PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Chef Kurt Grasing and renowned Bay Area restaurateur Narsai David teamed up here and opened one of Carmel's best restaurants. The bright, split-room dining area is simple yet stylish, with buttercup-yellow walls, beaded lamps, and colorful artwork. Grasing's menu reflects the decor's stylish simplicity; ultrafresh ingredients gleaned from California's coast and Central Valley are displayed modestly, belying an intense combination of textures and flavors. The warm Napa salad (with bacon, garlic, and blue cheese), for example, appears ordinary enough, but "when I took it off the menu," says Grasing, "I still made 30 a night." The Grasing's "paella" (made with prawns, clams, mussels, and sausage with saffron- and fennel-infused orzo pasta) and roast rack of pomegranate-marinated lamb with crispy polenta are also standouts. Even the bread, fresh from Gail's Bakery in Aptos, is fantastic. When the sun's out, request a table at the dog-friendly patio, and be sure to inquire about the very reasonable prix-fixe meal.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's California 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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