Raúl Nava
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offthemenu831.bsky.social
Raúl Nava
@offthemenu831.bsky.social
63 followers 26 following 75 posts
he/him/él • writer covering Monterey Bay dining + restaurants • previously Edible Monterey Bay + Monterey County Weekly + Monterey Herald • a little a lot
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offthemenu831.bsky.social
Feels like spring 🌞

Sundial • chamomile-infused gin, lemon, agave, peach, orange bitters, Champagne
Pimm’s Cup • Pimm’s, lemon, ginger beer, cucumber, orange, orange bitters

📍 Lalla Grill, Monterey, CA
A pale yellow cocktail garnished with three white daisies and served in a round martini glass. Photographed in a warmly lit dining room on a square white paper napkin on a translucent orange bar counter with glassware blurred in the background. A light orange cocktail on ice garnished with a thin strip of green cucumber, two slices of orange, a sprig of green mint and a black paper straw and served in a wine glass. Photographed in a warmly lit dining room on a square white paper napkin on a translucent orange bar counter with a silver metal refrigerator and assorted barware blurred in the background.
May 7, 2025 at 3:10 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Is it brunch? Is it lunch? No, it’s Sunday munch 🍴

Oysters on the half shell • Shigoku, Kusshi, mignonette, lemon
The Swan crudo • hamachi, salmon, scallop
Carboniste • sparkling Albariño

📍 Oystertown, Monterey, CA
Twelve raw oysters in white shells arranged in a circle and served on a round white metal plate of ice with red mignonette and a wedge of yellow lemon in the center. Photographed in a warmly lit dining room on a gray concrete bar top with orange flowers, a wine bottle and a silver metal chiller in the background. A crudo of creamy white scallop, orangish-red salmon and pink hamachi in yellow olive oil and green basil oil served on an oval-shaped white plate with a dark green trim. Photographed in a warmly lit dining room on a gray concrete bar top with oysters, a green placemat and a white paper menu in the background. A dark green bottle of wine with a white label with a red octopus illustration and the name Carboniste Modern Sparkling Wine. Photographed in a warmly lit dining room on a gray concrete bar top with a glass of wine, oysters, orange flowers and an empty white plate in the background.
May 5, 2025 at 3:44 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
New spring cocktail menu from @joshperrybar.bsky.social is rolling out 🌈

Gypsy Heartthrob • apple brandy, strawberry, grapefruit, Meyer lemon
NSFW • clarified p*rn star martini • white rum, passion fruit, vanilla, ruby port, lemon, sparkling rosé

📍 Cella Restaurant + Bar, Monterey, CA
A bright red cocktail garnished with a pink cornflower and chartreuse served on a large ice cube in a short square glass on a bright green felt coaster. Photographed indoors in a warmly lit bar on a dark wood tabletop with a silver metal refrigerator, a silver metal espresso machine and assorted glassware blurred in the background. A light orange cocktail served with a dark red cherry in a Nick and Nora glass on a bright chartreuse green felt coaster with a small shot glass of sparkling wine. Photographed indoors in a warmly lit bar on a dark wood tabletop with a silver metal refrigerator, a silver metal espresso machine, assorted glassware and liquor bottles blurred in the background.
April 26, 2025 at 2:50 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
My day always is a little bit brighter with a passion fruit macaron—or 3 🌞

📍 Parker-Lusseau, Monterey, CA
Three bright yellow French macaron sandwich cookies with white buttercream filling stacked on top of each other in the corner of a brown takeout container. Photographed indoors under warm lighting.
April 25, 2025 at 10:19 PM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Eat your veggies 🌱

Yasai yakisoba • shiitakes, menma, cabbage, broccoli, green beans, bean sprouts, carrots

📍 Ocean Sushi Deli, Monterey, CA
A story dry with golden noodles, green cabbage, green broccoli, brown mushrooms, chopped green beans, shaved orange carrots and white bean sprouts garnished with bright red pickled ginger and served on a round white plate. Photographed indoors in a warmly lit restaurant dining room on a marbled purple tabletop with a black square plate of white rice onigiri and green pickles in the top left corner of the frame.
April 25, 2025 at 2:36 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Bummed to hear about a shakeup behind the bar at Stokes Adobe as @mezcalitomanny.bsky.social moves on to new adventures 🥲

Swing by before Saturday, April 26 to say your goodbyes 🥂
A pale pink nonalcoholic cocktail served in a tall glass with ice and garnished with a slice of pink grapefruit and a white compostable straw. Photographed on top of a white paper napkin on a white marble bar countertop with a bartender wearing a black cap, black eyeglasses, a white shirt, a black tie and a gray apron blurred in the background.
April 24, 2025 at 2:05 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
I spy new additions to the happy hour menu for spring 🌱🍹🍕 🌱

Fingerling potato pizza • cheddar cheese, bacon, truffle crema, chives
Shark Sandwich • tequila, lime, lime aperitif, melon
Merguez sausage pizza • eggplant purée, fontina, pecorino, Aleppo pepper, dill

📍 Stokes Adobe, Monterey, CA
A wood-fired pizza with thin brown crust with charred blistered dough topped with thin slices of yellow and purple potatoes, melted yellow cheese and numerous thinly chopped green chives and served on a round brown-speckled ceramic plate. Photographed on a white marble bar countertop. A light green cocktail served in a tall glass with ice and garnished with a white compostable straw and a bamboo skewer with a square of bright green Jell-O. Photographed on top of a white paper napkin on a white marble bar countertop with silver barware and assorted glassware in the background. A wood-fired pizza with thick puffy brown crust with charred blistered dough topped with red pepper, thin slices of white cheese and numerous sprogs of green dill and served on a round brown-speckled ceramic plate. Photographed on a white marble bar countertop.
April 24, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Reposted by Raúl Nava
macortez.bsky.social
Coffee commodity prices already faced headwinds and record highs. Now, Trump’s baseline 10% tariffs on imports may exacerbate the impact. Here's how consumers and roasters are being affected ☕️📈
www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaur...
Bay Area coffee roasters fear tariff price spike: ‘A smart time to stock up’
Bay Area coffee roasters and cafes fear Trump tariffs will raise already high prices.
www.sfchronicle.com
April 23, 2025 at 5:20 PM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Yass, Qouign! 👑

Sweet savant Santana Rodriguez has a stellar lineup of spring treats available at local farmers markets—in Carmel on Thursdays and in Monterey on Fridays 🍫

Chai caramel
Dubai pistachio spread + Dubai chocolate bar
Passion fruit & vanilla marshmallow

📍 Qouign, Monterey County, CA
Four brown chocolate candies painted with splashes of white, red and gold, served in textured gold paper wrappers inside a plastic box with a gray sticker that reads QOUIGN in yellow letters. Photographed indoors on a piece of crumpled gold tissue paper. A glass jar of green pistachio spread with a translucent plastic lid, gold ribbon bow and a gray sticker that reads QOUIGN in yellow letters. Underneath the jar is a thick rectangular brown chocolate bar painted with splashes of gold and green inside a plastic wrapper with a gray sticker that reads QOUIGN in yellow letters. Photographed indoors on a piece of crumpled gold tissue paper. Four chocolate candies painted turquoise blue with splashes of red, purple, and yellow, served in textured gold paper wrappers inside a plastic box with a gray sticker that reads QOUIGN in yellow letters. Photographed indoors on a piece of crumpled gold tissue paper.
April 17, 2025 at 2:20 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
As always, a simply sublime dinner 🙏

Kumamoto oysters
海老シウマイ • Steamed shrimp dumplings
Special sake • Nagurayama Gekkyu “Crescent moon” junmai

📍 Akaoni, Carmel, CA
Six raw oysters on the half shell garnished with brown soy sauce, red chile and green onion served over a bed of crushed ice in a pearly white clamshell bowl. Photographed indoors at twilight on a light wood tabletop. Three pale beige cylindrical steamed shrimp dumplings served on a rectangular blue-and-white porcelain dish with a large dollop of yellow hot mustard. Photographed indoors at twilight on a light wood tabletop with plates and water glasses blurred in the background. A green glass bottle of sake with a black label and Japanese writing and a small conical glass of sake. Photographed indoors at twilight on a light wood tabletop with a busy dining room blurred in the background.
April 16, 2025 at 2:50 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Piper, yesss! 🪷

Really fun pizza special this month inspired by Korrutal “Goi” Yugaroen’s Thai Is Fun cooking classes 🇹🇭

Thai margherita pizza • Thai curry tomato sauce, basil, Parmesan, mozzarella, roasted Thai eggplant

📍 Tricycle Pizza, Seaside, CA
A wood-fired pizza with thin brown crust topped with round slices of green eggplant, wilted green basil, melted white cheese and red tomato sauce. Photographed indoors in a takeout box under a warm light with the white outside lip of the box blurred in the foreground and brown cardboard blurred in the background.
April 10, 2025 at 1:54 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Why settle for one mole? Collect them all!

Mexican cuisine includes a rainbow of rich mole sauces. The most familiar lean into chocolate and cinnamon, but others feature fruit or nuts.

Mole trio • mole estofado, mole negro, mole coloradito, white rice, tortillas

📍 Alejandro’s, Monterey, CA
A round puck of white rice garnished with sprigs of green cilantro served on top of a pool of three mole sauces, including clockwise from the top, an orange mole estofado, a dark brown mole negro and a reddish-brown mole coloradito on a round white plate. Photographed in a warmly lit dining room.
April 7, 2025 at 2:40 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Spring is here which means I’m officially in my crudo era 🌞

A few faves from last month…

Mentone • Gravlax-style trout belly
Akaoni • Hokkaido hotate (scallop) nigiri
Cavalletta • Beef carpaccio
Stokes Adobe • Scallop aguachile
Five strips of orange cured trout belly topped with a small dollop of dark-green caviar and a strip of green chive, served with round dollops of white crème fraiche and sprigs of green herbs on an oval-shaped white plate with a gold rim that reads MENTONE di Aptos Ca in gold font. Photographed indoors in a warmly lit dining room on top of a dinner menu on a light-wood tabletop. Two cream-colored pieces of raw scallop nigiri with yellow lemon zest served next to two sushi rolls on a square gray ceramic plate. Photographed indoors in a warmly lit dining room on top of a light-wood tabletop with a second plate of nigiri sushi blurred in the background. Raw red beef carpaccio topped with green arugula, finely shredded white cheese and shards of tan crackers served on a round white plate with a raised black lip. Photographed indoors on a warmly lit dining room on top of a mixed-wood bar countertop with barware blurred in the background. Raw white scallops with green avocado mousse topped with yellow flower-shaped tortilla chips, sprigs of green cilantro and red chile powder and served in a beige ceramic bowl with a white glaze inside. Photographed in a warmly lit bar on a white marble countertop with a stack of white napkins, a black refrigerator and assorted barware blurred in the background.
April 3, 2025 at 2:14 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Bone marrow: 1
Sweater: 0

The perpetrator?

Esquite bone marrow • roasted bone marrow, street-style corn, handmade corn sopes

📍 Nicolás Cocina de Herencia, Carmel, CA
Three pieces of cow bone, cut in half lengthwise, roasted brown, topped with yellow corn, white cheese and green herbs, served on a round brown pottery plate with a round gold metal ramekin of green salsa. Photographed indoors in a dark restaurant on a white-and-gray marble tabletop with a gold metal base of a lamp, an orange glass tumbler and an orange pottery plate with two round brown bean sopes in the background.
March 28, 2025 at 2:10 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
I’ve spilled many foods on me over the years, and I swear none stain as badly as bone marrow. But when @chefmichellelee.bsky.social wants bone marrow, you accept the risk 🫡
March 28, 2025 at 1:05 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
We’re 2 sashays away from this being a pizza account now 🍕

Garlicky pepperoni pizza • tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan, crispy pepperoni, minced garlic, pesto sauce drizzle

📍 Tricycle Pizza, Seaside, CA
A wood-fired pizza with thin brown crust topped with round slices of red pepperoni, melted white cheese and green pesto sauce. Photographed indoors in a brown cardboard takeout box under a warm light with the white outside lip of the box blurred in the foreground.
March 27, 2025 at 12:22 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Spring menu refresh—collect ‘em all!

Equinox latte • lavender, strawberry, lavender buds
Berry brown sugar latte • brown sugar, strawberry syrup, dried strawberries
Strawberry matcha latte

📍The Power Plant Coffee + Store, Moss Landing, CA
A brown coffee latte topped with white milk foam and several purple lavender buds and served in a white paper cup. Photographed indoors on a gray stone gift shop counter with a yellow plastic dinosaur toy and a green plastic dinosaur toy with an orange collar blurred in the background. A brown coffee latte topped with fern-shaped white milk foam latte art and red crumbled dried strawberries and served in a white paper cup. Photographed outdoors on a sunny day above a piece of white-painted weathered wood. A green matcha latte topped with white milk foam and red crumbled dried strawberries and served in a white paper cup. Photographed outdoors on a sunny day on a white-painted weathered wood shelf with weathered gray and blue-painted wood pallets and silver aluminum siding blurred in the background.
March 20, 2025 at 1:59 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Not sushi for supper 🍸🍆🍗

Yuzu Drop • Haku vodka, sugar rim
Nasu miso • grilled eggplant, miso sauce
Karaage • fried chicken, shishito peppers

📍 Ichi Riki, Seaside, CA
A yellow cocktail garnished with a slice of dried orange lemon and served in a martini glass with a sugar rim. Photographed indoors in a dimly lit dining room on a black wood table with two black chairs with beige seat cushions blurred in the background. A brown roasted eggplant roasted with dark-brown miso sauce and shredded green onion served on a green lettuce leaf on a white plate with a silver metal spoon. Photographed indoors in a dimly lit dining room on a black wood tabletop with plates and a dish of red dipping sauce blurred in the background. Several strips of golden-brown fried chicken with one yellow pepper and one green pepper served in a blue-and-white porcelain bowl. Photographed indoors in a dimly lit dining room on a black wood tabletop with a white plate, bottles of soy sauce, beige wood chopsticks and a plate of beige dumplings blurred in the background.
March 14, 2025 at 2:12 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Sushi for supper 🍣

Salmon skin roll
Negihama maki • hamachi, green onion
Spicy tuna roll
Avocado maki

📍 Ocean Sushi Deli, Monterey, CA
Three black plastic takeout trays with sushi rolls. At the top is a tray of shredded pink cooked salmon rolled in white rice and black seaweed with a yellow slice of lemon, yellow pickled ginger and a lump of green wasabi. At the bottom is a tray with 12 pieces of pink fish wrapped in white rice and black seaweed with yellow pickled ginger and a lump of green wasabi. At the left is a tray of seven pieces of red spicy tuna with green cucumber wrapped in white rice with black sesame seeds and two pieces of green avocado wrapped in white rice and black seaweed with yellow pickled ginger and a lump of green wasabi. Photographed indoors on a speckled gray countertop.
March 13, 2025 at 3:10 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Being retired from the food news beat, always fun to see how long it takes our local food media to report on scoops I’ve been sitting on 👀

First heard today’s breaking news that the team behind the Butter House is eyeing the former Britannia Arms location back in January 🙊
March 12, 2025 at 3:25 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
U-bae 💜

📍 Counterpoint Coffee, Seaside, CA
A frothy bright purple ube latte in a clear plastic cup printed with the name and logo of Counterpoint Coffee in black. Photographed outdoors on a sunny afternoon on a bright turquoise metal table with gray sidewalk, a beige rock retaining wall and brown paneled building blurred in the background.
March 11, 2025 at 6:21 PM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Is this a pizza account now? 🍕

Loaded baked potato pizza • R&D • fingerling potatoes, caramelized onion, bacon, Fiscalini cheddar, crème fraiche, chives

📍 Stokes Adobe, Monterey, CA
A wood-fired pizza with thin brown crust with charred blistered dough topped with chunks of yellow potato, melted yellow cheese, a drizzle of white crème fraiche and numerous thinly chopped green chives and served on a white ceramic plate with a silver metal pie server. Photographed in a dimly lit bar on a white marble countertop with jars of cocktail garnishes blurred in the background.
March 11, 2025 at 2:21 AM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Bummed one of my favorites is rotating off the menu, but got one last bite to say goodbye last week and excited pepperoni pesto is back this month 🍕

Chicken pesto pizza • grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, roasted corn, sweet corn, pesto, mozzarella, evoo, Parmesan

📍 Tricycle Pizza, Seaside, CA
A wood-fired pizza with thin brown crust topped with pieces of grilled chicken, red cherry tomatoes, yellow corn kernels, melted white cheese and green pesto sauce. Photographed indoors in a brown cardboard takeout box under a warm light with the white outside lip of the box blurred in the foreground.
March 10, 2025 at 7:04 PM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
🚨 New restaurant alert 🚨

El Padrino Restaurante Oaxaqueño is now open at 740 Broadway in Seaside (formerly Ferdi’s 🪦)

Menu features Oaxacan specialties from tamales and tlayudas to memelitas and moles 🇲🇽
March 9, 2025 at 11:50 PM
offthemenu831.bsky.social
Brunch bunch, assemble!
🍳 🥓 💫 🧇 🥑

📍 Other Brother Beer Co., Seaside, CA
Toasted bread with slices of red smoked salmon, white cream cheese, dark-green capers, green chives and yellow lemon zest served on brown paper printed with seagull illustrations and the name Other Brother Beer in a stylized black font. Photographed outdoors on a sunny day. Toasted bread with mashed green avocado, round green cucumber slices, strips of orange and purple carrots, slivers of pink pickled onions and black sesame seeds served on brown paper printed with seagull illustrations and the name Other Brother Beer in a stylized black font. Photographed outdoors on a sunny day on a pale gray-turquoise wood table. A breakfast sandwich with yellow egg, melted orange cheese and green arugula leaves served on brown paper printed with seagull illustrations and the name Other Brother Beer in a stylized black font in a silver metal sheet pan. Photographed outdoors on a sunny day on a pale gray-turquoise wood table with a gray cement wall blurred in the background. Two rectangular golden-brown waffles topped with melted white butter and served with a plastic container of brown maple syrup in a flat round teal metal bowl. Photographed outdoors on a sunny day on a pale gray-turquoise wood table.
March 9, 2025 at 11:04 PM