Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/856465
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 7 269 planning, at which she excels. The subjects are honored to be featured, and the respect is mutual. Wine Director and Manager Gabe De La Vega says, "The wall has been there to pay tribute and honor the people who've been coming here so long…you can see that in how some of their pic- tures are really faded." The wall offers not just an instant conver- sation star ter, but also a real sense of joy to employees as well as patrons, he says. "It's really great to watch how a lot of people seem to enjoy sitting near their pictures, and then someone will do a double-take and ask them, 'Hey, is that you?'" he laughs, recounting how often locals then become celebrities, captured in others' stories and photos. While the wall is well loved, it's not upstaged by Rio Grill's superb menu. Asked to name a favorite dish, regulars chime in and talk over one another hurriedly, unable to pick just one. After some heated discussion about the merits of the new pork sliders on the lunch menu, the classic fire-roasted Castroville artichoke, and the pork carnitas omelette offered at brunch, it's unanimously decided, as Osborne proclaims, "the smoked chicken is amazing, and the sauce is just beautiful! It's perfect! That's why it's been on the menu since the very beginning." The soy skirt steak salad, Russo's favorite, comes in at a close second, while Dr. Walker decides it's a tie for him. Hostess Alexis Thomas, who's worked at this very spot for 35 years "since even before the Rio Grill and Tony" agrees the house-smoked half chicken is by far the most requested dish, but she also finds the pumpkin seed Loch Duart Scottish salmon with chipotle-lime vinaigrette very pop- ular. Thomas can recite engaging details about every menu item and every wall portrait, tying people to their favorite dishes and drinks, favorite seats, and relationships with one another. The reverence she has for the employ- ees, customers, and the iconic establishment that is Rio Grill is palpable and contagious. Humans have been painting on walls for some 40,000 years and, while the exact purpose of prehistoric cave paintings is still a mystery, the pur- pose of these is clear. For Tollner, the wall has always been a place "to honor folks who are regular bar customers or part of our history, and to thank them," he says, adding, "I'm so grateful to everybody up there." Rio Grill is located at the corner of Rio Road and Highway 1 in the Carmel Crossroads. For more info, go to www.riogrill.com or call 831/625-5436. Tony Tollner is an owner/part- ner of Rio Grill, Montrio Bistro and Tarpy's Roadhouse. R I V E R HOUSE B O O K S THE CROSSROADS CARMEL On a clear day, any day you can see curious books for a beautiful mind