The Tuck Box, Carmel, California

Carmel-by-the-sea (or just Carmel in short) is a little town about 20 minutes away from Monterey. It's touted to be pretty upmarket and yuppie and the fact that 80% of the shops here seem to be either an art gallery or an antique shop made that feel even more apparent.

Even the Starbucks here was yuppie and had an assortment of biscuits and pastries that I've never seen in Manhattan.

Since it was too early for lunch, we decided to have a light brunch. We chanced upon The Tuck Box (Dolores & 7th Ave, tel: (831) 624-6365 ) doing rather brisk business and so we took a seat under the warming late morning Sun on a rather cool day.

The bay shrimp salad was a nice refreshing appetizer. Even though the shrimp weren't gianormous, they were fresh and sweet. The salad leaves were also crisp and tasty and required minimal dressing.

Their signature sandwich came stacked with just the right balance of meats. Healthy turkey ham and crunchy fatty bacon, with some crisp lettuce wedged between two slices of lightly toasted bread. Simplicity in its finest. This was somehow very satisfying.

This place is apparently famous for their scones. What makes it interesting is that their scones aren't the traditional English sort (like American biscuits), rather the scones here are the Scottish variety; cooked in a cast-iron pan and cut into wedges. Buttery and very fragrant with the added cornmeal. These were indeed tasty.

The homemade marmalade accompanied the scones exceptionally well.

Of course, no visit to a tea house would be complete without a cup of tea. I'm not a big connoisseur of English teas but this tasted fresh and clean.

Sweetened with a little honey and enhanced with some fresh milk, this cup of tea added a nice finishing touch to the brunch.

D

The Sardine Factory, Monterey, California

The Sardine Factory (located on 701 Wave Street, tel: 831-373-3775) is one of the restaurants highly recommended on the Monterey Visitor's Guide. I actually didn't know that, until after this meal but I guess it could only help keep my mind open as we dined that early evening.

The almost obligatory bread at the start. The buns were pretty good but the bread sticks tasted almost stale.

Some condiments to complement the bread, the spiced olives were particularly tasty.

The rich and thick clam chowder was much appreciated on this chilly evening. This stuff was filled with a generous portion of chunky clam flesh.

For my main, I order the calamari steaks, partly out of curiosity but also knowing that since I like calamari so much, I couldn't really go wrong. This was pretty interesting, large unrolled slabs of calamari body flesh coated in seasoned breadcrumbs and fried till crisp before being topped with a black truffle infused cream sauce. This was actually pretty tasty.

Much of the sauce was absorbed by the risotto with black truffle shavings. A very fragrant and delicious side to accompany the calamari.

D

Breakfast, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Monterey, California

Dining at the Conference Grounds doesn't really give you much choice since there's only one dining hall and meals are only served during designated hours. Of all the meals here, only breakfast seems to be good. It's always nice and hearty with some form of egg, meat (sausage or bacon) and a carbohydrate filler (pancakes, waffles, hashbrowns). None the less, I'm a strong advocate of hearty breakfasts because I believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the morning.

D

Trattoria Paradiso, Monterey, California

Monterey, California is a refreshing change from the bustle of New York City. Even though, I was spending most of my time at the conference grounds of Asilomar, I managed to check out the dining scene along Cannery Row. There are heaps of restaurants lining the beach front, some even giving out free samples of clam chowder but in the end we settled for Trattoria Paradiso because it seemed decently crowded and had a nice view of the ocean.

Warm bread was presented promptly to welcome us on this rather chilly late summer evening. Monterey gets surprisingly cool (cooler than New York even) at this time of the year. I think it's something to do with her proximity to the ocean but it sure made this freshly baked slice very appetizing indeed.

Next up was a clean garden salad. No cream dressings here, just a simple vinegarette and crisp leaves to match the crisp ocean air.

I'm a sucker for fried calamari, so we ordered a plate of this to share as well. Succulent and not overcooked, this was served with a tangy marinara sauce on the side.

I actually forgot to take a picture of my main of crusted sand dabs (a local fish) with lemon butter so you'll just have to take my word for it, that it was pretty darn tasty. I guess, I was just too hungry from that flight over from New York heh.

D