American resident character of her world-famous restaurant, Kalisa’s on Cannery Row. Filled with Steinbeck memorabilia, noted local art and sculptor, she holds court in preserving a history of early California on the Monterey coast, a history that includes her. Her restaurant, described in Steinbeck books as La Ida Cafe, has been a haven for struggling writers, artists and beatniks since 1958 and has stood witness to belly-dancers and movie stars, politicians and the disenfranchised, with music that ranges from gypsy violins to modern jazz interpretations.
Kalisa was an only child in Latvia in a family which owned a first-class hotel. She married in Germany and came to the U.S. at the end of the war, 1945. Settling in a landmark house near the famous wharf, she actually only met Steinbeck once, but is involved with the Old Monterey Preservation Society, observing earlier days in the history of California. The first fishing shack opened on Cannery Row in 1902 so they are planning a year-long celebration for the centennial. Calling herself an incessant optimist, Kalisa believes that we can be what we want to be and have what we want to have.
She died after open-heart surgery at Stanford Medical Center, Palo Alto, at 4:10 PM, Wednesday, October 14th, 2009.