Edible Monterey Bay: Spring 2013 | No. 7

4 Grist for the Mill 6 Edible Notables Local Heroes, Bantam, Michael Pollan’s Cooked, Mustard power, A fork in (River) Road 18What’s in Season Stinging Nettles Cultivated by Central Coast farmers and coveted by hip young chefs, an often reviled weed is also healthful and delicious 26At the Dairy Goat Goddesses Four local women bet their farms on the underappreciated goat 34Edible Inspiration Garbage to Gold Monterey Peninsula restaurateurs aim to go zero waste—and at the same time, fight global warming and turn their food scraps into green power, natural fertilizer 42Super Markets No junk food here Scott Roseman and his New Leaf Community Markets 46In the Fields The Pezzinis and their artichokes A farm makes its passage to a fourth generation

GRIST FOR THE MILL edible monterey bay

Even in our exceptionally kind climate, in which new growth sprouts every day of the year, spring can rightly claim to be the über season of new beginnings here on Monterey Bay.

As we write this letter, we’re saddened that last night was the final Indy Marketplace—the farmers’ market/food and drink fest/art opening hybrid that, amid Sand City’s big-box discount stores, succeeded in seeding endless new connections between the farmers, artists, food and drink artisans and good food revelers that make up our exciting tri-county foodshed.

But the good news is that the Indy’s organizers have found enough local desire for great, sustainably and locally sourced food and drink—as well as a place to commune with others with the same passion—that they’re now building a permanent market at the site. (And incidentally, they’re still lining up purveyors.)

What’s more, this spring Gabriella Café’s Paul Cocking is moving ahead with plans for a permanent indoor artisanal foods market in Santa Cruz, and Carmel appears to be finally getting its own weekly foodie market off the ground.

To be sure, before all this we already had some of the best farmers’ markets in the state— the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers’ Markets have won multiple awards—as well as no small number of terrific specialty markets. (See our story about New Leaf Markets and its founder, Scott Roseman, for a prime example.)

But these new specialized artisanal markets seem to signal that increasingly our community is embracing the idea that handmade, local and sustainable food is worth supporting and celebrating, and that’s encouraging.

Advocating for these artisans is what we’ve been doing at this magazine all along, and we hope that this issue of Edible Monterey Bay connects you with new farmers, retailers, restaurateurs and activists who are making our area a little more healthful, a little more conscious and a little more fun.

We’re especially excited to announce in this edition our reader-selected 2013 Local Heroes, as we think they’re great representatives of the amazing quality and creativity of our local food community. We’re proud to congratulate them and we encourage you to get to know them if you’ve not already.

We’ll introduce you to some remarkable women and their goats and some inspiring new efforts by forward-thinking local restaurants, hotels and food retailers to reduce global warming and at the same time help produce green power and natural fertilizer—just by changing what they do with their food scraps.

We’re thrilled to offer a sneak peak into Michael Pollan’s latest book, Cooked, which will be published in April and offers his case that perhaps the most important key to eating more healthfully and reforming our food system is, simply, to cook.

And when you’re ready to stop reading and start cooking yourself, you’ll find terrific recipes for using spring nettles, strawberries and pork and lamb chops in these pages, and dozens more on our website, www.ediblemontereybay.com.

Happy spring!

Wood and Rob Fisher Publishers

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR Sarah Wood Sarah@ediblemontereybay.com 831.238.1217

CO-PUBLISHER AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rob Fisher

ONLINE EDITOR Deborah Luhrman

COPY EDITOR Doresa Banning

DESIGNER Melissa Petersen WEB DESIGNER Mary Ogle

CONTRIBUTORS

Jordan Champagne • Jamie Collins

Ted Holladay • Geneva Liimatta

Elizabeth Limbach • Vicki Lowell

Deborah Luhrman • Laura Ness Melissa Schilling • Kristina Sepetys Rebecca Stark • Carole Topalian Patrick Tregenza • Amber Turpin Patrice Ward • Lisa Crawford Watson Molly Watson

ADVERTISING SALES

Shelby Lambert 831.238.7101

Shelby@ediblemontereybay.com Kate Robbins 831.588.4577 Kate@ediblemontereybay.com

DESIGN AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA ASSOCIATE Katie Reeves

DISTRIBUTION Mick Freeman

CONTACT US:

Edible Monterey Bay 24C Virginia Way, Carmel Valley, CA 93924 www.ediblemontereybay.com 831.238.1217 or 831.298.7117 info@ediblemontereybay.com

Edible Monterey Bay is published quarterly. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used without written permission of the publisher. Subscriptions are $28 per year at www.ediblemontereybay.com. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our apologies and notify us. Thank you.

Sarah

Photo by Zoe Fisher

Edible Honors And the winner is…

Edible Monterey Bay readers choose their 2013 Local Heroes

By Deborah Luhrman

Our most sincere congratulations go out to the passionate and visionary winners of our 2013 Local Hero Awards. In online voting, readers of Edible Monterey Bay selected six businesses and two nonprofit organizations as the very best examples of our vibrant local food movement here on the Central Coast.

“I’m honored and a bit surprised,” says Kendra Baker, the chef behind the popular Penny Ice Creamery and the beachfront Picnic Basket café. “The Penny encompasses more than just ice cream; it’s very chef-oriented, thoughtful, hand-crafted food,” she adds.

Baker is a classically trained chef who got her start at Gabriella Café and has worked as a pastry chef at Manresa in Los Gatos. The businesses, co-owned with business partner Zachary Davis, are run like fine dining restaurants. Seasonal produce for ice cream and salads is sourced directly from local farms, and The Picnic Basket features ingredients from other Santa Cruz food artisans—like Companion Bakeshop bread, meats from el Salchichero and Verve coffee. Runners up were: Brendan Jones of Lokal in Carmel Valley and Jason Giles of Jack’s at the Portola Hotel in Monterey.

In the category of best farm/farmer, Tom Broz and Live Earth Farm tied for top honors with Jamie Collins and her Serendipity Farms —the second year in a row that Collins was selected as a Local Hero.

“It’s nice to be recognized as a significant part of this growing movement,” says Broz, “but heroes are only made by their network of supporters. Then there is the land and the workers.” He started the Watsonville-based CSA 18 years ago, and Live Earth now includes an important educational component that hosts 1,400 children on the farm each year. “I think farms can be a vector or a catalyst in connecting people to the issues we all face together,” he says.

Collins—who together with Broz formed a coalition of farmers supporting GMO labeling—shared the award. “I feel really loved by the readers and grateful that people appreciate the farm,” says Collins, who also writes the What’s in Season column for Edible Monterey Bay.

She started her Monterey farm 12 years ago and has a well-established CSA in the Monterey/Salinas area. This season she plans to add U-Pick sessions every Saturday beginning with strawberries on May 4 and moving through raspberries, tomatoes and pumpkins. Runners up were: Jeff Larkey of Route 1 Farms and Joe Schirmer of Dirty Girl Produce, both in Santa Cruz.

When it comes to shopping for great local foods, New Leaf Community Markets came out on top in our Local Hero polling. “I’m quite flattered that Edible Monterey Bay readers selected us,” says owner Scott Roseman. “I think readers care that New Leaf Community Markets is a value-driven business that’s true to its mission to nourish and sustain our community.” In addition to selling many foods that originate locally, New Leaf continues to honor the commitment Roseman made when starting the business 27 years ago to give 10% of the profits back to the community. New Leaf currently has seven stores in our area, with an eighth store set to open in Pleasanton in May. (Read about the evolution of New Leaf on page 42.) Runners up were: Staff of Life in Santa Cruz and Whole Foods, with locations in Santa Cruz, Capitola and Monterey.

Tabitha Stroup of Friend In Cheeses Jam Co. was voted best food artisan.

“I’m super honored, tripped out and blown away,” says the creative jam and condiment maker. “I think the attraction for the public is that I am guided by Mother Nature and believe in representing, protecting and supporting what comes from this region.”

Stroup has been a professional chef for 22 years, including a stint at the now-closed Theo’s in Soquel—a garden restaurant that was ahead of its time. She started her Santa Cruz-based company just two years ago and has gained a loyal following for amazing flavors that include Forbidden Fruit Marmalade spiced up with a hint of ghost chile and Salted Watermelon. Runners up were: Kendra Baker of The Penny Ice Creamery and Kristen and Lynette Cederquist of Serendipity Saucy Spreads.

In the beverage category, newcomer Sante Adairius Rustic Ales was selected top artisan. Brewer Tim Clifford had been making beer

Photos of Broz, Clifford and Roseman by Ted Holladay; Baker by Molly Watson; Collins by Geneva Liimatta; Ganzhorn by Rebecca St ark; Stroup by Melissa Schilling and Elliot-McCrea by Vicki Lowell

at home, but opened Sante Adairius in a small Capitola warehouse just nine months ago. “We strive to give an experience that is all about the beer first. We’re totally obsessed,” he says.

His wife and co-owner Adair Paterno says, “I think we fill a niche in the Monterey Bay Area for experimental, barrel-aged, Belgian-style ales and Tim is so passionate. I think that comes across to our customers.” Although the “tasting room” is hard to find and open just four nights a week, it’s always thronged with the local beer cognoscenti. And it doesn’t hurt that the brewery’s “Love’s Amour” ale took home first prize in the West Coast Barrel-Aged Beer Festival last November. Runners up were: Kate Appel of 3 of a Kind in Pacific Grove and Kevin Clark of Peter B’s Brewpub at the Portola Hotel in Monterey.

Santa Cruz’ Homeless Garden Project and Second Harvest Food Bank tied in voting for best nonprofit. “Our success depends on the community, so we are really grateful for the love and support,” says Darrie Ganzhorn, executive director of the Homeless Garden Project. She has been with the project for 22 years and sees it as a good way of combining vocational training for those who need

it with a sustainable urban food system. “There’s so much going on here, I’m just hooked!” she says.

Second Harvest CEO Willy Elliot-McCrea says the organization is emphasizing fruits and vegetables like never before. “Cheap food and lack of access to fresh produce is what’s driving hunger and obesity here on the Central Coast,” he says, adding that 62.3% of all the food distributed last year was fresh produce—the highest percentage in the nation! Additionally, Second Harvest has created a group of 250 peer-to-peer nutrition ambassadors to teach cooking and help people understand the links between good eating and good health. “If we want to have a healthy and vibrant community,” he says, “we have to have healthy food.” Runners up were: Live Earth Farm Discovery Program and MEarth in Carmel.

Local Hero Awards are presented by Edible magazines across the country as a way to recognize local food producers and purveyors for their exceptional contributions to their communities. The winners are determined by readers through an online vote.

Edible Notables Bantam

A chef comes home to roost

By Amber Turpin

Santa Cruz is an urban city with a small town mentality. That means neighborhood friendliness and loyal local support—but also a generally casual dining scene. So it used to be the case that most chefs with big ambitions would just take the short trip up to San Francisco and explore more sophisticated opportunities. But now, the opposite is true; trained chefs from the city are choosing to move back down the coast and set up shop here in our little beach town. Lucky us! The newest delicious example is Bantam Restaurant.

Owners Sarah and Ben Sims have struck upon a perfect formula, creating a space on Santa Cruz’s Westside that with its lofty exposed steel beams, glossy polished cement floors and Mugnaini woodfired oven is sleek and industrial, yet warm and inviting. Most importantly, they are crafting food that people want to eat over and over again.

The couple met eight years ago at Ristorante Avanti, a Santa Cruz institution for seasonal, Cal-Ital offerings. Ben was the chef, blending his Chez Panisse training into the Avanti kitchen while Sarah worked the front of the house. (Ben attended cooking school in San Francisco and in addition to cooking at Chez Panisse and Avanti, worked in restaurants in London and Tuscany, as well as San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Acquerello. Sarah most recently ran the front of the house at La Posta.) They married and eventually started tinkering with the idea of opening something of their own.

After more than two years of wending their way through financing, location-scouting, city approvals and construction, the Westside restaurant finally opened in November and quickly became packed every night.

While it was always more of Ben’s personal dream to have his own restaurant, both owners say they love working together and find their shared aesthetic and propensity to excel at different things create an ideal business partnership.

Ben is also quick to give props to his mighty kitchen staff. “I am continually blown away at the food our chef Melissa Reitz is creating. She and Troy (Wilcox) decided to move down here [from San Francisco], and we really couldn’t do it without them.” It is no small

thing to land such talent, as both chefs having a long list of cooking experience at some of the Bay Area’s highest caliber locations. Chef Reitz has worked at Michelin-starred Quince, as well as Pizzaiolo and Zuni Café; most recently, she was sous chef at Oakland’s Camino. Wilcox, the restaurant’s pizzaiolo, or pizza-maker, previously practiced his craft at Boot and Shoe Service and Pizzaiolo in Oakland and Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco.

But back to the food, which is presented as a changing daily menu utilizing the area’s pristine local bounty. The pizza is astounding, although Ben humbly calls it “pretty standard Neapolitan.” The perfect chew and yeasty complexity of the charred crust is credited to the prefermented Biga starter that Bantam has been feeding since the very beginning. The in-house sensibility continues with canning projects, evident with a simple glance at their pantry shelf, so you can expect to sample some of Reitz’s exciting fermented concoctions soon. Just remember to go early—while you can get a table.

Amber Turpin is a baker, homesteader and food writer based in Ben Lomond.

Bantam • 1010 Fair Ave. • 831.420.0101 www.bantam1010.com

Photos by Ted Holladay

Ben and Sarah Sims and their stinging nettle soup and pizza.

Edible notables COOK. REAL FOOD. FROM SCRATCH.

In his forthcoming book, Michael Pollan celebrates cooking and why it matters

Review by Kristina Sepetys

Michael Pollan’s work has profoundly changed the way we think about our industrial food system, the behemoth that produces the foods found in conventional grocery stores and restaurants. But Pollan is not just a critic. To help people find more healthful and sustainable alternatives, he’s offered the ordinary eater useful tips to help fix the situation or at least avoid the bad stuff. Recall his advice from In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Or from Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual: “If it came from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.” In his latest book, Pollan offers more simple, corrective advice: Cook. Real food. From scratch. “Not every day, not every meal, but more often than we do, whenever we can.”

In Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, Pollan turns his journalist’s sensibility and straightforward, thoughtful analysis to how we transform plants and animals into meals and why cooking matters. He maintains that recovering cooking from the industrial factories may be the single most important step anyone can take to help rebuild a healthier, more sustainable American food system. If, as he’s argued in The Omnivore’s Dilemma and elsewhere, the industrial food system obscures important relationships with the ecological and natural world, then cooking is the way to restore them.

The book is organized around the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth, which correspond to four basic ways to transform raw materials into nutritious, tasty things to eat. Fire is linked to grilling and barbecuing, water to cooking with liquid and braising, air to baking bread and earth to fermenting, cheesemaking and brewing. Pollan joins barbecue pit masters at the spit in North Carolina and New York, kneads with bread makers at Tartine in San Francisco, learns to put up sauerkraut with fermenter extraordinaire Sandor Katz, and observes the Cheese Nun (and microbiologist) Mother Noëlla Marcellino as she creates a raw milk, fungal-ripened cheese using techniques practiced in the Auvergne region of France since the 17th century. The experiences teach him the basic skills to transform meat, grains, fruits, vegetables and liquids into healthful, nutritious meals.

His explorations in cooking take him all over the world, but there’s no place like home, particularly when your home is in Berkeley. Northern California residents will recognize many of the specialists Pollan works with, like Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery, Joe Photo and book cover courtesy of The Penguin Press

Vanderliet, the proprietor of Certified Foods and the miller for Community Grains and Alex Hozven of Berkeley’s Cultured Pickle Shop.

Cooked is a personal story, a love letter to cooking and shared meals in Pollan’s own life, and an inspiration to reconsider its place in our own. Using a wealth of historical detail, literary examples, artisan profiles, scientific study, personal anecdote and references ranging from Homer to Claude Lévi-Strauss, Pollan explains how cooking knits us in a web of social and ecological relationships. He’s funny, too, like when he describes his family’s experiment with a “Microwave Night,” which turns out to be a surprisingly expensive and not particularly efficient or enjoyable every-man-for-himself foray down the aisles of the local Safeway.

For all the waxing enthusiastic about long hours in the kitchen chopping, preparing and putting up, he’s also realistic. Pollan recognizes that in many homes it’s difficult, if not impossible, to work this sort of cooking into the rhythms of daily life, in large measure because “time is the missing ingredient in our recipes—and in our lives.” Either the demands of life are such that we just don’t have time or even interest in cooking, or we consider our opportunity costs and find we’re financially better off to work and earn a wage and avail ourselves of inexpensive prepared food than to spend the time cooking ourselves using fresh, whole ingredients.

His advice? A return to the communal cooking of generations ago, when families, friends or groups of women would gather together to share the labor, and the fruits, of food preparation. Indeed, one of the greatest pleasures of cooking, Pollan claims, is getting to be a part of the spontaneous communities that spring up and gather around these special interests, creating intimacy and connection.

If you’re inspired by Pollan’s experiments and tempted to try some of your own, he includes four basic recipes, each illustrating one of the elements he profiles: pork shoulder BBQ (fire); pasta with meat sauce (water); whole-wheat country loaf bread (air); and sauerkraut (earth).

Cooking converts plants and animals into edible, appetizing meals. The process, Pollan claims, changes us, too, from consumers into producers. Regularly exercising the simple skills described in the book to produce some of the most basic necessities of life— bread, fermented foods, braised meats—can increase self-reliance and freedom, reduce dependence on large corporations to cook for us and build community, creating the possibility for living a more healthy, happy and nourishing life.

Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation

By Michael Pollan

The Penguin Press, April 2013

Kristina Sepetys has written on food, farming, economics, and environmental policy issues for many publications, including several Edible magazines. She lives in Berkeley.

Edible Notables Mustard Power

A Watsonville company discovers a supercharged soil amendment—and fuel for the tractors, too

By Deborah Luhrman

It started as a conversation between local organic pioneers, Ken Kimes of New Natives in Corralitos and Larry Jacob of Del Cabo and Jacobs Farm. They dreamed of finding a way to use fallow fields along the coast north of Santa Cruz for growing biofuel to run their farm vehicles. But the farmers soon discovered that the green power of their raw material of choice—the humble mustard seed—went far beyond powering the equipment.

With the help of an expert in alternative energy from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and advice from the University of Idaho, they found out that mustard seed met their criteria of being a nonirrigated and seawater-tolerant crop. They already knew that a compound in mustard seed called glucosinolate—which makes it spicy hot—has the added bonus of being an effective organic fertilizer. So Watsonville-based Farm Fuel Inc. was born, with Jim Cochran of Swanton Berry Farm and biodiesel mechanic Henry Smith also on board.

Since biblical times, the tiny mustard seed has been a symbol of how something very small can grow and blossom into a flourishing enterprise. But the path hasn’t been easy for Farm Fuel since its inception in 2007.

“The fuel market went up and down, and the person we were selling to stopped refining biodiesel locally,” explains biologist Stefanie Bourcier, who manages Farm Fuel Inc. on a day-to-day basis with five other employees. While partner Henry Smith has converted his pick-up truck to run on mustard oil, there aren’t any other fuel customers right now.

Eventually, the focus shifted from making fuel to producing mustard meal, which is the byproduct left over when the oil is pressed. It comes out of the press looking like big flakes of breakfast cereal and is then compacted into pellets of potent organic fertilizer.

Farm Fuel brought in a bumper crop of mustard seed on 45 acres in Pescadero last summer. It was a spectacular yellow field in spring, and then, to maximize its glucosinolate, Kimes and Smith allowed the towering seven-foot plants to toast to a crisp before cutting in August. Using a 1960s vintage Massey Ferguson combine, Farm Fuel harvested a ton and a half of mustard seed—enough to produce 3,000 gallons of biofuel and 60,000 pounds of soil amendment.

The fertilizer, marketed as Pescadero Gold and available for purchase from the company’s website, is a double-action product—it both kills off harmful soil diseases and encourages the growth of beneficial organisms.

“When you put it in the soil and add water, there is a reaction just like you get in your mouth when you bite into a spicy mustard seed,” says Bourcier. “Then, depending on the type of mustard seed, it will either give off gas or pass through the soil, killing pathogens like nematodes.” Mustard meal also contains nutrients that allow the beneficial predatory fungi trichoderma to flourish, helping keep the bad guys at bay throughout the growing season.

Swanton Berry Farm and High Ground Organics in Watsonville are among the local growers that will be using mustard meal this spring on strawberry crops in place of the ozone-depleting fumigant, methyl bromide—which is not organic and is being phased out under terms of an international treaty. Mustard meal has also been used success-

Photos by Deborah Luhrman

fully on basil, carrots, raspberries, tomatoes, apples and grapes, and Swanton and High Ground have had good success with it.

“Mustard has been planted as a cover crop in vineyards and orchards for hundreds of years. We’re just taking that same chemistry and making it a little more efficient and easy to apply,” Bourcier says. In fact, Farm Fuel found in research trials that application of mustard seed meal boosted strawberry production by as much as 50%.

Experience using mustard meal in strawberry fields has led Farm Fuel to an even more lucrative type of business that may finally allow it to post its first profit this year. It’s a service that prepares strawberry fields for planting using ASD or Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation—an organic process that uses only rice bran, mustard seed meal, molasses, black plastic and water. Last fall Farm Fuel treated 150 acres in the Pajaro Valley using ASD, up from just 6 acres in 2011, and business is booming.

“We’re seeing ASD work as well as the [methyl bromide] fumigant, and it’s easy and no more expensive than fumigation,” says Bourcier. “More and more doors are opening, and it’s amazing because our clients are farmers and they’re the best people.” So the company—founded on tiny mustard seeds—is blossoming at last in a dramatic, if unexpected, way.

Farm Fuel Inc. • 831.763.3950 • www.farmfuelinc.com

Pictured above, Farm Fuel’s Henry Smith.

Edible Notables A Fork in the Road

Along with Monterey County’s recognition as a Top 10 worldwide wine destination, new dining and lodging options are coming to the Santa Lucia Highlands

By Laura Ness

We may finally be reaching a fork in the road: River Road, that is. Home to 14 wineries and tasting rooms, and two of Monterey County’s American Viticultural Areas (Santa Lucia Highlands and Arroyo Seco), it’s among the best-loved “wine trails” in Monterey wine country. Yet, unlike the county’s Carmel Valley AVA, dining and lodging of the caliber of the wines have been few. That’s slowly changing, and just in time, given the recent naming of Monterey County as a Top 10 wine country destination by Wine Enthusiast magazine (February 2013). The county was one of just three regions in the United States that made the list, and the only one in California.

Talbott Vineyards winemaker Dan Karlsen says wine tastes better on its home turf. Hanging out with the vines, seeing their view and feeling their weather help you grok wine at a deeper level.

So Talbott is retrofitting a century-old farmhouse at its Sleepy Hollow Vineyard in Gonzales, transforming it into a culinary demonstration center. Something of a sustainable Garden of Eden will surround it, providing guest chefs with a bounty of produce to use for food- and wine-pairing sessions and evening meals. The intent is that ensconced in this charming retreat, visitors will enjoy the wonder of the Highlands in a way that usually only those who live there can.

But for now, if you plan to stay in the area, the historic Mesa Del Sol Estate Retreat & Winery, just off River Road on Arroyo Seco, offers its stunning guest cottages within its own eco-paradise for week-long periods during the summer season and weekends the rest of the year. (See EMB Fall 2012, p. 53.) The Inn at the Pinnacles, close to Chalone Vineyards, provides bed and breakfast on weekends, and the Arroyo Seco Recreational Area offers camping.

Few vineyard properties on River Road have such dead-on views of the entire Salinas Valley and the stunning Pinnacles National Monument as Hahn Estates, which has long planned a culinary center for the site.

In something of a first phase, Brian Overhauser, the estate’s resident chef, last summer launched a popular “Wine Country Tapas” program—an opportunity for guests to enjoy three small plates of sea-

sonal, garden-fresh food, paired with three Hahn estate wines. There are two seatings, by reservation only, on Saturdays at noon and 1:30pm, from April through October. The cost is $25 per person.

A recent menu included 2010 Hahn Estate SLH Chardonnay paired with a lobster and mango salad, velvety 2011 Hahn Estate SLH Pinot Noir paired with a rich croque-madame topped with quail egg and a muscular, smoky 2010 Hahn Estate SLH Syrah beautifully synced with Wagyu short rib, black truffles and cauliflower purée.

New in 2013 is Hahn’s “Alchemy of Flavors” program. “While Wine Country Tapas gives you three different dishes to pair with three wines, Alchemy of Flavors provides three unique creations to pair with a single wine,” says Overhauser, so guests can experience the nuances in the wine brought out by different dishes.

These monthly stand-up social mingling experiences are $15 per person.

Overhauser also plans to offer an internship program for the at-risk youth who attend nearby Rancho Cielo’s Drummond Culinary Academy, which could lead to further expansion of Hahn’s dining program.

Meantime, no matter which area winery you head to, one of the best ways to enjoy the Santa Lucia Highlands and its wines—especially as the spring sun warms the vineyards—is to pack a picnic.

For provisions, the River Road area boasts five farmers’ markets where artisanal foods and fresh local produce may be purchased. (See King City, Salinas and Soledad entries in Spring Farmers’ Markets, p. 56.) And if your visit doesn’t fall on a farmers’ market day, The Bakery Station in Salinas provides not just delicious artisanal breads and pastries made on the premises, but also sumptuous sandwiches full of organic and local ingredients. And for sheer selection of local artisanal products and produce, Salinas’ Star Market fits the bill— and also provides an array of prepared foods.

The area’s many wineries, of course, will be more than happy to supply the wine.

Photos courtesy of Talbott Vineyards and Hahn Estates

What’s in Season Stinging Nettles

Cultivated by Central Coast farmers and coveted by hip young chefs, an often reviled weed is also healthful and delicious

By Jamie Collins

Stinging nettles are often first discovered when toiling in a well-watered garden or hiking through a damp and weedy area. First, there’s the prickly pain, after a bare arm or leg brushes against the plant; then there’s an itchy rash. It’s a wonder anyone thought of eating them. But when food was scarce, Native Americans turned to weeds for sustenance and discovered that nettles, botanically known as Urtica dioica, are deeply flavorful, highly nutritious and even medicinal. Nettles are high in protein (a remarkable 25%) as well as folic acid and the B vitamins that make one feel good. They taste similar to spinach—but are richer, nuttier and almost meaty—and they lack the astringent taste of spinach’s oxalic acid. Nettles grow wherever and whenever water is abundant, which is mainly winter and spring here on Monterey Bay.

Watch your touch!

Just touching the sharp, hollow hairs that cover nettle stems and leaves will cause the burn that nettles are named for. It’s not the prick of the hair that causes the pain, though. It’s the chemical cocktail that the hairs inject into the skin.

The irritation caused by nettles actually has its uses. Nettles can be applied to the joints of people who suffer from arthritis to increase healing blood flow and immune responses in the area. And to warm themselves and adapt to the cold, damp English climate, Roman soldiers flogged themselves with nettles.

Photo by Geneva Liimatta

But luckily for the rest of us, the nettle’s weapons can be neutralized quickly and easily if they are cooked, thrown in the blender, soaked in water or dried. As a result, adventurous chefs and home cooks are finding nettles’ deep, hearty flavor well worth the effort.

At my farmers’ market tables, I find some customers will inevitably bring the plant to their nose to smell it, hoping for a familiar scent that will clue them in on what this curious, jagged-leafed green is. Before I can stop them they have enthusiastically shoved the nettles into their olfactory center with abandon. Although the customers are always shocked at the sting they inflict on themselves, they almost always laugh it off. So far no one has threatened to sue, but just in case, if you’re a farmer and you plan to market nettles, it’s a good idea to provide tongs and good signage indicating that the nettles will sting. If you’re buying nettles, put gloves or a bag between you and the nettles until you’ve gotten them home and defanged them.

Chef Brad Briske of La Balena in Carmel pulls the sleeve of his sweatshirt over his hand when making a stop for the wild nettles that he picks by the side of the road to cook at his home in Santa Cruz. And once home or in the restaurant, cooking the tender cultivated varieties that he purchases from local farms, he uses tongs to handle them until they are cooked.

Yes, you can cook them

Briske’s technique for taking the sting out of the plant is to blanch them for about half a minute in boiling water and then shock them with a plunge into ice water. He then strains the nettles from the ice water, and uses both the shocked nettles and the dark green juice that drips from them in dishes like nettle soup and nettle pasta. (See accompanying recipes.)

Nettles can be used like any hearty winter or spring greens, such as kale, and lend themselves well to steaming, after which I like to add sautéed shallots or garlic in butter or ghee. Finish by shaving Parmesan over the nettle greens and lightly seasoning them with salt and pepper.

Boiling nettles in water can have a dual purpose. Nettle tea is tasty and full of vitamins and nutrients. Add some lemon and honey and you have a great hot or iced tea. Use the remainder of the water as a soup stock, straining and chopping the nettles coarsely before adding back to the broth. Sauté chopped sweet yellow onions and add to a soup pot along with cubed potatoes and chicken or vegetable stock to taste. Season with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. Finish with crème fraîche, sour cream or Greek yogurt.

When basil is out of season, nettles can be made into a pesto, as blending the raw nettles removes the stingers. Other culinary uses for nettles: as a lasagna component or atop creamy polenta. They pair especially well with wild mushrooms, Briske says.

But whatever you do with the nettles, Briske recommends avoiding overpowering them.

“Simply put, nettles should be enjoyed as nettles,” Briske says in the accompanying nettle soup recipe on p. 22. “You want to avoid hiding or taking away from its pure beauty and flavor.”

Grow your own

Nettles are easy to raise, have many benefits to a garden or farm and will even draw several species of butterflies and some ultra-cool moths.

On my farm, nettles appear between the rows of vegetables as a weed in winter, and we save and replant their seeds for spring and summer crops. We sell both the wild and cultivated nettles at farmers’ markets.

Nettles have an uncanny ability to reproduce, so all one needs to do to grow them is find a mature wild plant that has formed obvious seeds and shake them in a location where nettles will be welcome. Be sure to cover your seeds well or the wind will spread them to a less desirable area. I learned this the hard way, finding my nettle seed had migrated to the horse pasture, creating an obstacle course for the horses until I got around to tilling it under. (And if this happens to you, just be sure to remove or till them under before new seeds set and produce more unwanted weeds!)

Nettles favor soil high in nitrogen and phosphates, which is why the plant grows so well in farmers’ fields. Nettles also make a fantastic companion plant, strengthening the crops in close proximity by increasing their volatile oils as well as attracting beneficial insects if left to flower. Adding nettles to the compost heap helps the pile break down faster and when it does, nettles provide important micronutrients such as sulfur, iron and magnesium for crops to absorb. Nettles can also be made into a potent biodynamic compost tea.

Even farm animals benefit from nettles. When fed the plant, chickens have been found to lay more eggs and lactating animals produce more milk. And speaking of milk, nettles can be used to make an aged English cheese called Yarg. The nettles are wrapped around the cheese and meld with the outer mold as the cheese ages, resulting in a unique flavor reminiscent of mushrooms and nutty greens.

Suddenly, nettles everywhere Nettles can be found on many hip local menus—as a pizza topping, ravioli filling and in soups, just to name a few dishes. Area restaurants that tend to serve nettles include Bantam and Ristorante Avanti in Santa Cruz, and, as aforementioned, La Balena in Carmel.

Nettles are most easily found growing wild at rainy times of the year when wild mushrooms are also sprouting. And if you want to purchase them, you’ll find them at the local farmers’ market tables of Four Sisters Farm, Happy Boy Farms and Route 1 Farms, just to name three. Santa Cruz Local Foods will also deliver them to you. (See their websites for more information.)

But whether foraging for wild nettles or buying them at the market, use gloves, tongs or something else other than your hands, or the nettles will have you cursing. Moral of the story: If you can’t beat the nettles in your field (or in my case, the fertile horse pasture), join ’em, eat ’em and rejoice in them.

Jamie Collins of Serendipity Farms has been growing organic row crops at the mouth of Carmel Valley for 12 years. She distributes her produce through a CSA, u-picks and farmers’ markets.

Stinging Nettle Beer

Adapted from http://foragedfoods.co.uk

Nettle beer tastes a little like ginger beer, and is a nice refreshing drink—especially when served cold.

1 gallon young nettles 2 pounds malt ¼ ounce root ginger 1 gallon water 12 ounces sugar 1 ounce dried hops 1 lemon 1 tablespoon yeast, activated

Gather the nettles and put them in a saucepan (both leaves and stalks) along with the water, root ginger, malt and hops. Boil these ingredients together for about 15 minutes.

Next, strain the liquid into a bucket. Add the sugar and then the juice of the lemon. Stir all of these until the sugar has dissolved into the mixture. Wait until the liquid cools to about 70° F and then add the tablespoon of activated yeast.

Cover the mixture and leave it in a warm place for about three days to ferment. Remove any of the froth that rises to the surface of the mixture. This is best done by skimming with a clean instrument.

Gather some strong bottles, which will be used to contain the beer. Strain the mixture into the bottles and store in an upright position in a cool place—like a garden shed, garage or basement. Leave it to ferment for an extra week or so before drinking. Nettle beer tastes best after just over a week of fermenting and doesn’t need additional time to improve the flavor.

Photo by Ted Holladay

Stinging Nettle, Cannellini Bean and Farm Egg Soup

Courtesy Brad Briske, chef, La Balena in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Simply put, nettles should be enjoyed as nettles. Not many people have ever experienced the earthy iron-ness and meaty flavor of this garden weed. You want to avoid hiding or taking away from its pure beauty and flavor. They come just a few times a year, whether they’re from your local farm at the farmers’ market or the side of some random roadway. (I have my personal spots.) They appear around the time that wild mushrooms do, which is why nettles pair beautifully with wild mushrooms. But remember that they are painful if mishandled. Blanching will take out the sting, but be sure to use tongs to put them in the boiling water.

Stinging nettles

Leeks

Garlic Cannellini beans

Farm eggs Vegetable stock Sprigs of thyme, tied together Lemon Porcini oil Olive oil Old bread Salt

Cut leeks into ¼-inch rounds and place in a large pot. Sweat leeks in olive oil and salt. Add a splash of liquid (white wine, water or stock) to help soften and cook the leeks without browning. Slice the garlic and add when leeks are nice and soft, aka “buttery.” A few minutes later, add soaked cannellini beans, vegetable stock and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer until beans are tender.

While beans are cooking, bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch nettles for about half a minute and then plunge in a bowl of icy water. Strain nettles, discard ice water and return nettles to the bowl. Save the dark green juice that collects from the strained nettles at the bottom of the bowl. You can pick the leaves and discard the stems of wild nettles, but with tender cultivated farm nettles, I chop the whole thing. Add chopped nettles and the juice to the soup just before serving. Adjust with just a squeeze of lemon.

To finish, place one poached or fried-poached egg in each serving bowl and ladle the bright green nettle bean soup over the egg. Garnish with toasted torn bread and a drizzle of mushroom oil. Enjoy.

To make fried-poached eggs: In a smoking hot pan, crack an egg in oil and fry lightly before adding a ladle of boiling hot, salty pasta water and a few drops of vinegar. Turn off the burner to let the egg poach in the hot water. It’s surprising that the yolks never break—it looks so violent for something so delicate when you add the boiling water to the hot oiled pan, but the eggs taste great. A traditional poached egg might be easier and less of a mess to clean up at home, but we do the fried-poached eggs at the restaurant.

Photo by Patrick Tregenza

Stinging Nettle Tagliatelle with Nettle and Leek Cream and Breadcrumbs

Courtesy Brad Briske, chef at La Balena, Carmel-by-the-Sea

Serves 4

4 ounces high performer pasta flour

4 ounces semolina

1 farm egg

1–2 bunches nettles

2 ounces nettle water from blanched, strained nettles*

Leeks

Garlic Cream

Vegetable stock Thyme Porcini oil

Roman-style breadcrumbs toasted with Meyer lemon**

To make pasta: In a bowl, sift and whisk together flour and semolina. Make a well in the middle. Add the egg and nettle water to the well. Bring together with a wooden spoon, adding a little more nettle water if needed to incorporate all the flour, but the dough should not feel wet or tacky. Knead the dough; it should have an elastic property. Wrap with plastic and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

Roll out the pasta with a rolling pin or even a wine bottle, but a store-bought pasta roller is by far the fastest. We use an attachment for the KitchenAid mixer at La Balena to get the dough pretty thin, but not to the thinnest setting. Dust a wood surface with semolina and roll, cut and fold the dough into 9-inch-by-4inch rectangles. Dust with semolina and fold the rectangles again so you can slice ¼-inch ribbons. You should end up with long, thin ribbons of pasta in the style of tagliatelle.

To make sauce: Slice leeks into ¼-inch rounds. Sweat in olive oil until nice and soft but not colored. When the leeks are nice and buttery, add sliced garlic. Cook 1–2 more minutes. Add cream and reduce by half. Add vegetable stock to thin out the sauce. This is how you make a light cream sauce that actually has flavor without killing your stomach. Add blanched chopped nettles and simmer together 10 more minutes. Finish with chopped thyme and any remaining nettle liquid.

To assemble: In heavily salted boiling water, cook the pasta until it’s perfect. This happens fast, but not as fast as most people think. Toss with nettle cream sauce. Cook one more minute to finish the pasta in the sauce, then plate.

Garnish with porcini oil and Roman-style breadcrumbs toasted with Meyer lemon.

*See soup recipe on p. 22 for notes on blanching the nettles

** To make breadcrumbs: Pulse day-old bread in a food processor until it resembles crumbs. Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry pulsed bread until golden. Add a little more oil as well as garlic and Meyer lemon zest. Finish in oven until slightly more golden brown and crisp.

Photo by Patrick Tregenza

edible monterey bayspring

Lisa Knutson and one of her baby goats.

At the Dairy Goat Goddesses

Four local women bet their farms on the underappreciated goat

By Deborah Luhrman Photography by Geneva Liimatta

“There was just too much testosterone in that room,” says Hollister rancher Lisa Knutson, recalling her first meeting with the Cattlemen’s Association. So she went home, sold her cattle and bought a herd of cashmere goats. The goats, which now number 127, roam grassy hillsides east of town, guarded from mountain lions by 12 enormous Anatolian dogs and moved from pasture to pasture by a pack of border collies that Knutson trained herself.

Goats are believed to be the world’s first domesticated animal and, globally, more goat meat and goat milk are consumed than any other kind, but here at home goats remain underappreciated. Knutson is one of four local “goatesses” who are discovering the joys of the Capra hircus as well as their tremendous versatility. In addition to milk and meat, artisanal goat products made here in the Monterey Bay Area include cheese, kefir, yogurt, soap, body lotion, face cream, milk bath, fleece and even paint.

With the exception of the reclusive Charlie Cascio of Sweetwater Farm in Big Sur, all of our local goat herders are female and there seems to be a certain something between women and their goats.

“There’s a femininity to goats, an air of grace that complements a woman,” says Dee Harley, who has been raising goats and making award-winning goat cheese in Pescadero for nearly 20 years. “Highstrung racehorses often have a goat companion to keep them calm, and when I’m upset I always go out to the goats to calm down,” she adds. “I love to watch their breath in the cold at night; it’s almost meditative and makes you feel fortunate to be there.”

Knutson says she likes goats because they are personable, sweet and easier to manage for a woman. “They want to be a companion and oh, my god!” she gushes, “nothing is cuter than a baby goat!”

The Rancher

Since starting her goat herd four years ago, Knutson has added 55 Merino sheep to her tribe. They roam alongside the cashmere goats and are shorn each spring.

At the bottom of the hill, she raises heritage chickens and gathers some 250 organic eggs a day, which she sells through the Live Earth Farm CSA, the Morgan Hill Farmers’ Market and Star Market in Salinas. She calls the farm Pasture Chick—not for the chickens—but “because it’s a girl’s ranch.” (see EMB Winter 2011)

“I’m a little oddity in this world,” she says, laughing. “I shave my legs, wear nail polish and tie the gate closed with a bow. We talk to the animals and we have meltdowns.”

Each goat produces only six ounces of precious cashmere, while one sheep gives enough wool to knit a sweater and a scarf. Although Knutson enjoys spinning and likes to knit, most of the fleece and wool is sent off to a small mill in Pennsylvania. Young male goats and sheep are processed at J&R Natural Meat and Sausage in Paso Robles and sold.

On top of all that, Knutson has been experimenting with milking goats. She now keeps a separate herd of nine French Alpine dairy goats and two bucks named Amidee and Casanova. She is trying to grow the herd to 50 does and has drawn up plans for a raw milk creamery to be built between her house and the barn by summer 2014.

Since she hasn’t been licensed yet, she currently feeds the milk to her chickens and to runts born to the cashmere goats, which are brought into the barn and bottle-fed.

She’s also working to perfect her cheesemaking skills and tries out fresh chèvre on foodie friends who act as taste testers. “I don’t want to be a legend in my own mind,” she jokes. Among those lucky taste testers is Chef Carlos Canada of Jesse Cool’s Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park, who proclaimed her latest recipes “amazing.”

The Cheesemaker

Goat cheesemaker Dee Harley says she’s always looking for something new “to keep the creativity going and not get stagnant.” Her farm in Pescadero was full of activity on the chilly weekday morning I visited. In the barn, the herd of 192 American Alpine goats was being milked while llamas stood guard. Next door, visitors kept stopping by to sample a vast array of beautiful cheeses in the tasting room. And up in a hayloft dining room, pewter was being polished in preparation for an elegant farm-to-table dinner.

From an original herd of six goats, passed along to her by Nancy Gaffney of Bonny Doon’s now defunct Sea Star Farms, Harley Farms has expanded far beyond farmstead cheese to become a mini-empire of goat-based products and back-to-the-land experiences.

Harley is originally from a small hamlet in Yorkshire in the north of England, and while traveling down the West Coast as a young woman, she happened to stop at the youth hostel at Pescadero’s Pigeon Point. She fell in love with the area and ended up marrying Tim Duarte, who manages his family’s landmark tavern there.

All of Harley’s stories seem to have that same element of serendipity. She was pasturing Sea Stars’ goats when Gaffney decided

to go out of business. By 2009, demand for Harley’s cheese had skyrocketed and the delicate, flower-decorated rounds were being shipped all over the country. Her herd had grown to 350 does, but that wasn’t sustainable on the 9-acre farm, so she decided to downsize, cut back production and just sell locally.

That coincided with the growing locavore movement and Pescadero’s popularity as a day-trip destination for people from the San Francisco Bay Area. So she started the tasting room and then farm tours. “Due to our location, the farm has become a huge destination just by responding to people’s interests; it wasn’t planned that way,” she says. Currently seven full-time employees and 22 parttimers work as tour guides and clerks in the new mercantile shop that sells everything but the cheese. Exquisitely displayed wares include Harley Farm soaps and lotions, as well as imported goat fleece socks, soft blankets and a collection of stunning European farm tools.

Last year, Harley started hosting monthly farm-to-table lunches and dinners in the hayloft that go on for five hours. While not inexpensive, they are wildly popular and booked months in advance. This spring she is adding a series of classes on foraging for wild foods and cooking with herbs, led by local herbalist Suzanne Elliott.

But her most exciting new project may be a line of goat milk paint. It’s a classic chalk and milk protein (casein) recipe that dairies

Lamb or Goat Chops

Courtesy

Lisa Knutson, Pasture Chick Ranch

Lamb or goat chops

Mansmith’s Grilling Spice, Andy’s Rub or your own favorite grilling seasoning* Organic butter

Place a seasoned cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 400° F. While the oven heats, season the chops.

When the oven is to temperature, remove the skillet and melt a tablespoon of butter in it. Place the seasoned meat on top of the melted butter and return to the oven.

Using a meat thermometer, grill the chop to 150° F, turning one time so both sides of the chop are nicely seared. When you turn the chop and expose the first browned side, allow a shaving of butter to melt over the top of the meat while the bottom side finishes cooking. This is very quick and wonderful.

When your thermometer reaches 150° F, remove the skillet and cover loosely with foil. Let the meat finish cooking and the juices readjust for 3 to 5 minutes. Allow at least a hint of pink color to remain (a rare finish is my favorite).

*Both Mansmith’s and Andy’s Rub are available at Star Market in Salinas

have used forever to whitewash their barns. But pigment specialist Alex Warren of San Francisco’s Sinopia has created seven pure, bold colors that look especially good on the walls of rustic buildings.

“The dinners and tours and now the paint are a kind of lateral expansion,” Harley says. “It allows us to keep the farm small and alive, but we must never lose track of the fact that the goats are at the center of our circle.”

The Milk Mama

Goats have always been at the center of family life for Lynn Selness, who runs a sweet goat dairy farmstead called Summer Meadows in the hills of Watsonville. “I got the first goat in Minnesota when I was pregnant with my first child, because I wanted her to be well nourished,” she recalls. But seven children later, Lynn and her husband decided to move west with their offspring—and a Nubian named Nora.

Eventually they bought 23 acres and established a herd of 65 Nubian goats, milking about 20 of them each day by hand for two hours in the morning and one hour each evening. Fresh raw goat milk is delivered twice a week to 50 families who are shareholders in her herd. On the in-between days, products such as kefir, yogurt and chèvre are made for shareholders and for the Live Earth Farm CSA.

Selness tries to let her goats live as “naturally as they were intended to live,” which means keeping kids and does together and letting older goats remain with the herd even after their milk production has declined. She feels it improves the taste and the healthfulness of the milk.

“Every time I touch one of them, there is such a connection,” Selness says. She lays her head against the side of a doe when she milks and listens to its rumen rumbling, which is comforting to her but can also relay digestion issues in one of the goat’s four stomachs.

“Goats trust in you, they want your comfort when they are in labor, they birth with you and then they give you nourishment,” she says with a certain reverence. “Maybe it is something really special with women.”

Her low-yielding herd is barely profitable and the work is formidable, but the milk is delicious and Selness keeps going because of her customers. “Raw goat’s milk helps many people with health issues,” she maintains. “Colicky babies are cured by the milk. Customers with autistic kids following the GAPS diet are finding that the milk helps dramatically, and a little girl named Clara who has Rett syndrome has been able to stay off a feeding tube because she gets enough nourishment from our milk.”

Selness’ youngest daughter, Meadow, is now 19 and a student at Cabrillo College. She takes care of the goats when her mother is away and seems to share her affinity for animals—a gift that makes her namesake farm such a special place.

The Homesteader

The story of how Jeannie Wholey got her goats belongs under the category of “if you can do it, I can do it.” While on vacation in Maine six years ago, she sat on the beach reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle along with Michael Pollan’s The

Omnivore’s Dilemma. The books spoke to her, so she returned home to California and set about building her homestead.

“As a mom it was important to me that my daughter know that milk and eggs don’t just come from Safeway,” says Wholey, who had been living in Los Altos Hills.

After searching up and down the Central Coast, Wholey and her husband found an affordable two-acre parcel in Bonny Doon with a rambling house and a slice of ocean views. They named their new farm Fish Princess—a reference to Wholey’s nickname, bestowed by her husband because of her love for surfcasting. Fish Princess started out with one Swiss Alpine goat but now has four: Hemmy, Periwinkle, Walle and Crazy Daisy.

“The first time I made cheese from their milk I nearly cried,” she recalls. “They are out there in yard eating blackberry brambles and poison oak and turning it into delicious milk and cheese for us. It’s like a miracle.”

Wholey suddenly found herself with more milk than she could use. It didn’t make sense to go through the licensing process to become a commercial dairy with just four goats, so she turned to making goat’s milk soaps.

She crafts each soap by hand in a tool shed that she shares with her husband’s beer-making equipment and wraps them in beautiful flowered tissue on her dining room table. The business really took off last summer and she now has a line of goat’s milk body lotions and 18 varieties of scented soaps—all made with a rich mixture of goat’s milk, locally produced olive oil from Paicines in San Benito County,

avocado oil, pomegranate oil and shea butter. Shaving soaps and goat’s milk bath sachets were introduced for Valentine’s Day.

Fish Princess Farm is part of Santa Cruz Local Foods, a unique online CSA that sells eggs from her flock of heritage chickens and ducks, as well as items from other small-scale farms. Fish Princess wares can also be found in SLOWCOAST gift boxes of local, sustainably produced products. In summer, Wholey grows 300 tomato plants and provides produce to local restaurants like the Davenport Roadhouse and Gabriella Café.

Despite the romance of having a farm, all of our local women goatherds agree that it’s hard work. “You’ve got to really want this type of life,” Harley says. “You can’t go away; you work seven days a week; and if the pump breaks, you need to go out and fix it.” But they don’t complain very much. They clearly adore their animals and their contentment suggests that once you get a goat, the goat may just get you.

Deborah Luhrman is a lifelong journalist who has reported from around the world. She returned home to the Santa Cruz Mountains a few years back and enjoys growing vegetables, but she hasn’t gotten a goat, yet. She also edits EMB’s electronic newsletter.

Additional reporting by Jamie Collins. For a related story about our local cow and sheep’s milk cheese makers, see p. 32.

Explore

Spring is the perfect time to see adorable newborn baby goats on the farm—and get to know our local goat herders and their products.

Goat visits: Harley Farms, 205 North St., Pescadero. Cheese tasting and farm visits daily from 10am–5pm. Full tours available on weekends for $20, reserve online. www.harleyfarms.com

Cheesemaking: Dee Harley says it’s the sea air that makes her cheese especially delicious. For those who want to try making cheese at home, she recommends the online recipes from New England Cheesemaking Supply. www.cheesemaking.com

Raw goat’s milk: Summer Meadows sells raw goat’s milk through its goat herd shares, 831.786.8966. Claravale Farm in San Benito County sells it retail at the Downtown Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays, New Leaf Community Markets, Shopper’s Corner and Staff of Life in Santa Cruz.

Goat meat, fleece, roving and yarn: All this can be purchased from Lisa Knutson’s Pasture Chick Ranch in Hollister, 831.801.9765. www.facebook.com/pasturechickranch

Goat’s milk soaps and lotions: Fish Princess Farm’s line can be purchased at Staff of Life, the Food Bin/Herb Room and Westside Farm & Feed in Santa Cruz, or online at www.etsy.com.

More reading: City Goats: The Goat Justice League’s Guide to Backyard Goat Keeping by Jennie Palches Grant (Mountaineers Books, 2012), founder of the Goat Justice League. A primer chock full of guidance, resources, photos, (and even recipes) to tell you everything you need to know about keeping goats in your own backyard.

—DL and KS

Clockwise from below, Lisa Knutson with her herd, Jeannie Wholey, Dee Harley and Summer Selness.

Garden Variety Cheese and Schoch Family Farmstead Cow and sheep milk dairies taking off in Monterey County

Once people taste European-style, raw milk farmstead cheese— which is to artisanal cheese lovers what estate wine is to oenophiles, because it’s produced from a cheesemaker’s own herd—there’s no going back to the supermarket stuff. So lucky for us, two local farmstead dairies, one that rears sheep and another that raises cows, are dramatically ramping up their production.

Garden Variety Cheese in Royal Oaks has just installed a pasteurization machine that will enable owner Rebecca King to start selling sheep’s milk yogurt and fresh cheeses like ricotta in addition to her popular aged cheeses. At the same time, Schoch Family Farmstead, which is in nearby Prunedale and is currently the only maker of a true Monterey Jack Cheese—as well as several other sought-after aged cheeses—has just upgraded its operation to enable it to produce 1,200 pounds of cheese a week—about five times its current level. And the Schoch family (pronounced “shock”) also hopes to soon start bottling raw cow’s milk and Swiss-style drinkable yogurt.

toric dairy economically viable using a different business model.

“You can’t make it as a small dairy anymore—it’s either go big or go home and we didn’t want to do that,” he said. “We want to go back to the way my grandpa did it, with less feeds and more self-sustaining pastures.”

Cheese is a big part of the equation. A new vat will allow the family to use about 50% of its milk production right on the farm—rather than selling much of it off at low prices to a cooperative, which the Schochs do now. The milk goes straight from the cows to the new 460-gallon cheese vat. It’s still warm and there’s no pasteurization.

Beau is the cheesemaker and Ty is in charge of ripening, or affinage, while Seth and their father John take care of the cows. “This is the only way to go forward,” admits John. “But it couldn’t work if we were not all hands-on.”

The Schochs produce seven varieties of raw cow’s milk cheese and sell them at Star Market, New Leaf Markets, the Aptos Farmers’ Market, the MPC Farmers’ Market and the Carmel Cheese Shop. There are two tangy Swiss-style cheeses: Junipero and Gavilan; the milder Dutch-style East of Edam; Tomme; Feta; and the only Monterey Jack actually made in Monterey County. There is also a combo cow and sheep’s milk cheese called Beau’s Blend, made in collaboration with Garden Variety.

“Making cheese is half science and half art,” says Ty. “It makes a big difference how long you stir it, how long you leave it in brine and the temperature in the make room.” The family hopes to start bottling its raw milk this spring, once the permits come through. It’s also eager to start making its planned all-natural, Swiss-style drinkable yogurt, with no emulsifiers and no added sugar.

Holsteins hold back the subdivisions

You’ve probably seen the whitewashed Schoch dairy barn on the east side of Highway 101 just north of Salinas, looking like it belongs more in the Midwest than next to a California freeway. The 100-acre, 100-cow dairy has been preserved by the Schoch family for 70 years, and there’s evidence that the same land has been used for milk cows since the times of the Spanish land grants.

“We’re just one mile from the Salinas city limits, and if we were to go out of business, this would all become houses,” says Ty Schoch, as we climbed over a fence and onto rolling, green pastureland.

Faced with skyrocketing feed costs and declining milk prices, Ty and his brothers Beau and Seth are determined to make the his-

Then there are plans afoot to rejuvenate the pastures, add irrigation for the dry summer months and build a certified compost facility to process and sell the manure. “We’ve got enough plans to last us the rest of our lives,” he says, grinning.

Shepherdess Rebecca King had a long and impressive pedigree in local foods even before she started her Garden Variety Cheese company in 2009.

While an undergraduate studying environmental science at UCSC, she worked on Nancy Gaffney’s Sea Stars goat farm in Bonny Doon—the very same one that gave Dee Harley her start (see preceding article). After earning her degree and working on organic farms on the East Coast, King decided to at-

A chef creates a rare California sheep’s milk dairy

tend the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, where she studied to be a chef and interned at Alice Water’s famed Chez Panisse, as well as at nearby Cowgirl Creamery—a great place to learn about cheesemaking.

She returned to Santa Cruz and worked two years as chef at Gabriella Café before buying her first flock of 50 sheep in 2006 and raising them on rented land near the county fairgrounds in Watsonville. “I was working up to this for a long time, but finally decided there were no more excuses and bought the farm,” she says.

“I chose sheep because there were such a lot of great European sheep’s milk cheeses out there and not many people doing it here,” she explains. “ Ossau Iraty, a sheep’s milk cheese from the French Basque County, is my favorite cheese, and the other consideration was meat—lamb is my favorite meat.”

The farm, which she named Monkeyflower Ranch, was only the third licensed sheep’s milk dairy in California. Currently she makes four types of raw sheep’s milk cheese, each named for a flower that grows on the farm. Black Eyed Susan, which was a gold medal winner in the 2012 Good Food Awards, is the mildest and most popular; Moonflower has a washed rind that gives it more pungency; Hollyhock, with a longer aging time, is rich and tangy; and Cosmos, which is a feta.

Sheep only give milk for 6–8 months each year, so to extend the cheesemaking season, Garden Variety sometimes buys raw goat’s milk from Claravale Farm in San Benito County to produce the feta. And with the new pasteurizer, Garden Variety will be able to make soft cheeses and sheep’s milk yogurt this season. The cheeses sell at the Aptos and downtown Santa Cruz Farmers’ Markets, as well as Star Market, New Leaf and Staff of Life.

King’s 6-month-old, pasture-raised lambs—which are fed on barley mash left over from the beermaking process at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing—are mostly sold through her unique

adopt-a-ewe CSA that includes twice monthly deliveries of meat, cheese and dairy products. (Pigs are also raised on the farm and sold as pork in the fall, after feeding on the whey left over from cheesemaking.)

Other benefits of King’s CSA for both her and her members are the open houses and barbeques Garden Variety holds on the ranch during lambing season.

“Having people come out to the farm and getting to know the people we are raising food for is the most rewarding part for me,” she says.

—DL

Schoch Family Farmstead 831.596.8828 • bbschoch@hotmail.com

Garden Variety Cheese 831.761.3630 • www.gardenvarietycheese.com

READ: For some recently published books on artisanal cheese making, go to www.ediblemontereybay.com and click on the “READ” tab.

Cheese mavens: Ty Schoch, opposite; Rebecca King, this page.

Edible inspiration

Garbage to Gold

By Elizabeth Limbach Photography by Patrick Tregenza

Monterey Peninsula restaurateurs aim to go zero waste—and at the same time, fight global warming and turn their food scraps into green power and natural fertilizer

A few years ago, a Carmel Valley pig rancher approached the Monterey Bay Aquarium Café & Restaurant with a practical request: Might he take the eatery’s food scraps to feed to his pigs?

The aquarium gladly agreed. But after a brief symbiotic relationship, the farmer stopped collecting and the restaurant was stuck with its leftovers once more. When Michael Seaman came on as the restaurant’s environmental and product manager in June 2011—with a charge to green the business— he looked unsuccessfully for another outlet to fill the farmer’s shoes.

“It was tough to get someone to take our food waste,” says Seaman. For a business concerned about its trash output, the alternatives were to pay a high price for special pickup or to compost the scraps themselves at an onsite garden—neither of which were options for the restaurant.

The aquarium’s desire to divert its food scraps from the dumpster reflects a growing awareness that most of what is pitched into United States landfills is compostable organic refuse. This is not just wasteful; it wreaks havoc on the environment because the methane produced by decaying food makes our dumps the ninth biggest source of greenhouse gases. What’s more, methane is more than 20 times more harmful to the atmosphere than the carbon dioxide that most of us worry about producing.

With a full 46% of what the average restaurant tosses being food waste, our local conservation-minded restaurants are realizing that how they handle their leftovers has a critical impact on global warming.

The good news is that Seaman and other local restaurateurs, food retailers and hoteliers, together with government and trash collection entities, have taken action and put the peninsula on the front lines of the food waste fight. (Read about Santa Cruz County’s efforts in the sidebar on p. 41.) And it is not a minute too soon.

Journalist Jonathan Bloom blew the trash can lid off of the food waste issue in his 2010 book American Wasteland, reporting that as much as half of the food in this country is thrown away. To illustrate, he paints the terrifying image of the Rose Bowl filled with stinky heaps of rotting food—because it would take a stadium that size to hold the 590 billion pounds of food Americans toss

each year. The book traces the food waste epidemic all the way from farm fields and grocery store shelves to household habits and restaurant kitchens. While Bloom doesn’t think the problem will ever go away entirely, he believes that America’s appalling food waste could be cut in half if enough people did something about it.

“One man’s garbage is another’s gold mine,” says Ted Terrasas, Monterey’s sustainability coordinator. “It’s just a matter of changing those perspectives people have and getting away from that throw-away society.”

The City of Monterey and Waste Management Carmel-Marina Corp. both launched pilot commercial food waste pickup programs last year. Much like recycling pickup services, the programs have enabled participating businesses to do what Seaman and others have been longing for at an affordable cost, and the programs are expected to continue after their pilot periods end. Meanwhile, an anaerobic food digester—the first of its kind in the country, although popular in Europe—has just gone online at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District (MRWMD) site in Marina. The digester, as it is called, will convert commercial food waste collected in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties into energy and compost.

Making it happen

As early as 2008, Asilomar Conference Grounds and the Monterey Whole Foods Market were culling their food waste from the rest of their garbage and had begun making special arrangements to have it taken away and composted at the regional waste facility in Marina.

But the ad-hoc arrangements were costly and inefficient for both the haulers and the customers, and the push to make collection of food scraps an official part of waste recovery services available to peninsula businesses really gathered steam in 2011.

Seaman, who was then working as the environmental programs assistant for Aramark at Asilomar, joined forces with other local businesses, nonprofits and government officials with the same interest. This group, now known as the Monterey Peninsula Food Scrap Resource Recovery Coalition, lobbied local city councils to get on board.

The City of Monterey, through its waste hauler, Monterey City Disposal Inc., began

offering food waste pickup on a pilot basis in October 2012 and as of late January had four participants: the aquarium’s restaurant, InterContinental The Clement Monterey, Whole Foods at the Del Monte Center and the Portola Hotel & Spa.

Six weeks into the program, Seaman says that the aquarium was sending about 400 pounds a week of food scraps for conversion to compost and power and the composting effort may spread from the restaurant to the rest of the aquarium—meaning fish heads and guts left over from feeding the animals could someday also be redirected from the dump.

Waste Management’s program started last September and is available to businesses in Carmel, Pacific Grove, Seaside, Sand City, Del Rey Oaks, Marina and Pebble Beach; Monterey County’s unincorporated areas may soon be able to participate as well. As this issue of EMB went to press, the program had 10 customers, including: three Pebble Beach Co. properties, Asilomar, Happy Girl Kitchen Co., Passionfish, Canterbury Woods, Basil, Bernardus Lodge and Bayonet and Black Horse.

In just the four months the program operated last year, Waste Management collected and composted more than 150 tons of discarded food, says Joe Cadelago, Waste Management’s government and community relations representative.

Both of the food waste recovery programs run at no cost to the cities covered by the routes, and at a cost comparable to garbage pickup for participants. And as more businesses sign up, costs are expected to fall.

A new mindset

Of course, reducing food waste and its ills begins with throwing away less food in the first place. Richard Julian, purchasing manager at the InterCon, says the hotel’s first line of attack is striving to know what it needs and being cautious with its orders of perishable foods.

“It’s smart shopping, but it’s also smart cooking,” Julian says, adding that the hotel’s chef, Jerry Register, keeps waste to a minimum by avoiding making more food than is needed.

In a 208-room hotel that boasts a 125seat restaurant and bar and hosts more than 100 banquets per year, however, some food waste is inevitable. With this in mind, and some urging from the City of Monterey, the

InterCon, a certified green business, began composting one year after opening, in 2009.

“When you are a brand new hotel, it’s a lot easier to teach someone right off the bat than doing it five years later,” Julian says. “We’d already started [a] recycle program, we’d started the momentum, so why not make composting part of the mix?”

The omnipresent green food scrap cans have stood beside gray trash receptacles and blue recycling bins ever since.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Julian winds his way through the hotel’s culinary barracks, peeking inside the strategically placed green garbage bins.

Sporadic laminated posters remind employees what goes in which bin. In the restau-

Like concerns about cleanliness (and with that, fears of infestation), another potential impediment to bringing on new participants is finding the space for all those bins. The InterCon is immune from that worry, thanks to its spacious loading dock. Waste Management addresses both the cleanliness and space issues with thrice-weekly pickups, but the city picks up just once, and Julian acknowledges that the space issue is real.

“Some businesses are much smaller,” Julian says. “I know we’re a big hotel. I get it. The little restaurant down the street may not have enough space for the trash bins, the recycle bins and the food scraps bins.”

One floor below the restaurant, in the InterCon’s main kitchen, Julian spots a

rant’s open kitchen, where cooks are busy frying burgers and arranging plates, a food scrap bin is always within reach. A look inside one of these vessels reveals a mound of uneaten French fries, corners of bread, vegetable bits of varying size and the unrecognizable remains of other dishes.

Before the pilot program began—and participants received official food waste bins—the hotel’s food refuse amassed in a large compactor, which made the hotel’s loading dock notoriously odorous. Now, Julian utilizes 10 city bins that are easily and routinely cleaned, and he expects to be able to use even more as time goes on.

“With today’s food scrap program, it’s easier, cleaner, a little less expensive, but much more efficient and less of a smell,” Julian says.

crumpled wad of paper in a compost bin, evidence of the overarching challenge cited by all involved parties, which is helping rushed employees get in the habit of discarding food into its own container.

“It’s easy to get the bins, but you have to make sure your employees know why it’s important and how to do it,” says Seaman, who had heard from the hauler earlier that day that a plastic glove was found in his food scraps.

“What we’re really concerned about is making sure that we get a very nice clean waste stream, [and having people] understand that it needs to be separated,” says Terrasas.

Separating food waste is common sense for Soerke Peters, the owner-chef of Basil in Carmel, which is a participant in Waste Management’s program. Peters did a culinary

Compost man: MRWMD Public Education and Recycling Manager Jeff Lindenthal.

Food to fuel: the digester.

apprenticeship in Germany, where composting was the norm. And although that was decades ago now, Peters says he still finds the habit comes second nature.

To reduce waste on the front end, Peters waits until after closing at night to place his orders for the next day so that he can first inventory what the restaurant still has on hand. “We only buy what we need,” he says.

Separating food scraps easily became part of the routine (the staff picked the habit up in about a week, Peters says), but he was surprised by how much waste the restaurant was actually producing.

“I’m shocked, actually,” he says of the amount. “I thought it would be very little. I mainly thought it’d be plate leftovers, and people don’t usually leave much uneaten on their plates. But it adds up very quickly with things like potato peels, which you don’t really think about. It’s quite a bit.”

Leftovers: a valuable commodity

At the heart of this challenge is the need to see the food that used to be thrown away as something of worth, says Abbie Beane, director of sustainability programs for The Offset Project, a nonprofit based in Pacific Grove.

“People can easily see plastics, metal and aluminum as a resource because it’s engrained,” Beane says. “Why does [food waste] come second? And why don’t we think about it? Maybe it’s because people don’t see food—old food—as a resource.”

The Offset Project, along with the City of Monterey and Monterey Disposal, received a

Community Foundation grant at the start of the year to provide training and education to participants in the city pilot program.

“It’s a tough thing to convince people of, because it’s an extra step in the kitchen,” says Beane. “It can be extremely messy—people are afraid of critters and maggots—and there is confusion over what can be composted. Unless you’re helping people through this, it’s easy to abandon it.”

In order to get the practice up and running efficiently, she adds, “You really need boots on the ground every single week for a certain number of hours.” The Offset Project will dedicate time and staffing to providing this advice and training, and will also facilitate four workshops this year.

But despite all the concerns about pests and sanitation, food waste is in truth a relatively pure waste stream.

“That’s the good thing about food waste—we can recover all of it if we’re good about separating it,” says Terrasas. “It’s not a toxic material or chemical or metal. It’s food.”

MRWMD’s facility in Marina has been doing some composting using traditional windrows since 1986 and began food scrap composting five years ago.

In January, the site christened a cuttingedge facility for processing its waste: an anaerobic digester that can convert up to 5,000 tons of organic matter into heat, energy and compost.

The “SMARTFERM” plant is on loan from Zero Waste Energy, a solid waste management company that approached MRWMD about locating the facility at the

Marina location on a pilot basis. The digester reduces greenhouse gas emissions by converting food waste-produced methane into energy. It’s the first such plant to be built in the U.S., although many others are in development and a much larger one is being built nearby, in San Jose.

The Marina plant—a four-unit modular white installation with hot pink doors—allows local businesses to participate in a closed-loop waste cycle. Food scraps are turned into electricity that is sold to the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency and compost that will be offered for sale to local growers, especially vineyards and non-row crop farmers.

“It is important to push for these programs because they benefit not only the environment, but also every participant in the process,” says Al Hittle, director of engineering for Portola Hotel, “[including the] waste generator, waste hauler, landfill operator, compost operator and end user of the compost.”

So what is ahead? Officials with both the City of Monterey and Waste Management acknowledge that they need to ramp up participation to make the programs viable. Waste Management, for example, will need to quadruple its participation to about 40 customers for a “truly sustainable program,” says Cadelago, but he’s not worried. “We do know the customers love the service, primarily because of the added diversion and the greening of their business.”

Monterey’s Terrasas says that the city is committed to making its program work.

“Food waste is a major component of what is still going to landfills as waste, so rather than abandon it if there is not sufficient participation, we would rather re-evaluate our outreach and education to make the program a success,” Terrasas says.

Both expect their programs to continue—and hopefully expand to providing food waste bins and collection routes to residential customers.

As Cadelago says, “Collecting food waste and turning it into energy is the new frontier of resource recovery.”

Monterey Bay marketplace • Monterey Bay marketplace

ALL ABOARD

Elsewhere in the Monterey Bay region, the City of Santa Cruz is still working on its plan to begin a commercial food waste-composting program, but the County of Santa Cruz was at the vanguard of the movement, starting its commercial food waste-composting program five years ago.

Fifty-four restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals and other businesses participate in the program, according to Tim Goncharoff, of the Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works. The county’s overall waste reduction efforts earned city officials a Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA), which they accepted at an award ceremony with Gov. Jerry Brown on Jan. 22.

“We began composting food waste in part as proof of concept at a time when such programs were relatively rare,” says Goncharoff, “and in part because it seemed an inevitable part of our future.”

He adds that the county already had an official waste diversion rate of 75%, but is shooting for zero waste. With as much as 30% of the county’s trash being food, the county knew that fighting food waste was going to be essential. “We realized there was no way to get [to zero waste] without doing something about food waste,” he says.

Santa Cruz County participants, who are mostly located in the midcounty region of Live Oak, Soquel and Aptos, pay around two-thirds of the cost of garbage services for food scrap collection, says Goncharoff, and the county subsidizes the difference. Although the program’s pickup area is fairly limited now, he says the county hopes to expand it someday to meet the demands of businesses and residents who continually express interest in participating in the program but are located outside of the current route.

“Eventually the county hopes to expand food waste collection countywide when sufficient space becomes available for a composting project of that magnitude,” he says. The collected scraps—which total around 100 tons of food waste each month, or 1,200 tons per year—formerly went to the county’s Buena Vista Landfill, but are now trucked to MRWMD’s Marina anaerobic digester plant.

Santa Cruz County has begun picking up food scraps from some businesses in the City of Capitola, which recently began its own food waste pilot program, says Goncharoff. Green Waste Recovery is the franchise hauler for both municipalities.

The City of Santa Cruz has been working on creating a program for several years and has participants lined up. But the initiative was slowed by problems including pinning down a destination for collected scraps. The city previously studied processing scraps at their Wastewater Treatment Plant, and is now looking at trucking materials to MRWMD’s Marina property or over the hill to San Jose. Bob Nelson, the city’s superintendent of resource recovery, couldn’t give a timeline for getting a program off the ground, but says plans are “moving forward.”

Hands-on: Abbie Beane of The Offset Project.

SUPER MARKETS

No junk food here

Scott Roseman and his New Leaf Community Markets

By Elizabeth Limbach Photography by Ted Holladay

Long before Scott Roseman founded Santa Cruz-based New Leaf Community Markets, he was a young boy growing up on Long Island, eating “hamburgers, hot dogs, lamb chops and anything that was meat.” Fish meant canned tuna, and vegetables were rarities often found between a bun and a hamburger patty. “I was as bad an eater as could be,” he says.

The chain of events that led Roseman to found New Leaf’s progenitor, the Westside Community Market, began at age 21, when he moved to California to study sociology at UC Santa Cruz.

Influenced by his new surroundings, and by Frances Moore Lappé’s healthy eating manifesto, Diet for a Small Planet, Roseman’s eating habits shifted to the fresh and healthy diet he continues today. “It’s almost the opposite of what I ate growing up—lots of fruits and vegetables, and just good food,” he says. He joined the Westside’s Neighborhood Food Co-op, and the transformation went on from there.

By this time, Roseman had realized that his goal in life was to “make the world a better place,” but he did not yet know that accomplishing it would involve that small, bohemian natural foods coop. Even after working at the store for three years and taking on a large buying role, Roseman hoped to pursue public service and perhaps go into politics. As much as he had grown to love working in the natural foods business, he grew weary of the in-fighting and dis-

organization that plagued the co-op. He was already thinking of leaving when, at 28 years old, he was diagnosed with leukemia in 1984.

“It’s hard to know why I got sick,” he says. “I was already eating well.” His big plans for changing the world were put on hold as he underwent grueling chemotherapy and radiation treatments that lasted the better part of a year.

“I wasn’t very optimistic that I was going to get to the end of that,” Roseman says. “But at a certain point I changed my attitude; I said, ‘I’m going to beat this thing.’ And I did.”

The experience was life changing, to say the least. He bought the floundering co-op in 1985, scrubbed it down, spruced it up and reopened it as the Westside Community Market that October. “It was like me coming back from the dead, almost literally, and being able to do this thing,” he says. “I wasn’t looking to make a lot of money. I just wanted to do something in my life that was meaningful. And in this case I could have a place where I could sell good food to people.”

Store for the Times

As we announced in this issue of Edible Monterey Bay (see “Local Heroes,” p. 6), our readers chose New Leaf Markets as their 2013 Best Food Retailer in the online vote we held late last year, clearly demonstrating the local chain’s popularity.

But the story of New Leaf Community Markets is a good illustration of the soaring growth and increasing sophistication of the good food movement as a whole: What began as a modest health food store perpetually evolved over the last 27 years, growing to its current seven stores and 500 employees. What’s more, in May, New Leaf will open its first East Bay store, in Pleasanton, and Roseman is also eyeing Monterey County.

“For years, we have tried to find an appropriate location to open a store in Monterey,” Roseman says. “We will continue to aggressively pursue this goal, as we know that Monterey would be a great community to operate in.”

From the start, New Leaf placed an emphasis on local, organic and sustainable foods, and that has made it a natural leader as consumer demand for these foods has grown.

When Roseman re-opened the store as New Leaf in 1990, U.S. sales of organic food and beverages totaled $1 billion, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA). By the company’s 25th anniversary in 2010, that figure had skyrocketed to $26.7 billion.

“We’ve always gone after the local producers,” says Roseman. “When the local craze happened, we didn’t have to change anything.”

Today, fruits and vegetables from nearby farms like Swanton Berry Farm, Lakeside Organic Gardens, Route 1 Farms and Happy Boy Farms fill New Leaf’s produce departments, and local varieties of everything from jam to hummus to tofu line the shelves.

As for organics, Roseman says New Leaf’s inventory has expanded along with the industry.

“Back in [the early] days we sold a lot of organic produce, but we sold a lot of conventional produce, too,” Roseman says. “There weren’t any organic packaged meals or organic things in cans, bottles, boxes—that all evolved over the last 25 years.” He adds that more than 95% of New Leaf’s produce is now organic.

By contrast, OTA’s 2011 Organic Industry Survey shows that just 11% of all U.S. fruit and vegetable sales were for organic produce, and overall, organic foods account for just 4% of food and beverages sold in the country.

Organic growth: this page, Coastal Kale Salad; opposite, Scott Roseman.

Raising the Bar

At the heart of New Leaf’s mission to “nurture and sustain our community” are strict standards for what the stores will offer. The guidelines are forever in flux, as the “very picky” staff tirelessly works to address food issues as they arise and shift its standards to keep up with the latest information.

“It’s an ongoing discussion at New Leaf,” says Roseman. “We spend an ungodly number of hours discussing what our product standards were, are and will be.”

For example, shoppers can rest easy knowing that meats for sale at New Leaf are always antibiotic and hormone free, which isn’t something many stores can say, even among those who claim to have natural meats.

“When we started selling fresh meat back in 1990, we developed a standard that it would be no antibiotics or hormones, ever,” Roseman says. “The ‘ever’ is the key piece of the puzzle. I’ll go to other natural food stores all over the country—some really, really good ones—and they’ll be selling meat that doesn’t meet the standards we’ve set.” He points to one natural food store chain, in particular, that is a lot like New Leaf and that he respects. “Their beef claims to be no antibiotics or hormones, but the animals will be treated with antibiotics if they get sick,” he says. “You can make that claim if the animal hasn’t been treated with those in the last three months of its life.” (That’s where New Leaf’s “ever” clause comes in.)

A decade ago, New Leaf partnered with UC Santa Cruz researchers and Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program to create FishWise, the effort that has pioneered sustainable seafood buying and labeling by retailers. (Green, yellow and red labels indicate best choice, good alternative and items to be avoided, respectively.) Roseman says New Leaf has seen tangible results from the labeling program.

“After about a year [of labeling], anything that was red stopped selling and we basically got rid of it,” Roseman says. “Our customers eliminated the red. We didn’t dictate to them ‘no you can’t buy this food’; we left it to them and they chose over time to stop buying those kinds of seafood.”

Fighting for Health

New Leaf doesn’t just peddle organics and other good food to shoppers—it also strives to educate the community about healthy eating and cooking.

To that end, Roseman constructed a spacious classroom in the Westside store, and offers programs ranging from kids’ cooking camps to courses on basic nutrition during pregnancy, preparing raw foods and gluten-free cooking.

“Most people were raised on packaged food and really don’t have the knowledge of the seasons, nor do they know where our food comes from, other than from a box,” says Sparrow Johnson, the Westside New Leaf’s manager and one of the company’s first employees. “We want people to get back to that essential stuff.”

Local nutritionist Jennifer Brewer teaches many of New Leaf’s classes, and says the store is an ideal partner for her work. “Instead of spending a lot of time telling someone to steer clear of trans-fatty acids, or to be concerned about food chemicals, I can have faith that

when they shop at New Leaf, they won’t get those—ever,” Brewer says. “It is as if many of New Leaf’s products are a nutrition education in and of themselves.”

But for customers who lack the time to purchase nutritious, whole foods and turn them into tasty dinners every night, all of New Leaf’s outlets provide an extensive array of freshly made organic prepared foods for takeout. (The Coastal Kale Salad is a customer favorite.)

Giving Back

Since the beginning, Roseman has made sure that New Leaf gives 10% of annual profits to the community—whether it’s by writing checks and donating food or hosting “Community Days,” when 5% of sales go to a particular organization.

The company was a pioneer of the Envirotoken program, through which it donates a dime to customer-selected local environmental nonprofits for each bag customers save.

And Johnson notes that Roseman’s commitment to giving back to the community starts with his employees, who are offered profit-sharing and health benefits—things that are not so common in retail.

If there’s any criticism of New Leaf, it centers—as is with typical with specialty and organic food stores—on prices. But the store has to balance its mission of being accessible with its mission to provide what it truly believes is high-quality, healthful food, and that has inherent costs.

“We try our best to make the food as affordable as possible, and I think we’ve done a good job of bringing a good value to the food,” Roseman says. “But it isn’t cheap. If you want to buy organic, even though the price difference between conventional and organic has narrowed, it’s still more.”

To help keep its products within reach of low-income shoppers, the stores accept WIC and EBT and offer a 10% daily discount to seniors enrolled in New Leaf’s senior discount card program.

And just teaching the value of healthy food and how to cook it, as New Leaf does, provides a skill necessary for eating well, especially on a budget.

“If people know how to cook from scratch, and take the time to cook, they’ll realize that cooking is time well spent,” says Johnson, noting that buying grains and beans in bulk, and organic produce that is in season—both things that New Leaf provides—can help eliminate the organic premium.

It also speaks volumes that local farmers, like long-time New Leaf supplier Jeff Larkey, owner of the organic Route 1 Farms, think so highly of New Leaf’s service to the local food community.

“Their support for local is phenomenal,” he says, adding that he considers the fact that New Leaf opened up shop in a former Safeway in Half Moon Bay particularly meaningful.

“It’s very symbolic in terms of the change in public consciousness about eating healthy and local,” he says. “People are starting to be more conscious in terms of how far their food has traveled from its source. New Leaf is paying attention to that more than anyone else.”

Elizabeth Limbach is an award-winning journalist based in Santa Cruz.

In the Fields

The Pezzinis and their artichokes

A farm makes its passage to a fourth generation

By

Photography by

When Tony Pezzini eats an artichoke, he doesn’t pluck the leaves one by one. Instead, he removes the tough outer leaves and gets “straight to it,” pressing the entire thistle between his fingers to eat it “like a sandwich.” Then he picks off the purple fuzz and gets to the heart of it, mashing the meaty core with a little mayonnaise. Tony doesn’t like broccoli, has no interest in cauliflower and tolerates carrots. But he could eat artichokes every day. And he usually does.

Pezzini’s affinity for artichokes—which are now in their prime season in the Monterey Bay region—comes not just from being raised on the family staple but also from growing up in a family sustained by raising artichokes. In fact, he is the third of now four generations of Pezzinis who have been growing Green Globes on the Central Coast since 1929.

“Our name is artichokes,” says Pezzini from his tiny office behind the expansive family farm stand in Castroville. “It all began with my grandfather Valentino, who brought his expertise and artichokes from Italy.”

Valentino planted artichokes in Half Moon Bay before moving to Carmel to farm the Odello Ranch with the other “official family” of artichokes. There, his son Guido grew and worked in the Odello

business until 1944, when the Pezzinis branched off to cultivate their own 300-acre ranch in the rich soil and cool climate of Castroville.

Tony Pezzini was born in 1958, the same year his father, Guido, expanded his operation by opening a roadside produce stand. This Castroville store quickly became a popular way station for locals and passersby lured by fresh produce and fried artichoke hearts. In 1974, with the completion of Route 1 and the resulting increase in traffic, Guido opened a larger store just off the highway on Nashua Road, adjacent to the family home.

Two years later, Tony graduated from Salinas High School, having grown up knowing the arduous work of the artichoke fields intimately and feeling certain that he would never go into farming himself. But the year he graduated from California State University, Chico, with a degree in business and finance, the family farm all but floated away in the floods of 1983. Tony’s father asked for help.

Thirty years later, Tony runs the family business in partnership with his father, and has never looked back. He and his wife Jolynn live in a remodeled version of the family house where Tony grew up and where they raised their two sons.

“I never thought I’d go into farming, and I definitely didn’t expect to live in the family home as an adult. But it’s perfect, and I guess we’ll be here forever,” Pezzini says, referring to the lifestyle that farming affords. Although he grew up knowing no other, it’s a life that he doesn’t take for granted.

“Being here, we eat a lot of produce and vegetables—ours and other local growers’. It’s a simple, grateful life. I get to see my wife and kids all the time. I don’t drive two hours to work or get on a plane to go somewhere. Running a business is never easy, but I like walking out into the fields, seeing what we’ve grown, and knowing it’s a good product.”

These days, Tony’s elder son, Scott, lives in Santa Monica, where he studies biology at Santa Monica Community College and hopes to transfer to UCLA.

Sean, 23, has returned to the Peninsula after studying viticulture for two years, and he plans to study agri-business at CSU Monterey

Lisa Crawford Watson

Rob Fisher and Patrick Tregenza

“I never thought I’d go into farming, and I definitely didn’t expect to live in the family home as an adult. But it’s perfect, and I guess we’ll be here forever.”

Photo by Patrick Tregenza

Photos p. 48–49 by Rob Fisher

Bay. In the meantime, he is getting more involved in the family business, investing a fourth generation in artichokes.

“I’ve always thought the family business would continue; it has always been our life,” Tony says. “My father, now 80, is just getting out of it, while Sean sees so many different directions to take it, particularly in developing gourmet foods and in marketing through social media.”

The new company Facebook page has received nearly 1,000 likes. Perhaps this is in response to the roadside sign that reads, “10% off when you like us on Facebook.”

In 1989, Tony and brother Paul, who operates Pezzini Berry Farms in Salinas, opened a Pezzini Farms store at The Crossroads shopping center in Carmel. Providing fresh produce and gourmet goods, including their own Pezzini Artichoke Marinara and Artichoke Pesto sauces made from family recipes, the store thrived for nearly a decade before the brothers closed shop in favor of expanding the Nashua Road store.

Today, the Pezzini Farms Gourmet Foods include, in addition to their signature marinara and pesto sauces, garlic-Dijon, lemondill and pesto dipping sauces, prepared by Blossom Valley Foods in Gilroy, which annually produces 500 cases of each. Known for its frozen French-fried artichokes, Pezzini Farms sells some 200 pounds per week, plus piping hot offerings from the “Choke Coach.” The farm also produces and ships 70,000–85,000 cartons of fresh artichokes annually to stores and restaurants throughout the state, and satisfies artichoke orders across the country via its website.

In recent years, the company has extended its artichoke audience through guest spots on television cooking programs hosted by the likes of Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay and Lidia Bastianich.

“The demand for artichokes seems only to be increasing,” says Tony. “Through The Food Network and these other cooking shows,

celebrity chefs are showing people different ways to prepare and enjoy the artichoke. The traditional way is to steam them, but I like them French fried or tossed in the oven with chicken or a roast. I also sauté them real quick with onions, and throw them in with fettuccini pasta and an Alfredo sauce. I think they go best with red wine.”

However artichokes are prepared, it all starts in the fields. The Pezzini family continues to grow Green Globes, just as Grandfather Valentino did, because the root-based plant produces a meatier, more succulent vegetable than the now-common, rounder chokes raised from seeds.

And perhaps in a sign of things to come as the influence of the next generation of Pezzinis continues to blossom, the Pezzini family offered their artichokes regularly over the last year at Sand City’s hip Independent Marketplace and plan more pop-up farm dinners of the sort they first hosted last June.

At last summer’s dinner, a benefit for Rancho Cielo, Salinas’ vocational training center for at-risk youth, the Pezzinis put on a magical and heartfelt celebration of the artichoke.

The guests—some extended family, some friends and many growers themselves—were seated at a long wooden table lined up right alongside a field of the Pezzinis’ prehistoric looking plants. To guard against the evening chill that makes the coastal property so hospitable to the artichokes, the family created a picturesque threesided shelter using the back of an adjacent building and two walls of vintage Magnolia Citrus packing cases.

Chef John Cox, then of Casanova and La Bicyclette restaurants, and now of Sierra Mar, together with La Bicyclette Chef James Anderson and a number of graduates of Rancho Cielo, put on a wildly creative multicourse dinner, with artichokes featured in each course, including dessert. Georis Winery provided the wine, and the whole Pezzini family pitched in to help, clearly showing how close they are and how much they enjoyed the collaboration. The overall tone was rustic-elegant, the best example being when one of the servers produced delicate mugs of coffee from the waxed cardboard artichoke carton she was carrying.

“Whenever we get invited to parties,” says Tony, “folks always say, ‘Bring us Pezzini artichokes.’ Now we’re bringing the party to Pezzini.”

Lisa Crawford Watson lives with her family on the Monterey Peninsula, where she is a freelance writer and an instructor of writing and journalism at California State University, Monterey Bay and Monterey Peninsula College.

Pezzini Farms • 460 Nashua Road, Castroville 831.757.7434 • www.pezzinifarms.com

Field-side dining: photos p. 48–49 from top right, Scott, Sean, Guido and Tony Pezzini; John Cox and Rancho Cielo grads; Miguel Manzo, Pezzini’s operations manager; Alissa Bell of Alissa Bell Press; diners at the Rancho Cielo benefit; James Anderson and Jolynn Pezzini; diners; Chef Cox’s wild fennel-marinated bigeye tuna with artichoke-lobster barigoule.

“It’s a simple, grateful life. I get to see my wife and kids all the time. I don’t drive two hours to work or get on a plane to go somewhere. Running a business is never easy, but I like walking out into the fields, seeing what we’ve grown, and knowing it’s a good product.”

Monterey Bay marketplace

Monterey Bay marketplace

Photo by Patrick Tregenza

The Preservationist Strawberries

Capturing the most pure and intense flavor of the inaugural fruit of spring

By Jordan Champagne Photography by Patrick Tregenza, Carole Topalian and Patrice Ward

Oh, strawberries! They are the first jam fruits of spring and signify the kickoff of the intense summer work for the farmer, gardener and food preservationist. Strawberry jam is a classic, and one of the most popular jams of all.

Strawberry jam is also the first jam that I ever made. I fondly remember a summer spent in Norway when I learned how to make it. Much to my dismay, my Norwegian instructor mixed equal parts beautiful, pristine strawberries and white sugar. I was appalled, but when I asked if we could reduce the sugar, she replied, “No, you must add this much to preserve the fruit.” With horror, I added the sugar.

Fifteen years later, leading my own jam making workshops, I am happy to report that I use much less sugar in my strawberry jam, but, sadly, I have discovered that it is in fact difficult to make a low-sugar strawberry jam. This is because strawberries are naturally low in pectin, which is essential for jam to gel. Strawberries also tend to darken into a less desired maroon color if they are overcooked. Thus, with strawberries, the freshness and quality of the fruits are especially important.

What makes a good-quality strawberry? It needs to be packed with strong flavors of sweet and tart. Unfortunately, in a world that is hungry for large quantities of strawberries, usually an increased yield of crop prevails over flavor. So many of the strawberries that are to be found here in our region are grown with seed varieties—and conventional methods that employ heavy use of toxic chemicals— that are developed with the goal of maximizing production for shipment around the country and the globe.

Photo by Patrice Ward

Strawberry fields: Farmer Pat and his family.

Low-Sugar Strawberry Lavender Jam

Courtesy Jordan Champagne, Happy Girl Kitchen Co.

Makes 9½ pint jars

This recipe took a lot of time, trials and patience to create. I wanted a very low-sugar strawberry jam that tasted just like strawberries but still retained its pink color. I tried using sweeteners like agave or honey, but the results were not satisfactory.

I found this recipe to be the right amount of sugar to get that perfect gel. People love this jam! The flavor of the lavender adds a pleasant and fresh surprise, but you could leave it out for a more classic strawberry jam.

8 pounds strawberries 2 pounds evaporated cane juice

1½ cups lemon juice

¾ cup lavender buds

½ cup hibiscus buds (for color and tart flavor)

Wash and de-stem strawberries and drain well. Combine with sugar, lemon juice and cover. Let sit in a dark, cool place overnight or up to two days, if necessary.

Mash the mixture by hand. Add contents to a nonreactive pot and bring to a boil. Boil on high heat, stirring constantly, until the gelling point is reached, anywhere from 30–45 minutes.

Next, put the lavender and hibiscus in a flour sack cloth so that their flavor gets infused in the jam. You can cook the “tea bag” of herbs in the jam for 10 minutes and remove it once the desired flavor infusion has happened. You may also choose to add the lavender buds directly into the jam when they are tender enough, as their texture can be a nice addition. These should be added in the last 10 minutes of cooking, as cooking them longer can make them bitter. The dried hibiscus are too tough and should not be added directly into the jam, but infused using the flour sack cloth.

Place finished jam in clean half-pint jars. Process in a hot water bath canner at 210° F for five minutes. The jam will keep for up to one year.

Raspberry Strawberry Thyme Jam

Courtesy Jordan Champagne, Happy Girl Kitchen Co.

Makes 14½ pint jars

It can be fun to combine fruits of the same season. I developed this recipe one day when I wanted to make raspberry jam, but I did not have enough to really warrant the project. So I added strawberries to my recipe and thought it tasted delicious. The fresh lemon juice really accents the tartness of the raspberries, and it is all balanced nicely with the strawberries, which offer a smooth texture. It is fun to experiment but can be tricky at the same time. Fruits really vary in their pectin and water content, both of which can make or break a good jam set. I want to give you a recipe for jam that does not use pectin. In this recipe, I let the ingredients macerate, or sit with the sugar overnight. This pulls the juices and the sugars from the fruits and allows them to meld and gel better. I have skipped this step, though, and still had wonderful results.

9 cups strawberries

9 cups raspberries

¾ cup lemon juice 4 cups sugar

½ bunch fresh thyme

Wash and de-stem the strawberries and let them drain very well. Wash and drain the raspberries. Combine with sugar, cover and let sit in a dark, cool place overnight.

Mash the mixture by hand. If you blend it in a food processor, do not over-process or too much air will get incorporated into the mix.

Add contents to a nonreactive pot and bring to a simmer. Add the fresh thyme when you begin cooking down the jam. Simmer it on high heat, stirring constantly, until the gelling point is reached, anywhere from 20–40 minutes.

Place jam in clean, half-pint jars. Process in a hot water bath canner at 210° F for 5 minutes.

Photo by Carole Topalian

Luckily, there are also a lot of local farmers who aren’t concerned with growing strawberries for the anonymous world—they are concerned with growing strawberries for the people who live here. They grow a different kind of strawberry than the conventionally grown berry. Their strawberries are not pumped with chemical fertilizers and water or doused with pesticides. They raise their berries with sunshine and natural soil amendments, and their berries’ flavor will knock you off of your feet. These are our local organic farmers.

Farmer Pat DeYoung of Farmer Pat’s Labor of Love Farm has been growing strawberries for over a decade, and he’s very inspired by the challenge of succeeding at growing food without the environmental impact of conventional agriculture.

He admits that his yield per acre at his farm in the Corral de Tierra section of Salinas is likely 50% less than the conventional farms, but he saves money by not using so much water, fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides. Also, he keeps his crops for two years, which means using half of the amount of row covers and drip tape that he would use if he replanted every year. He helps our local ecosystem by decreasing the amount of plastics in our landfills and water runoff filled with sediment and toxic chemicals.

Farmer Pat says he’s tried using conventional seed varieties that produce 10 times the yield of the berries he grows now, but he found they had no taste! Now, he grows luscious Seascapes. He is in it for the flavor.

“People say these are the best strawberries they have ever had,” says Farmer Pat. “And it brings me great joy knowing you can share something like that. Let’s not talk about the environmental impact—tell me how that tastes.”

Farmer Pat’s berries are available through his CSA and can also be ordered by the flat through The Food Preservationists starting in late May.

Another local grower, Steve Pedersen of High Ground Organics, follows the same sustainable practices as Farmer Pat and farms a very unique piece of property in Watsonville. You have likely seen the dilapidated old Redman House just off of Highway 1 at Riverside

Drive. To me, it is a reminder of a bygone era when the farmstead used to be a 250-acre diversified farm. Today, the farm totals just 10 acres, but Steve grows a wide variety of crops for his CSA, including amazing strawberries. He plants delicious Albion and Seascape varieties and harvests only every five days so that the fruit is picked with a fully developed flavor. Many conventional farms pick more often in an effort to increase yields—but do so at the expense of taste.

During strawberry season, you can find Steve’s strawberries in his CSA boxes and at his farm stand, five days per week. There is also a patch of berries at the Redman House where you can pick your own during farm stand hours—and get the whole experience of the fruit from plant to jam!

Strawberries truly represent a great example of what we as consumers can do to help the local food movement. It is the one fruit that I absolutely refuse to eat if I am not sure it is organically grown. The trick to making great strawberry jam is the fruit that you start with. There are many great local farmers growing amazing berries! Do you know who grows your favorite strawberries?

Jordan Champagne is the co-owner and founder of Happy Girl Kitchen Co. She has a passion for preserving the local, organic harvest and loves sharing her secrets at the workshops she teaches across the region.

READ: For more on local organic berries in our region and why they’re important to the health of our community, see EMB Summer 2012.

Farmer Pat’s Labor of Love: sites.google.com/site/farmerpats/ High Ground Organics: www.highgroundorganics.com/ The Food Preservationists: fp.happygirlkitchen.com/

MONTEREY BAY SPRING FARMERS’ MARKETS

MONTEREY COUNTY

CARMEL

Carmel Farmers’ Market

at The Barnyard (Certified)

3690 The Barnyard Tuesdays, 9am–1pm Open May–September 831.728.5060 • www.montereybayfarmers.org

CASTROVILLE

North County Farmers’ Market

11261 Crane St., North County Recreation Center Thursdays, 4pm–dusk Open year-round, weather permitting 831.633.3084 • www.ncrpd.org

KING CITY

King City Farmers’ Market

Broadway Street between First and Second streets Wednesdays, 4–7pm • Open May–October 831.385.3814 • www.kingcitychamber.com

MARINA

Marina Certified Farmers’ Market 215 Reservation Road, Marina Village Shopping Center Sundays, 10am–2pm 831.384.6961 • www.everyonesharvest.org

MONTEREY

Del Monte Farmers’ Market at Del Monte Center (Certified) 1410 Del Monte Center, Whole Foods parking lot Sundays, 8am–12pm • Open May–October 831.728.5060 • www.montereybayfarmers.org

Monterey Fairgrounds

Certified Farmers’ Market 2004 Fairgrounds Road, Gate 8 831.235.1856 Mondays, 9am–4pm • Open year-round

Monterey Farmers’ Market at Monterey Peninsula College (Certified) 980 Fremont St., parking lot Fridays, 10am–2pm Open year-round, rain or shine 831.728.5060 • www.montereybayfarmers.org

Old Monterey Market Place

Alvarado Street between Del Monte and Pearl

Tuesdays, 4–7pm (winter), 4–8pm (summer) Open year-round, rain or shine 831.655.2607 • www.oldmonterey.org

PACIFIC GROVE

Pacific Grove Certified Farmers’ Market

Central and Grand avenues, in front of Jewell Park Mondays, 3–7pm (closes at 6pm in winter) Open year-round 831.384.6961• www.everyonesharvest.org

SALINAS

Alisal Certified Farmers’ Market 632 E. Alisal St., Gabby Plaza Tuesdays, 11am–4pm Open June–September 831.384.6961 • www.everyonesharvest.org

Natividad Medical Center

Farmers’ Market

1441 Constitution Blvd. Wednesdays, 11:30am–3:30pm

Open mid-May–November 831.384.6961 • www.everyonesharvest.org

Salinas Old Town Marketplace

Alisal and Main Streets behind Rabobank Saturday, 9am–2pm • Open year-round 831.905.1407 www.oldtownsalinas.com/market.asp

SOLEDAD

Soledad Farmers’ Market

Front and Encinal streets Thursdays, 4–8pm • Open May–September www.facebook.com/soledadfamersmarket

Photo of mustard field courtesy of Farm Fuel Inc.

SAN BENITO COUNTY

HOLLISTER

Hollister Certified Farmers’ Market

Fifth and San Benito streets Wednesdays, 3–7pm • Open May–September 831.636.8406 • www.downtownhollister.org

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

APTOS

Aptos Farmers’ Market at Cabrillo College (Certified) 6500 Soquel Drive, Cabrillo College, parking structure Saturdays, 8am–12pm Open year-round, rain or shine 831.728.5060 • www.montereybayfarmers.org

Seascape Village Certified Farmers’ Market

Seascape Village 831.685.3134 Sundays, 11am–2pm • Open May–October

FELTON

Felton Farmers’ Market 120 Russell Ave. at Hwy. 9, St. John’s Catholic Church Tuesdays, 2:30–6:30pm Open May–October, rain or shine 831.454.0566 www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org

SANTA CRUZ

Downtown Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market

Lincoln and Cedar streets Wednesdays, 1:30–6:30pm Open year-round, rain or shine 831.454.0566 www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org

Live Oak/Eastside Farmers’ Market

21511 E. Cliff Drive, East Cliff Shopping Center Sundays, 9am–1pm Open year-round, rain or shine 831.454.0566 www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org

UCSC Farm & Garden’s Market Cart

1156 High St. at Bay Street Tuesdays and Fridays, 12–6pm Open June–October 831.459.3240 • www.casfs.ucsc.edu

Westside Santa Cruz Market

2801 Mission St. at Western Drive Saturdays, 9am–1pm Open year-round, rain or shine 831.454.0566 www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org

SCOTTS VALLEY

Scotts Valley Farmers’ Market 360 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley Community Center Saturdays, 9am–1pm Open year-round, rain or shine 831.454.0566 www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org

WATSONVILLE

Watsonville Certified Farmers’ Market Peck and Main Streets Fridays, 3–7pm • Sundays, noon–5pm Open year-round, rain or shine 831-227-1062

Watsonville Fairgrounds Certified Farmers’ Market

Saturday: Pajaro Valley High School, 500 Harkins Slough Road, Sunday: SC County Fairgrounds, 2601 East Lake Ave. Saturdays and Sundays, 9am–4pm Open year-round 831.235.1856

FARMERS’ MARKETS BY DAY OF THE WEEK

Sunday: Aptos, Marina, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Watsonville

Monday: Monterey, Pacific Grove Tuesday: Carmel, Felton, Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz

CSA DIRECTORY

To find a complete listing of local farms that provide weekly boxes of fresh produce and other foods for pickup or delivery, go to www.ediblemontereybay.com and click on the “LOCAL FOOD GUIDES” tab.

Wednesday: King City, Salinas, Santa Cruz

Thursday: Castroville, Soledad, Friday: Monterey, Santa Cruz, Watsonville

Saturday: Aptos, Salinas, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Watsonville

Dine Local Guide

APTOS

Carried Away

7564 Soquel Drive • 831.685.3926 www.carriedawayfoods.com

A cozy, green-certified take-out or eat-in café, Carried Away has a menu that changes weekly and features primarily organic, locally sourced ingredients. Owner/chef Tom McNary worked for many years at Chez Panisse and his dishes reflect the seasons. Soups, salads, entrees and desserts are all made fresh daily. Thin-crust pizzas available on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Open M–F 11am–7pm, Sa 11am–5pm, closed Su.

Sanderlings/Seascape Beach Resort

1 Seascape Resort Drive • 831.662.7120 www.sanderlingsrestaurant.com

With magnificent panoramic views of the ocean and the manicured grounds of Seascape Beach Resort, Sanderlings is a good choice for a daytime meal. Their wide selection of salads and seafood dishes features locally grown produce and fish that meets the Seafood Watch guidelines. Santa Cruz County wines are highlighted on the beverage list and Happy Hour on the patio from 3–7pm is an excellent value. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 6am–midnight M–F and 7am–midnight Sa–Su.

BIG SUR

The Restaurant at Ventana

48123 Highway 1 • 831.667.4242 • www.ventanainn.com

A peaceful fireplace setting and rustic wood interior give way to a legendary terrace with some of the most amazing views Big Sur has to offer. Chef Truman Jones’ cuisine uses fresh, seasonal and sustainable ingredients sourced from local farms and foragers and reflects his memories of growing up on a farm and his experience working in some of the world’s most-acclaimed restaurants. The menu changes frequently; the wine list is award-winning. The Ventana Bistro is available for private events. Open daily for breakfast 7:30–10:30am, lunch 11:30am–4:30pm, dinner 6–9pm.

BOULDER CREEK

New Leaf Community Market

13159 Highway 9 • 831.338.7211 • www.newleaf.com

New Leaf offers some of the best fresh food made and grown here on the Central Coast. Made-to-order sandwiches, salads and hot foods are all natural. No nitrates, hormones, antibiotics or artificial ingredients. The Coastal Kale Salad is a big favorite; wide selection of picnic supplies to be found here, too. Open 9am–9pm every day.

CAPITOLA

New Leaf Community Market

1210 41st Avenue • 831.479.7987 • www.newleaf.com See description under Boulder Creek. Open 8am–9pm every day.

CARMEL

Basil Carmel

San Carlos Street between Ocean and Seventh avenues 831.626.8226 • www.basilcarmel.com

Locally sourced and seasonal aren’t just buzzwords at Basil. Chef/Owner Soerke Peters turns out beautiful dishes with intense flavors—like black squid ink linguine with sea urchin sauce and Monterey squid, or Monterey abalone in vermouth butter sauce on fingerling potato hash. This cozy restaurant in the Paseo Courtyard has heated outdoor seating. There’s a full bar and a good selection of California wines, including many organic or biodynamic choices. Lunch and dinner daily from 11:30am.

California Market at Hyatt Carmel Highlands

120 Highlands Drive 831.622.5450 • www.highlandsinn.hyatt.com

Locals and visitors alike enjoy the rustic elegance of this casual bistro. Whether dining al fresco overlooking magnificent Yankee Point or indoors by the pot-bellied stove, the California Market menu offers an eclectic array of offerings. At breakfast, look for frittatas, omelets, breakfast paninis,

Photo from Pezzini Farms by Rob Fisher

sticky bun French toast; lunch includes fresh seafood, pastas, sandwiches and daily specials. Service begins at 7am.

Carmel Belle

Doud Craft Studios • San Carlos Street at Ocean 831.624.1600 • www.carmelbelle.com

Passionate about sourcing the best local ingredients and meticulous about identifying them on the menu, Carmel Belle is a delicious choice for breakfast or lunch. Almost everything is organic, from the coffee to the meats and cheeses. Faves include a warm slow-cooked Berkshire pork sandwich with red onion-currant chutney on ciabatta, and their house-made mozzarella and asparagus panini. Open daily 8am–5pm.

Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Co.

The Barnyard Shopping Village, 3720 The Barnyard 831.620.0844 • www.carmelcoffeeroasters.com

The only certified-organic coffee roasting company on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Valley Roasting Co. operates six coffeehouses and provides beans and coffee to area restaurants, hotels and markets. Owners Dean and Janet McAthie’s mission is to create superior, handcrafted coffee by roasting the finest Arabica beans in the company’s new Italian Farina coffee roaster. Each of their coffeehouses offers a unique experience, providing light fare such as bagels, pastries and sandwiches. Open M–F 6am–6pm, Sa 7am–5pm, Sun 7am–4pm.

Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Co.

Crossroads Shopping Village, 246 Crossroads Blvd. 831.626.8784 • www.carmelcoffeeroasters.com

Open M–F 6:30am–6pm, Sa–Su 7am–6pm

Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Co.

Mid Valley Shopping Center, 319 Mid Valley Center 831.622.0787 • www.carmelcoffeeroasters.com

Open M–F 6am–5pm, Sa–Su 6am–3pm

See description under Carmel for The Barnyard location

Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Co.

Ocean Avenue between Lincoln and Monte Verde 831.626.2913 • www.carmelcoffeeroasters.com

Open Su–Th 6am–6pm, F–Sa 6am–7pm

See description under Carmel for The Barnyard location

Earthbound Farm’s Farm Stand Organic Kitchen

7250 Carmel Valley Road • 831.625.6219 www.ebfarm.com/OurFarmStand

Organic is essential at Earthbound Farm. In addition to fresh organic produce, prepared foods and gourmet groceries, the farm stand has a colorful salad bar and a certified organic kitchen. Under the direction of Executive Chef Sarah LaCasse, the kitchen turns out homemade soups and bakery goods daily. Take out or eat on site at tables set in the garden. The Farm Stand also hosts cooking demonstrations and other classes and activities. Open M–Sa 8am–6:30pm, Su 9am–6pm.

La Balena

Junipero Avenue between Fifth and Sixth avenues 831.250.6295 • www.labalenacarmel.com

La Balena’s seasonal menu changes daily but always expresses a spectacular and inventive take on the rustic food of a classical Tuscan Trattoria. Chef Brad Briske has a deep love for love for and knowledge of the bounty of ingredients that grow here in the Monterey Bay region and purchases all produce from local organic farmers. Much of the charcuterie is house-made and pasta and slow-cooked meats are prepared from scratch daily. Owners Anna and Emanuele Bartolini have created a charming atmosphere complete with back garden seating. Open 11:30-10, Tu–Su.

Mundaka

San Carlos Street between Ocean and Seventh 831.624.7400 • www.mundakacarmel.com

A convivial Spanish restaurant and tapas bar hidden away at the back of a Carmel courtyard, Mundaka is named for a coastal town in the Basque country and has a loyal following of locals. A surprisingly authentic kitchen led by Chef Brandon Miller produces organic specialties to share like patatas bravas, croquetas, tiny lamb chops and paella. Open for dinner 5:30pm–late every day.

Pacific’s Edge at Hyatt Carmel Highlands 120 Highlands Drive 831.620.1234 • www.pacificsedge.com

Hyatt Carmel Highlands offers awe-inspiring views of the Pacific, stellar service and food that draws inspiration from local farms and purveyors. Built atop a craggy cliff overlooking the dramatic Big Sur coastline, there is no better perch from which to view the setting sun or a breaching whale. Start your experience with a craft cocktail at the Sunset Lounge, followed by dinner in the glass-walled dining room at Pacific’s Edge (daily 6–9pm), featuring sophisticated California coastal cuisine from Chef Matt Bolton.

Rio Grill

101 Crossroads Blvd. • 831.625.5436 • www.riogrill.com

The high-energy Rio features the talents of Chef Cy Yontz, who produces creative regional California cuisine and the flavors of the Southwest using bold spices and an oak-wood fire. The recently renovated bar offers elevated cocktails and an award-winning wine list, catalogued and annotated on iPads, which are handed to guests along with their menus. The new Barrel Room is available for private events. Open daily for lunch 11:30am–4:30pm, dinner 4:30–10pm and Sunday brunch 11:30am–3pm.

CARMEL VALLEY

Lokal 13750 Center St., Carmel Valley Village 831.659.5886 • www.facebook.com/lokalcarmel

Chef Brendan Jones has no difficulty attracting full houses nightly. The ingredients for his exceptionally creative and sophisticated cuisine are sourced locally, and the inspiration, from Japan, Spain and other parts of Europe. Tuna x3, ceviche, roasted bone marrow and cabbage soup with mustard ice cream are not to be missed. Local wines and beer are poured at a 28-foot reclaimed wood bar. All food is organic when possible. Open for dinner Th–Sa 6pm, breakfast and lunch Tu–F 7am–3pm and Sa 9am–2pm.

Toast 3 Del Fino Place, Carmel Valley Village 831.659.8500 • www.toastcarmelvalley.com

Whether you’re dining on the sunny deck out front or inside this spacious bistro decorated with the work of local art photographers like Kodiak Greenwood, the service and food are both excellent. Favorites are classic eggs benedict, a crab and spinach salad, sautéed salmon and marsala-glazed pork chops. Craft beer and local wine menus will impress the adults; rigatoni Bolognese and a toy basket will win over the kids. Open for breakfast and lunch 8am–2:30pm and dinner 5–9pm. Closed W.

FELTON

New Leaf Community Market

6240 Highway 9 • 831.335.7322 • www.newleaf.com See description under Boulder Creek. Open 9am–9pm every day.

www.ediblemontereybay.com

New Leaf Community Market

See description under Boulder Creek. Open 8am–9pm every day.

MARINA

Wild Thyme Deli & Café

445 Reservation Road • 831.884.2414 www.wildthymedeli.com

Chef Terry Teplitzky offers a dizzying array of influences on the menu at his quaint and cozy café. A tantalizing slate of salads includes everything from traditional tuna and Greek to Asian cabbage and Chinese noodle. Also on offer is some of the best mango-chutney-bursting curry chicken in the region. East Coast classics, such as massive submarines, housemade corned beef and pastrami, as well as great Jerseystyle cheesesteak might smack of fast food, but everything is prepared with organic, locally sourced ingredients. Open M–Sa 10am–5:30pm.

MONTEREY

East Village Coffee Lounge

498 Washington St. 831.373.5601 • www.eastvillagecoffeelounge.com

The East Village offers some of the vibe of the gathering place for hip and artistic souls that is New York’s East Village neighborhood. The coffee is fair-trade and certified organic and the food—salads, soups, wraps and paninis—is made from locally sourced ingredients and can be taken outside to café tables in the plaza out front. Live entertainment and a wide selection of imported loose teas, European beer and local wines are also offered. Open M–F 6am–10pm, Sa 7am–10pm, Su 7am–8pm.

Jack’s

Restaurant and Lounge

Portola Hotel & Spa, 2 Portola Plaza • 831.649.2698 www.portolahotel.com

Jack’s clubby atmosphere complements Executive Chef Jason Giles’ brand new seafood-driven menu. He uses the freshest local ingredients available, supporting local farmers, fishermen and cheesemakers. Try Jack’s signature Dungeness crab and clam chowder, Portola Day Boat Scallops or the Harris Ranch New York Strip with wild mushrooms and shallot bourbon sauce. For a glimpse behind the scenes, an oyster bar with champagne is tucked inside the kitchen. Open for breakfast M–F 6–10:30am, Sa–Su 6–11am; for lunch M–F 11:30am–2pm, Sa–Su 11amd2pm; for dinner daily 5–10pm.

Cindy’s Waterfront/Monterey Bay Aquarium

886 Cannery Row • 831.648.4870 www.montereybayaquarium.org

Renamed for aquarium culinary partner and Napa celebrity chef Cindy Pawlcyn, the aquarium restaurant and café will reopen in late April with a new look and a new, seasonally changing menu showcasing the area’s bounty of local foods. Expect Pawlcyn and Executive Chef Jeff Rogers to provide a more spacious self-service café and new menu choices— but the same sweeping ocean views and the same focus on featuring delicious and sustainably sourced seafood and other ingredients. Complimentary binoculars offered for viewing sea life in the bay. Restaurant is open daily 11am–5pm; self-service café is open 10am–5pm. Aquarium admission required.

Montrio Bistro

414 Calle Principal • 831.648.8880 • www.montrio.com This sophisticated bistro located in a historic brick firehouse in Old Monterey lures with a creative, seasonal menu created by Chef Tony Baker, a British expat with an eclectic style. Montrio’s faithful start early, enjoying the small-bite menu during happy hour at the lively bar—with a spirited, innovative cocktail program designed by mixologist An-

thony Vitacca. Dinner begins at 5pm nightly, and patrons often linger well into the night. Montrio embraces sustainability, purchasing from local farms and vendors, following Seafood Watch guidelines and employing a triple-filtered tap water system.

Peter B’s Brewpub

Portola Hotel & Spa, 2 Portola Plaza • 831.649.2699 www.portolahotel.com

Monterey’s only craft brewery and one of the few breweries in the country to be found in a hotel, Peter B’s has a loyal following of beer geeks and sports fans. With charming brewmaster Kevin Clark at the helm, the pub stocks five housemade craft beers, along with an ever changing menu of seasonal lagers, ales and stout. Delicious appetizers, pizzas, burgers and sandwiches fill out the menu, including the locals’ favorite: beer battered artichoke hearts. Open M–Th 4–11pm, F–Sa 11am–1am, Su 11am–11pm.

Stone Creek Kitchen

465 Canyon del Rey Boulevard • 831.393.1042 www.stonecreekkitchen.com

A glass-walled kitchen in the middle of a spacious cookware shop turns out imaginative Mediterranean deli treats and sweets to take away or eat under the market umbrellas outside. Petite baguette sandwiches—like grilled chicken, artichoke hearts and Boursin cheese—are little works of art. Don’t miss the pistachio/cherry chocolate bark or the paella Fridays. Open M–F 10am–7pm, Sa 10am–4pm, closed Su except during November and December.

Tarpy’s Roadhouse

2999 Monterey Salinas Highway • 831.647.1444 www.tarpys.com

This romantic, historic stone roadhouse—built in 1917 and set on five, beautifully landscaped acres—features dining in several semi-private rooms and on a cozy garden patio. Chef Michael Kimmel uses a wood-burning grill to prepare American country cuisine, including wild game, prime steaks and local seafood, daily from 4:30pm. A popular site for Sunday brunch (11:30am–3pm) and local weekday “power lunches” (11:30am–4:30pm), Tarpy’s also attracts a spirited bar crowd and is a popular spot for large banquets, meetings and celebrations.

MOSS LANDING

The Haute Enchilada

7902 Moss Landing Road • 831.633.5843 www.hauteenchilada.com

A fanciful world where Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol prints hang side by side on fiesta-colored walls and a mermaid fountain gurgles in the courtyard, The Haute Enchilada serves Spanish, Mexican and Peruvian dishes with an emphasis on fresh seafood and local wines. Try salmon tacos with fruit salsa for lunch or chilaquiles for a hearty brunch. Open M–Tu 10am–4pm, W–Su 10am–9pm.

PACIFIC GROVE

Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Co.

510 Lighthouse Ave. 831.920.1663 • www.carmelcoffeeroasters.com

Open daily 6:30am–6:30pm

See description under Carmel for The Barnyard location

Happy Girl Kitchen Co.

173 Central Ave. • 831.373.4475 www.happygirlkitchen.com

The menu changes daily at Happy Girl’s airy and bright Pacific Grove café, but the food is always delicious, organic and reasonably priced. The sandwich of the day is $5.50 and a bowl of the soup of the day is $4.50. To drink, you’ll

find kombucha on tap and Blue Bottle Coffee brewed fresh. Homemade baked goods include a daily scone, cookies and turnovers. When it’s time to go, take home some famed Happy Girl preserves or another local artisan food product from the café’s wide selection. Open daily 8am–3pm.

La Crème Monterey/Crema

481 Lighthouse Ave. 831.375.1300 • www.lacrememonterey.com

By day an espresso bar and by night a tapas and wine bar, Crema is the creation of La Crème Catering’s Chef Jon Moser and owner/party organizer extraordinaire Tamie Aceves. Moser and Aceves have a dedication to fine organic and local ingredients worthy of the renowned kitchens where Moser worked previously, including those of Chez Panisse, the French Laundry and Manresa. Crema is located in La Crème’s new Casa de la Crème, a Victorian Mansionturned-event space, complete with outdoor garden seating. Espresso bar open daily from 7am; tapas bar open Th-Su 4–8pm.

Passionfish

701 Lighthouse Ave. • 831.655.3311 www.passionfish.net

If you’re looking for a restaurant with playful, spectacular food and a scrupulous commitment to sustainability, this green-certified restaurant is hard to rival. The elegant dining room is celebratory yet relaxed, and the award-winning wine list features many sustainable names and is priced at retail. Chef Ted Walter’s menu is ever-changing with the seasons, but always includes delicious organic local produce, inventive slow-cooked meats and an array of sustainable seafood choices. Open daily 5pm.

Point Pinos Grill

79 Asilomar Blvd. • 831.648.5774 www.ptpinosgrill.com

Now serving dinner! Despite being located near Point Pinos Lighthouse and adjacent to a golf course, Point Pinos Grill’s biggest draw is its food, thanks to Chef Dory Ford and his team from Aqua Terra Culinary. Breakfast and lunch classics get his sustainable, gourmet spin, like buttermilk blueberry pancakes made from scratch, heirloom tomato tart, or arugula, fig and prosciutto salad. Happy hour prices and appetizer supper specials start at 3pm. Open M–Tu 7am–5pm, W–Su 7am–8:30pm.

PESCADERO

Cascade Bar and Grill

Costanoa Lodge, 2001 Rossi Road at Highway 1 650.879.1100, x4 • www.costanoa.com

Just a short drive up a gorgeous stretch of coastline from Santa Cruz’ Westside, Cascade aims to reflect its setting in its food. New Chef Hunter Brawley has lightened and localized the menu, offering seasonally driven dishes featuring the harvest of Cascade’s garden and those of neighbors like Harley Farm and Swanton Berry Farm. He’s also put much more (sustainable) fish on the menu, including a rich cioppino, as well as a number of local, biodynamic and sustainable wines. Part of the Costanoa ecoadventure resort, Cascade can also offer diners a chance to spend the night. Open daily 7:30am–9pm.

SALINAS

The Bakery Station

202 Monterey St. • 831.783.1140 www.thebakerystation.com

In a repurposed gas station, bakers Ana Melissa Garcia and Erika Olivarez fire up a traditional stone hearth oven to produce crusty Old World breads, scones and muffins. The Bakery Station is also a popular lunch stop, turning out sandwiches like the Road Hog—with pulled pork and whiskey sauce on a brioche roll. Open M–F 6am–4pm, Sa 7am–2pm, closed Su.

SANTA CRUZ

Charlie Hong Kong

1141 Soquel Ave. • 831.426.5664 www.charliehongkong.com

Charlie Hong Kong has been providing the Santa Cruz community with healthy, fresh, high-quality food since 1998. The restaurant’s fusion of Southeast Asian influences and the Central Coast’s local organic produce is what has made it a neighborhood favorite. Its slogan is “love your body, eat organic,” and its cuisine is proof that fast food can be good for you. Open daily 11am–11pm.

Companion Bakeshop

2341 Mission St. • 831.252.2253 www.companionbakeshop.com

After five years on the farmers’ market circuit, Companion has opened its own bakery/café. It has a brick oven, where organic sourdough bread is baked throughout the day, and there is a long communal table for sharing a coffee with your neighbors. Eight kinds of sourdough bread and seasonal pastries are made with local, organic ingredients. Tuesday night is pizza night and Thursday, fish tacos. Open Tu–F 7am–1pm, Sa–Su 8am–2pm, closed M.

Gabriella Café 910 Cedar St. • 831.457.1677 • www.gabriellacafe.com

One of the city’s most charming dining spots, Gabriella Café serves a California-Italian menu starring organic produce from local growers and the nearby farmers’ market, as well as humanely raised meat and sustainable seafood. There is a candlelit patio and a cozy dining room that showcases the work of local artists. Open for lunch M–F 11:30am–2pm, dinner daily 5:30–9pm, brunch Sa–Su 11:30am–2pm.

Laílí

101B Cooper St. • 831.423.4545

www.lailirestaurant.com

Exotic flavors of the Silk Road are served in a stylish dining room decorated in eggplant and pistachio colors and on a hidden candlelit patio. Locals rave about Laílí’s homemade naan served warm from the oven with a selection of Mediterranean dips. There is a wide variety of deliciously spiced vegetable dishes, organic whenever possible, and all meats are hormone free and free range. Open daily for lunch 11:30am–3pm and for dinner 5–9:30pm.

La Posta

538 Seabright Ave. • 831.457.2782

www.lapostarestaurant.com

A cozy neighborhood bistro not far from the Santa Cruz yacht harbor, La Posta Chef Katherine Stern prepares northern Italian cuisine using local ingredients—some foraged and some grown on nearby organic farms. Charcuterie is house-cured and the rest of the menu reflects whatever produce is freshest right now. Visit the chickens in the restaurant’s backyard and enjoy the eclectic atmosphere. Open Tu–Th 5–9pm, F–Sa 5–9:30pm, Su 5–8pm, closed M.

New Leaf Community Market

1134 Pacific Ave. • 831.425.1793 • www.newleaf.com

See description under Boulder Creek. Open 9am–9pm every day.

New Leaf Community Market

1101 Fair Ave. • 831.426.1306 • www.newleaf.com

See description under Boulder Creek. Open 8am–10pm every day.

The Penny Ice Creamery

913 Cedar St. • 831.204.2523 www.thepennyicecreamery.com

Lines out the front door of its converted Spanish bungalow are evidence of Penny’s popularity. All ice cream, including bases, is made from scratch on the premises using local organic ingredients when possible. Flavors change seasonally, but two favorites are bourbon bacon chocolate and strawberry pink peppercorn. Open Su–W noon–9pm, Th–Sa noon–11pm.

The Picnic Basket

125 Beach St. • 831.427.9946 www.facebook.com/thepicnicbasketsc

Across the street from the main beach, owners of the Penny Ice Creamery have opened an alternative to boardwalk fast food. Sandwiches, organic salads, coffee and beer, all from local food artisans, and of course Penny’s popular ice cream are all on offer to eat in or eat outside with your feet in the sand. Open daily 7am–9pm.

Ristorante Avanti

1917 Mission St. • 831.427.0135 www.ristoranteavanti.com

This popular, Mediterranean-style bistro recently moved into a lush, more upscale location with a larger bar and expanded seating to better accommodate its loyal fans. Avanti’s menu remains true to its long-time commitment to supporting local organic farms as well as local ranchers, foragers and fishermen. The menu changes with the seasons and specials are offered every day using local organic produce and meats, wholesome oils and imported Italian cheeses. Open for lunch M–F 11:30am–2pm, for dinner Su–Th 5–9pm, F–Sa 5–9:30pm.

Soif Restaurant and Wine Bar

105 Walnut Ave. • 831.423.2020 • www.soifwine.com

This wine-centric downtown restaurant is housed in a hip, loft-style building and includes a wine shop next door. Food reflects Chef Santos Majano’s love for Mediterranean flavors, and each dish is paired with a wine suggestion from the vast wine list. Monday evenings there is a raw oyster bar with live jazz. Tuesday is tapas night. Restaurant and wine bar open Su–Th 5–9pm, F–Sa 5–10pm.

Vivas

Organic Mexican Restaurant

1201 Soquel Ave. • 831.425.8482 www.vivasorganic.com A splashing fountain suggests an old Mexican patio but the food is a modern, organic and delicious take on south-ofthe-border classics like tacos, tostadas, quesadillas and burritos. All meats and vegetables are organic. Local juices, organic white and brown rice are available, as well as vegan options. Open M–F 10am–10pm, Sa–Su 9am–10pm.

WATSONVILLE

Gizdich

Ranch

55 Peckham Road • 831.722.1056 www.gizdich-ranch.com

Visitors from great distances love this third-generation, family-run farm business that popularized the “pik-yor-self” experience just east of Watsonville’s Interlaken neighborhood. Tour the farm, pick fresh apples or berries or watch the action inside the juice-pressing barn. No one leaves hungry if they spend time at the bakery-deli that pleases with its fresh pies, shortcakes and pastries, along with hearty sandwiches and box lunches. This family friendly experience is also a treat for kids, who will enjoy the wide-open spaces and the homemade popsicles and slushes. Open daily 8am–5pm.

Last Call

Fog’s End Distillery

Not your average hooch

By Laura Ness Photography by Patrick Tregenza

You wouldn’t exactly expect to find a former sheriff toiling over a makeshift still, making moonshine in his back yard. Yet, such is Fog’s End Distillery. Amidst the vegetable fields of the Salinas Valley, adjacent to the rail line that runs right through downtown Gonzales, distiller, owner and former deputy sheriff for Castroville Craig Pakish carefully tends his nascent batch of fermenting rye, shepherding it on its way to contention for another medal at the next Fifty Best Rye Whiskey Competition. He scored Double Gold in the New York-based competition last fall—and his spirits are served in the bars of such picky local establishments as Bernardus Lodge and Mission Ranch.

With a certain amount of pride, he shares that the moonshine recipe comes from an old Kentucky whiskey-running family, care of the former business partner who talked him into installing the still in the first place. After buying out said partner in 2007, Pakish has been getting up at 2 a.m. four nights a week to make his signature Moonshine and Rye.

“I’m actually not making moonshine, I’m making dayshine, because I pay all the taxes on it!” Pakish quips. (And that’s not all — the regulations book he has to follow as a bonded distiller would break your foot if you dropped it; the number of forms he has to fill out each month is enough to try the patience of even a veteran of the law enforcement world.)

Aside from being aboveboard, Pakish’s Moonshine differs from the Kentucky original in that it’s made from organic white maize, rather than yellow corn. Perhaps imparting a sense of regional terroir, the flavor is quite distinctive and strongly reminiscent of white hominy—100 proof hominy at that. Consuming the stuff straight will neatly remove your nasal hairs, but it’s quite peppy and if you’re

looking for something indigenous to enliven your punch, this is it. The bottle, which is graced by a colorful California poppy and says, “Made right on the left coast,” is about $24 retail.

If you want something a bit more refined and sophisticated, put your money on the Monterey Rye, which is made from organic rye grain, yeast and a bit of sugar, lovingly distilled and aged in Flextank vessels for nine to 11 months. Such a long aging period bespeaks a level of patience not normally associated with a moonshiner, but with a moonshiner’s libertine sensibility, Pakish forewent being able to legally call it “whiskey” so he could add the sugar. The rye is Fog’s End’s current bestseller, and retails for about $30.

Sometimes, Pakish pauses to reflect on the choice he made as a retirement “hobby.” His other temptation was an ice cream shop, which would have offered a chance to play with endless flavors. But then he never would have had the chance to put his own moonshine in his coffee, or create anything as grin-inducingly delicious as the Limoncello-type liqueur he’s crafting for a new client, from local Meyer lemons.

Laura Ness, aka “Her VineNess,” spends a lot of time in vineyards, fields, cellars and kitchens, observing the magical process of turning earth’s bounty into heavenly delights. She writes for several Monterey and San Francisco Bay Area publications and blogs at myvinespace.com.

Fog’s End Distillery • 831.809.5941 • www.fogsenddistillery.com

Fog’s End’s liquors can found in area markets that emphasize local products, like Nielsen Bros. Market, Star Market, Shopper’s Corner, Hollister Liquors and The Whole Enchilada Marketplace.