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New & Noteworthy: Holiday Edition
Cover photo courtesy of House of Cardoon
RAINBOW BRIGHT
Five years after opening its first shop in Carmel Plaza, House of Cardoon is expanding with a cheery new location in San Carlos Square. Featuring a unique mix of local makers, vintage and hard-to-find brands, the lifestyle shop, which debuted in August, feels like stepping into owner Nora Cavallaro’s own home. “The ethos is the same [as our first store], bright and colorful. But this store is actually about 50 percent vintage and one of a kind, which I really love,” says Cavallaro, who took the new space as an opportunity to offer children’s goods and women’s apparel, in addition to gifts and decor. Think first-edition kids books (an obsession for Cavallaro), vintage Italian clothing, cowboy boots by Parisian brand Shiloh Heritage (a protégé of Phoebe Philo), and Garza Marfa scarves and textiles (House of Cardoon is one of the only outposts to carry the brand outside of Marfa, Texas). Plus, tabletop finds local diners will love, like the coveted salad bowls used at Mentone restaurant in Aptos, and the Luvhaus ceramics used at neighboring Stationaery restaurant. There’s also art from Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts in San Francisco. “Stephanie’s take on the art world is like, ‘why is it so stuffy?’ She sets up her gallery as a living room and shows a lot of different artists,” says Cavallaro, who handpicks works for her store in collaboration with Breitbard. And, of course, a good portion of the shop is dedicated to a treasury of children’s items you won’t find anywhere else. From chic-but-playground-friendly clothing finds from European brands like Hello Simone, to sculpted jackets and pants from Liza Lou (made by Emmaline Molloy of Big Sur’s Valley Botanicals), to Lego-shaped crayons, heirloom-quality wood toys, and Liberty of London print pillows. Holiday gifts abound for everyone on your list. House of Cardoon, San Carlos Street between 5th & 6th, Carmel-By-The-Sea; houseofcardoon.com.
—Angela Salazar
Photos by Ron Starr
MONTEREY BEACH HOTEL MAKES WAVES WITH REOPENING
Monterey Beach Hotel, the Peninsula’s rare beachfront property, re-opened this August after a major refresh and rebranding.
Previously called the Monterey Tides Beach Resort, the 192-room hotel has returned to its original name, when it was built in 1967. Joining Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio, a group of independently run boutique hotels, the reimagined spot boasts a range of new amenities.
Sitting near Highway One’s northern entry to Monterey, on 600 linear feet of exclusive shoreline, the hotel’s extensive renovation upped the luxury in its modern rooms and suites (the majority of which have unobstructed ocean views), as well as its conference spaces, spa, and—of course—eateries.
Guests and locals can take in panoramic views of Monterey Bay while dining at the Lantern Room, which focuses on chef-driven coastal cuisine highlighting regional suppliers like Sea Harvest Fish Market and Fogline Farm. Or listen to live music while sipping local I. Brand wines and handcrafted cocktails around beach-facing fire pits at Tidewater. Plus, there’s the Lobby Lounge, where guests can hang out and enjoy Captain + Stoker coffee or Alvarado Street craft beers.
Not only is the food locally sourced, but so is much of the hotel’s decor. Los Angeles-based design studio Indidesign collaborated with local artists including Jessica Bovert, Emily Hess, Jess Soriano and James Aarons, to infuse the organic, indoor-outdoor design of the hotel with bespoke works reflective of the region.
As for leisurely activities, the spa now offers a therapeutic combo of Scandinavian-inspired barrel saunas and ice baths, and there’s a stable of Zybra e-bikes geared for cruising along the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail. Monterey Beach Hotel, 2600 Sand Dunes Dr, Monterey; montereybeach.com. —Laith Agha
Locals Discount: Receive 20% off at any of the hotel’s food and beverage outlets by showing an ID with a local zip code.
(SIDE)CARS AND COFFEE
The bike rides with the doggy sidecars were cute enough. But now Carmel’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen bike shop is offering new grounds for you to dig.
At the Ocean Avenue storefront, Mad Dogs now carries Dieseldorff coffee, a high-grade Guatemalan offering from one of the oldest coffee-growing family operations in the world.
To fit with Mad Dog’s dog-centricity, Dieseldorff’s three bean choices are branded with some bark: there’s the dark-roasted Jacked-Up Russell, the medium-roasted Royal Hound, and light-roasted Finicky Frenchie.
The Dieseldorff family, which originally hails from Germany, has been running the coffee operation in Guatemala for more than 135 years. The Dieseldorffs proudly proclaim that their beans are artisanally roasted—no automation—and are distributed around the world.
If Dieseldorff rings a bell for any Car Week aficionados, that’s because they have been the official coffee of the Quail Rally and the Quail Motorsports Gathering for the past five years. Now you can get your fix year-round, with an extra boost of Carmel flavor. Available at Mad Dogs & Englishmen, SW Corner of Ocean Ave. and Mission St., Carmel-by-the-Sea; maddogsandenglishmen.com. —L.A.
Photo Courtesy of Carmel Valley Creamery
CARMEL VALLEY CREAMERY FUSES HISTORY WITH FLAVOR
When Carmel Valley Creamery opened on Esquiline Road in July, its trio of owners—Sophie Hauville, Ken Howe and Justin Saunders—drew upon the location’s rich history to guide their endeavor. The building that houses their onsite creamery, coffee shop and mercantile was formerly the beloved Rosie’s Cracker Barrel general store, a vital hub of Carmel Valley dating back to the 1930s. Hauville’s cheesemaking education came from local legend Charlie Cascio in Big Sur. And the creamery’s cheese production would not exist without the equipment and advice passed down from Marco Moramarco and Paul Vierra of the former Pazzo Marco Creamery in Mendocino County. Paying homage to these influences, you’ll now find a handful of artisan cheeses—fresh goat milk chevre, whey ricotta, or the “Via Contenta” alpine-style cow’s milk cheese infused with black peppercorn tea—made onsite using a 52-gallon pasteurizer vat. Plus, coffee sourced from local roasters Alta and Acme, pastries from Ad Astra Bread Co, and ice cream from Revival are on hand. This season, Carmel Valley Creamery will also host a holiday market with locally-made gifts and pygmy goats for the kids to pet, as well as wreath making workshops, and more. Carmel Valley Creamery, 1 Esquiline Rd., Carmel Valley; carmelvalleycreameryco.com. —Amber Selene Turpin
HOLIDAY SPIRIT(S) AT STOKES ADOBE
About halfway between City Hall and the post office, right behind the library, sits one of Monterey’s most historic landmarks. Stokes Adobe has been part of Monterey’s fabric longer than California has been a state. Starting out as a fur trapper’s home when it was first built in 1833, Stokes (named after its second owner and former Monterey mayor, Dr. James Stokes) has served as a bakery, a pottery kiln, and a print shop for California’s first newspaper. In more recent memory, Stokes has been home to a series of fine-dining restaurants—including the present-day, New American cuisine establishment aptly named, Stokes Adobe. And there are some who say it remains home to the spirits of past residents. The building has never been able to shake its reputation for being haunted, as there have been claims of paranormal activity throughout the years. Some say it’s the spirits of Dr. Stokes, wife Josefa Stokes, and possibly 20th century socialite Hattie Gragg. But that only adds to its allure.
Come December 7th—the weekend before Monterey’s popular Christmas in the Adobes tour—Stokes will be indulging in the true spirit of the holidays, when it hosts its annual Winter Market, a curation of local boutique artisans and entrepreneurs, featuring jewelry, clothing, apothecary, stationery, and other handcrafted goods. It’s the perfect chance to step into the past—and get ahead on your holiday shopping. Stokes Adobe, 500 Hartnell St, Monterey; stokesadobe.com. —L.A.