August 2010

When Marchese Peiro Antinori—on a trip to Carmel three years ago from his vineyards in Tuscany to attend the Maters of Food and Wine at Highlands Inn—expressed a desire to dine with his best California Customer, his wine distributor told him, “Then you’ll want to have dinner with Richard Pèpe of Carmel-by-the-Sea." It turned out to be an historic meeting between the renowned Italian vintner and the Carmel restaurateur. Since that time, Pepe—owner of Little Napoli—has flown back and froth across the Atlantic, hatching culinary plots with Italy’s most famous winemaker whose family vineyard holdings date back to 1385. What began as

Many months ago, I received an email from my father asking if I knew some guy named Rich Pepe. “Sure, I’ve met him,” I said. “Mr. Italy, right? I believe we were both judges for the Monterey County wine Challenge.” Turns out, my father went to the same high school as Pepe in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, and a mutual friend of theirs (Nick Giarra, Class of 65) had just returned from a trip to Carmel to visit Mr. Italy himself. Of course, I’ve yet to cross paths with Pepe since this miraculous discovery, but the man has inadvertently won

Restaurateur Rich Pepe will get “beat up for charity,” at a celebrity boxing match in the Hyatt Regency Monterey Saturday, April 11. “A few months ago, famed boxing trainer Max Garcia asked if I would jump into the ring and be one of the celebrity boxers at his fundraiser,” Pepe explained. “Before I had time to think, I said ‘Yes,’ and then wondered what I just gotten myself into!” But he didn’t back out, and took to training with Garcia, who with his wife, Kathy, owns a boxing gym in Salinas. The Garcias are dedicated supporters of the Kinship Center, which helps abused

You’ve got some splainin to do! By Kelly Nix CARMEL RESTAURANTER Rich Pepe can chuckle now. But falling noggin-first, Buster Keaton-style into a 6-foot-by 6-foot vat of zinfandel isn’t so funny. Well, maybe a little. “I’m in this soup of juice and grapes and skins and I’m half dizzy,” said Pepe, owner/chef of Little Napoli restaurant in Carmel. “I hit my head and shoulder, and everybody is laughing, and I’m like, ‘Ouch!’” He also fractured his elbow. Pepe’s tumble happened as he and 15 of his friends were in the process of making wine for “personal use” at a Carmel Valley home Oct.

Dining Review “Can you believe this used to be a sand mine?” My dining companion’s initial comment as we sat squarely in the middle of the opulent Tuscan villa-like surroundings that is Péppoli. From sand mine to the Bay Club at the Inn at Spanish Bay to what is now the fifth jewel in the crown of sophisticated restaurants partnered by Marches Iero Antinori—“the most important winemaker in Italy”, according to Wine Spectator magazine—world-class Pebble Beach Resorts just got a whole lot worldlier. Manoel Errico is the restaurant manager at the newly opened Péppoli, a veteran with the company from Spanish

Once again, another year has gone by and our local restaurants have created much for which many of us are thankful. Each year at this time, I list the dozen or so restaurants, reviewed in the past year, which stand out for me as being above the rest of the pack. This process of picking personal favorites obviously suffers from a subjective bias, but, if nothing else, my list provides a focus for other people to pick over and critique, as a way of identify8ing their own preferences. Over the course of the year, I have written reviews of 50 or so restaurants

831 Magazine, By Mark C. Anderson Two-time heavyweight champ and former 49er top a rare boxing benefit. They don’t make too many underdogs like this; former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Dana Stubblefield is a world champion weighing more than 300 pounds. But Stubblefield, an All-Pro defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers during a dominant run that peaked with the ‘ 95 Title, is just that, given he’s facing two-time heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe. And theirs is just one of the uniquely intriguing—and unlikely—match ups at Saturday’s Celebrity Boxing for Charity at the Monterey Hyatt Regency. Case in point: It seems

Feast. Food, Wine & Restaurants June 15-21, 2000 The Colors of Italy By Catherine Coburn Little Napoli is big on fresh, rustic flavors.     Dining review For a chef/proprietor who never set out to get into the restaurant business, Richard Pepe has surprised even himself. Born in New Jersey to a big Italian family that saw aunts, uncles and grandmothers all competing with one another for the best Bolognese and eggplant parmesan—a contest that would be decided over a course of year spent around the Sunday dinner table—Pepe grew up around the fresh, rustic flavors brought over from Napoli. A baker by trade, by the early

Carmel restauranteur Rich Pepe is doing something cool with his high school buddy Joe Pantoliano of Matrix and Sopranos fame. As Pepe writes in an e-mail, they've been teaming up for a while. "Joey, known as Joey Pants and an Emmy Award winning actor, was my original partner in my food ventures over 20 years ago," Pepe says. "But even back in our youth, whether it was delivering newspapers or bussing tables in the high school cafeteria, we like to say we've been in business since the 60s." Now they're starting a new venture, a response to all the requests Pepe has gotten

New Péppoli Restaurant Extends a Warm Welcome Italy’s rich tradition, culture and cuisine join in a welcoming embrace at Péppoli at Pebble Beach, the newest restaurant at The Inn at Spanish Bay. Authentic Tuscan-style dishes pair with a wine-centered, casual atmosphere to create memorable dining. Opened in January,  Péppoli is named for a wine estate of Piero Antinori, called “the most important winemaker in Italy” by Wine Spectato, June 1999. Recreating the ambiance of a Tuscan villa, the dining room has a grilling villa with a raised fireplace and open spit for roasting nightly specials, two large rustic tables that seat