Quarantine takeout tips
As we brace ourselves for prolonged isolation until May, we’re facing a new world of dining out.
As a restaurant critic, I dine out most nights. As restaurant dining rooms shuttered, I’m still ordering from local restaurants, just eating at my table, not theirs. It’s a small way I can help keep them afloat as they weather this crisis.
If you’re ordering takeout or delivery, here are some lessons I’ve learned to help you enjoy your favorite restaurant from the comfort of your home.
Learn who’s open
The pandemic saw local restaurants navigating a complex web of regulations and recommendations. Shelter-in-place orders forced restaurants to close dining rooms and found eateries pivoting to takeout and delivery or opting to close temporarily.
More than 100 restaurants, bars and cafes have temporarily closed across the county. Popular favorites like Alvarado Street Brewery & Grill, Hula’s, Montrio Bistro and Passionfish have temporarily shuttered. For some, transitioning to takeout wasn’t financially sustainable — their concepts and cuisine weren’t portable — and for others, their workforce dwindled at concerns of coronavirus exposure.
But more than 300 dining establishments remain open and ready to serve. Neighborhood bakeries like Lupita’s, ParkerLusseau and Red’s Donuts have pastries to make a morning sheltered at home a little sweeter. If you’re out on a grocery run, snag a sandwich for lunch at Compagno’s, La Tortuga or PigWizard. Enjoy a takeaway dinner from a world of flavors — from Aki Fresh Mex’s chile rellenos and Avatar Indian Grill’s tandoori to Zab Zab’s Thai noodles and Züm’s sushi.
I’m tracking closures and takeout options in a public Google sheet, available at bit. ly/ mo co restaurant list and updated daily. I encourage readers to send along any additions or corrections to offthemenu831@ gmail.com.
The Herald also offers a searchable database at https:// www.montereyherald.com/monterey-businesses-providing-essential-services/
Choose comfort
During these uncertain times, I’ve been drawn to my favorite comfort foods — leftover pizza for breakfast, gooey PB&J for lunch and something hearty and homey from a local restaurant for dinner.
I live in Monterey and I’ve limited my travel to nearby neighborhoods, so most of my meals come from restaurants right in my backyard.
Stationaery lifted my spirits with a flaky chicken pot pie ($20) from chef Amalia Scatena one rainy weekend. As I plunged my fork into that buttery crust to excavate tender shredded chicken and slivers of mushroom, the raindrops splashing overhead blissfully faded away.
Another night, one bite of pepperoni pizza from Rise + Roam bubbled up childhood memories of Friday pizza night. The recent arrival in downtown Carmel specializes in Roman-style pizza — beautifully thin and crisp — served by the meter ($16 quarter meter, $28 half meter and $47 full meter). I ordered a full meter, which provided a feast for three days.
I was so appreciative when a friend brought me dinner from Villa Azteca a couple of weeks ago. The Salinas spot was a close contender for my vote for best new restaurant last year, so I welcomed the chance to enjoy a gooey quesadilla with earthy huitlacoche folded inside a handmade tortilla ($10) and velvety enchiladas enchipotladas with sweet prawns blanketed in a spicy chipotle cream sauce ($20).
I’m normally one to mix and match from a menu during dinner, but with so much on my mind these days, I’ve been appreciative of restaurants’ readymade meals — a delicious dinner without any guesswork.
Monterey’s Alta Bakery + Cafe debuted Alta-Go dinners at the start of the county’s shelter-inplace order. Combos vary each night and feature a salad, entree and dessert for $29 to $33 per person. The meatloaf — from baker Matt Somerville’s family recipe and served with roasted sweet potato and Brussels sprouts on Tuesdays — has been a standout.
In Pacific Grove, jeninni kitchen + wine bar offers its popular Monday night fried chicken dinner to go. The meal comes with three plump and juicy chicken legs, creamy mac and cheese, chorizo-studded collard greens and tangy slaw, plus a fluffy Lebanese yogurt cake for dessert, all for $26 per person. Pro tip: Don’t forget to snag a bottle from owner Thamin Saleh’s impressive wine list for 35% off. I recommend some bubbly — like Château de Bligny brut rosé (normally $75, discounted to $48.75 for takeaway) — to accompany the crisp chicken.
The pandemic has forced even Michelin-starred restaurants to move toward takeout service. Aubergine — Monterey County’s lone Michelin star — now serves a weekly three-course takeaway dinner Friday through Sunday for $55 per person. The debut dinner from executive chef-director Justin Cogley featured succulent shredded suckling pig with a bright salsa verde and probably one of the best baked potatoes I’ve eaten, loaded with an earthy Comté cheese and biting horseradish crème fraîche. (A vegetarian option boasted mushrooms and cauliflower.)
Don’t forget the booze
With relaxed restrictions from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, restaurants may now sell cocktails to go — with purchase of food. Mezzaluna’s full menu of craft cocktails from bartender Francis Verrall is available for purchase alongside takeout pasta. Cultura, Peppers and Pescadero offer their signature margaritas for takeaway with tacos. Seventh & Dolores Steakhouse isn’t serving prepared dinners to go, but does sell meats to cook at home — I’m told the burger kit is especially tasty — and bottled batch cocktails from lead bartender Carlos Colimodio.
Pearl Hour got creative and started a new bottle service this past week. Browse selections on Instagram, place orders by Instagram DM or email (people@ pearlhour.com), and schedule delivery of spirits expertly curated by owners Katie Blandin and Chris Garrecht-Williams to make the bar’s signature sips at home.
Many restaurants are discounting bottles of wine to encourage purchase with your meal. I have plenty of wine at home, but I’m still adding a bottle to my takeout orders as a way to increase my ticket price and help restaurants struggling during this crisis. I enjoyed sommelier Colleen Manni’s recommendation of a bright bottle of 2018 Chemistry Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley ($15) with my spinach gnocchi and roasted chicken at Bistro Moulin the other week, and I found the 2018 Terres Dorres Gamay ($18) a perfect pairing with my burger from Stationaery.
Tip and tip generously
Trying times await servers, sommeliers, bartenders, managers, chefs, dishwashers and other staff who have found themselves laid off as restaurants scale back staff or temporarily close altogether. They’re joining the ranks of a record number of unemployment claims in California and across the country.
If you’d like to offer them some relief, visit serviceindustry. tips and join a nationwide effort to support restaurant staff. The nationwide project — now with three local chapters for Monterey, Salinas and Santa Cruz — randomly pairs you with the Venmo or Cash app links for local service staff. Visit serviceindustry.tips to send a tip or sign up yourself if you work in the hospitality industry and need a hand right now.