The Butter House, Cafe Fina, Corkscrew Cafe | Check, Please! Bay Area

Check, Please! Bay Area makes its first splash in the Monterey Bay Area! First up, The Butter House serves up satisfying and sumptuous American classics with a Filipino and Pacific Islander twist, perfect against the fresh air of Monterey County’s Seaside — think fried chicken & waffles next to pork belly fried rice. Then, with picturesque views of the bay on Monterey’s Old Fisherman’s Wharf, Cafe Fina dishes up some of the region’s tastiest seafood, including pistachio pasta with prawns and steamed black mussels. Lastly, tucked away in warm and welcoming Carmel Valley, Corkscrew Cafe is home to an elegant and seasonal Californian menu sure to please anyone in search of a satisfying meal — from French onion soup, to carnitas tacos, to wood-fired Meyer lemon pizzas.

#CheckPleaseBayArea #Monterey #BayArea #Seafood #FilipinoFood

0:00 Check, Please! Bay Area (Season 19, Episode 1)
1:17 The Butter House (Seaside)
3:14 Three Bay Area guests share their thoughts on The Butter House
8:33 Where to find The Butter House
9:02 Cafe Fina (Monterey)
11:15 Three Bay Area guests share their thoughts on Cafe Fina
16:50 Where to find Cafe Fina
17:17 Corkscrew Cafe (Carmel Valley)
19:27 Three Bay Area guests share their thoughts on Corkscrew Cafe
24:30 Where to find Corkscrew Cafe

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Filipino inspired brunch in Seaside you
can actually smell the cinnamon Sicilian
Seafood Delights in montere get the
muscles every time they’re
non-negotiable and rustic pizzas in the
heart of Carmel Valley you get a beer
and a nosh just ahead on a special
Monterey Bay Area edition of check
Please I love
Lupia okay okay hi I’m Leslie sraco
welcome to a very special edition of
check Please Bay Area today we’re
venturing down the coast to explore a
whole new culinary region for our show
the scenic Monterey Bay Area we have
three guests and each one recommends one
of their favorite spots and the other
two go check them out to see what they
think joining me at the check please
table today are behavior analyst Peter
alter High School baseball coach Travis
Elder and administrative assistant Kim
lemy welcome everyone thank you Kim’s up
first her go-to brunch spot offers all
the American Classics cinnamon rolls
pancakes omelets you name it but now
she’s expanding her horizons with the
Filipino and Pacific Islander inspired
Specialties the owners serve up daily
located in Seaside it’s the butter
[Music]
house I’m Benny I’m the owner it’s my
wife Susan the vibe when you enter the
butter house is supposed to be open
Dynamic and and friendly to every single
person that walks in with a little wow
factor there you go and the reason why
we decided to open up a breakfast
restaurant is that we came from the bar
scene we were originally bartenders and
instead of giving people The Hangover we
wanted to cure The Hangover instead of
going to bed at 4:00 a.m. we wanted to
wake up at 4:00 a.m. we describe our
food as American Classics with Pacific
Islander and Filipino flare Benny
absolutely loves breakfast breakfast is
it’s my favorite meal and lunch is my
favorite meal so our menu is completely
available from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
like so I can get my fried chicken
sandwich and he can get his scramble
whatever way he wants yeah there you go
enjoy there’s things that I crave and
and loia is always something that comes
around for the holidays and Lumia is one
of the things that we got taught as we
were kids get to about right there fold
the insides in the recipe has been in
the family for over 90 years
and that’s kind of where it all started
was my grandma while Benny takes care of
the Savory I’m a big fan of sweets on
the menu always good to see you brother
the butter house on average sees anybody
from 6 months old all the way up into
their ’90s it’s fantastic to see a
beautiful circle of life that walks
through our doors with every Creed
nationality religion it doesn’t matter
it’s just home yeah what makes us happy
what makes this worth it is when I see
them get something and they do a little
dance yeah the shimmy they do a little
shimmy dance when the food comes and
like oh yes and they eat it and they’re
so happy that’s everything to us
yeah all right Kim you are a breakfast
and brunch lover yes okay my favorite
meal of the day my favorite meal to eat
my favorite meal to cook really yes what
is what is your specialty at home my
scrambled eggs with cheese okay I hear
that they’re the best from friends and
family alike all right Own It own it yes
absolutely so what makes the butter
house comparable to your kitchen the
butter house has a wonderful feel it’s a
neighborhood restaurant they have a
great eclectic menu so there’s always
something to find for somebody else to
eat so I usually have chicken waffles
it’s one of my favorite the chicken is
usually fried crispy it’s juicy it’s
tender and the Waffle’s always crispy on
the outside and nice and Meaty on the
inside they serve it warm with some warm
syrup on the side it’s just a great way
to start the day all right Travis what
did you have did you go for breakfast or
lunch breakfast there’s so many options
so many good options I had the Santa
Maria tri tip sandwich it comes with a
fried egg and chimmy Cherry I’m a sucker
for anything with chimmy cherry on it it
was very good thinly sliced tri tip a
nice little salad on top arugula little
Greens on top with a perfectly fried egg
on toasted butter sourdough bread so
good and what about you Peter so we got
things rolling with Olympia and they
came out piping hot you break open the
little egg roll and it’s filled with
beef and rice it’s an appetizer for
breakfast which you don’t usually get
and it’s Wonder totally true yeah and
it’s fantastic it’s the best Loy I’ve
ever had it is abolutely best L I’ve
ever had you had L I did oh yeah you
have to yeah I was so inspired I
actually bought a t-shirt that has that
says loomia on it with the friends logo
and I’ve never gone to a restaurant and
bought a t-shirt this is so delicious I
need a shirt to represent how much I
like this food and they were amazing
were amazing and do you get them
regularly that was actually the first
time we had them oh because you’re
exploring kind of the Filipino s exactly
yeah and the sweet chili sauce SAU know
it was the adobo for me the Adobo Sauce
the chili sauce for me oh yeah that
sweet chili sauce I put that on anything
that was absolutely perfect with it and
just delicious to counterbalance it okay
and you said you started with the Lumas
so then where did you go from there
marci’s fried rice which is this big
bowl of butter fried rice topped with
eggs and a choice of meat I had the spam
I mean it’s grilled it’s crispy it’s
sweet you break the egg and the yolk
pours into the rice and it’s just this
Savory thing and it just keeps going it
looks like not that big a bowl and
halfway in you’re like there’s still a
half a bowl of rice in here and it is
absolutely wonderful we tried the lemon
Cur blueberry pancakes this time mhm H
the lemon curd on top was perfect just
enough not too tart frh blueberries on
top didn’t even eat syrup one more thing
about the pancake though I didn’t order
it but I saw them going by these things
are huge I mean we’re talking the whole
plate is a pancake you are getting a
pancake it is the pan right and they’re
fluffy and just wonderful we had the
fried rice for the table the pork belly
fried rice again you’re at a Filipino
place I mean pork belly marinated in
Adobo we kept the Adobo sauce from the
loomia and poured a little bit more on
top of it so good I mean we went across
the board on the menu it was really
great so my wife regards herself as a
BLT
offici she did The BLT with avocado and
everything was wonderful the only tiny
Miss was it was a little dry could have
used a little more Mayo but you know
that’s coming from someone who regards
themselves as an afficionado so still
excellent and those country potatoes I
thought are delicious yeah it’s not an
afterthought the sides aren’t an after I
don’t think anything there is an
afterthought you can taste the love that
the owners that the that the kitchen
that everybody puts into that there’s a
Vibe when you’re in there it’s just a
great place to be and what do you get to
drink it’s a Guatemalan coffee again
it’s to your point everything’s done
just just up a little bit and this deep
rich dark Guatemalan coffee and strong
two degrees hotter than than it needed
to
be in a good way they weren’t going to
serve you cold coffee they were bring
you hot piping hot coffee yeah you’d
rather have it that way than the other
way we had Bloody Mary and was it spicy
uh they asked you if you wanted it spicy
uh I got it I didn’t want to burn my
pallet out right before I got there so I
went with a little spicy their bar is
invented I had the the POG tie which is
their version of a my taii POG being
passion fruit orange and guava and then
which is a famous Filipino drink yeah
with a couple different rums in there
and wonderfully inventive I don’t think
we talked about those cinnamon rolls
OMG okay I was just going to say it’s
the size of a softball m mm talk to the
baseball here comes out warm so when you
cut it you can actually smell the
cinnamon coming up from it it’s thick
thick layer of frosting but it’s not
overly sweet and then at the bottom the
brown sugar and cinnamon caramelize and
it so this is crunchy crust kind of at
the bottom it’s just amazing it’s a
wonderful way to end a meal or start one
or start one start all right so would
you go back again totally absolutely he
bought a shirt I bought a t-shirt I
bought I bought the shirt
they have so I love Lupia all right if
you would like to try the butter house
it’s located on Fremont Boulevard in
Seaside and the average tab per person
without drinks is around
$25 our montere culinary tour wouldn’t
be complete without a trip to the
Waterfront for the Fresh Catch of the
Day Travis’s favorite Seafood spot is
run by a sicilian American family with
roots dating back to the Heyday of the
Sardine fishing industry located on
historic Fisherman’s Warf in mon
it’s Cafe
[Music]
Fina the restaurant name is Cafe Fina
and I named it after Josephina my mother
both my mother and father are Sicilian
my father and His Four Brothers came to
montere because there was sardines not
knowing how beautiful Monterey was it
was just about fish
you cook but you know how to do best
coming from a fisherman family you know
I mean Dominic maerial we eat fish we
eat
pasta the main things that we serve that
are popular you know the clam chowder
crab the new pasta dish called pasta
gaana named after my granddaughter which
is chop meat mozzarella cheese throw it
in the pizza oven and let it melt this
is a true Italian pizza with the wood
fired oven you got to have a Dark Crust
I want the bubbles to be
burned I make my own vinegar I love
doing things like that but this is a
propeller shaft that we had cut we keep
it white hot
and voila our desserts are all made here
Canoles are standard In the Sicilian
community and there always a treat at
Christmas my grandmother would make the
shells we use a whole milk rot with a
couple secret ingredients it’s the
[Music]
best we’ve been here a long time we’ve
had Joe demajo here John Madden Mario
and Drey I mean I can go on and on the
Wall’s full John Madden was sort of
special John always had to sit in the
same place cuz he could sort of hide in
the corner I always had a plaque on the
table that said this table is reserved
for John Madden if he arrives while
you’re here we may ask you to move to
another table it’s the least desirable
table it’s right next to the kitchen
close to the wall but that sort of made
it a little funnier there’s something
here that makes the people come back
when you see the same people that have
been coming here for 30 years it’s a
good
[Music]
feeling all right Travis there are a lot
of seafood restaurants in monre and on
the warf now what is it about Cafe Fina
that brings you back time and time again
well if you’re coming to montere you got
to do Seafood if you’re doing Seafood
it’s got to be Italian seafood and
montere if it’s Italian seafood it
really should be Sicilian Seafood
there’s a huge Sicilian American
community that dates back to the early
20th century and this place really hits
all those marks plus just the
environment the Ambiance and the people
there are fantastic what do you start
with the the appetizer menu you could go
there just for appetizers um oh yeah we
get the muscles every time I said
they’re non-negotiable they come in this
little tin pot they’re black
Mediterranean muscles that are cooked in
a white wine tomato sauce the broth that
comes comes on top of them they cook
them just to Perfection right till they
open up you’re not taking that tin away
until all of that sauce is mopped up
bread napkin t-shirt sleeve whatever you
got uh mop it up cuz it is just the best
every time and I love muscles I’m a
muscles girl all right the muscles were
plump and juicy and they were all open
and they were all big and fat just so
tasty and for our table even the folks
who didn’t necessarily eat the muscles
sopped up that tomato sauce or that
broth you could have just drank it yeah
they need to bot it and put it in a jar
and sell it yeah in Monteray down on the
water it’s required you got to do
calamari um that’s another staple when
you’re down there and it’s buttery on
the inside crispy on the outside hit it
with a little lemon and sea salt on top
it’s such a good way to start a meal and
now we’re muscles and calamari in it’s
like we’re we’re going to order a couple
more okay let’s see how this goes every
time so did you order more appetizers we
did we had crab cakes okay okay yeah how
are they fried to Perfection crispy on
the outside loaded with crab on the
inside they were warm and meaty and we
would go back for those they were C just
for the crab cakes and muscles and the
bread I’m done got three more courses to
go but wait there’s more so we got the
artichoke and obviously cville is the
artichoke Center of capital of the world
got the fresh produce from Selena Valley
just right there yes and it’s so good
it’s steamed and then chilled and then
they fan out the leaves like a flour and
then in the center you get the artichoke
heart with this sauce of aoli it is
absolutely scrumptious but a little
lighter talk a little bit about what you
drank with it started with Bloody Mary
the server was like I just made this
Bloody Mary for you it had to be roxan
she’s the bartender she is the yeah you
know ask how hot do you want it you know
it’s that good it was you know Savory
and salty and everything you want in a
cocktail I get a Doms NE gron every time
Doms NE good NE gron you’re eating it at
s restaurant come on for an entree I
went with the mixed Seafood grill
swordfish prawns calamari and salmon
cooked in his Woodfire Grill the Wood
Grill gives the fish this different type
of consistency it’s like a crispy
outside but perfectly done on the inside
with a little bit of smoke it’s almond
wood that comes from Dominic’s Ranch the
first Woodfire Grill wood fire pizza
oven in M I had the mixed grill as well
and and you know what I think it really
speaks to the skill of the chefs is to
prepare a whole different number of
fishes all together and not dry them out
and you get the salmon flavor you get
the calamari Flav
so good with a little orzo salad H it
with a little lemon on top yeah so we
had the crab so good it’s a beautiful
presentation and it has about 10 or 12
legs so it makes it very simple to eat
you don’t have to pull apart the crab
the meat was succulent and sweet the
legs were nice and thick so you got nice
pieces of crab comes of course with some
nice warm butter and some lemon on the
side so that was really good we had the
pistachio pesto yes isn’t that good oh
my goodness that was our favorite day to
be honest with prawns yes I would never
have thought to order pachio pesto but
it was so good and then of course you
have the bread to dip the pesto sauce
and the prawns were cooked perfect they
were sweet and plump a little pistachio
in it for a little crunch that was just
really good we really enjoyed that and
the pizzas I I’m telling you you could
go just for the pizzas there’s five or
six different kinds cooked in a wood
fire oven how can you beat it great
dough D’s got a couple secrets from some
Sicilian guys he knows about the dough
to make it nice from sicil
he got a couple Secrets it’s the filets
cut long ways you guys did did you both
meet Dom he’s he’s a character he’s
fantastic it’s Fisherman’s Warf it can
feel sometimes a little fancy but you’re
it feel like you’re in somebody’s house
you feel like you went over to a
friend’s house for dinner yeah service
was impeccable okay it was a beautiful
mixture of being taken care of but not
being hovered okay now
dessert I am a sucker for the dessert
prey I mean again I’m here for the show
yeah and I had the canoli and okay now
we’re back to sic now we’re back to
about you know that sweet ricotta
filling of the canoli and the crust on
the outside and just those little
chocolate chips and it finishes
perfectly the original is a brulee
iron and then the cremola was just
amazing it had a beautiful crunch on top
the candy top and then the crolet on the
side was just so creamy and so delicious
so that’s how we ended our meal a lot of
good dessert oh yes oh yes all right go
back oh absolutely there is a rumor on
the East Coast that there’s no good
Italian food here and I would be
thrilled to take any of my East Coast
relatives and say try this yeah there
you go I think your team won the
quintessential the quintessential
Monterey Italian restaurants all right
if you would like to try Cafe finina
it’s located on Fisherman’s Warf in
Monteray and the average tab per person
without drinks is around $40
Peter’s place is well off the beaten
path and nestled amongst the ranches and
Orchards east of Carmel it’s a rustic
slightly quirky spot offering an equally
eclectic menu of locally sourced foods
and organic wines tucked away in Carmel
Valley it’s Corkscrew
Cafe when people come to the cork screw
they feel
transported so I designed and build the
restaurant to be in a spirit of my
childhood experiences back home in
Belgium and
France what I tell him is you’re in
Europe without the jet
lag my wife is a big factor in the
menu we’ve decided to have a very modest
simple menu not
pretentious we’re bringing some
traditional thing like the French onion
soup which is part of my
childhood our fish tacos
we make the tortillas with blue cord we
ship from Mexico we’ve got the ladies in
the back
making you can’t get it any better than
that we have trees at the vineyard as
well as in our property where we Harvest
for Simmons apples pears tomatoes and so
on and so we bring that into the mix
beautiful we have a Woodfired pizza oven
cooked in a fire so you get that
smokiness the texture the crunch all
those
factors so syia my wife came up with the
my lemon pizza and it’s been the most
popular pizza that we have it’s the
ingredients that kind of takes you into
a couple different culinary sensory
worlds if you will of the city to
protein check it out it just the the
perfect pizza and what are you drinking
I was born just towards the end of World
War II and we had to evacuate and my
mother gave birth to me and actual in a
wine seller and so I was raised as a
child drinking beer and drinking wine as
well so it’s a food for
me and that’s how I consume it and
that’s how I make it yummy oh my
goodness and people come here not only
to be fed with the food but to be fed
with the setting and the feeling of the
space are you in heaven and that gives
us a lot of pleasure and plus that’s who
we
are now Peter people come to Carmel this
idilic kind of Carmel By the Sea you
know and you get that lovely image of
the ocean but you picked a spot that’s a
little more tucked away huh absolutely
you have Carmel By the Sea and it’s
adjacent to Pebble Beach and it’s the
quaint European Village and so maybe
people visiting don’t know that you
drive 12 miles east and you happen upon
this amazing little village this little
community that really captures some of
the old California the ranches The
Orchards that California was but it’s
also now it’s a winery which kind of
represents what California is now and I
just think it’s a wonderful place and
what does cork screw Cafe do so well
sure well I think it is their attention
to detail it’s inventive with a real
focus on is it delicious yeah it’s
delicious let’s do this you know we
always start with the baked garlic that
they serve with a goat cheese and you
know you hear garlic and you you think
of the raw and it’s got a bite and when
you roast it it Mellows all that out and
that plus the goat cheese that’s kind of
salty and tangy it’s just an amazing way
to start and what about you Kim we love
the garden we got there and it was a
beautiful sunny day in the valley and so
we did the beet salad MH it was the
golden beets and the red beets some goat
cheese couple slices of grapefruit
amazing so good the beets were sweet
nicely firm the rugula had a nice little
vinegarette did not overbear it it just
all came really together it was a rainy
day when I actually went there you one
of the one rainy days in in carel Valley
but that’s okay because they had french
onion soup on the menu and it was
perfect I felt like Ernest Hemingway in
the little you know brick area yeah and
the French onion soup was delicious oh
nice so you have to try the Meer lemon
Pizza woodf fired oven thin crust so you
get a little bitterness from the arugula
the saltyness of the Pudo and then the
Meer lemon is a little bit sweet a
little bit sour it’s a little bit of and
the shaved parm right on top brings it
all together perfect absolutely it
really is a delicious bite I mean and
this place doesn’t have a huge menu but
to me you look at the menu and you go
well they lean on what they do really
well and that I mean everybody who goes
to this place start with a my lemon
pizza and work your way out from there
okay the Highlight for us was their fish
tacos oh they do a fried fish taco and I
don’t usually like fish tacos because
usually it’s a steamed fish or a boiled
fish and it’s the texture but these
fried fish tacos were perfect with a
nice crust on it the fish was flaky they
do a homemade purple corn tortilla with
Chipotle aoli on top that had just
enough spice to it we’re going back for
those nice my wife ordered she ordered a
burger I knew she wasn’t going to finish
it so I knew I was going to get some of
that they do this double Patty Smash
Burger really really good really well
done on a Brios bun and the fries were
really good as well I my wife gave it a
valiant effort but I knew she was
was it is a big burger and you know so
many other dishes are just so good I had
the short ribs fork tender they just
fall apart in this lovely cloud of
mashed potatoes I mean it pairs well
with a Sunday afternoon nap I’ll say
that it just is it is that good now did
you wash your dishes down with anything
oh yeah I did I we started with a
cocktail the cork screw cocktail really
really good white P didn’t even know
that was a thing it is a thing app it’s
fabulous with a little citrus fruit
inside just very refreshing right well
and Walter joris who’s the owner has his
own Winery absolutely and they have
cowgirl wines as well so you’re getting
the jorus wines as well as the cowgirl
wines absolutely and even the beer I
ordered a Modelo and it comes served on
a silver tray I mean when I order a beer
I expect two things the beer and
something to pour it into and you get a
silver tray you get six little cubes of
guda cheese rolled in celery Sal so you
get a beer and a nsh what about desserts
I got the lava cake and it is not an
overly sweet cake but the powdered sugar
and the vanilla gelato you know it’s the
showstopper when you cut into the middle
of the cake and all the LA the chocolate
lava oozes out and service what did you
think of service service was wonderful
we arrived waiting for our party took us
right back into the garden got us
something to drink and I loved all the
beautiful little white serving dishes
and so sitting out in the garden Among
The Greenery it just felt so
proper it’s a beautiful you wanted to
raise your pinky yeah just it was just a
beautiful environment it just felt nice
and you’re tucked out there I mean you
feel 100 miles from civilization in the
best way possible you could spend an
hour there you could spend three hours
there and you wouldn’t even know it yeah
and I’m glad you and people do just call
it the valley and I have a dear she
calls herself an original valley girl
and she says but caramel Valley let’s be
right
the right Valley the right valy all
right if you would like to try cork
screw Cafe it’s located on West carmell
Valley Road in Carmel Valley and the
average tab per person without drinks is
around
$35 I have to thank my great guests who
joined us for this special edition Peter
alter who’s partial to the Meer lemon
pizza at Corkscrew Cafe in carmell
Valley Travis Elder a lover of the mixed
Seafood Grill at Monterey’s Cafe Fina
and Kim lemi who dreams of the Giant
cinnamon rolls at the butter house in
Seaside join us next time when three
more guests will recommend their
favorite spots right here on check pleas
Bay Area I’m Leslie sraco and I’ll see
you then
[Music]
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Banks crab house at Pier 39 is a
family-owned restaurant featuring
dungeon killer crab shellfish platters
and crab fried rice Crab House serves
fresh sustainable Seafood with stunning
views of the San Francisco Bay located
on Pier 39 in San Francisco reservations
at Crabhouse
39. when we took over a former
restaurant and we had a massive
discussion we had to keep the one staple
which was Miss Jackie and she serves
coffee and water and she has a smile on
her face every single day she is amazing
there’s a little Hill right up the
street it’s called spaghetti Hill a lot
of the Italians moved up there one of
the coolest things I remember on Sunday
morning when you walk through that
neighborhood it smelled like spaghetti
sauce it was awesome