Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/357002
DEVIVO ELEVATES GOLF COURSE FOOD One local chef coaxing diners from their comfort zones is former Casanova Chef Johnny DeVivo, who has taken golf course food to well above par at Porter's inside Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach. "We have a new clientele and have gotten rid of the stigma as just plain golf course food," says DeVivo, who still makes burgers and sausages for the snack shack. Inside Porter's, though, the menu stands out as deliciously different, from Korean Philly cheesesteak to pulled pork lettuce wraps to short rib fries. Cooking breakfast, lunch and twilight small bites, DeVivo makes everything from scratch— and that's no gimmick. He slices bacon from his own smoked pork bellies, he churns heavy cream into butter and makes his own buttermilk to batter cod for fish and chips. He makes his own kimchee, puts tomatoes in the smoker for housemade ketchup, and creates his own remoulade by roasting green garlic, folding in Meyer lemon and capers. DeVivo sources Jidori chicken, a cage-free, organic, hormone-free bird known for its robust flavor (they're fed an all-vegetarian diet, including tomatoes and apples). Jidori delivers the day of slaughter, ensuring freshness (so much so that in Japan it is sometimes served sashimi-style). Every item has DeVivo's touch, including the salmon salad, which he tops with a bacon "gra- nola" made by adding dehydrated milk powder to bacon fat to create a crumble spiked with pine nuts and za'atar. "We get crazy sometimes," DeVivo says. "But it's a good crazy." Porter's, 3200 Lopez Road, Pebble Beach, 831/622-8239 or www.poppyhillsgolf.com. CHEF TODD GOES WILD AT TARPY'S The recent union of Chef Todd Fisher and Tarpy's Roadhouse creates culinary harmony, like pizza and beer, crackers and cheese…or a 24- ounce T-bone with smoked bone marrow butter. The first two are time-honored classics. The third comes from Fisher, the beefy, ebul- lient, red-clogged, wildly creative chef who 252 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 4 Chef Johnny DeVivo runs Porter's at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach, where he has put a creative spin on golf course food with from-scratch delights. Photo: Kelli Uldall food for thought Pleasing the Palate at Poppy Hills, Bold Menu Choices at Tar py's and Last Bites B Y L A R R Y H A R L A N D