Sunday, April 08, 2012

Cindy Pawlcyn at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Chef Cindy Pawlcyn

Artic Char with White Beans and Tomato

Seeing the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium by itself is worth a trip, but how do you think the food is there?  Excellent.  Most public attractions offer food to be eaten out of convenience, but this world-class facility brought on board Chef Cindy Pawlcyn to run the Monterey Bay Cafe and Restaurant; she is well known in the Bay Area and has a string of very good restaurants in the Napa Valley.  Her approach is fresh farm to table cooking which features seafood using the Aquarium's standards of sustainability. On this recent trip I tried the calamari dusted with corn flour and fried, which gave it a real crunch and it was served with a spicy curry slaw. Wow-some of the best squid I have had in a long time. I also tried the special of the day, grilled Artic Char fillet set on a mound of white beans, tomato, andouille sausage and fresh herbs- very good as well. No need to go to a fancy over-priced restaurant when you can eat here and enjoy views of the gorgeous Monterey Bay before you.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Cafe and Restaurant
886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA
831.648.4800


Spicy Corn Meal Crusted Squid with Curry

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