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Carmel Culinary Week expands into village streets, Visit Carmel says
Summary
Visit Carmel executive director Amy Herzog told council members that the fifth annual Carmel Culinary Week will include street events, about 30–35 participating restaurants and multiple ticketed events across the village; organizers urged advance ticket purchases and thanked city crews for logistical support.
Carmel-by-the-Sea — Amy Herzog, executive director of Visit Carmel, told city officials the fifth annual Carmel Culinary Week will expand beyond restaurant dining to include two street events and roughly 30–35 restaurants offering specials and events during the week.
Herzog said organizers are “taking it to the streets,” adding that the expanded programming is a response to feedback from both restaurants and residents asking for more shared community events in the village. “We have such an amazing, whimsical, charming, unique spaces, public spaces,” she said.
The week’s scheduled events include La Dolce Vita, described as an Italian family harvest-table dinner on South Dolores near Ocean, and Boho Bites and Beats, a Friday night event with street performers, artists and food on the block of Dolores lined with galleries. A Soirée by the Sea is scheduled at La Playa Hotel midweek. Most events are ticketed; Herzog said organizers strongly recommend purchasing tickets in advance and noted that ticket sales typically accelerate in the final 10 days to two weeks before each event.
Organizers framed the week as both a community-oriented program and a tourism driver for a traditionally slow period in early June. “This has been an event that we really kinda build, you know, mostly for locals — Monterey County residents — but we are getting a lot of people that are returning visitors from the Bay Area,” Herzog said. She said the series encourages overnight stays, supports restaurants and hotels, and aims to reinforce Carmel’s food-and-wine identity in Monterey County.
Herzog thanked city crews and public-safety staff for logistical support — including banner installation and street signage — saying those efforts “silently all happens” and are essential to running the events.
The week opens with a plaza kickoff party (VIP access before general admission), a farmers-market culinary event and a culinary showdown in the park; organizers also noted a community event, “Pancakes with the PD,” at the police department the morning after the kickoff. Specific ticket availability and event details are on Visit Carmel’s website.
Organizers described the street closures as limited in scope — roughly a half-block — and emphasized the village-focused, boutique nature of the program rather than a large-scale festival.
Planning and operational details beyond what Visit Carmel described — including exact street-closure permits, traffic-management plans or city approvals — were not specified in the meeting record.
The presentation in the council meeting segment concluded with thanks to city staff and an encouragement for local participation.
