Ben Spungin & Cal Stamenov

Chefs, Cella Restaurant
Monterey, California -

Ben Spungin is the Chef / Owner of Alta Bakery and Cella Restaurant, located in downtown Monterey at the Historic Cooper Molera Adobe.

Ben’s cooking—hinged on the philosophy of locally grown, seasonal ingredients, and bright flavors. On the Monterey Peninsula for over a decade, Ben has worked up and down the coast from the epic Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur to the Bernardus Lodge. After years apart Chef Ben and Chef Cal are reunited once more as Chef Cal takes the helm at Cella Restaurant.

Cal Stamenov, who’s built the backbone of his depth and breadth in the kitchen working under such notable culinary talents as Alain Ducasse of the three-star Michelin restaurant, Louis XV at the Hotel de Paris, Monaco; Pierre Gagnaire in St. Etienne, France; Masa Koboiashi at Masa’s Restaurant in San Francisco; Jean-Louis Palladin at Restaurant Jean-Louis in Washington D.C.; and Michel Richard at Citrus Restaurant.A farmer a heart, Stamenov forages his own backyard – which includes two acres of organic fruits and vegetables, three bee boxes with domestic and wild Italian honey bees, 150+ fruit trees and a cache of 13 Plymouth, Barred Rock, Rhode Island, Speckled Sussex and Ameraucana chickens whose eggs always make a menu debut.