Arts & Entertainment parlor favorites such as “If You’ve Only Got a Moustache.” Be on the lookout for him around town for the sound of quality musicianship. BEST COFFEE SHOP East Village Cafe 498 Washington St., Monterey (831) 296-0886, eastvillagemonterey. square.site Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic stories of frontier life in the Little House on the Prairie series often describe the old-fashioned food they ate—taffy made with snow, salt pork and coffee, consumed by all ages while traveling through snow in a covered wagon. Luckily for us, we only have to wander to downtown Monterey’s East Village Cafe for organic coffee and housemade chai, in a setting far more comfortable and inviting than a wagon. East Village delivers the most satisfying version of this frontier favorite, no cornmeal mush required. BEST LOCAL THEATER COMPANY Pacific Repertory Theatre Monte Verde Street between 8th and 9th avenues, Carmel (831) 622-0100, pacrep.org Life in the Wild West called for collaboration—you wouldn’t want to travel in a lone covered wagon. Same goes for a great theatre production, which requires not just great acting, but behind-the-scenes collaborators from set designers and lighting technicians to makeup artists and directors. PacRep brings all these elements together, performing on one of the oldest surviving outdoor theaters in California (the Outdoor Forest Theater) and in the newly remodeled Golden Bough Theatre. From big family musicals (The Wizard of Oz) to works by Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett, PacRep regularly produces performances that easily outdo the melodramas popular in the Old West. BEST THEATER PRODUCTION Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill New Canon Theatre Co., newcanontheatre.com Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill was part of the New Canon Theatre Co.’s busy and remarkable 2024 season. With local actress Malinda DeRouen as Billie Holiday and local pianist John Wineglass as musician Jimmy Powers, it moved the audience to tears. The play, written by Lanie Robertson, depicts some tragic events in the life of Holiday. It premiered in 1986 at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and soon played off-Broadway. The play opened on Broadway in 2014 and in London’s West End in 2017, and then came to in Carmel in 2024 with a unique set at Sunset Center, immersing the audience in the seedy bar Emerson’s Bar & Grill in Philadelphia in 1959. BEST MUSEUM Monterey Museum of Art 559 Pacific St., Monterey (831) 372-5477, montereyart.org The experience is always changing at the Monterey Museum of Art, which presents 16 main exhibits each year, divided by four seasons. Smaller exhibitions and the museum’s own treasures are often on display, along with guest exhibits representing different eras and collectors and styles. But that’s just the beginning. It’s not just about the likes of Charles M. Russell or Frederic Remington. The museum offers workshops, meetings with artists, activities for local students and annual events, such as a community block party in the spring and Illuminado holiday exhibit in December. It’s a place for viewing art, and a place for gathering. BEST MOVIE THEATER Lighthouse Cinema and Event Center 525 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove (831) 641-0747, lighthousecinema4events.com With the days of the Wild West still fresh in the minds of Americans, The Great Train Robbery was released in 1903, a silent picture credited as the first Western. Since then, more than 3,000 Westerns have been made, and no doubt more than a few have been shown at Lighthouse Cinema and Event Center. It’s a classic small-town movie hall, more personal than the big shopping center movie-plexes. Besides screening the most current film releases, Lighthouse Cinema hosts retro nights with classic movies of the past, as well as film festivals, author talks and more. It’s the eclectic mix and friendly atmosphere that spurred readers to vote for it as the best. 38 BEST OF MONTEREY COUNTY® 2024 montereycountynow.com/bestof ’24 Thanks for VoTing Us besT place for day drinking 22 dUsT bowl Taps | beer To-go | food TrUck heated outdoor patio & more! Tap depoT opeN daiLY 290 figueroa street, moNtereY oN the moNtereY recreatioN traiL 831.641.7002 | dustbowLbrewiNg.com TAP DEPOT OPEN DAILY 22 DUST BOWL TAPS | BEER TO-GO | FOOD TRUCK CORN HOLE, HEATED OUTDOOR PATIO & MORE! 831.641.7002 | DUSTBOWLBREWING.COM 290 FIGUEROA STREET, MONTEREY ON THE MONTEREY RECREATION TRAIL 22 DUST BOWL TAPS | BEER TO-GO | FOOD TRUCK CORN HOLE, HEATED OUTDOOR PATIO & MORE! 831.641.7002 | DUSTBOWLBREWING.COM 290 FIGUEROA STREET, MONTEREY ON THE MONTEREY RECREATION TRAIL
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==