Major chef makes a major move as Cy Yontz leaves Rio Grill.

There is good news, which often come with a side dish of bad news.

Fortunately the good comes in many courses: Chef Cy Yontz will have a more normalized schedule, great pay, time to play dad and, conceivably, some resort benefits in his new spot as executive sous chef at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. 

His last day at Rio Grill is Nov. 11; his first at MPCC comes later this month.

Other good news: He will have a gifted collaborator in longtime Exec Chef Colin Moody—quietly one of the most respected and generous hospitality forces in the area—and vice versa.

"We've admired the consistency and quality at Rio Grill for so many years," MPCC General Manager Mike Bowhay says. "We hope to have more of that here.

"He determined it would be a good fit for him. We knew it would be a good fit for us."

Yontz's legacy at Rio in the Carmel Crossroads will enjoy a lasting and flavorful finish.

He steered one of the region's most revered restaurants for 13 years as head chef and later partner, through its Return-of-Saturn stage, with none of the sudden life switches.

He navigated non-negotiable Rio favorite plates, adding excitement with the likes of poblano pesto-crusted sturgeon (over braised-pistachio-sweet-potato hash) and slow-smoked, apple-cider-vinegar-and-brown-sugar-glazed "Jolly Ranchero" pork belly.

The Coyote Café alum's repertoire is often simplified as an interplay of fresh California product and Southwest chili pepper-driven inspiration. A closer look reveals it enjoys a lot more range and depth, building from painstakingly sourced ingredients, flavors drawn from across the West (he's grew up in Denver), clever details and a lot of combinations not seen elsewhere.

Flagship dishes like crispy pork shank and pumpkin-seed-crusted salmon (on red pepper-potato cake) display his penchant for bold flavors well, and his special dinner inventions do it even better, making eaters like me hungry for as many of his most creative conjurings as I can get.

Some of the intuitive plates at special events and across new menus have included diver scallops wrapped in hoja santa leaves with chorizo and smoked corn crema; tequila-cured salmon tostadas; pear tomato-corn-jalapeño-pigweed salad with double-smoked Baker’s Bacon; beer-braised red chili short rib with green chili-cheddar mashed potatoes and Mexican street corn; and—hold onto your huarache—a fire-roasted ancho chili filled with guava mousse, dulce de leche ice cream and anise syrup.  

More good news: Yontz cultivates staff along with the creativity.

The chef stepping into his shoes is longtime right-hand man Eduardo Coronel, who has spent 16 years with Rio, and whose own intuition was very much on display at a Del Maguey mezcal dinner (which inspired a 2015 piece called "Trying to reconcile the massive Latino gap in our Monterey County restaurants").

Now the bad news: The members-only, golf-centric MPCC requires an invite from a guest for members of the public to eat there. 

(Some tangential good news there: There are some excellent restaurants at public golf courses across Monterey County.) 

Tony Tollner has run Rio Grill, part of the Downtown Dining family of restaurants that includes Tarpy's Roadhouse and Montrio Bistro, for 34 years.

"It is the end of an era, that's for sure," Tollner says of Yontz's departure. "He's an amazing guy, and a great chef. It's been a real privilege to work with him.

"And he has a terrific opportunity for him and his family with Colin at MPCC."