The shellfish that fed Carmel's artists' colony, now farmed in Monterey Bay and served as tender pan-seared steaks in the village's seafood rooms.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Abalone is the founding dish of bohemian Carmel. In the early 1900s the artists' colony pried the shellfish off the rocks below the village, pounded it on driftwood and grilled it at beach bonfires, chanting verses of the Abalone Song as it cooked. Overharvesting closed the wild fishery, so today's abalone is farm-raised in Monterey Bay, and kitchens like Flying Fish Grill in Carmel Plaza treat it as the luxury it became.
Common allergens: Shellfish
Tip from the editors. The whole dish is won or lost on timing: past a minute a side, abalone seizes up, so plate straight from the pan.
Flying Fish Grill cooks East-West seafood on Carmel Plaza's lower level, running from salmon and lobster to abalone and clay pot dinners nightly.
Signature: Abalone
Order: A clay pot dinner, the house's signature format.
Tip: Book by phone between 09:00 and 16:00; the timbered room is small, split dinners carry a $10 charge, and the patio takes walk-ins.
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