Renderings of the redesigned Rocky Point Restaurant in Big Sur.
Esperanza Carmel
A historic restaurant perched on the cliffs of Big Sur, closed for six years, would be given fresh life under a new development proposal that has split residents of the coastal community, with some approving of the concept and others arguing that its architectural aesthetic cuts against the region’s famously rustic character.
Eye-catching design renderings circulating online among Big Sur locals this month show the former Rocky Point Restaurant property, located 20 minutes south of Carmel, reimagined as a modern, tube-like structure of glass walls and arched ribs spanning a coastal terrace overlooking the ocean. The concept comes from heralded Italian architect Renzo Piano, who designed the California Academy of Sciences, with its distinctive living roof, among many other commercial campuses around the world.
While some Big Sur residents support the revitalization of the restaurant, others view the proposal as an eyesore. In dozens of comments submitted to Monterey County planners and posted online, locals have characterized it derisively as resembling a drainage culvert, an aircraft hangar and a Quonset hut.
Article continues below this ad
Carmel resident Scott Otis summed up the spirit of many complaints in a succinct comment to county planners: “This does not harmonize with anything in Big Sur or Carmel.”
Built in 1951 on 2.5 acres of craggy bluffs, Rocky Point Restaurant is a lowslung, standalone development perched above the pounding Pacific. For decades, its oceanfront dining area was a place to catch a sunset and enjoy a meal after a day exploring nearby beaches and hiking trails.
The current Rocky Point Restaurant buildings are perched on a scenic bluff over the Pacific. The restaurant was first built in 1951.
Esperanza Carmel
The restaurant closed during the pandemic and then was purchased for $8 million in 2021 by prominent real estate development firm Esperanza Carmel. The company, backed by the Monaco-born billionaire Patrice Pastor, owns several high profile Carmel properties, including the L’Auberge Carmel Hotel, the Carmel Beach Hotel and the La Rambla Building.
After years of work to rehabilitate the site in accordance with the California Coastal Commission — which included opening the property’s parking lot and trails for public access — Esperanza filed a completed design proposal with Monterey County’s planning department in July. It calls for a 120-seat restaurant, on-site employee housing and a public restroom building — a total footprint of about 7,600 square feet, roughly 1,000 square feet more than the old restaurant.
Article continues below this ad
“Esperanza Carmel wants to honor the magnificence of Rocky Point for the Big Sur Community and visitors,” a company spokesperson wrote to the Chronicle. “We believe these extraordinary views and an excellent experience should be available to everyone. It is the careful restoration and reimagining of an established Big Sur landmark.”
Now, the proposal faces public scrutiny. On Tuesday, it will be discussed by the Big Sur Land Use Advisory Committee.
The impassioned nature of public responses reflects a delicate dichotomy in Big Sur, a region that has long grappled with the often-dueling interests of preservation and progress. A community of solitude seekers who live amongst a whirlwind of tourist activity. An economy rooted in a fragile environment but dependent on a steady stream of sightseers.
Some longtime residents approve of the new-look restaurant.
“The design may be unconventional by the standards of some,” Ed Hamilton, a Rocky Point resident, wrote to the county, “but we consider its innovativeness to be both artistically valuable and a reasonable response to the fact that the main commercial asset of the property is the view of the ocean and shoreline that it can afford from any structure built upon it.”
Article continues below this ad
Renderings of the redesigned Rocky Point Restaurant in Big Sur.
Esperanza Carmel
Another supportive neighbor, Staffan Encrantz, wrote to the county that reopening a historic business is critical: “Considering how long Rocky Point by now has been laying dormant, I consider it is important that we not delay this project any further.”
Opponents of the design say it runs afoul of the Big Sur Coast Land Use Plan, a guiding document for development that prioritizes resource protection along the wild coastline. It states that “all development must harmonize with and be subordinate to the wild and natural character of the land.”
“That’s the fundamental principle, not incidental language,” wrote longtime local Magnus Torén, who runs the Henry Miller Memorial Library, in a public post criticizing the restaurant design.
“Some people may feel this design is interesting or modern,” resident Cara Weston wrote to the county, “but for the Big Sur Coast it looks obtrusive and out of place.”
Article continues below this ad
Esperanza’s spokesperson wrote that the company has spent the past four years carefully crafting its current proposal with the land use plan in mind. For example, the company dropped an earlier component that would have added guest lodging, the spokesperson wrote.
Furthermore, “the proposed building is no larger than what previously existed on the site, and it will be substantially less visible from both Highway 1 and the sea than the existing building,” the spokesperson wrote.
Aware of the criticisms, the spokesperson proffered that the proposed architecture “complements the landscape and actually returns the site to the environment, becoming one, rather than simply occupying it.”
Dining and Cooking