EDIBLE: Trying to reconcile the massive Latino gap in our Monterey County restaurants.

Out came the huevos diablos with double-smoked bacon jam, the Patron Roca-cured mini salmon tostadas and the red chile-braised beef cheeks.

Posole soup arrived in the form of a salad, with crunchy cabbage layered with smashed chicharrones, shaved radish, pickled onion, fresh oregano plus a thick swab of rich queso requeson to stick it all to the fork.

Silky diver scallops landed next, wrapped in a peppery Mexican leaf called hoja santa, with savory niblets of crispy chorizo and smoked corn crema sweeping around the plate. A quail tamale followed, only reimagined as a tower with layers of roasted bird, Oaxacan red mole and black bean epazotemasa, crowned with cornmeal crusted chayote, the Mexican pear squash also known as chuchu.

Then the coup of the fifth annual Rio Grill Tequila Dinner: a fire-roasted ancho chile filled with guava mousse, dulce de leche ice cream and anise syrup.Dios mio.

Yet despite all the flavor – with each course lifted by pairings with Patron’s new upmarket, small-batch tequila Roca, straight up and in cocktails from GMJoe Valencia – what came after the eating, oohing and ahhing was more compelling: Rio Grill Exec Chef Cy Yontz admitted he and Sous Chef Eduardo Coronel drafted the menu in the space of 10 minutes and, because Yontz had to evacuate for a restaurant conference, Coronel pulled off all the flawless execution, even though all the recipes were original.

Which is all worthy of a big fat Southwestern wow. But the best part therein: Yontz made sure Coronel – or “DiCaprio” as he’s called because he’s just so damned good looking or rocks that epic slicked-back hairdo – came out for a little love from the giddy dinner group, wearing his seemingly unshakeable smile.

“I swear we’ve never made this!” he said, “but it’s a lot of fun to get creative.”

“We talked about what we wanted,” Yontz added. “He just made it happen.”

Maybe it was all this thought-provoking food and craftsmanship, but I got to thinking: How come I don’t see more Latino faces like his in lead positions?

After all, they represent a whopping 70 percent of the local kitchen workforce – at least by the estimate of Tene Shake, president of the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation, who has made it a stated goal to better integrate that overwhelming majority into the federation’s actions.

But ask chefs and food folks around here to name Latino executive chefs and the main thing you hear is chapulines. If there are many beyond Juan Ponce(Old Fisherman’s Grotto), Herman Hernandez (Rocky Point), and ACF’s 2013 chef of the year Pablo Mellin (Roy’s at Spanish Bay), please let me know.

Shake’s stumped when asked to name any others, even as he does what he can within his organization to connect with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“There was really a disconnect between our organization and the Hispanic community,” he says. Now he cites new bilingual literature for local chefs that introduces them to the organization, and the educational opportunities it provides, as real progress. He adds, “I do see more Hispanics in leadership positions,” though he is hard-pressed to name any.

Mellin is perplexed in another way.

“I don’t know why there’s the gap,” he says. “In the beginning I was thinking it was the language, but now many of us can express ourselves clearly. Now I wonder if people just get comfortable in their responsibilities and hours.”

To that end, Yontz – and the wider Downtown Dining family Rio Grill belongs to – stress growing from within. Coronel started as a dishwasher.

“The way it works in our company, if you want to do it, it’s up to you,” Yontz says. “We try to push all of our employees. Moving up is basically up to the person.”

He draws a sense of pride from evolving an employee’s abilities – “Watching someone like Coronel grow like that,” he says, “is incredible” – and, to be fair, it makes his life a hell of a lot easier and frees him to take on other things.

Emphasizing Coronel’s contributions, meanwhile, helps demonstrate to the team that real opportunity is there if they want it. Mellin believes his ACF award did precisely the same thing.

As he points out a spike in Latino membership in ACF’s Monterey chapter, Shake sounds a note similarly centered around growth. “A lot of it has to do with education,” he says. “It’s scary when you have to try to learn something new in a book. We chefs learn hands on, by watching others. So we’re trying to make our training less textbook and more hands on.”

I believe there are other things in play beyond language, ambition and education, like fear of the unknown and latent racism. But in this arena, I’ll focus on what I do know rather than speculate.

And I know three things to start:

1) There was once a local chef who would discriminate in favor of Latinos, preferring them above all others, because he felt they’d be open to training, listen and work hard. He can’t be unique.

2) When I ask Mellin where our restaurants would be without Latinos, I think everyone would agree. I hear his trademark grin fade over the phone as he replies, “We’d be struggling.”

3) When eating out, my dad used to make a habit of going into the kitchen to tip the dishwasher. I always figured he wanted to honor the guy with the job he once had. But maybe he was just betting on the next Eduardo Coronel.

QUICKBITES

• The former El Caporal on Broadway in Seaside will become De Marcos Pizzeria. Look for more on the blog soon.

• Gold Leaf Spice & Teas (753-7700) has moved next door to bigger digs on West Gabilan in Salinas and looks almost as good as it smells.

• Monterey Bay Brewing Company’s Mad Otter Ale now comes in 16-ounce cans, a first for area beers.

• Got a good suggestion on a new category for the now-live Best of Monterey County Readers Poll: Best Wine Club.

• Caraccioli Cellars winemaker Michel Salgues presents sparkling brut wines and Tsar Nicoulai’s Jeffrey Senna discusses caviar for the AIWF’s Champagne and Caviar Tasting 1-4pm March 1 at the Sunset Center ($110/member; $140/ guest). RSVP amyjow@sbcglobal.net.

• Red’s Donuts go for $5 a dozen on Mondays and Tuesdays.

• Trailside Cafe Carmel Valley (298-7453) has all the good grub and patio action of its New Monterey sibling, plus Cali-coastal-rustic fare come dinnertime too, and a very worthy beer garden with a nice bar and a bevy of taps flowing, 13 all told, including Drake’s 1500, Carmel Valley BrewingCompany Blonde and Anderson Valley Boont Amber.

• Post No Bills continues with its San Francisco Beer Week – a special offer each day – through Saturday, Feb. 14.

• Elizabeth Murray speaks on lessons from her book, Living Life in Full Bloom and signs copies 7pm Thursday, Feb. 12 at Carmel Valley Community Chapel ($10 suggested donation). There will be Valentine’s cookies.

• River Road Wine Trail Valentine’s wine tasting passport happens 11am – 4pm Saturday, Feb. 14, with 10 stops for wine and food pairings ($45/person; $15/designated drivers).

• Happy Girl Kitchen Co. (373-4475) holds a Cheezy Love Party for Valentine’s 6-9pm Saturday, with cocktails, mocktails, wine and – most daringly – a live dating game, dancing, a photo booth by Michelle Magdalena, speed-dating for singles (and couples?!), and more cheesy and feel-good times ($30).

• Emily Dickinson: “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant.”