Shot taken at the Lysakov Gallery in Pacific Grove - 65° Magazine

FEATURE 88
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reshaped the lakes
and shored up the
dock on the lower
lake. Tom Adcock of
Alco Water brought
in a line to supply
water. Fish and
Game worked with us to help design the lower
lake for fishing. We’ll stock it and offer programs to
all the kids in the community. It’ll be the only place
around here where young people can come and
learn to fish. The Salinas Valley Fly Fishers Association
is partnering with us.
The upper lake will be more of an environmental
habitat. I’d like to see those lakes used, at times, as
biological classrooms.
CD you mentioned a vocational school. What will
that entail?
JP The next big piece we want to do is a large
vocational building. It’ll be called the Ted Taylor
Vocational Center and will cost about three million
dollars. We’ve raised almost half the money for
it already. Joanne Taylor-Johnson, whose family
founded and owned Fresh Express, has been
leading the charge.
We want to have a farm out here and grow our
own vegetables. The kids will learn to process
them in the vocational center, and then prepare
and serve them in the culinary school. We also plan
to have welding, fabrication, tractor mechanics
and a carpentry shop. The Taylor family and Taylor
Farms have made major contributions to this
project, along with the D’Arrigo family and Howard
The Gates of Opportunity Citronelle
Leach, the former ambassador to France. Between
those people, we have a commitment of about 1.3
million dollars towards our vocational school. I’m
hoping to have the culinary school open at the end
of this year and the vocational school open at the
end of next year.
CD How are the kids coming along? Any
success stories?
JP Success stories? We’ve got a lot of them.
Our latest statistics show a 57 percent reduction
in recidivism after six months and an 87 percent
reduction after one year. And we’re following
through on what the kids do after they’re done
here. A few have gone on to college; some are
going into the trades. I got one young man a job
at Salinas Steel Builders and he’s worked there for
a year and a half, doing excellent. He came and
spoke at our gymnasium opening.
We have job slots for kids when they leave here—
which no one else offers—and we want to expand
that. The D’Arrigo Brothers Company is setting up
an internship program. Don Chapin has hired some
of our people. We have a lot of connections that
give us good resources.
CD Thanks for talking with me. I hope this article
helps keep you visible.
JP We’re getting a lot more visibility than we ever
had before. People are realizing that the problem
of these young kids going the wrong way isn’t
necessarily just a police problem or the court’s
problem. It’s a problem for all of us. I’m seeing
more and more positive response from Peninsula
organizations and businesses. People are
starting to realize that we’ve been locking up our
workforce! They’re less inclined to try and isolate
the problem as “those kids over there,” and are
now saying, “Hey, this is our future generation.”
The concept of building more prisons and increasing
the prison budget isn’t working. No one feels
any safer. And the prisons aren’t doing a very good
job of getting people trained so they can come out
and be productive members of society. It makes a
lot more sense to put money into programs early
on. And in the long run, it’s cheaper. °
You can learn more about Rancho Cielo by calling
(831) 444-3503, or visit their website at:
www.ranchocielosalinas.com
CONTINUED FROM PG 53
on the more traditional.
For example,
Keene offers a
braised short rib
cooked for 72-hours
dish that he says
“eats like a filet.” (My
wife agreed with him after trying that dish.) He also
cooks the abalone that makes regular appearances
on the Citronelle menu for an hour and a half to
create a tender and moist alternative to the usual
quick-cook approach.
While he is pledged to “avoiding excessive sauces,”
he knows and teaches that a key to successful
cooking is understanding how to build a sauce.
Starting with the right stock and knowing what
kind of dish the sauce will be served with, Keene
says, allows one’s creativity to play imaginatively
with taste combinations and is a great joy. “I like to
create excitement while I’m cooking good food,”
he says.
Meanwhile, his customers in the Citronelle’s nicely
appointed dining room enjoy the forest-like experience
while they listen to haunting and enchanting
music with a strong European jazz flavor. The wait
staff are well-trained and service-oriented. Our
waiter, Brian, was solicitous and humorous at the
same time as he and the rest of the dining room
crew made sure our meal experience was seamless.
We found the menu contained no dishes that
one could call “ordinary.” We began with an
appetizer duo consisting of an escargot crumble
and a fascinating dish that looked like a quarter
of a hard-boiled egg but which Brian assured us
was white mozzarella cheese wrapped around a
yellow tomato “yolk.” After asparagus soup and
abalone warm-ups, my wife ate the aforementioned
short ribs with great enthusiasm while I thoroughly
enjoyed a delicate Sable Fish prepared with a misobased
sauce that was perfect for the seafood.
Reflecting the playfulness of the menu, I enjoyed an
exquisite dessert dish labeled simply “Chocolate”
with a sub-title “Le Kit Kat Bar” while my wife took
great pleasure in a stand-alone Mango soufflé.
DEEP FAMILY ROOTS
Interestingly, both Violi and Keene trace their roots
back to the hospitality business. Keene’s mother
ran a hotel in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while he was
growing up while Violi’s parents were the owners
of Violi’s Restaurant in Massena, Ny. His two
brothers still own and operate that restaurant, which
has been in the same location for 60 years.
Violi has spent his entire career in the hospitality
business, the first 14 years after graduating from
Cornell working for the Hyatt chain, followed by six
years with Ritz-Carlton. He came to Citronelle from
a five-year stint running the Swissotel in Chicago.
A bachelor, Violi spends the vast majority of his time
tending to the Carmel Valley Ranch property and its
250 employees.
Keene began his career working for the Ritz-
Carlton chain in D.C., Atlanta, Arizona, Hong Kong,
and finally at Laguna Nigel. After working at the
Ojai Valley Inn in Santa Barbara, Keene enjoyed
a four-year stint as chef on a private island in the
Florida Keys. It was there that LXR recruited him
for a restaurant in the Keys before offering him the
Carmel Valley Ranch opportunity.
He enjoys biking and gardening and also loves
golf, which he doesn’t get much chance to play
despite working on the site of one of the better
courses in this golf-rich area. “I’m here from 9 a.m.
to 11 p.m.,” he says, “which just doesn’t leave time
for much of anything else.” °
DINE 89