Cal Stamenov plans to slow play any menu changes at Quail’s two restaurants as he gets to know the team and navigate a busy August. His timeline for updated offerings: two months. (Photo: Patrick Tregenza)
July 28, 2026—Not many compelling culinary tales can be summed up in two words, but this one proves an exception.
Cal’s back.
The longer version, however, is worth exploring, because it provides an uncommon peek into an exceptional chef’s headspace, or at least his latest adventure, which looms large.
A peak at the expansive Quail property from the adjoining golf course.
Cal Stamenov has long directed kitchens at some of the Monterey Bay area’s foremost farm-to-fork destinations, as Edible detailed with news of his farewell from Cella Restaurant.
That exit came as a bit of a jolt given the dovetail fit shared between the sourcing-obsessed chef and a place with the tools and the team—including his longtime collaborator and pal, chef and co-owner Ben Spungin—to uplift that gift.
But it’s not every day that you get a request to both help a friend, and honor the legacy of another friend gone too soon—or that grace sends you to the wine capital of Burgundy.
Stamenov soaking in the sights and making friends in and around Beaune. “I used to go out looking for nightlife,” he says. “Now I seek out churches and architecture.”
Stamenov spent three months in Beaune, France, helping strengthen the Slanted Door Beaune restaurant program created by late chef/Vietnamese cuisine pioneer Charles Phan, another friend, for Stamenov’s way-back-when partner at Highlands Inn, David Fink.
Fink—former director and co-creator of Carmel destinations L’Auberge, Aubergine and now departed Cantinetta Luca—runs boutique luxury hotel Maison 1896, where a night on one of the custom handmade beds in its nicer 16 rooms can approach $1,000.
The challenges for Stamenov were plentiful, including slow supply chains, a stifling heat wave that had him showering three times a day, and a language gap that made nuance amid tense moments treacherous.
“I have a hard time communicating, as you know,” he says, with a laugh. “My French came back, except for when things were stressful and I needed to say something with humor, and I could only be straightforward.”
But while the obstacles were profound, so were the satisfactions.
“Cal can cook,” Jeff Rogers says. “In the chef world, not everybody can cook.” (Photo: Patrick Tregenza)
Stamenov sounds like he’s floating as he lists the joys of living in a historic, population-20,000 town surrounded by Roman-era walls and some of the world’s most famous vineyard villages: the incredible + affordable wine lists, the timeless architecture, the warmth of the staff at his local go-tos.
“It would be one place I would go [again] before I went to heaven,” he says. “It was so calm.”
Another lasting takeaway: the vibes.
“I asked our somm, ‘What do people do on their days off?’” Stamenov says. “He said, ‘They sit under a tree in the shade and drink wine.’
“They enjoy their life. They really do.”
The Quail’s two restaurants, The Covey Grill (pictured) and Edgar’s Restaurant, provide a platform with a lot of potential.
Stamenov had an offer to stay in France. But he also received one from The Quail, where he once worked.
“It was a hard decision,” he says. “Beaune is very beautiful.”
Jeff Rogers has worked with Stamenov for decades, from Napa to the epic Masters of Food & Wine that really put the Monterey Peninsula on many a gourmand’s map, and also once helmed the culinary ops at Quail himself.
So he gets the guy, and why he can’t quit Carmel Valley.
“He’s the heart of the valley,” Rogers says. “Cal loves the Monterey area.”
Rogers goes on to describe why the area loves Stamenov back, namely his connectivity with suppliers.
“The way he knows the farmers, the fishermen…and he’s been there as the whole [farm-to-table] food thing coming out of Berkeley and Napa—farm focused with great technique—developed into what it is now,” Rogers says. “It hadn’t happened in Monterey until Cal. Cal drove a lot of that whole thing. He’s been the constant for the last 30 years.”
Rogers pauses briefly. Then he adds, “It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years.”
It’s also hard to believe Cal’s back, yet easy to understand.
More at quaillodge.com/dining-carmel.
Mark C. Anderson, EMB’s managing editor, swears by municipal lap pools and public transportation, carousels included.
