Late this summer, early on a Wednesday evening, Sal Tedesco was scrubbing the kitchen at Paluca Trattoria while Mike Yaley stood nearby in street clothes, asking questions as the staff came in for their shifts. Monterey County NOW described the scene as a "calm and orderly" handoff. Tedesco had spent 32 years at 6 Fisherman's Wharf, and on September 1 he retired.
What got him to sell was a lease date, not a closing sign. He told the outlet that his lease with the city was coming up for renewal, and once he weighed his options, selling made the most sense.
That detail explains how Old Fisherman's Wharf changes. The wharf sits on city-owned tidelands, so the businesses along it are city tenants. Their turnover follows lease renewals, assignments, and council agendas. This fall, several of those changes are underway at the same time. On October 6, the City Council also voted to let more of them go through without coming back to the council.
The Captain's Gig Name Comes Back to 6 Fisherman's Wharf
The handoff at Paluca reaches back further than one owner's retirement. Tedesco started at the restaurant in 1994 as general manager, back when it was The Captain's Gig. The legendary Monterey chef John Pisto opened it in the early 1960s, and it was known for fish and chips. In the 2000s Tedesco and his wife, Ashley, bought it and turned it into an Italian seafood spot.
Yaley has history there too. His wife's family was part of the ownership for more than 20 years. He trained next to Tedesco starting in July, and the kitchen team and most of the servers stayed on. By the September 25 issue of the Carmel Pine Cone, the new owners had renamed the restaurant The Gig and kept the menu and the longtime chef.
"Seafood and pasta. I'm not going to fix something that's not broken." Mike Yaley, describing The Gig's concept to Monterey County NOW
Quincy Yaley spoke to locals in particular. "We want locals to know they have a place on the wharf, that we'll always be here for them," she told the Pine Cone.
So the food, the cooks, and the room stayed the same. What changed was the name over the door and the family holding the lease. You could walk past without noticing anything, and that is how a well-run wharf lease transfer usually looks.
The Biggest Change on the Wharf Hasn't Opened Yet
The largest tenant change on Wharf 1 has been in progress far longer than the Paluca sale. In November 2024, KSBW reported that the city had signed a lease with San Pedro Fish Market for the former Scales Seafood & Steaks building, with a projected opening in 2026.
The approvals since then have come in order. In January, city Leasing and Property Manager Janna Aldrete told Edible Monterey Bay that the San Pedro team had submitted building permit plans for extensive tenant improvements. She said, "Depending on how long it takes for the various permits to be issued, the City anticipates construction will start in spring or early summer." On February 24, 2026, the Planning Commission voted 6-0, with one commissioner absent, to approve the exterior alterations at 30 Fisherman's Wharf. Commissioners praised the design, and nobody from the public spoke.
Even so, a project page from the TriStone Group dated August 2026 still called the Monterey location "planned" and noted that its images were renderings. No opening date has been announced. The San Pedro team itself has described the space as large, and the restaurant is coming to a wharf where most changes happen quietly. It will be the exception.
Two Whale-Watch Counters, One Proposed Leaseholder
The next proposed change was on the October 20 City Council agenda. Chris Arcoleo holds the city leases at 84 Fisherman's Wharf, Concession 18, and at 48 Fisherman's Wharf, Concessions 22 to 23 and 30. In the council packet, Arcoleo proposes assigning both primary leases to Monterey Bay Whale Watch Company LLC, managed by Harry Kaufman.
From the boardwalk, those are two familiar storefronts:
- 84 Fisherman's Wharf. The wharf's own directory lists Monterey Bay Whale Watch here. It runs year-round trips led by marine biologists, looking for humpback, blue, gray, and killer whales.
- 48 Fisherman's Wharf. See Monterey lists Chris' Fishing and Whale Watching at this address.
- The proposed assignee. Kaufman also runs Monterey Boat Haven, a boatyard and marine supply store at Breakwater Cove Marina, as a city sublessee.
City staff's reasoning is in their own words. The proposed assignee "operates existing marine businesses in the harbor, providing continuity in commercial waterfront services." Staff asked the council to appoint negotiators to discuss price and payment terms in closed session. That step keeps the talks moving, but it does not approve the assignment. No outcome has been reported.
If the deal goes through, two whale-watch counters on the wharf would share one leaseholder. The boats people line up for in winter might look exactly the same.
Why the Next Handoff May Never Reach the Council
Two weeks before that agenda, at the October 6 meeting, the council adopted Resolution 26-131 C.S. on its consent calendar. It lets city staff administratively approve consent to subleases, lease assignments, and extensions for allowed uses at Fisherman's Wharf. The same authority covers other city properties, including 32, 700, and 720 Cannery Row, 601 Wave Street, and the Recreation Trail next to 640 Wave Street.
The resolution leaves some decisions with the council. The Arcoleo proposals include lease amendments and payment terms, and the staff reports say council approval is required for that type of real estate transaction. Simpler changes are different. A sublease or an extension for an allowed use can now be handled by staff, without a public council agenda item.
At the same meeting, the council authorized an agreement of up to $100,000 with the California State Lands Commission to update the boundary survey for Monterey's coast. That is a reminder of where the wharf sits. The staff reports note that the Surplus Lands Act does not apply to tidelands property, and they describe the city's job as "long-term stewardship of public tidelands assets." The city keeps the land and rotates the tenants.
The Planks Under All of It
All of these leases depend on the wharf structure, and that structure is under repair. The city awarded Sweetwater Construction Inc. a $983,389 contract in July 2025. As the Monterey Herald reported on September 28, the work covers "serious structural damage, including timber piles repairs, concrete foundation fixes and handrail replacements."
The schedule follows the visitor season. The city's construction updates page said Wharf 1 work had been paused for materials and permit compliance, including a seasonal no-work period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and was expected to resume the week of September 14. The Herald's late-September report said the work was continuing. No completion date has been published.
That makes November a working month under the boardwalk. The busy summer stretch is when the repairs stop.
A November Walk Out to the End
If you head down in early November, a few practical notes:
- Parking. Starting October 1, city parking meters stopped accepting credit cards after the vendor, POM, went out of business. The Old Monterey Business Association listed coins and ParkMobile as the options and called the change temporary.
- Race morning. The Monterey Bay Half Marathon runs on Sunday, November 8, and starts at 7 a.m. on Del Monte Avenue. Parking restrictions run from 2 to 11 a.m., and roads close from 3 to 11 a.m. in downtown Old Monterey and New Monterey/Cannery Row. A wharf brunch is easier after 11.
- Dinner. The Gig at 6 Fisherman's Wharf is still serving the seafood and pasta Yaley promised to keep.
- The water. Monterey Bay Whale Watch at 84 Fisherman's Wharf lists gray whales among the species on its year-round trips.
Each of those storefronts is a city lease with its own renewal date. Some will change hands with a council vote, and some now only need a staff signature. Either way, the boardwalk can look the same afterward.
If you're curious how ownership, leases, and timing shape the places you love around the Peninsula, or what that means for a property of your own, Dave Lucas is happy to walk through it with you over coffee on the wharf. Let's Connect.
