Old Fisherman's Grotto | |
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Restaurant information | |
Established | 1950[1] |
Owner(s) | Chris Shake |
Previous owner(s) | Sabu Shake, Sr. |
Head chef | Juan Ponce [2] |
Food type | Seafood Steakhouse Italian |
Street address | 39 Fishermans Wharf |
City | Monterey |
County | Monterey County |
State | California |
Postal/ZIP Code | 93940 |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 36°36′16″N121°53′35″W / 36.604388°N 121.892926°W |
Reservations | Yes |
Website | www |
Old Fisherman's Grotto is a restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, California. Old Fisherman's Grotto was opened in 1950 by restaurateur Sabu Shake, Sr. The restaurant serves seafood, steaks and Italian cuisine. Their Monterey Style Clam Chowder was named best clam chowder in Monterey 15 years in a row.
Old Fisherman's Grotto was founded in 1950 [1] [3] by restaurateur Sabu Shake, Sr. [4] Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Shake moved to the Monterey area, with his wife Isabella, in 1954, where the couple raised their six children, all boys. [4] [3] Shake worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf. He eventually became a cook before quitting in 1958 to purchase a small restaurant on the Wharf, which would become Old Fisherman's Grotto. [4] During his time as owner and operator of the restaurant Mother Teresa, Jim Carrey and Benazir Bhutto dined at the restaurant. [3] Shake worked directly with local fisherman and cattlemen and Salinas Valley produce growers to ensure the restaurant provided local menu items. [5]
Shake died on December 5, 1998, of cancer. [3] Today, the restaurant is owned and operated by Shake's son, Chris Shake. [6]
In 2016, Chris Shake requested to demolish the restaurant when the lease expires in 2021. According to Shake's lawyer, the rationale behind the request was because the city of Monterey was unable to secure a long-term lease for the restaurant. Shake wants to extend the restaurant's lease to 2041. [7]
Old Fisherman's Grotto's exterior is mustard yellow, black and white, the latter primarily comprising checkered and striped accents, including an awning. A statue of Sabu Shake, Sr. stands outside the restaurant by a menu, displayed by the entrance. The restaurant operates a seafood market, the Grotto Fish Market, which is connected to the restaurant, where staff members offer passerby samples of clam chowder. [6]
The restaurant's interior is dark with large windows overlooking the Monterey Bay harbor. [6] The decor has a nautical-style. [8] Booths, with tufted leather, and tables are pre-set with wine glasses, white linen napkins, flowers and a bottle of Pellegrino. [6]
Restaurant waitstaff wear black suits with white shirts and bowties. [9] Frank Sinatra is played on the inhouse music system. [10]
Old Fisherman's Grotto serves seafood, steaks and Italian cuisine. The restaurant was one of the first approved by Seafood Watch. [11] The restaurant serves traditional Monterey Bay-area dishes, including grilled Castroville artichokes, abalone, Monterey Bay-caught calamari, sand dabs, and clam chowder. [6] [8] [12] Meals are served with sourdough bread. [9]
Appetizers include crab cakes served with tartar sauce and fruit. [9]
Main entrees include scallops sauteed in butter, steamed Dungeness crab, paella, fish and chips, filet mignon, surf and turf, chicken marsala, skirt steak with maple-soy glaze, seafood in a cream sauce ("Linguini Isabella"), teriyaki chicken, cioppino, grilled wild salmon, and calamari eggplant parmesan. Main dishes are served with sides, a starch (e.g. risotto, couscous) and a vegetable (e.g. bok choy). [8] [9] [10] [13]
After guests finish their main dishes, restaurant waitstaff wheel out a tray of desserts for guests to peruse. An average of sixteen desserts are offered, including creme brulee, tiramisu, chocolate cannoli cake, key lime pie, and cheesecake. [6] [10]
The restaurant's house speciality is clam chowder, which they call "Monterey Style Clam Chowder." [6] The restaurant claims to have invented this type of chowder, which Frommer's described as being similar to New England clam chowder. [9] [14] The chowder has been named the best clam chowder in Monterey 15 years in a row by Monterey County Weekly and won the 2010 Monterey Wine Festival award for best chowder. [15] [16] The chowder has won first place in the West Coast Chowder Competition. [1] The cream-based soup is thick, with clams, including Quahog clams, potatoes, garlic and onion. [1] [6] The recipe is only known by four living people, including the restaurants chef, Juan Ponce. [1] It's served in a cup, bowl or in a sourdough bread bowl. [17] The restaurant sells cans of chowder. [6]
Pauline Frommer reviewed the restaurant, saying "If you want to eat at the Wharf, you can’t do better than the Old Fisherman’s Grotto." Frommer also called the restaurant a "family tradition" for locals, who wait in line outside to eat at the restaurant. [9] Culturel Trip named Old Fisherman's Grotto one of the top 10 restaurants in Old Monterey. [16] The restaurant has won "best calamari" in Monterey County twice and best restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf in 2018. [1]
The restaurant has a strict policy around children, with a sign reading "No strollers - No high chairs - No booster chairs - Children crying or making loud noises are a distraction to other diners, and as such are not allowed in the dining room." The sign was reviewed by an attorney so that the sign does not violate discrimination laws. The restaurant experiences both backlash from people with children and support from those without. Diners seeking a child free dining experience actively seek out the restaurant, which is located in a tourist area popular with families with children. [18] When the sign was reported on social media a boycott was launched against the restaurant. A media frenzy ensued and over 1,200 stories were made about the policy including on CNN, NBC, Fox News, ABC, Eater, International Business Times and more. Local Monterey journalists called the controversy "Babygate." [19]
New England cuisine is an American cuisine which originated in the New England region of the United States, and traces its roots to traditional English cuisine and Native American cuisine of the Abenaki, Narragansett, Niantic, Wabanaki, Wampanoag, and other native peoples. It also includes influences from Irish, French, Italian, and Portuguese cuisine, among others. It is characterized by extensive use of potatoes, beans, dairy products and seafood, resulting from its historical reliance on its seaports and fishing industry. Corn, the major crop historically grown by Native American tribes in New England, continues to be grown in all New England states, primarily as sweet corn although flint corn is grown as well. It is traditionally used in hasty puddings, cornbreads and corn chowders.
Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. New England clam chowder is typically made with chopped clams and diced potatoes, in a mixed cream and milk base, often with a small amount of butter. Other common chowders include seafood chowder, which includes fish, clams, and many other types of shellfish; lamb or veal chowder made with barley; corn chowder, which uses corn instead of clams; a wide variety of fish chowders; and potato chowder, which is often made with cheese. Fish, corn, and clam chowders are popular in North America, especially New England and Atlantic Canada.
Clam chowder is any of several chowder soups in American cuisine containing clams. In addition to clams, common ingredients include diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. Other vegetables are not typically used. It is believed that clams were used in chowder because of the relative ease of harvesting them. Clam chowder is usually served with saltine crackers or small, hexagonal oyster crackers.
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Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco, California. It is an Italian-American dish and is related to various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine.
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Fisherman's Wharf is a historic wharf in Monterey, California, United States. Used as an active wholesale fish market into the 1960s, the wharf eventually became a tourist attraction as commercial fishing tapered off in the area.
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