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Edible Community
Cindy’s bees. Opposite: the Walters at Passionfish.
EDIBLE COMMUNITY TED AND CINDY WALTER AND THEIR PASSIONFISH
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By Lisa Crawford Watson Photography by Geneva Liimatta
Growing up in Carmel Valley, sheltered by oaks, pines and the simplicity of rural life, Cindy Walter nurtured a reciprocal relationship with nature. Her father showed her how to fish from a pole without disturbing anything else in the sea. Her grandmother taught her the Native American approach of accepting nothing without gratitude, of taking only what the environment could bear to lose, and of giving back to ensure yet another harvest. She also taught Cindy how to make a really fine pie.
Raised in Salinas, a valley so fertile that farmers there cultivated the “salad bowl of the world,” Chef Ted Walter understood early that the only way to live off the land was to sustain it.
“Simplicity” was in the running for the name of the new restaurant the couple decided to open just blocks from the beach in Pacific Grove. It expressed their aim to create food that is pure and simple and really, really good. But they also knew the name should reflect a menu that would focus on fish and their goal to “serve up good food and great fun.”
Some 15 years later, the name Passionfish seems more inspired than ever: The food is in fact more stunning than simple, and even on a Monday night, the restaurant buzzes with an excitement driven by the Walters’ enthusiasm for hosting a terrific experience. And gracefully, in a way that comes second nature to them, they deliver it all with a remarkable devotion to the environment, and, particularly, the world’s sea life.
“Everything we do is about sustainability,” says Cindy. “From pole-caught, wild fish to beef raised on small ranches, from zerowaste wineries to fresh, organic produce, from house-made cleansers to the natural brown paper replacing bleached white table covers, our mission is to provide something valuable and good that serves people without hurting anyone or anything else.”
Not surprisingly, the Walters’ restaurant was the first to be certified by the Monterey County Green Business Program, and its approach has not been lost on guests.
“Passionfish is one of my favorite places to eat,” says Fast Food Nation author and local resident Eric Schlosser. “Ted and Cindy Walter have a strong commitment to sustainability, the environment, local farmers, organic agriculture—and they serve great food.”
When farm-raised salmon was introduced in 1997, the Walters decided to form a personal opinion and give it a try. Once they sliced into the salmon, it stained the cutting board red.
“Down the road,” says Ted, “we started learning about the environmental impact of farming fish. We learned some farmed fish eat four to five times what fish eat in the wild. They live in pens, under which is a dead zone in the sea where sewage collects, water is stagnant and everything dies. The fish are fed chicken and live in their own waste. They are dyed an inviting red for market.”
In the restaurant’s early days, the Walters would head daily to Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf and load up the car with fresh-caught fish. At that time, fish entrees were less expensive than meat—crab was around $11 a pound, as compared to $21-$23 a pound today. Halibut, they say, has doubled in price, and salmon has tripled. Some local fisheries have closed down, and it is becoming increasingly difficult, they say, to buy fresh, local fish.
All along, the Walters worked to purchase fish responsibly, and the advent of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program in 1999 was a huge boon to their efforts.
“Once the Aquarium established Seafood Watch,” says Cindy, “we got really excited. This program helps us find sustainable seafood, something we were always trying to do on our own. Then along came this program, whose philosophy and criteria they are pushing to instill in restaurants.”
Based on the knowledge that almost 75 percent of the world’s fisheries are fished to capacity, if not beyond, Seafood Watch makes fish-buying recommendations aimed at protecting and promoting the wellbeing of world fish stocks, their habitats and other sea creatures.
“It all started with swordfish, which was going to go completely extinct within 10 years unless we stopped fishing it,” Ted says. “But there was too much money in it. So some eight or nine chefs in New York started boycotting it, creating a movement that went across the country. Once the fishermen had no market for swordfish, they stopped fishing it. The species recovered in less than five years. If this makes chefs the gatekeepers, makes them responsible for sustaining fish, so be it.”
The Walters have always set their own standards, however, and Passionfish now employs even tougher seafood selection criteria than those recommended by Seafood Watch.
“The way we run our restaurant is the way we live our lives,” says Cindy. “It nurtures us, it sustains us, and we hope it does the same for our guests. We don’t talk sustainability because it is in fashion—that would suggest it is a trend, and we see it as a lifestyle. We do it because we believe in it. Mostly, we want our guests and our family to eat well, live well and have a good time. Besides, we don’t want this to end.”
Within the rustic beauty of Carmel Valley, the Walters make their lives in a 1,400-square-foot house on a quarter acre, amid 15 fruit trees, with six chickens, two beehives and a couple of dogs.
In the time it takes to go to the grocery store, Cindy harvests honey, melts wax, makes facial cleansers and cream and concocts laundry detergent, cleaning products and toothpaste. Next she might pick fruit, gather lavender, snip rosemary and make a mulberry pie.
Cindy also spends considerable time and effort promoting legal and policy protections for the things she believes in.
She spearheaded passage of a sustainable seafood ordinance in Pacific Grove, and for the last six years, has been active on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, representing first the At Large Community and now the Business Seat.
In early 2010, then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Cindy to California’s Ocean Protection Council’s Sustainable Seafood Advisory Panel, and in 2011, Passionfish, with the Ocean Conservancy, filed a counter to a lawsuit challenging the Marine Protected Areas. Passionfish in 2010 also supported one bill intended to establish a comprehensive plan for the management of marine life resources, and another aimed at halting shark finning—
Lately, Chef Ted Walter has been noticing that the seasons are driving his menu more than ever. Rather than dictating his own fare, he has been working more closely with local farmers, who help him access the fresh, local ingredients that will determine his offerings. This past fall, Ted bought “tons of tomatoes,” and processed and froze them himself, so he can pack the “pizzazz” of the summer fruit into his steamed mussels and lamb tagine right through spring.
“When it comes down to it,” he says, “Mother Nature plans my menu, which invites me to be open to what comes up, and keeps me constantly creative.”
The declining fisheries are a frustration for Ted and affect his menu. Mahi mahi, he says, collapsed this year by nearly 50 percent. “This is scary,” he adds. “They’ve always been like the little rabbits of the sea. Once I heard a scientist say there was too much mahi out there, which kept him up at night because it meant we had removed the predators. Once mahi collapsed, we felt very discouraged. Yet I just learned that mahi will be coming back this fall through a hand-line fishery out of Ecuador. This is a very sustainable practice, but wow, the price.” (Previously, the fish cost $4–$5 per pound; by October, it had risen to $8–$13.)
And in another encouraging development, the Walters are finding an increasing number of sources for fish that is farmed in sustainably operated, closed-container systems. This past fall, there were five such species on Passionfish’s menu: Arctic char, trout, sturgeon, catfish and striped bass.
So what will be on the menu this winter?
Walter, who was classically trained in French cooking but whose style is probably best described as playful, is constantly experimenting with new dishes. As a result, the lineup continually evolves, as does the restaurant’s award-winning wine list, created by sommelier Jannae Lizza and sold at retail.
But many winter dishes were already on the menu in the fall, and with any luck, popular demand will keep them there all winter long.
Delicacies served in October as part of more than one dish included bone marrow, foie gras and short ribs, and they were all represented in a carnivore’s dream: risotto with short ribs, finished with bone marrow instead of butter and served with fried bone marrow and foie gras.
Also on the menu was Arctic char with a fennel relish, buratta with a smoked bacon and artichoke braise and a gnocchi with house-made ricotta and tomato-sage brown butter.
RECIPE: For Walter’s recipe for Halibut with TangerineTamarind Vinaigrette, go to the “recipe” tab on our homepage, www.ediblemontereybay.com.
the cruel practice of capturing sharks, removing their fins and then throwing them back in the ocean to drown. As part of her efforts, Cindy traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with legislators on Capitol Hill.
As this issue of EMB was going to press, the Walters were auctioning off two dozen tickets to “A Dinner for Giants,” an exclusive eight-course wine dinner at Passionfish restaurant, plus a private tour of the Hopkins Marine Station’s Tuna Research and Conservation Facility. The December 3 event was to benefit the Tag-A-Giant Foundation, which is devoted to reversing the decline of Northern bluefin tuna populations.
The dinner was expected to bring in critical support for the tuna—and provide a fabulous evening for their supporters.
Passionfish • 701 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove, CA 93950, 831.655.3311. www.passionfish.net
Cindy Walter’s Natural Cleaner Recipes
The Walters use these nontoxic solutions both at home and at Passionfish, which is certified by the Monterey County Green Business Association. They’re very easy and inexpensive to make!
Furniture Polish
Combine apple cider vinegar and olive oil—one part apple cider vinegar to two parts olive oil.
Counter and Window Cleaners
Scrub with white vinegar 5% straight.
General Scrubbing
Combine baking soda and water.
Laundry Detergent
1/4 cup Dr. Bronner’s 1 cup baking soda 1 cup washing soda 1cup white vinegar 4 cups water Shake the mixture each time before use. Cindy uses 1/4 cup in her high-efficiency washing machine.
Toothpaste
Combine 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1 tablespoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide 20 drops peppermint or cinnamon essential oil
