Carmel Magazine

038-039 LK Ted Balestreri_Layout 10/23/13 11:29 AM Page 1 LOCALKNOWLEDGE Ted J. Balestreri Restaurateur Extraordinaire, Nonprofit Ally and Cannery Row Celebrity ver the past 50 years, Ted J. Balestreri has become one of the O biggest names in hospitality. He and Bert Cutino opened Q: From there, you redeveloped Cannery Row with private dollars rather than public funding. Why go that route? Monterey's Sardine Factory in 1968, and the pair later partnered with A: When it comes to development, I think private enterprise is more than Development Company. That paved the way for Cannery Row Company, investors and individuals, that you can accomplish those dreams without close friends Harry Davidian and George Zarounian to form Foursome where Balestreri serves as chairman and CEO. He's also been involved with countless other restaurants, hotels, real estate ventures and charitable organizations. Balestreri credits his wife, Velma ("All those long hours and she never complained—as a matter of fact, she encouraged," he says), and his sons, Theodore II and Vincent, for much of his success. "I did this to pass on to the next generation," he explains. "When you're blessed with two boys, you want to keep growing the business." Q: You moved from Brooklyn to Carmel as a teenager. What were your first impressions of this area? A: I moved from one of the largest, most dynamic cities in the world to one of the quaint little towns in America, and I thought I was exiled willing to do what's right. There's enough money out there, through government [dollars]...In Monterey, we've had a city council over the years, not all of the time but most of the time, that understands your vision and tries to help get there. So we built the Monterey Plaza and the Intercontinental. These were tough times to build the Intercontinental, but the city worked very well in cooperation with us...Because of the success of Cannery Row, enormous TOT tax comes out of here. It generates so many neighborhood programs and helps the city budget. [When you have] that cooperative type of feeling, good things will happen for the city as well as the residents. Q: You're involved with many nonprofits and civic groups. Do any of these make you especially proud? (laughs). Coming in the summer, I didn't have the advantage of knowing A: Probably one of the dearest to our hearts is Rancho Cielo...These kids beginning. But I had my cousins and it didn't take long to get to know a have a sense of purpose. It gives them a sense of pride that they can anybody because school hadn't started yet. So it was a little lonely in the few other people in town. For about a year, I said, "I've got to get back to New York. I have to get back." But after high school—I graduated from Carmel High in 1958—I loved this area. Suddenly, I had a lot of friends. I loved the beach. I loved everything about it. The Monterey Peninsula is about as nice as it gets on this planet. work hard to try to get a high school education. But more than that, they become chefs, learn the restaurant business, learn construction, learn horticulture and landscaping, learn to pave roads. [Judge John Phillips] is giving them a purpose. They are getting their education in a place that's safe and a place that's understanding. It helps all of society. And the success rate has been enormous. Q: Ten years later, you and Bert Cutino opened the Sardine Q: What do you like about living and working on the Factory. Talk about those early days. Monterey Peninsula? A: People figured we'd lost our minds. But it was so bad, in such a rough A: I think the most important thing here is that the community had a lot place, and you won't believe it." On October 2, 1968, when we flipped on ported us, the locals. I can only be eternally grateful, because the success location, that it was kind of like a hideaway. People would say, "I know this the lights, the people just came. It was like a magnet. We couldn't believe it. Bert and myself, we didn't have any money. We had about 960 bucks. Dr. [Orland] Caselli, who was a dentist, loaned us at the time enough for the liquor license and a few things. So it was three of us in the very begin- ning, and after about a year we bought the doctor out...We had all kinds of competition—better locations, better financed, better everything, but we worked it. 38 C ARMEL M AG A Z I N E • H O L I D AY 2013 of faith in Bert and myself and Dr. Caselli when we started. They really supof the Sardine Factory was the ship that launched a thousand ships. We got into the hotel business, one time we were in the farming business, the restaurant business, it's real estate mostly now, all because of an old condemned building on a hill and two kids who had a dream. Never discount the desire of a dream.

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