Taking the stage at Folktale Winery’s popular Chef Duel competition in Carmel Valley, Paul Corsentino of Sur House at Ventana Big Sur drew more than a few hushed, quizzical comments.
“Never heard of that chef.”
“Where’s Sur House?”
“I thought Ventana was still closed.”
Corsentino does not need a publicist. He’s been down that road before. Seven years ago at the age of 30 he found himself at the center of the culinary universe as executive chef at The National, midtown Manhattan’s chic restaurant owned by culinary superstar Geoffrey Zakarian.
Corsentino appeared on several episodes of the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” as Zakarian’s right-hand chef. And readers of Eater placed him on a short list of “Sexiest New York Chefs.”
He was living large in the Big Apple. Today he’s living small — and loving it — in Big Sur.
“I wanted to do something different,” said Corsentino. “It was a culture shock at first but now I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Corsentino and his wife Amarisa decided to move to the Central Coast in 2014 following a honeymoon tour up and down Highway 1. His immediate goals? To cook with the seasons using local ingredients, forage off the land and spend winters without a ski cap and parka.
Ironically, it was the stormy Big Sur winter of 2017 that nearly ended his career at Ventana. Torrential rains, mudslides and a bridge collapse effectively cut off most of Big Sur from the rest of the world.
Businesses suffered.
Without guests Ventana had to close, of course, but the resort took the opportunity to begin a multimillion-dollar renovation to coincide with a fall 2017 reopening. Perched high above the Pacific on 160 acres of rolling meadows and towering redwoods, Ventana updated its 59 guest rooms, suites and villas, its spa, and Japanese hot baths, and added Redwood Canyon Glampsites offering a rustic-luxury twist on traditional camping in the resort’s redwood forest.
Renovations also included expansion of the patio at the newly renamed signature restaurant Sur House.
During the closure, Corsentino spent months cooking only for construction workers and a few lonely locals on Big Sur Island, anxiously awaiting an opportunity to build new menus for guests.
So it’s understandable that the Sur House is not on the tips of local tongues when it comes to dining destinations. Out of sight, out of mind. Add to that the fact that many Peninsula residents suffer a virtual roadblock when it comes to driving south.
It’s only 31 miles from Carmel to Ventana Big Sur (much fewer as the condor flies), yet to many it seems a world away. To many it’s a daunting task to white-knuckle it down the coast and back.
“I’ve talked to so many locals who say they never come down here,” Corsentino said. “It’s crazy.”
Those who have made the trek to the Big South return with raves about Corsentino’s menu, stripped of pretension and fussiness, yet loaded with unique flavors.
“I don’t like to over-complicate food,” he said. “It needs to be recognizable, approachable.”
The ever-changing menu is called Chef’s Taste of the Season, and includes four courses for $90 (vegetarian menu $80). Those who prefer can order items a la carte.
Corsentino can master comfort food (grilled New York strip, polenta cake, piperade, spinach and foraged mushrooms) or be more avant-garde (rabbit pasta with housemade fettuccine, morels and fava beans).
His food reveals a sophisticated big-city DNA but the ingredients come from his vast, humble, wild backyard. And it appears his time on “Iron Chef” has instilled in him resourcefulness and creativity. On his current menu is an octopus terrine, with baby beets, black garlic aioli, and sweet soy trumpet mushrooms. Then he turns suckling pig on its ear, serving it with clams and a lobster-coconut broth. For dessert? Candy cap mushroom mousse cake with brown butter ice cream.
Sounds delicious, but the icing on Corsentino’s cake is the view outside his kitchen window, and his deep breath that follows.
Big catch for Seafood Watch
When the Monterey Bay Aquarium launched its Seafood Watch consumer-focused movement 20 years ago, sustainability had not seeped into our collective conscience.
It came off to many as hippie nonsense. There were plenty of fish in the sea, with no logical reason to source our seafood on the basis of someone’s science-based recommendations.
But the program changed minds — and hearts. Over two decades, through dogged consumer and business outreach, Seafood Watch handout out 57 million consumer guides, with nearly 2 million more downloaded from its mobile app.
Because more than 70 percent of all seafood consumed in the U.S. comes from restaurants, Seafood Watch wisely partnered with chefs and restaurants. It currently has 340 business partners, but none of them as significant as its latest — Red Lobster.
The idea that this behemoth restaurant chain — with more than 700 locations from around the world (including such far-flung countries as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) — would became a Seafood Watch member should send tsunami waves of change across the globe.
“Because of our size and scale, we can use our influence to drive positive change in the industry and lead the way in sustainable and responsible seafood sourcing,” said Kim Lopdrup, CEO of Red Lobster, in a news release. “Our partnership with Seafood Watch is the natural next step in keeping our commitments and driving continuous improvement within our seafood supply chain.”
Red Lobster is the world’s largest seafood restaurant chain and the world’s largest restaurant buyer of seafood. According to Seafood Watch, the chain is already well on its way to its commitment of offering only Seafood Watch-recommended seafood items by 2025.
“This is just another indication that ocean-friendly seafood is moving into the mainstream,” said the Jennifer Dianto Kemmerly, the aquarium’s Director of Global Fisheries and Aquaculture. “And that’s positive news for the ocean.”
Mike Hale can be reached at thegrubhunter@att.net. Listen to his weekly radio show “Food Fodder” at noon Wednesdays on KRML, 102.1 FM.