Exciting new restaurants in Carmel and Monterey.

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Walter Georis, who opened his classic Carmel restaurant Casanova in a converted cottage in the ’70s, has always loved Monterey County. There’s the breathtaking views of Big Sur. There’s the bounty and beauty of the ocean, which he often paints.
But recently, Georis has detected a change. The local restaurant scene, always strong but somewhat static, is catching fire with a slew of exciting new openings, such as Chez Noir in Carmel and Maligne in Seaside.
“The new places are shining bright in the community,” said Georis, who also operates Corkscrew Cafe and Georis Winery in nearby Carmel Valley.
“There’s something magical — there’s an energy, there’s vitality.”
As Georis can attest, Monterey County holds longstanding culinary appeal. The region hosts popular multiday food festivals like Pebble Beach Food & Wine and the Relais & Chateaux GourmetFest. More importantly, it’s the source for so much of California’s harvest from both sea and land. Salinas has been popularly referred to as the “Salad Bowl” and “lettuce capital” of the world. The region’s ample dairies gave us Monterey Jack cheese.
What’s happened more recently, said Georgis, is a healthy changing of the guard. “There’s a lot of aging restaurateurs, including myself, some of whom are passing the baton to their kids, and some of whom are selling their business,” said Georis, whose son, Klaus Georis, runs Maligne.
“It’s cycling through the generations,” echoed Katie Blandin, owner of cocktail bar Pearl Hour in Monterey. “Now there are younger people who have a different palate and different values by how they go out and eat and drink and create — that’s created a nucleus of enthusiasm.”

The chef at Chez Noir, Jonny Black, has worked as chef de cuisine at three-Michelin-starred Quince in San Francisco and as Dominique Crenn’s first executive chef. He said he wanted to raise his kids in a place with more space.
Erin Ng / Chez NoirMonterey County is an alluring place for chefs from San Francisco, too, as it gives them an opportunity to escape the city and try something in a new market.
“There used to be this notion that to do something meaningful you had to be in the biggest city,” said Nicolaus Balla, who lived and cooked for years in San Francisco, leading kitchens like Bar Tartine and Duna. Balla moved down to Big Sur to help build the food program at Coast, a cafe and market on a stunning perch along Highway 1.
Balla isn’t alone in his revelation. “Now a lot of people realize you can have a nice lifestyle and do something in a smaller, midsized market and still have a big impact,” he said.
A nice lifestyle is especially appealing when children come into play. “We wanted to raise our kids in a place where they could ride their bike and play outside,” said Jonny Black, who opened Chez Noir with his wife, Monique, last October in Carmel.
The COVID pandemic also gave time for restaurateurs to think and reflect on what’s important. “It made space for people to rethink the possibility of what restaurants should be, and that you don’t have to stay in this primary market,” said Monique Black.
The recovering tourism market could play a role, too. After crashing by 50% between 2019 and 2020, visitors to Monterey in 2021 were back to 75% of pre-pandemic spending levels, pumping $2.5 billion into the local economy, according to the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Whatever the reasons may be, the dining destinations listed here are a strong representation of Monterey’s new culinary high tide.

The menu at Chez Noir uses elements of French bistro fare and northern Spain in dishes like this riff on a paella with Koda Farms rice, mussels, Manilla clams and prawns.
Emma K. Morris / Chez NoirChez Noir
If a meal at Chez Noir feels like you’re dining inside someone’s very chic and well-designed house, that’s because you literally are: Wife-and-husband team Monique and Chef Jonny Black live upstairs with their two kids. Though the Blacks have experience working in Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurants like Quince and Atelier Crenn, the food at Chez Noir is more approachable and less precious — it’s a little bit French bistro meets northern Spain meets Northern California coast. The menu changes often, but you’re likely to find things like pintxos (little snacks) of grilled Monterey squid skewered between pickled peppers and olives topped with salsa verde ($12), or grilled oysters covered with a zippy, creamy sauce of trout-roe-studded Sorrel beurre blanc ($12). Meat and paellas ($44-$58) sizzle on a wood-fired grill. Get there early and snag cocktails at the bar adjacent to the main dining room, where you can also enjoy a full meal at the counter.
Fifth Avenue between Dolores and San Carlos streets, Carmel-by-the-Sea. 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-9 p.m. cheznoircarmel.com

Chef Klaus Georis, a Monterey County native whose family has been in the hospitality industry for over 50 years, prepares dishes at his restaurant Maligne.
Klaus GeorisMaligne
Maligne opened in June of 2022 in the sleepy town of Seaside (formerly East Monterey). The neo French bistro comes care of chef Klaus Georis, a Monterey County native whose family has been in the hospitality industry for over the last 50 years. Georis cut his teeth in fine dining, working in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe as well as the Bay Area, like Quince and Atelier Crenn. At Maligne, you’ll find his cooks turning fish like huge, 5-pound pieces of tuna collar ($35) over a custom-built, wood-fired hearth. Grilled prawns drowned with a spicy prawn butter sauce ($32) are a plate-licker (though your server might wisely advise you to mop up the sauce with their fluffy house-baked milk bread instead).
600 Broadway Ave., Seaside. 5:30-9:45 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sunday. restaurantmaligne.com

A lunch spread at Coast, where chef Nicolaus Balla is cooking self-proclaimed “hippie food.”
Coast Big SurCoast
Coast is one part gallery, one part boutique retail store for kitchenware and fancy pantry provisions, and one part cafe located inside old converted redwood water tanks. At the helm of this unique lunch-only spot is the talented longtime San Francisco chef Nicolaus Balla. Here, he’s doing nourishing and self-proclaimed “hippie food” with a Northern California, ingredient-driven twist. You’ll find an array of dips, spreads and breads, tahini goddess salad with quinoa and sumac seeds ($21), sourdough saag pizza topped with roasted squash and mushrooms ($19), and chanko nabe ($21) — a hearty Japanese rice stew that Balla fortifies with smoked chickpea miso and fills with brown rice and an array of roasted vegetables. You can eat everything and still feel light and ready for a hike.
49901 Highway 1, Big Sur. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday-Monday.coastbigsur.com

A Star Crossed Gimlet cocktail at Pearl Hour, a Monterey bar opened in 2019 by Katie Blandin.
Katie BlandinPearl Hour
The baby blue colored cocktail bar Pearl Hour located on Lighthouse Avenue just might be the best bar in all of Monterey. Drinks from owner Katie Blandin, who opened the bar in 2019, feature house-made shrubs and syrups and herbs grown in the patio garden. The Pearlescent ($15), for example, is more or less a mezcal martini featuring mezcal, gin, dry vermouth and a few drops of house-made yarrow tincture for a grassy and slightly bitter note; the Black Magic Margarita ($15) is a play on a Tommy’s Margarita, featuring a house-made black sage syrup in lieu of agave syrup for a subtle herbaceous layer in between the lime and Tequila. The drinks are not too sweet, nor too strong — balance is Blandin’s mantra. You may come to Pearl Hour for her expertly crafted cocktails, but you’ll stay for the weekly live jazz and monthly burlesque shows.
214 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey. 6 p.m.-1 a.m. Wednesday-Sunday. pearlhour.com

Burritos from El Charrito star superb handmade flour tortillas.
Omar MamoonEl Charrito
The Moncada family opened a new location of their Salinas burrito institution El Charrito last September in downtown Monterey. Located in the back of Alejandro’s, a restaurant inspired by Tulum in Mexico, El Charrito Express is a takeaway-only operation, offering burritos ($4.99) made with superb handmade flour tortillas that are soft, supple and beautifully blistered. Choose your filling — simple bean and cheese, rich pork chile verde in a tangy tomatillo base, or earthy, dark red beef barbacoa are all exceptional options and feature the same recipes created by the now 93-year-old founder and matriarch, Teresa Moncada.
483 Calle Principal, Monterey. 8 a.m.-3 p.m. daily. elcharrito.com
Omar Mamoon is a San Francisco-based writer & cookie dough professional. Find him at @ommmar.