PEBBLE BEACH >> It used to be that golf courses were reserved for only those who like loud pants, long walks and a penchant for hitting things with a stick.
Now it’s quickly becoming a place for food lovers — with menus straying beyond deep-fried animal flesh or soggy hot dogs with a personal, plastic mustard packet.
“Who would have thought I would end up at a golf course?” said chef Johnny De Vivo of the new Porter’s restaurant at Poppy Hills Golf Course inside the gates of Pebble Beach. Last March, De Vivo left vaunted Casanova in Carmel for this gig, what he considers the best chef job on the Monterey Peninsula (daytime hours, a budget that allows him to source only the finest ingredients, and full control of the menu, which leads to what he calls “crazy fusion.”)
“This is Carolina meets Korea,” he said, lowering a plate of pulled pork lettuce wraps with housemade pickles, kohlrabi slaw, pickled mustard seeds and his own smoked-tomato ketchup. “Crazy, right? People are loving it.”
More and more golfers, especially those spending $250 on greens fees, want a fully equipped 19th hole, complete with Korean Philly cheesesteak with housemade kimchi, fried Jidori (free-range) chicken with carrot slaw, kale, chicken gravy and smoked gouda mac ‘n’ cheese.
And now De Vivo wants to pull in non-golfers for a dining experience he claims you can’t get anywhere in Del Monte Forest or beyond.
“This isn’t fine dining, it’s fun dining. Interesting food with a twist, with ingredients that are sourced very carefully,” he said.
De Vivo calls it “California Artisanal,” using local and regional products and making everything in-house. De Vivo isn’t kidding: He makes his own bacon, smoking whole pork bellies outside; he churns heavy cream into butter, and makes his own crème fraiche and buttermilk.
“Diners are more educated now and they will call you out,” he said. “They recognize quality and originality and they demand that.”
Porter’s serves breakfast (6-11 a.m.; try the ricotta pancakes with fresh blueberries or a Top 5 worthy eggs Benedict), lunch (11 a.m.-3 p.m.) and a twilight menu (3-7 p.m.) that includes items such as Short Rib Fries (braised ribs served over fries with a muenster cheese au gratin) and the Forest Burger (with housemade bacon, onion marmalade, horseradish and butter lettuce). Happy hour takes place from 3-6 p.m., with $5 draft beers and views of the newly renovated, tree-lined Poppy Hills, a public golf course owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association.
De Vivo said it’s hard not to measure himself and what’s going on at Poppy Hills to renowned Pebble Beach Co. just a few 3-woods away.
“Porter’s was always an afterthought, the ugly duckling so to speak,” De Vivo said. “I have a great team (including sous chef James Arbaugh, someone he worked with at Casanova) and this is an area where you need to keep pushing it. People expect a certain caliber of restaurant.”
Pebble Beach is a world-class resort with a reputation built over decades. Poppy Hills has always been a really nice golf course with an ordinary restaurant. Now a wider audience — from hungry golfers swapping lies to discriminating diners craving something deliciously different — can mix and match at a remarkable 19th hole.
Jacks an atypical hotel restaurant
Public perception almost always lags behind reality, and the image of Portola Hotel & Spa could be a case study.
Perception: It’s a corporate-owned, impersonal, touristy hotel with a restaurant (Jacks) that churns out tired classics that lack creativity and appeal only to our grandparents.
Reality: The family-owned hotel is deeply entrenched in the community, and Jacks welcomes locals with a smile, offering a special menu that relies on fresh, local and sustainable ingredients and elevates classic dishes into something novel and unforeseen.
Really.
Ask for the Locals Menu, a three-course, prix fixe dinner available every day from 5-10 p.m. for $24.99 (take advantage of the free valet parking as well). The seasonal menu now includes pea soup or iceberg wedge salad; a choice of entrees, including seared sand dabs, grilled bavette steak or chicken saltimbocca; and dessert.
I know what you’re thinking: “Pea soup, iceberg salad, chicken saltimbocca? What’s so novel about that?”
This is no ordinary pea soup. It includes four ingredients — fresh peas, vegetable broth, salt and pepper. Chef Jason Giles adds no cream, but garnishes it with pickled golden beets and goat cheese (the first of many revelations). The salad uses a head of crisp baby iceberg with housemade dressing, bacon lardoons, tart cherry tomatoes and red onion (“that lettuce is grown 10 miles from here, let’s get them on the plates,” Giles said). And the chef’s spin on saltimbocca (Italian translation: jumps in the mouth) includes a sage brown butter sauce and prosciutto potatoes.
“The thought behind (the menu) was that we needed to remember our foundation, the local clientele,” Giles said. “I realize Jacks has a reputation as a hotel restaurant, and that’s a big deterrent. But we are local, sustainable and relevant, and we love our philosophy.”
Extra helpings
• Baum & Blume is nearly ready to launch its Bier Garten on its refurbished patio out in Carmel Valley. Frequent travelers to Berlin, the owners plan to scale down the tradition (30 seats compared to 2,000, for example). The launch party is Saturday, June 28, from 3-8 p.m. at 4 El Caminito Road. Just $15 gets you a premium beer and two small plates.
• Did you know that the appropriately named CHOMP has an executive chef? His name is Lance Chambers, and he is teaching hands-on, low-cost, healthy-food cooking classes called “Cooking for Life.” The hospital has four two-hour classes scheduled, and one three-class series. They are inexpensive ($20 each), small (up to 18 students) and hands-on, held in the consumer science kitchen at Monterey Peninsula College. A registered dietitian also takes part, providing nutritional information that includes how to decipher labels. The next class is June 19. Registration is required at 649-7220.
• Crema in Pacific Grove has tweaked its menu, and the big change is a build-your-own burger component. Start at $9 and keep adding sides, including marinated artichokes, fresh jalapenos, fried egg, tri-tip chili and more. The centerpiece of the menu is still the slow-roasted, salt- and herb-crusted prime rib. More at www.cremapg.com.
Mike Hale can be reached at mike_hale@comcast.net. Listen to his weekly radio show “Food Fodder” at noon Wednesdays on KRML, 102.1 FM.
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