On my last visit to Monterey (thanksgiving timeframe) I made it a point to stop by the Breakwater deli where I was fiending for a smoked salmon sandwich. I walk in and am politely greeted to come on in....WTF is going on here? Where's the rude bark of, "What do you want?"..Where's the evil stare of the angry Russian lady when you take too long to decide what you want? Where is the absolute absence of any customer service whatsoever? What happened?
Turns out that the ARL (Angry Russian lady...ask any Monterey diver who that is and they'll know right away) sold the business to some polite jagoff who actually respects his customers like 4 years ago. Really? It's been that long? Before any of you spout off with, "Well the menu should be the same"...No, it wasn't. Here's why: Her husband was a classically trained chef at the CIA, they had a serious smoker setup outside in the seating area where the smells would waft across the parking lot and instantly instill hunger pangs in any diver just surfacing. When I visited, the smoker was gone. In its place were two weak home depot GAS grills. Gas? Are you f-ing kidding me? And where was the picture of her and her kids on the wall whom all shared the same scowl that, no matter how bad your day was, would instantly bring a smile to your face and then side splitting laughter as it was discussed outside eating probably the best SMOKED GODDAM SALMON SANDWICH ever. Yeah, I said it...EVER.
The vis was 50+ feet that day and jesus h on a stick do I miss diving Monterey...but it just wasn't the same.