New Wild Fish Restaurant in Pacific Grove

**a shorter version of this article appeared in the Cedar Street Times on 3 August 2018 I decided it was time I tried Wild Fish on Lighthouse downtown Pacific Grove. A friend of mine wanted to celebrate a small life victory and asked that I choose the venue for dinner. Wild Fish opened in Pacific Grove in the late Spring. They source their ingredients locally and, as the name suggests, serve wild-caught fish.I’m a morning person and not much of a late night eater but exceptions can be made for celebrations. I got off work and got dressed up. I drove to my friend’s house in downtown Pacific Grove and we walked to Wild Fish where we had a reservation at 6:00pm. The restaurant was adorable, all of the tables had flickering candles on them and I appreciated that they were not the battery-operated kind, rather real wax candles with a naturally flickering flame. We were quickly greeted and I chose the table in the front window corner with bench seats. I kept looking towards the back and thinking of the old Scotch Bakery, the beloved bakery and donut shop of my childhood. Not only my childhood, it was a Pacific Grove institution for many years and even John Steinbeck mentions it in his book, Cannery Row. In my head I wished the owners the same success that Scotch Bakery enjoyed for over fifty years.We were brought water and then house-made sourdough with hazelnut butter, drizzled with local honey, and pinot noir infused sea salt. Delicious.We split the seafood platter sampler for an appetizer—muscles, Penny May oysters, furikake-seasoned prawns, smoked sablefish, and house-cured ceviche. The platter came with pickled strawberries, which took my taste buds for a ride! But I understand that the chef, Steven Patlan, has an affinity for pickles. The flavors were nice and it was a good way to sample many of the menu’s offerings. In between bites, lively conversation, and sipping our Bernardus Pinot Noir, we noticed that the restaurant began to fill up. I had commented when we first sat down that the restaurant reminded me of being in Paris, the way the small restaurant overlooked the sidewalk...the only difference is Pacific Grove is not quite the bustling metropolis that is Paris. Well that’s probably not the only difference. I had said, if this was in Europe this place would be packed. Well I was wrong because it was 6:00pm in the summer and of course no restaurant in Europe in the summer would be packed that early. I was happy to see lots of people walk by and several come in for dinner. And yes, like Europe, the place filled up later in evening.For our entree, we split the sablefish which was prepared Thai style with green onions, ginger, and yellow curry. It was delicately served over a banana leaf which added a nice touch. I don’t believe that I had ever had sablefish before so I looked it up when I got home, it is also called butterfish and I recognized that. Also butterfish is very fitting of a name as the fish is very tender and melts in your mouth. The curry and spices really complimented the soft fish. We chose the cauliflower as a side which was served with chermoula—a Moroccan marinade—and chopped up dates.Since it was a celebration, we ordered dessert! While we split both appetizer and entree, all bets were off for dessert. I ordered the sticky toffee pudding that came with vanilla ice cream and pecans. My friend ordered the all chocolate dessert, chunks of chocolate cake and pieces of merengue sitting on top of chocolate mousse and accompanied with ice cream.All in all, the meal was lovely and I think the restaurant is a nice addition to Pacific Grove. The owners Liz and Kelvin Jacobs have another restaurant in Mendocino and are very happy to be a part of the community. In fact, Liz mentioned to me that they have been well-received by the community, commenting that Pagrovians are loyal and support local businesses. She also mentioned that the recipe for the famous cream-filled buns from Scotch Bakery had been shared with her and she was planning to incorporate that in the menu. I look forward to trying!If you have the chance, head on over and give Liz and Kelvin a warm welcome to the neighborhood and try their delicious offerings.