August 17, 2024 – Colin Moody is the guy who volunteers to drive deep into the Big Sur coast to lug burners, pots and cutting boards down a steep trail to stand on the beach and cook whatever the spearfishers bring ashore.

This is the guy who shows up at Pebble Beach Food & Wine and says, “How about vegan ‘bone marrow’ with a blowtorch?”

This is the chef who was the clear candidate to lead the kitchen at Big Sur Food & Wine’s thoughtful, absurd Dalí SURrealistic Dinner.

“Colin is one of our OGs,” says Elsa Rivera, CFO of BSFW. “He understands our crazy creative world – and his talents give him an understanding of how to use his own Creativity.”

He was clearly in his element at the Dalí dinner, making “eyeballs” out of salmon mousse, squirting sauces on them like paint, preparing a bone-in Wellington inspired by “Celestial Elephant,” and keeping the prep and service teams relaxed.

“People cope better when they’re not tense,” he says. “Plus, Dalí was non-linear. We knew it was going to be quite an evening.”

His involvement in the community is one of the reasons he is considered a “found treasure.” (And, by the way, that’s rarely people, although I can think of two examples: a Brooklyn pizza maker and Meals on Wheels’ Woman of the Year.)

Moody also scores points with a quotable mix of open seriousness – “Not everyone is cut out for this; it’s like my long-time sous chef Joe Martin, who always says when a culinary student comes in with his knife bag: ‘What’s that about? You’ll have to do the dishes for the next two weeks.'” – and irreverent modesty.

“You are not as important as you think,” he says. “We live on a tiny atom, on my scrotum. We are nothing.”

All in all, it is enough to dispel the accusation that he worked mainly in private clubs.

I understand why he did it, including because of access to toys (“Let’s get a barrel smoker for the tournament!”) and job security (“I thought food service and sewers would always be well stocked. COVID proved otherwise, but clubs were able to stay open”).

His time at venues like the Monterey Peninsula Country Club and most recently The Club at Pasadera increases the anticipation for his public appearances.

“When people call about a festival, all I hear is, ‘You can do whatever you want,’ and the rest is blah blah,” he says. “And I think, ‘I’m getting weird!'”

The vegan bone marrow was made from parsnips that he flambéed to order in the PBFW area – “It’s fun to scare people with fire,” he said – and he topped the smoked “bone” with pickled candy cap mushrooms, crunchy cordyceps and truffled carrots, which many consider Was Meat.

“So many people say, ‘I can’t eat meat or dairy,'” he says. “At first I was bitter and thought, ‘You came to a food show, this is on you!’ Then I decided to see it more as a challenge.”

It is an indication that many successful creatives first focus on entertaining their first audience – themselves – before worrying about anyone else.

And he’s clearly enjoying the venture. The fact that he has a new challenge ahead of him makes me less angry that he’s moving from Pasadera to the prestigious Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. A little.

“Food is more than food – it is a language of connection,” he wrote in a farewell letter to members. “Please know that I will always feel connected to Pasadera and its wonderful people.”

Glen Hammer, a longtime local hospitality expert, has studied the region’s dining landscape like no other and has witnessed Moody’s honors from the Monterey chapter of the American Culinary Federation, Les Toques Blanches Lyonnaises and the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, the oldest and largest food and wine society in the world.

“He was asked to be part of all these events because he is such a leader, he is creative and he presents outstanding cooking,” Hammer says. “He is just a world-class guy and I will miss him as a friend. It is a loss for us and a gain for Sherwood.”

Hammer and I agree on a few other things that define Moody: That we haven’t seen the last of him in this area. (He and his wife keep their house in Monterey, and he has an emeritus invitation from the likes of BSFW and PBFW.)

And he won’t stop creating a good atmosphere, with or without a blowtorch.

“He doesn’t want to rest,” says Hammer. “He wants to continue to broaden his horizons.”

In that sense, Moody has expanded my own toolbox, both in the kitchen and with an eye toward the future.

He was my first port of call for a Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust article about the tricks of local chefs, back when salmon and crab availability was better.

I’ll include his tips on halibut, rockfish and sand dabs – all fresh and locally available at the time of this article’s publication – so we’re left with flavorful comfort.

Down in Big Sur, he’s turned the freedivers’ catch into stone crab soup, brown-butter-fried limpet fillets, and a scallop and rockfish ceviche. (To be fair, my offshore kelp harvest was the real inspiration for the dish.)

He also alternated between making jokes at sommelier Toby Rowland Jones’ expense and talking about dealing with uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 – thoughts that are gaining in importance as he gains more empowerment through this move.

“We know what we want to do and what we want to be a part of,” Moody said. “It’s about sticking to it and being ready with our skills and experience. The path ahead may not be clear, but our intentions can be.”

Dragon head

There are so many different species of rockfish on the West Coast that marine scientists at CSU Monterey Bay use them to study how habitat affects evolution. No matter what species of rockfish you’re looking at, Moody says, “The rockfish we have here are delicious whole when fried!” He describes this preparation as “easy money.”

Here’s how: Have the fishmonger gut, scale and remove the gills from the fish, or do it yourself. Preheat your deep fryer to 350 degrees – or fill a deep pan with enough oil to fry the whole fish at the same temperature.

Using a sharp knife, cut vertically from the tail—and from the top (or back)—to the belly, making sure to hit the vertebrae in the center. (This is where the sharp knife comes in.) Cut about 1.5 inches deep, moving from the tail to the head.

Sprinkle the fish all over and inside with sea salt and lemon zest. Mix some Old Bay seasoning and garlic salt with rice flour and lightly coat the fish in it. Carefully place the fish in the oil and fry until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.

Then grab your favorite hot sauce, chili sauce or teriyaki sauce and get started. “It’s time for some good, old-fashioned fish pecking,” says Moody.

Halibut

A little secret about locally served halibut…many chefs prefer to use Alaskan halibut, even though they can get fantastic – and fresher – local California halibut. (Reminder! It’s always good to ask where your seafood comes from, and always ask for local!) That’s because thinner California halibut is a little harder to cook without drying it out. Here’s how Moody avoids that without stress.

Prepare sea salt, white pepper and rice flour and the following ingredients:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place a cast iron or other ovenproof skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the stove and heat over medium-high heat. Lightly dust the halibut fillet with sea salt, white pepper, and rice flour. When the oil in the cast iron skillet is hot, carefully place the fillet in and sear. Add the thyme sprig and crushed garlic. Let sauté for 1 1/2 minutes. Flip. Add the butter, shallot, tomato, and capers. Stir. Add the wine and squeeze half a lemon. Place in the oven for 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Place the halibut on the plate and pour the remaining ingredients from the pan over it. As a final important step, Moody quickly adds, “Enjoy with the rest of the Chardonnay!”

Sand blobs

Two words, according to the chef: “Taco time!”

The procedure here is almost as simple as this battle cry: Lightly add panko and Mexican Tajin seasoning. Fry your sand flakes in a skillet with rice bran oil or avocado oil, 2 minutes per side.

Heat up some tortillas, prepare a slaw with limes, roasted jalapeños, pico de gallo and avocado slices and you’re in for a delicious meal.