January 13, 2006

Traveltalk

January and February serve up fun getaways—if you know where to look

Olive Festival, Mustard Festival, Crab and Wine Days, Chef’s Holidays and the AT&T

By Mike Cleary
Special to the Times

After reading the column about my and my wife’s plans for upcoming January and February getaways, my oldest daughter called to rib us about our continuing fondness for taking time off to go places so early in the year.

Morning radio is the reason. Years ago, our boss strongly encouraged (OK, ordered is more like it) my partner, Frank Dill, and me to take some of our vacation time right after the holidays as the radio biz is pretty sluggish then. Frank and Mary would hit the road and on their return, Mary Ann and I would take off somewhere. We’d all be back in time to pack up for a week’s stay in Monterey to do our show from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which was like having another vacation.

Today we love to travel early in the year because so many California destinations offer attractive winter rates, fewer crowds, and some hugely entertaining events organized for the express purpose of luring more of us out of our wintery cocoons and into their welcoming locations.

Some events are ongoing. Sonoma has its Olive Festival, Napa its Mustard Festival, Mendocino its Crab and Wine Days and Yosemite (yosemite park.com) has its popular Chefs’ Holidays, which runs through early February at the Ahwahnee Hotel. There are eight sessions featuring three distinguished chefs from around the country, a welcoming reception, cooking demonstrations, kitchen tours and a five-course Gala Dinner. For outstanding food, wine and ambiance, you can’t beat it.

This year we’re headed to session six in late January, featuring Cal Sta-menov, Chef of Bernardus Lodge, and their award-winning rest-aurants, Jerry Regester of Club XIX in the Lodge at Pebble Beach and Brandon Chase Miller, Chef/Partner of Stokes Restaurant and Bar in Monterey.

While all three of these gifted chefs are headliners, it’s Miller that personally inspired us to pick this session. Two years ago, I was the moderator for one of the sessions and Brandon was there with Sarah Lewis, a young woman who, incredibly, had been our baby-sitter for our first family trip to Yosemite eons ago. After the Gala Dinner, we were on our way to our room when we passed one of the giant fireplaces in the Ahwahnee. There in front of the fire was Brandon proposing to our former baby-sitter. It all went well as Sarah came to breakfast the next morning sporting a wide smile and a sparkling diamond.

Once this session is over, the chefs return to Monterey and we are following them as the aforementioned AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (attpbgolf.com) gets underway with a practice round on Monday, Feb. 6. In fact, the tournament is still a working vacation for me. I’m broadcasting Tuesday through Thursday mornings from the Gallery Restaurant overlooking the first tee at Pebble. Come by and say hi.

One person who won’t drop by is Tiger Woods, who is passing on the tournament. Interestingly, the very reason that keeps him away is the same one that accounts for record-breaking crowds each year: the weeklong event is really a party cleverly disguised as a golf tournament. In recent years, it has taken on a distinctively corporate tone, going after big companies who purchase big, expensive tents full of big food and big drinks to entertain big clients. The upside to this is a great deal of money is raised for local charities.

That said it still remains a terrific event for those of us who do not have a tent to retreat to when a Bloody Mary beckons. We particularly enjoy the practice rounds. The crowds are lighter. You can bring your camera, and there’s parking in Pebble Beach. Also, the organizers sponsor some entertaining midday shoot-outs involving the pros and celebrities. New to the tournament this year is Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle and Grammy winner Justin Timberlake.

There are plenty of other good reasons to be in Monterey in January and February, including the music-filled Monterey Swingfest, the Gray Whale Celebration, the week-long Valley of the World Wine & Food Festival in Salinas and the late Julia Child’s favorite, the 20th Annual Masters of Food and Wine at the Highlands Inn, Park Hyatt Carmel. You’ll find all you need to know about these and other activities at www.montereyinfo.org.

Cheers.