Mona-by-the-Sea, Christmas Eve

Christmas came and went.
Again!
Every year I try to prepare myself for the post-holiday blues, but I'm never quite ready, for the holiday or the blues. December 25 seems so far away, then when it comes, I can't believe it's over.
I flew into California early Saturday afternoon, and here I am, a heartbeat and five days later, sitting at my desk at work. I feel I never left. It must have been a dream. A dream of sunshine and fog, otters and whale spouts, Rocky the dog and Tucker the cat, good food and drink, and most of all family.

Christmas Eve dinner was our first meal together and out. (Note our house in Carmel is tiny, as is the kitchen, and there's barely enough room to cook cereal.) We had a few possibilities for Christmas Eve dinner, but our top two choices were closed. Surprising. Carmel is a destination spot, why wouldn't places stay open? Silly me, Carmel is also known as "the town of the newlyweds and the nearly deads," so closings and early-to-bed times should not surprise me anymore.

Coq d'Or in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Closed.
The White House in Pacific Grove. Closed.
Fandango. Open. Reservation for four at 7:30.

I am a stickler for atmosphere and as soon as we walked in I had a huge smile on my face. Exposed stone walls, low ceilings that added a cavernous touch, flower bouquets tableside and hanging from walls and lanterns, Christmas garlands, handpainted murals of Mediterranean scenes on the walls, and warm friendly people. There were two small rooms when you walk in and none of us would have minded eating in either of them. The maitre d' told us it would be a few minutes as he led us to the bar area, where Dad ordered us up some holiday brew. Mom went with a Sauvignon Blanc. Ted and Dad are the beermen. I went with a dirty Grey Goose martini. The olives were as big as my thumbs...mmm! With a Christmas toast and a few sips, the maitre d' whisked us away to our table.

We were all secretly singing "Joy to our world.." when we walked into the main dining room and found our table at the end, on a window, and in front of the fireplace. Perfect! The main dining room is long and has about eight tables on one side and half that on the other side. The windows are the focal point of the room. They go all along the dining room (no breaks for walls) and meet the ceiling halfway. My mom said she had been to Fandango before but had never sat at a window table. We were ecstatic.

We sat down with the large menus and were all glowing with the holiday spirit and feeling happy to be together. Warm fuzzy feelings aside, the menu looked promising.

Menu memorables: I tried the tapas, because a local guide book told me so. I was less impressed with the tapas than everyone else's appetizers-don't you hate when that happens? Tapas meant a hard-boiled egg, some crostini with pate which was rich and salty, and a celery root salad, almost like a cold slaw. Lil'Bro and Dad both tried six escargot in garlic, herb and butter. I don't do escargot, perhaps I should someday, but haven't quite worked up the courage (even though Mom insists I used to try and eat snails in our garden when I was little). The boys loved the escargot as they slurped up everything in the small six-holed dish. Mom tried the onion soup gratinee. It was overflowing with cheese and the aroma of onions was enough to put her in a daze. I was not able to try a taste but Mom ate it without a break for air so I believe it was satisfying.

For the entree I went with Salmon fettucine: fresh salmon bites, dill, white wine, sun dried tomato and cream. The fettucine was beautiful, a little on the wider side than I've had previously, and the edges were daintily cut and almost ribbon-like. I wanted to look at them more than I wanted to eat them... until I tried them of course. I have tried a lot of pasta in my day but never a combination so elegant as this. The dill with the sun-dried tomato and the fettucine danced a slow waltz in my mouth. And the portion was perfect because at the end I couldn't have eaten another spoonful. Lil'Bro tried the 8 oz steak frites, and successfully scarfed that down, in addition to a generous taste of my fettucine. The steak was cooked medium rare and tender and oozing in a "cafe de Paris" butter. I did not know what "cafe de Paris" butter meant exactly so I looked it up. Here's what they gave me: soft butter, parsley, Dijon mustard, ketchup, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped shallots, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to taste. Hmm, no wonder I couldn't figure out what it was. Mom tried one of the specials: giant scallops. I'm not a huge fan of scallops but I believe she liked them. I tried a taste of one and it was soft and had the usual bouncy texture. Dad tried the salmon fillet, grilled and also served with cafe de Paris butter. Dad is hard to read, and often quiet about his food feelings. We know it must be good when he stops talking. And he did.

As if the entrees and appetizers weren't enough. We all decided to order dessert. We only get to celebrate Christmas Eve 2005 once, right? Dad went with the vacherin (vash-er-ahn)Marquis. Vasha-what you ask? It was a globular-like dessert of vanilla ice cream, meringe, almonds, and whipped cream. Picture a spherical volcano, and you'll come close to what this dessert looked like. It disappeared before we could contemplate what it was, or ask him for a taste for that matter. Mom and Lil'Bro tried a raspberry sorbet which they both enjoyed. Sorbet is too healthy for me. I went with the profiteroles. The profiteroles were warm pastry mixed with sweet ice cream, but next to Dad's dessert it looked like David to Goliath.

I can't end this without mentioning our server Johnny. The mec was obviously francais but would NOT give us his real French name. He insisted his name was Johnny, like an all-American kid nextdoor. My Mom and I kept calling him Johnny with a slight French twist, and he got a kick out of it. Everything was brought out in a timely fashion, our water glasses were never left empty (either were our wine glasses) and either were our tummies.

Thank you Fandango, for a truly memorable Christmas Eve celebration.

223 17th St., Pacific Grove, CA
831-372-3456