Coastal Kitchen seven‑part tasting menu featured

Edible Monterey Bay reported on May 15 that Coastal Kitchen in Monterey is serving a seven-part tasting menu centered on local seafood, with a sea urchin donut topped with uni as one of the opening dishes. The restaurant’s current menu and hotel listing describe the format as a multi-course tasting experience rather than an a la carte dinner. Coastal Kitchen is located at the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa at 400 Cannery Row, overlooking Monterey Bay. Executive chef Michael Rotondo is the named chef on the restaurant’s site and in local dining listings. ### Which restaurant was featured, and where is it? Coastal Kitchen is the Monterey Plaza Hotel’s flagship restaurant, according to the hotel and Edible Monterey Bay’s dining guide. The restaurant is at 400 Cannery Row in Monterey, and the hotel says it serves dinner Tuesday through Sunday, with Sunday brunch offered separately. The hotel also says Coastal Kitchen does not offer an a la carte menu. (ediblemontereybay.com) Michelin’s California guide lists Coastal Kitchen in Monterey as a contemporary restaurant, and OpenTable describes the dining room as centered on a multi-course tasting menu with wine pairings available. Those listings match Edible Monterey Bay’s portrayal of the restaurant as a destination meal built around a fixed progression of courses. ### What did Edible Monterey Bay say was on the seven-part menu? (montereyplazahotel.com) Edible Monterey Bay’s May 15 story described a sequence that began with “a heavenly little uni-topped sea urchin donut hole.” The same passage went on to describe kanpachi with radish, avocado and hoja santa in a buttermilk-mussel stock, followed by Monterey Bay black cod with shrimp in a spot prawn, lemongrass, Thai basil and kaffir lime consommé. (opentable.com) The restaurant’s current menu also lists a sea urchin donut, kanpachi and local black cod among the courses, though menu wording differs from the magazine’s dish-by-dish descriptions. Coastal Kitchen’s posted menu names the sea urchin donut with pear cream and nori, kanpachi with hoja santa, avocado and radish, and local black cod with saffron, cannellini beans and toasted almond. (ediblemontereybay.com) ### Who is behind the menu? Executive chef Michael Rotondo is identified by Coastal Kitchen’s website, Edible Monterey Bay’s dining guide and See Monterey as the chef leading the restaurant. The official site says the tasting menu changes with local ingredients, while the regional tourism listing says sommelier Conrad Reddick curates wine pairings for the menu. (coastalkitchenmonterey.com) OpenTable says Rotondo’s menu focuses on sustainability and the “bounty of the Monterey Bay and Central Coast.” That characterization appears in the reservation listing, while Edible Monterey Bay’s profile focused more narrowly on the dishes served in the current lineup. ### Is this a one-off menu or part of the restaurant’s regular format? Coastal Kitchen’s website says its tasting menu is “renewed with ever-changing local ingredients,” indicating the seven-course structure is part of the restaurant’s regular format even as dishes change. (coastalkitchenmonterey.com) Edible Monterey Bay has covered earlier versions of Rotondo’s tasting menu, including a February 2022 story about a new menu at the same restaurant. (opentable.com) The current menu page shows additional dishes beyond the seafood courses highlighted in the May 15 article, including Iberico pork, Willamette Valley lamb and a Valrhona chocolate dessert. That suggests the seafood-heavy sequence described by Edible Monterey Bay sits within a broader tasting progression that can include meat and dessert courses. (coastalkitchenmonterey.com) ### Where can diners find the current version? The Monterey Plaza Hotel’s dining page says Coastal Kitchen is open Tuesday through Sunday, with dinner served Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The hotel and restaurant pages direct diners to reservations and the current menu through Coastal Kitchen’s official site, while OpenTable also carries reservations for the restaurant. (coastalkitchenmonterey.com) (montereyplazahotel.com)