The Sardine Factory represents a crucial part of many locals’ lives because it has hosted so many special evenings.
It’s fair to go a step further, too, and add that anyone who has eaten in Monterey has indirectly been affected by The Sardine Factory.
That’s how much it anchored the area’s culinary cred back in the day my folks first ate there. It’s also a nod to founders Cutino and Ted Balestreri. They’re featured in national cookbooks—and have a cookbook heavy on history of their own—for a reason.
I took our visit as an excuse to check in with Cutino. I’ve been a full-blown fanboy of his for years because of things like the aforementioned abalone bisque recipe and hires like now-retired Big Mike, perhaps the best bartender to ever grace these shores.
But what wows me most is his community connectivity, perhaps best evidenced by his Culinary Classique D’Elegance, an annual benefit for Monterey Peninsula Meals on Wheels, coming up Nov. 20, after selling out (as it does regularly), months in advance.
He refuses any administrative payout. “That’s my rule,” he says. “Everything goes to feed the people.”
So many chefs ask to participate that he has to turn away more and more gifted flavor-makers every year.
They each submit menus based around Cutino’s playcalls—this year the menu includes mushrooms, 40-day-aged steak and a cheese course—then 25 chefs prep their expressions with customized thematic decorations for 10 people each.
“It’s interesting to see the chefs get creative, and a little competitive,” Cutino says. “If you see the menus it’s kind of mind-boggling—despite the use of the same ingredients, there’s no duplication.”
The event has raised $5 million since it began.
Cutino will oversee 2022’s affair while surviving multiple types of cancer.
“I can live with it. I have to,” he says. “I can’t complain—and I can’t give up the ship.”
That ship has a new hand on deck, whose food will be familiar to loyal locals like my parents.
