Edible Events

Four pop-up meals, a potluck and an anniversary celebration

Stone Creek Kitchen, Live Earth Farm, La Crème, Holman Ranch and the Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Market

By Rob Fisher, Camilla M. Mann and Elaine Hesser

This fall Edible Monterey Bay helped organize a number of local food events. It was a busy time, but the events afforded our readers and hosts with wonderful opportunities to get to know new and inspiring participants in our local food community—and for us to get to know those of you who were able to attend! We hope to see you at another event sometime soon.

Stone Creek Kitchen, Monterey Pop-up Supper Club, Oct. 26

One gets the impression that Kristina Scrivani could tell you in great, appreciative detail about every ingredient she uses in the kitchen. She has the joy of fresh discovery as she holds up containers of spices and insists we pass them around, stick our noses in and get transported to flavor ecstasy.

Not many kitchenware stores have a full kitchen smack in the middle. Even fewer are graced by the brilliant, loving touch of a cook of Kristina’s caliber. On the night of Friday, Oct. 26, the lucky participants in an Edible Pop-Up Supper Club at Stone Creek Kitchen got a real treat.

Before serving one of the highlights for us all, Kristina described, “basically we started with a case of fantastic, big, firm poblanos, and then we roasted them on the barbeque and sweated them in paper bags. Once they were nice and cool, we stripped the skins off, made a little slit in them and pulled the seeds out, then stuffed them with garnet yams [with goat cheese and butter to add softness]. We put a little cornmeal on the outside and baked them for a little bit of crunch, which is really nice as a bed for crema mixed with some of this fantastic cumin…it’s so incredible to have really fresh spices.”

Needless to say, our mouths were watering, and the dish, when it came to our tables, was a revelation, something like a chile relleño, bursting with autumn flavors.

Another stand-out dish was fresh Monterey Bay calamari stuffed with a chorizo filling in a skillet with blistered Momotaro tomatoes

Clockwise from above, SCCFM Westside Market, Jeff Larkey conducting a farm tour at an EMB potluck, Holman Ranch, Stone Creek Kitchen’s Kristina Scrivani and Linda Hanger, Crema/La Crème, Crema/La Crème and SCCFM.

that released really flavorful juice. The final course was pumpkin pie ice cream with shortbread cookies filled with goat’s milk cajeta, a Latin caramel that is not too thick, but milky.

Kristina brings to her work a lifetime of cooking experience, having grown up in a family that grew their own food, from poultry to produce. “Everything but brown rice,” she says, “even though my parents were not farmers.” She remembers fondly feeding the lambs and piglets, but less fondly the looks on her friends’ faces at school when she brought lunches of deviled chicken hearts and gizzards. “Nobody would trade lunches with me.”

Kristina and her business partner, Linda Hanger, chose to locate their store at the intersection of Route 68 and Canyon del Rey Boulevard, at a crossroads between Monterey, Carmel Valley and Salinas. (They almost called their store “Fork in the Road.”) It is obviously a place to get inspired, with kitchen equipment, great wines and cheeses, prepared foods and perhaps most exciting of all, a full kitchen in the middle used for cooking classes and dinners.

Linda and Kristina have a shared love of food and service to the community. Linda brings great experience and energy, coming from a career as a very successful executive in the book-publishing world. The two of them have created a wonderful resource to all of us who care about fresh, local, ethically sourced seasonal food that is mindblowingly delicious. —RF

Live Earth Farm, Watsonville Edible Monterey Bay’s 1st Anniversary Celebration, Oct. 13

Tom and Constance Broz offered up Live Earth Farm for EMB’s 1st anniversary celebration. On a gorgeous October evening, guests strolled between rows of dry-farmed tomatoes and beneath tunnels of apples while Tom shared the farm’s history. Eighteen years ago, the Brozes founded Live Earth on one-and-a-half acres with 25 CSA members and two apprentices. Today, the farm has grown to 30 apprentices, nearly 100 acres and 700 CSA members. While producing organic food to feed the community is Tom’s focus, forging bonds within it is crucial to him, and is partly why the farm created its nonprofit educational arm, the Live Earth Discovery Program. “It’s about relationships,” he declared.

After the tour, we recharged our glasses with a trio of lightly fermented elixirs from Creative Cultures, sparkling wine from Equinox Champagne Cellars and fresh sparkling fruit drinks from 3 of a Kind.

Guests chatted. Anne and Pete Sibley, a husband-wife duo, filled the air with their distinctive folk sound. Platters circulated, offering elegant hors d’oeuvres prepared with just-picked produce, like crostini smeared with honey-walnut crème and layers of beets and oranges.

A cross-section of the local good food community rallied to make this celebration amazing.

But it was the groundswell of groups providing local teens with hands-on education in sustainable food systems, food justice and the culinary arts that was spotlighted. Together, Chef Brad Briske of La Balena Restaurant, along with students from Food What?!, the Santa Cruz Regional Occupation Program’s Culinary Unit, Pie Ranch and Lightfoot Industries (which organized the event together with EMB) brought out a parade of delicious courses punctuated by speakers from the inspiring vocational programs.

Watching these groups in action, we feasted on an albacore crudo made from fish procured by H&H Fresh Fish, a deeply flavorful and inventive soup made with winter pumpkin and summer dry-farmed tomatoes aptly named by Briske, “Clash of the Seasons in Brodo,” Serendipity lettuces dressed with a Petite Syrah vinaigrette; and Fogline Farm sausages paired with smoked potatoes, a sweet apple-pear mostarda and aioli, among other courses.

As the evening wound down, Pie Ranch and Lightfoot Industries presented a duo of pies featuring fall’s darling, the apple, and mugs of strong coffee.

The dinner was not just a celebration of our local food and Edible’s first anniversary. It was also an opportunity for Edible Monterey Bay to honor its 2012 reader-selected Local Heroes: Best Chef/Restaurant, Tony Baker of Montrio Bistro; Best Farm/Farmer, tie between Jamie Collins, Serendipity Farms and Phil Foster, Pinnacle Organics; Best Nonprofit, tie between Everyone’s Harvest, GMO-Free Santa Cruz and MEarth; and Best Food Artisan and Best Food Retailer, Baker’s Bacon.

The magical night felt like the embodiment of Edible Monterey Bay’s work to support our local good food movement and the amazing people who are a part of it. As Tom Broz said: it’s about relationships—and it’s about the people. —CM

RECIPE: Click on the “Recipes” tab at www.ediblemontereybay.com for the recipe for the spectacular soup, “Clash of the Seasons in Brodo,” that Chef Briske prepared for the dinner.

La Crème, Pacific Grove Pop-up Supper Club, Sept. 26

Calling La Crème’s September pop-up dinner la Crème de la Crème is not an exaggeration. Chef Jon Moser’s feast at Casa de La Crème, a new Pacific Grove event space and espresso, tapas and wine bar, was beyond spectacular.

As we stepped over the threshold, Anthony Pessagno, of Pessagno Winery, welcomed guests with flutes of sparkling wine while Tamie Aceves, owner of La Crème Catering and Crema, the new espresso, tapas and wine bar, greeted diners with an infectious smile. Servers circulated with tantalizing bite-sized morsels.

After mingling, we settled down at lavishly laid tables and kicked off the feast with warm goat cheese blanketed in breadcrumbs atop poached pears and greens dressed with a Pedro Ximénez vinaigrette. Pedro Ximénez is a white grape varietal from the Canary Islands that is often used in Spanish sherry vinegars. A generous sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts launched this salad to out-of-this world status. This was paired with Pessagno’s 2010 La Estancia Riesling from the Santa Lucia Highlands, a German dry-styled Riesling. While I gravitate towards hearty red wines, the refreshing tartness

Opposite: EMB anniversary celebration at Live Earth Farm, photos by Ted Holladay. Photos on p. 48 and center left of p. 49 by Pascale Wowak; p. 49 upper right, George McCullough; p. 49 center right, Keana Parker; all others p. 49, Rob Fisher.

along with notes of apricots and honey made this the perfect accompaniment to this first course.

When we had first glimpsed the menu, we schemed about which entrées we were going to order, ensuring that—between the three couples—we would be able to taste each offering. There was no need for logic games; each diner received all three entrées!

The first entrée: seared California white bass paired with Pessagno’s 2010 La Estancia Chardonnay, and on the plate, winter squash purée, young carrots, micro-greens confetti and bacon jam. That’s not a misprint. Bacon. Jam. The wine, with a hint of caramel and strong butter, was a delicious flavor foil to the mild fish and smoky jam.

Next up: grilled duck and fig sausage paired with Pessagno’s 2009 La Estancia Pinot Noir. This dynamite dish was a corn-lover’s delight with a pool of creamy polenta, crisped polenta sticks and sweet, fresh corn kernels. The bright, lively Pinot Noir and its strawberry aroma paired well with the sweet flavor of the sausage.

The star of the evening, in my opinion: braised lamb shank that Chef Jon served with shelling beans, an olive relish and a gremolata— a combination of chopped herbs and lemon peel that traditionally accompanies osso buco, or braised veal shanks. The salty, herby flavors of this dish were perfectly complemented with Pessagno’s 2009 Idyll Times Vineyard Zinfandel. We’re talking big, opulent flavors for both the lamb and the zin.

We finished the feast with a fig-raspberry crostata, toasted almond crunch and a scoop of elderflower ice cream matched with Pessagno’s Late Harvest Orange Muscat. Fruity, sweet, warm, cold, soft and crisp, this dessert had a little something for everyone.

And—lest you think this adventure was all about the food and wine—the dinner was a smash because of the people with whom we shared it. I love being surrounded by people who feel the same way about food as I do. —CM Vineyards and beautiful views of Carmel Valley were the setting for Edible Monterey Bay’s August 28th pop-up dinner at Holman Ranch.

More than 80 guests mixed and mingled as the sun set and a nearly full moon rose over the valley. After touring the ranch’s new wine cave while sipping glasses of Holman Ranch Vineyard’s Pinot Gris, guests made their way to the historic Hacienda’s grounds for the main event.

Chef Terry Teplitzky of Michael’s Catering and Wild Thyme Deli in Marina prepared delectable hors d’oeuvres including rich cups of artichoke bisque, lamb sliders and fig-and-goat cheese tarts, which paired beautifully with the ranch’s dry, strawberry-scented Rosé of Pinot Noir. The True Olive Connection from Santa Cruz joined in the pre-dinner festivities with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting, while Serendipity Farms provided a prodigious display of fresh organic produce.

Hosts Hunter Lowder, director of hospitality, and Nick Elliott, guest services manager for the ranch, called everyone to two communal tables. Flowers hung from the grape arbor hovering over guests, and as the sun set, rivers of white candles provided the light. Strangers soon became acquaintances, and then friends, which is one of the goals of the pop-up dinners—to create a sense of community and connectedness to the land, food and one another.

After Lowder and Elliott gave a brief history of the ranch and described some of the wines that would be poured, the first course came out. Mixed greens with smaller salads of beets and feta and a crisp, refreshing slaw of fennel and carrots were served with perfectly cooked sweetbreads, crispy on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside.

Next came a seared sea scallop on a cauliflower purée with capers and currants, served with the Ranch’s 2010 Chardonnay. The purée had a slightly nutty taste that complemented the sweetness of the scallop and paired well with the Chardonnay, which had almond and stone fruit notes.

Juicy roast chicken was served with roasted grapes, greens and mashed root vegetables that had been briefly deep-fried. The ranch’s flagship 2010 Pinot Noir with its complex cherry and berry flavors rounded out the course and evoked a bistro meal in a country garden, perhaps somewhere in Provence.

Jennifer Hinfey, a board member of The Food Bank for Monterey County—the evening’s nonprofit beneficiary—spoke briefly during the dessert course. She told uplifting stories of feeding the hungry year-round, and thanked everyone present for their support. After dinner, Serendipity Farms’ Jamie Collins urged the departing diners to take some produce home, and friends new and old walked out into the moonlit evening. —EH

The Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Market, Santa Cruz Pop-up Breakfast, Aug. 25

When Edible Monterey Bay approached Nesh Dhillon, director of the Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Market, about collaborating on an event, he picked breakfast. Dhillon wanted to coordinate an ongoing event series that grants consumers direct access to sustainable sources of fresh produce and foods while providing education about the local foodshed. So, a farm-to-table pop-up breakfast at the Westside Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market emerged. “Everyone does dinner,” Dhillon reasoned. “No one does breakfast.”

Chef Kevin Koebel and his organization Local FATT (Food Awareness Through Teaching), which urges consumers and farmers to build full-circle food systems, developed and cooked a menu that showcased regionally significant food.

Imagine the jovial scene. A quartet roams the market. Berries balance in baskets; pumpkins signal that fall is coming. Tucked into a corner of the market, long tables are set with menus. Mismatched mugs, water jugs and wildflowers line the tables. In the interest of ecology—and a festive table—event planners asked diners to bring plates.

Along with Dhillon and Koebel, this collaborative feast put a spotlight on Westside Market vendors and other local purveyors.

Barry Jackson of Equinox Champagne Cellars, poured mimosas. Roland Konicke, of Uncie Ro’s Pizza, manned his wood-fired oven and helped cook most of the meal. Fiesta Farm delivered fresh eggs; Condor’s Hope Winery poured their rosé; Lulu Carpenter’s Coffee served artisan-roasted coffee; H & H Fresh Fish provided local, wild king salmon; and Happy Boy Farms, Route 1 Farms, Live Earth Farm, Everett Family Farm, New Natives, Twin Girl Farms, Rainbow Orchards and Companion Bakeshop all helped make the meal incredibly seasonal, fresh and unique.

Breakfast began with fruit macerated in sparkling wine with vanilla beans. Nicki Zahm, director of the Foodshed Project, served salty-caramel sticky buns from a wooden board piled high. Woodfired roasted salmon was served with persillade and a wild mushroom-tarragon reduction. Poached eggs sat astride wilted greens, drizzled with Meyer lemon juice and flaxseed oil. And Koebel handcut his house-cured bacon so that no two pieces were alike.

The breakfast was a parade of dishes that looked as exquisite as they tasted. People eat at box restaurants because they know what to expect. It’s predictable, uniform. But people who eat food that is hand-cut, hand-rolled, and handmade expect—and relish—the gorgeously asymmetrical.

Toward the end of the breakfast, Dhillon and Koebel spoke about the benefits of local foods, urging people to make informed choices, and then moderated a round-table discussion. Some people had never attended a pop-up event before, others were veterans. Some people frequented farmers’ markets weekly, many didn’t. I was surprised when that question was posed. Koebel wasn’t. He said that that was par for the course; only a third of people regularly shop at farmers’ markets. But it begins with awareness and education.

On our way home I asked my 10-year-old what “local food system” meant to him. He answered passionately: “Supporting local food systems means that we eat food that grows here…you know, in our own community. When you cook with local food, and other people like it, they’ll be more likely to buy it.” —CM