, followed by a 4x2 Passport Weekend that empowers bargain visits to eight different tasting rooms ($100/both; $60/Roll Out; $75/4x2, slowine.com/events/roll-out-the-barrels.php).
• Follow @MontereyMCA on Instagram and Twitter.
• Schooners Coastal Kitchen and Bar (372-2628) has live music 5-8pm Wednesdays for the summer.
• American poet Amy Gerstler: “Only recently have I realized that being different is not something you want to hide or suppress.”