A Hyperlocalized Dining Experience On California’s Central Coast

Behind the Line: Conversations With Our Chefs

Sometimes it takes the experience and sensibility of a local to bring out the best in a place: Somebody with deep roots in the community who can link up with fishermen for that day’s catch, grow herbs that take on properties of the microclimate, and who is instilled with the self-reliance and wherewithal to make the most of the area’s natural assets. For Monterey Bay, California, that local is Central Coast native Ben Hillan, executive chef at Salt Wood Kitchen & Oysterette at The Sanctuary Beach Resort. 

“It’s not just about working in kitchens,” he says of his approach to creating a unique dining experience with a strong sense of place. “It’s about growing up here, with an emphasis on community and understanding what the land and the ocean have to offer us. We’re in a really amazing region where we get some of the freshest produce and seafood. It’s a chef’s dream to get the best of both worlds.”

The region’s bounty is one that envelops Hillan’s daily life, in and outside of the kitchen. On his hour-long drive from Santa Cruz to the property that borders the protected Marina Dunes Preserve regional park, Hillan passes through acres of California’s agricultural hub — including Watsonville and Castroville — which triggers his creative flow. “I see the artichokes, brussel sprouts, and strawberries growing, or that fennel was just planted and can be expected soon, and that really influences the way I structure a menu.” All four ingredients were featured in Salt Wood’s spring menu, which included a strawberry pie so good that his team could barely keep up with demand.

Beyond meditating on heirloom produce as part of his commute, Hillan puts emphasis on cultivating close relationships with these regional growers to “get a better understanding of what’s growing in the ground.” These relationships not only help the chef secure the freshest ingredients in the area but also give him the flexibility to pivot when needed while maintaining a high standard of excellence. 

“Last year, we had a heat wave that cut the local asparagus season about a month short,” he says of intel gathered from local farmers. Asparagus is a star ingredient of a thoughtfully made appetizer that Salt Wood diners can’t get enough of; It uses a locally produced goat’s milk yogurt (which the chef describes as earthy, sweeter, and fattier than Greek) dusted with citrus zest, aioli made with local tarragon, marcona almonds, local Manchego style sheep’s milk cheese and bachelor button flowers (grown onsite) to complement wood-grilled stalks. His solution to the upcoming shortage? Keep the menu local (and continue to support area farmers) by shifting to artichokes. 

“As a chef, it’s easy to think, ‘If I can’t get asparagus from my local farmer, then I can go on my Broadline produce company’s website and get it there,’” he says. “What you’ll order is what you can technically call asparagus. But there’s no comparison to the flavor of what you get hyperlocally, where the asparagus is grown two months out of the year and picked yesterday/cut fresh. It’s just so much more tender.”

Similarly, Hillan leverages tight relationships with local fishermen to enhance classic dishes to next-level fare. “We source our fish from just ten miles north of here in a port called Moss Landing. If the fish is caught in the morning, we’ll get it that afternoon — it’s that fresh,” he says. The chef uses fresh-from-the-boat rockfish brined in a malt vinegar solution, battered with Pilsner beer, and served with housemade tartar and charred lemon for a Fish and Chips dish that’s “a lot higher quality than you’d normally get,” he says.

Sustainability That Pushes Creativity

If Hillan’s roots to the region’s resources keep veggies and seafood on the brain, the values with which he was raised further imprint a Central Coast sensibility in his DNA. For Hillan, sustainability has never been a buzzword, and in his kitchen, waste is minimized; whole animals and plants are used. It’s a practice that goes way back for Hillan. “Growing up in Santa Cruz, we definitely have a hippie culture in which there has to be a purpose to what you do and how you’re using [items] so as to not allow waste,” he says. 

He remembers working a seasonal job in high school, long before his ambitions as a chef, and turning out a Thanksgiving spread for the holiday one year. “The next day, we had about 15 whole turkeys that were cooked off and basically ready to serve. So I asked our general manager: ‘What’s the plan for these? How do you want me to package them?’” Hillan was told to toss them in the garbage. 

“At first, I thought it was joking, but soon found out he was not.” He offered to drive them to a homeless shelter for donation, but was rebuffed. “That sat with me and was just not okay. So, this sounds bad, but I stole the turkeys and drove them to the shelter for donation, then went back and put in my two weeks’ notice,” he says.

Today, Hillan instills the same values he had as a teen to guide sustainability in the Salt Wood kitchen. “Yes, we do a beautiful 36-hour, bone-in Ribeye Tomahawk,” he says. “But for us, it’s not just about the prettiest cut of meat. We’re going to use the whole animal.” The same consideration is used for produce: After shucking 10 pounds of English peas recently, Hillan opted to make a stock from the shells (using leeks, onion, celery, and aromatics) rather than chucking them in the compost pile. 

“It turned into a really sweet, kind of earthy pea stock that we blended into a Thai basil pea puree,” he says of a scallop dish that incorporates sunflower seed crumble, jamon serrano, preserved lemon, and shaved asparagus. “We also used a bit of the stock to finish the scallops as well. Those subtle flavor notes enhanced the dish instead of being wasted in compost. It’s about thinking, ‘How can we use this the best way possible that makes us feel proud and happy?’” 

This way of thinking, and the unique dishes that result, extends beyond the Salt Wood restaurant and onto the resort grounds. With Hillan’s vision, massive raised flower beds, once run ragged with weeds and overgrown mint, have been replanted with basil. It’s a move that produced an unexpected effect, thanks to Monterey’s microclimate: Sweet, earthy notes typical of the herb were tempered by salinity from the ocean air, perfect for flavoring pesto without salt. 

Cultivating a Holistically Relaxed Culture (and Diner Experience)

Of course, Hillan is not the only chef advocating for local, farm-to-table menus and sustainable practices. Where his approach becomes more singular is in how he runs a kitchen and experiments with menu items: with a laid-back cool that could only come from a California kid. 

Instead of running the kind of cutthroat kitchen the industry is known for (and that puts viewers of The Bear on edge), Hillan cultivates a more relaxed and playful culture at Salt Wood by encouraging creativity and whimsy from his staff. This includes playing a game among cooks to upgrade their favorite childhood snacks, something that’s resulted in celery stalks filled with peanut butter bone marrow mousse and topped with a brandy-soaked cherry as a play on ants on a log. 

“The stigma around restaurants is that they’re very stressful, and I view my role as alleviating that stress as much as possible,” he says. “Creating a culture where we can keep it light and fun, but still focused, while we work is important. It also influences a lot of the menu design, the idea of taking something simple and turning it into a whole new thing.”

Perhaps the biggest trick pulled by Hillan and the Salt Wood team is translating this convivial yet relaxed approach to the front-of-house experience. It’s a tone that subliminally hits guests as they walk past the mood-stabilizing lavender, herbs, and edible flowers at the front entrance of the restaurant and asserts itself as they enter the dining room, where the cozy aromatics of a wood-burning fire cushion the space.

Diners can sit five feet from the wood-burning grill (what Hillan calls ‘the heart of the restaurant’) and chat with cooks as they shuck and grill fresh oysters, or just gaze at the dunes from floor-to-ceiling windows and take in the nature preserve. It’s a feel-good experience that affords the very best of Monterey Bay living — and Hillan wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chef Hillan’s hyperlocal vision anchors the menu at Salt Wood, but it’s just one piece of the experience at The Sanctuary Beach Resort. Nestled along the protected dunes, every moment here blends coastal tranquility with the effortless warmth of Monterey Bay.