Spring 2024

158 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 4 W hen Chef Soerke Peters was a young child growing up in Germany, he knew he wanted to be a chef.While other chil- dren would dress up as astronauts, firemen or policemen for Carnival, Peters always chose a chef costume. Equipped with a huge wooden spoon his father made for him, and a chef ’s hat and jacket courtesy of his mother, Peters baffled the other children with his choice. “I don’t think they knew what to make of me,” he laughs. After high school, Peters completed an intense apprenticeship in Germany to become a chef, then worked in Michelin Star restaurants throughout Germany and was executive chef for the first world fair in Russia/Siberia. He made his way from Europe to New York, where he worked in Italian restaurants for 10 years, ultimate- ly becoming corporate chef for 16 restaurants across the U.S. In 2001, he moved to Los Angeles, working at several top restaurants before moving to Carmel to take over Basil Seasonal Dining. He moved on to Village Corner and Etats-Unis in Carmel before opening Mezzaluna Pasteria & Mozzarella Bar in Pacific Grove in 2019 with partner Amy Stouffer. Peters welcomes guests to his popular establishment with homemade pastas that are irre- sistibly delicious. Q: When did you become interested in cooking? A: I grew up in Germany and I always cooked with my grandmother. We had our own vegetable garden, chickens and pigs. I’d go out and pick potatoes and carrots.When we wanted to make a pie, I’d pick raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Nobody in my family was in the restaurant business but I wanted to be a chef since I was a child. Q: Where did you study? A: After I graduated high school, I started my three-year apprenticeship to be a chef. It was tough, boot camp all day long, six days a week. Q: Take us through your journey in the restaurant industry. A: I began learning German, Continental and French cuisine during my apprenticeship in Germany, working at a restaurant right on the coast where we would pull 500-pound halibuts out of the ocean.Then I moved to Munich, working in Michelin Star rated restaurants. In Europe, you sign a contract to work in a restaurant for a year, then you move on—with no hard feelings—to further your career. I worked as a pastry chef in a three- Michelin Star restaurant. Next, I moved to New York, my favorite city in the world. I was there for 10 years, where I learned to love Italian food. I opened a restaurant right before September 11th, so that didn’t work out. I moved to Los Angeles and worked there for 10 years. Back then, NewYork was more of a foodie town and LA was more like a “I’ll have the dressing on the side” Beverly Hills kind of thing. They were also a couple of years behind having the availability of good product from Italy like I had in NewYork at that time. I moved to Carmel to take over a restaurant called Basil, then I was opening Etats-Unis when COVID closed everything down. Now, with Mezzaluna, I’m back to my roots with Italian food. Q: I remember Basil for being an early adopter of green practices.You also received the “Ocean Hero” award from the Monterey Bay Aquarium for your sustainable seafood practices. A: All my restaurants are certified green. We are also Blue Zone approved, which means we offer healthier choices.There are five zones in the world where a lot of people live to be over 100, and a lot of them are in Italy. In Sardinia, they don’t eat refined flour and have whole wheat breads and pasta. They eat very little meat and have some fish. They do drink wine!They have mostly sheep’s milk cheese, and also olives and olive oil.The diet is mostly vegetable based. We created our menu around this, also using ingredients like capers and Pecorino cheese, and we offer an eggplant Bolognese (along with a meat- based version). People are so surprised when they find out there is no meat in that sauce. I’m shocked by how much we sell of it. I thought there would only be a few people eating it and there are tons of people ordering it. It’s amazing.We offer the same for kids: they get a healthy menu. A Pasta Lover’s Paradise in Pacific Grove Chef Soer ke Peter s Creates Del icious Di shes at Mezzaluna B Y B R E T T WI L BUR I learned to make desserts when I was working in Munich at a three-Michelin Star restaurant, and I would start at 9AM and go until 2AM the next day creating pastries.