Edible Monterey Bay: Spring 2017 | No. 23

GRIST FOR THE MILL

It’s our goal with every issue of Edible Monterey Bay to help our readers think more about the value of our food—especially local, sustainably produced and artisanal food, and what it brings to our community.

In this issue, you’ll find a lot on this topic to ponder.

We’re especially proud of the peek into the lives of line cooks provided by chef and contributor John Cox. e cooks he interviews—whose names have been changed at their request— share stories that are not unlike those of thousands of others who work long, arduous hours to feed diners across the country. And as is often the case, they are immigrants, sharing already low wages not just with their own children and spouses but also, generously, with relatives back home in their countries of origin. eir acco unts help shed light on the current debates over restaurant wages and tips—not to mention immigration—and may change how you think about your check the next time you eat out.

In an interview with EMB’s Rosie Parker, chef and author Ruth Reichl talks about why food writing is so important right now.

Deborah Luhrman shows all the effort and thought that go into the very fine wines of Santa Cruz’s Birichino—and you can count on having some laughs before you finish the story of these highly entertaining winemakers.

We also feature a few of the most exciting new local food enterprises—Revival, Home and Cultura—which have all been started by chefs who left fine-dining or other high-end dining establishments. Each is a vibrant expression of its founders’ particular passions and offers food that is somewhat more affordable while still sustainable, seasonal, local and extremely creative.

And also in the restaurant department, we take you inside Farmhouse Café, a restaurant launched by a local organic farm, and Rosie McCann’s, a family-friendly pub that’s been greencertified not for its Irish origins, but for its environment-friendly practices.

Farmer and writer Jamie Collins reveals that there are several types of avocados that grow right here in our tri-county region, and that the time to plant them is now, in spring. Lucky for us, we have Epicenter Avocado Trees & Fruit in La Selva Beach to set us up with the right trees, no matter what local microclimate we call home.

And where do our wacky, multi-horned cover models fit into all of this? As Kathy McKenzie writes, they are being raised by Jane and Mike Hulme at their Evergreen Acres Dairy in Tres Pinos for Matt Beaudin, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s executive chef. is chef-farmer collaboration is the product of a shared passion for going to remarkable lengths to create delicious, healthful food that is also good for the planet, and the story is especially inspiring.

We’re guessing that since you’re reading this magazine, you already place a pretty high value on what you eat. But we hope when you finish this issue, you’ll appreciate our local food scene all the more.

Cheers!

Sarah Wood and Rob Fisher Publishers

edible

MONTEREY BAY

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR

Sarah Wood Sarah@ediblemontereybay.com 831.298.7117 or 831.238.1217

CO–PUBLISHER AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rob Fisher

DEPUTY AND DIGITAL EDITOR Deborah Luhrman

COPY EDITOR Doresa Banning

LAYOUT DESIGN Melissa Petersen

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Katie Reeves

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT AND EVENTS MANAGER Rosie Parker

AD DESIGN Dina Clark • Bigfish Smallpond Design • Jane Bolling Design • Marilet Pretorius Melissa oeny Designs

CONTRIBUTORS Jordan Champagne

Jamie Collins • John Cox • Zoe Fisher

Larry Gerbrandt • Margaux Gibbons

George Cwirko Godycki • Margot Grych

Michelle Magdalena • Camilla M. Mann

Kathryn McKenzie • Amanda Pargh Rosie Parker • Ken Payton • Amber Turpin

ADVERTISING SALES

ads@ediblemontereybay.com • 831.238.1217

Shelby Lambert shelby@ediblemontereybay.com Kate Robbins kate@ediblemontereybya.com Sarah Wood sarah@ediblemontereybay.com

DISTRIBUTIONMANAGER Mick Freeman

CONTACT US:

Edible Monterey Bay P.O. Box 228, Carmel Valley, CA 93924 www.ediblemontereybay.com 831.298.7117 or 831.238.1217 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. We also welcome letters to the above address. ank you.

Photo by Zoe Fisher

EDIBLE NOTABLES RUTH REICHL

BY ROSIE PARKER

Author and chef Ruth Reichl—former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and restaurant critic for e New York Times and the Los Angeles Times—is coming to the Monterey Peninsula. She will speak at a fundraiser for the Carmel Public Library Foundation on May 17 at the Sunset Center along with two pals: award-winning Los Angeles chef Nancy Silverton, and cookbook author Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW’s Good Food radio show. Reichl, who is currently working on her second novel, recently spoke with EMB reporter Rosie Parker about the upcoming event and why she writes.

EMB: I’ve always thought of you first and foremost as a storyteller. Do you feel like that’s been your approach to the different positions you’ve held in your life?

RR: Yes, absolutely. I think the two most important things in life are food and stories. I really believe that. In fact, I’m about to go to Spain in a couple of months for a conference called Diálogos de Cocina, put on by the Basque Culinary Center, where I’ll be lecturing on how you deal with food issues in a post-truth society. One of the things I want to say is that for some food justice issues we really need to get beyond just facts and need to becom e better storytellers.

I think it’s wonderful that we have people like Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman and that we have movies like Food, Inc., but I think if we’re really going to move it forward, we need to see fiction as a tool.

When Upton Sinclair wrote e Jungle, he said, “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” And that was the direct cause of the first Pure Food and Drug Act in the United States because people read about the conditions of these packing plants and it horrified them, and they demanded that laws be enacted to make sure that our meat was safer. It speaks to the power of storytelling! We have to go beyond people’s minds and really try and make readers experience, for example, what it’s like to be an undocumented worker who is picking produce for slave wages.

EMB:at’s so interesting that you believe fiction to be the right outlet for these issues. RR: I think fiction—books, TV, film—has an ability to really affect people emotionally. You can present something in a way that it’s never been presented before. And we need to be doing the same thing with food stories. We need to be looking at the evildoers and the victims in ways that we haven’t before. And fiction is one of the best ways to get inside someone else’s head, which in turn allows us to tap into our common humanity.

EMB: e hyper-local food movement has become so important to our food culture, and the Edible Publications are an extension of that. Do you think that this is the future of food journalism?

RR: I love the Edible Publications. I tried to get Si Newhouse (owner of Condé Nast) to buy them when they were still really young because I saw a strong future for them and I really admired the concept. When I was growing up we didn’t even have that notion that food is part

e power of storytelling in a post-truth society

Photo courtesy of Ruth Reichl

of what shapes a community. And what we’re looking at now is the fact that a lot of American public policy in the ’70s and ’80s was specifically to destroy family farms. Earl Butz (secretary of agriculture under Nixon and Ford) said to farmers, “Get big or get out.” at’s why we are now seeing rural rage, that’s how we got Donald Trump—we destroyed thousands and thousands of rural communities. Our food system was a big part of what hel d those food communities together, so, yes, I think that local food is really important.

But on the other hand, when it comes to journalism, we have so many systemic problems in our food systems. ere is so much wrong on a bigger level, and we really need journalists who have the time and money to investigate the real problems like justice for farmworkers and food safety.

EMB:e trend of recent years, especially in food writing, seems to favor small, niche publications.

RR: One of the things that makes me sad about the current state of journalism altogether is that I really think that we now spend way too much time preaching to the converted. People only buy the publications that they know think like they do, and there’s something remarkable about a general interest publication that has people of all political persuasions reading it. I think that part of the joy of great journalism is to read something that you didn’t know you wanted to read.

I remember my father, who is from Berlin, would talk about his father who used to read eight newspapers a day, all across the political spectrum because he wanted to know everything that was going on. I wish we still did that. People watch and read things tha t will tell them things that they want to hear. But we all need to hear things that we don’t want to hear.

EMB:Given the importance, especially in recent years, of strong journalism on food justice, where do you think the voice of the critic fits in?

RR: You essentially have a platform as a critic to inform people about what’s going on in that world. One of the things that’s so exciting to me about food is that it’s an area where consumers have enormous power. e real changes that have come in food have not come through government regulation but through people saying, “We don’t want to buy tortured animals anymore. We don’t want antibiotics in our meat.” If everyone in America decided tomorrow that they didn’t want to eat pigs that had been raised in confinement facilities, they would go away! So I really think that one of the things that good critics can do is bring up these issues.

EMB:Something I think a lot about for myself—living in a community-driven place and working for a local food publication—is if and where there is room for a critical voice in these smaller communities. At Edible Monterey Bay we are here to tell the food stories of our community, but I also believe in holding my community accountable for the mission statements they are putting out there. I wonder how you think that balance can be achieved.

RR: When I took over Gourmet in 1999 my publisher said, “Just give us recipes and happy stories.” But we started doing serious stories—we did the first major piece in the country on the problems with salmon farming, we did tomato slaves, we did all kinds of stuff— and it was clear that readers liked it and wanted it. I think that we consistently underestimate our readers, and I think there’s a much bigger hunger for knowledge out there than we give people credit for.

EMB: Yeah, I’d like to think so.

RR: ere’s a real balance between the pleasure of food and the seriousness of it. Food is something that we need to sustain life, and we’re increasingly learning the enormous impact it has on the environment. And within a small community, I think a thoughtful, critical voice is important because it helps communities raise the bar of what’s being produced and hopefully helps them see the bigger picture.

EMB:What do you think your role/responsibility, if any, is at this point?

RR: I don’t know what my role is, to be honest. I feel like to the extent that I can make my voice heard, I need to do it for the things that I think are important. I honestly believe that there’s a lot to fix in food and that if I can help that in any way, I should be doing that. One of the ways I’m trying to reach potential game changers is through speaking at some fascinating conferences, like the upcoming one in Spain or at Mesa Redonda—a conference for young journalists that took place in Mexico last year.

I’m obviously really worried about what’s going to happen with this incoming administration. I think that we all need to be concerned about our environment and climate change, and agriculture has a huge impact on that. To the extent that I can move the dial at all, it’s my responsibility to do that.

MORE: is interview has been edited and condensed for space limitations. Read the transcript of the full interview on our website: www.ediblemontereybay.com.

TICKETS: Find information and tickets for e Foodie Edition with Reichl, Silverton and Kleiman on May 17 at: www.carmelpubliclibraryfoundation.org/events/featured.

“e real changes that have come in food have not come through government regulation but through people saying, ‘We don’t want to buy tortured animals anymore. We don’t want antibiotics in our meat.’ If everyone in America decided tomorrow that they didn’t want to eat pigs that had been raised in confinement facilities, they would go away!”

EDIBLE NOTABLES GREEN THROUGH AND THROUGH

Rosie McCann’s proudly wears the color 365 days a year

BY ROSIE PARKER PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN PAYTON

ere’s an Irish proverb that says, “Is túisce deoch ná scéal”: A drink precedes a story. At Rosie McCann’s, the Irish pub and restaurant that’s been a staple in Santa Cruz for more than 20 years, this is the experience for any patron who climbs the steep steps off of Pacific Avenue for a pint or a bite.

Not to say that you go in for a beer and leave knowing the life story of the guy sitting next to you (although that could happen). Rather, Rosie’s leads with simple hospitality—great service, a varied menu including all the traditional Irish favorites, an endless beer and whiskey list—and a dedication to the community that is a story in itself.

“We want to provide food and an environment that we would bring our own family to,” says Amy Bassi, assistant to Mina Shamsaei,

owner of the family business, which also includes a second restaurant on Santana Row in San Jose. “We’re really trying to meet the needs of the community.”

Rosie McCann’s is one of just nine restaurants awarded Green Certification by the City of Santa Cruz for its efforts to reduce waste and conserve water and electricity.

In Santa Cruz, meeting the needs of the community also means using quality ingredients. Everything on the menu, from fish ’n’ chips to

Locavore pub: Organic, local ingredients go into the family-friendly food prepared by chef Cervando Maya as well as the drinks served in Rosie McCann’s remodeled lounge.

a grass-fed burger, is sourced with health and sustainability in mind— local organic produce and natural meat and seafood that are free of hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. Since buying the restaurant in 1996, Shamsaei and executive chef Cervando Maya have shopped at the downtown Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market, staying on top of seasonality and drawing inspiration from the city’s vibrant food culture.

Shamsaei and Maya also tap into their own cultural backgrounds (Persian and Mexican, respectively) and beyond to create an internationally diverse menu that includes Thai curry, quesadillas and seared ahi salad in addition to Irish classics like corned beef and cabbage or shepherd’s pie. “Our kitchen is the core of the restaurant,” Bassi says, beaming.

Maya trained his staff from the beginning to not trim any corners. All fries are hand cut, all burger buns and bread made freshly and all desserts made in house (so you can feel good about indulging in the Guinness-Ghirardelli chocolate cake). “e kitchen takes pride in making the food, and the staff takes pride in serving it,” says general manager Kim Shankland.

e space itself is a delightful surprise—a large, open and sunny dining room with cozy booths and tables that overlook Pacific Avenue; a bar with ample seating featuring more than 25 beers on tap and an impressive cocktail list; and a newly remodeled lounge where you can enjoy a rotating list of events like live music and comedy nights. “We get to be a lot of different things,” Shankland says, “a pub where you can drink and have fun, but also a family-f riendly restaurant where you can get great service and a healthy meal.”

“Céad míle fáilte: 100,000 welcomes” is the slogan Rosie McCann’s uses proudly—a statement that is most in effect on the day of days, St. Patrick’s Day. “It’s like our Christmas!” Shankland says. “We’re preparing for it all year.” Live music in the lounge, green beer and all the traditional Irish favorites are just a few of the offerings that make it the place to be on March 17. Rosie McCann’s also kicks off the celebration early with a St. Patty’s Day Eve celebration on March16 for families or those who want to avoid the crowds.

St. Patrick’s Day is a festive day of fun and, often, excess. Why not support a Green Certified business while drinking whiskey with your Black and Tans and feasting on corned beef? Shankland promises all hands on deck to ensure a safe yet proper celebration. ey’ll pour the drinks, you share the stories.

Rosie Parker, a native New Englander, likes to complain of missing home while living the Santa Cruz high life—surfing, hiking, writing and working for a delicious craft brewery.

Rosie McCann’s 1220 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz • 831.426.930 www.rosiemccanns.com

EDIBLE NOTABLES FARMHOUSE CAFÉ

Hollister restaurant inspired by organic family farm

BY KATHRYN MCKENZIE PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY GERBRANDT

ter wasn’t really supposed to be a thing, until it was.

Farmhouse Café opened in September on a block of San Benito Street that is already a haven for locally made food—e Heavenly Bakery is on the corner, Mars Hill coffeehouse is across the street and San Benito Bene, an artisanal local foods shop, is next door.

Not only that, there’s history here for owner Becky Herbert, whose farming family has been in San Benito County for five generations. “e building where Mars Hill is used to be my great-grandfather’s dry goods store,” says Herbert. “I’ve got agriculture and retail in my blood.”

The cheerful little café in downtown Hollis-

Herbert opened the café as an outgrowth of her community sponsored agriculture (CSA) program, Farmhouse Foods –Eat with the Seasons, which offers customizable weekly boxes of locally grown organic fruits and vegetables and a plethora of sustainably made items ranging from meats to freshly baked breads to herbs and spices.

At Farmhouse Café, Herbert uses the same produce and artisanal ingredients to elevate the menu above ordinary diner fare. “Farmhouse Favorites” include cilantro pesto steak made with grass-fed beef and roasted salmon in locally pressed olive oil, and even the humble peanut butter and jam sandwich boasts handmade preserves. Custom-made sandwiches and creative salads round out the offerings.

Light, bright and airy, the café features white subway tile and cele ry-green accented walls, highlighted by a rustic logo created by Schipper Design of San Juan Bautista. Cases full of grab-and-go items make it easy to get quick and healthy takeout, or for people who want to linger a while, tables and a lunch counter are available.

e café also sells products from other local food artisans, such as Vertigo coffee, Coke Farm organic flour and Bella Vista Ranch olive oil, among others.

Initially, Herbert envisioned the café as a place for her to make the prepared salads, soups and dips that she offers to CSA customers each week—turning it into a breakfast and lunch establishment was an afterthought. But customers quickly discovered and loved the menu, and now the café bustles on weekdays.

Herbert notes that it’s been wonderful— but a little bit hectic. “I really wasn’t banking on the walk-in traffic,” she says, but the strong response has convinced her to work on expanding menu offerings and to consider adding weekend hours and a dinner menu. Currently the café is open Monday through Friday from 8am–3pm; orders can also be placed via phone or through the website.

Herbert has long been part of her family’s business. “When I was nine, I begged my father to let me help sort onions and peppers,” she says, adding that she decided on a career in publishing instead. She returned 14 years ago for what she thought would be a short stint to help market her parents’ CSA. at “temporary” job turned into Herbert taking the reins as her farmer father Pat Herbert has scaled back his involvement, although he continues to grow onions, bell peppers and corn on his 70-acre Herbert Family Organic Far m in rural Hollister.

Eventually, the farm partnered with others in the area to offer more choice of produce, and now its CSA delivers to 1,200 subscribers throughout the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas. Herbert added the prepared foods, inspired by the produce she was handling and customers’ requests for quick healthy meals: “It was really an evolution of what I’d been doing.”

Opening Farmhouse Café might seem like a natural outgrowth of the family business, but running a restaurant is something altogether new for Herbert. It’s been made easier though by her capable employees, especially restaurant manager Renee Rocha, and it’s hard to argue with success.

“The café has really taken off,” says Herbert.

Kathryn McKenzie, who grew up in Santa Cruz and now lives on a Christmas tree farm in north Monterey County, writes about sustainable living, health and horticulture for numerous publications and websites.

Farmhouse Café

615 San Benito St., Ste. D, Hollister 831.265.7247 www.eatwiththeseasons.com/farmhouse-cafe

WHAT’S IN SEASON AVOCADOS

Getting to know locally grown varieties of the buttery treat

BY JAMIE COLLINS PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGAUX GIBBONS

As a College of Ag student at Cal Poly, one of my class projects involved caring for an avocado orchard, selling the fruit, and learning to identify the more than 100 varieties of avocados grown on campus. Becoming an avocado connoisseur, I quickly honed in on my favorites. One of the perks of the project was an unlimited supply of fruit, which was great for a broke college student. I practically lived on avocados, and I can’t remember ever becoming sick of them. ey were satisfying and always gave me a sense of well-being, probably due to their high vitamin B content. I’d cut them in half and toss some sea salt and Tabasco on them and smash them on toast or eat them straight out of the skin, stuff an omelet with their green goodness or put them in a smoothie—avocados su stained me for my entire time at college.

Grown in Santa Cruz County: clockwise, from center, Zutano, Reed, Lamb Hass and Gwen varieties.

I am still lucky enough to have avocado abundance due to the 40 Bacon avocado trees and one 90-foot Mexicola tree at our home ranch in Aromas. But if I had a quarter for every time a farmers’ market customer asked me if they tasted like bacon or were infused with bacon, I could buy a new tractor! (For the record, they do not!) Educating the consumer on the less popular avo cado varieties helps sell them, however, and once someone tries them, they are hooked.

SUBTROPICAL HISTORY

e avocado (Persea americana) is in the Laurel family and is native to subtropical America where archeological digs show it has been cultivated for more than 7,000 years. Avocados were known by the Aztecs as ahuacatl, meaning testicle, in reference to their shape and supposed aphrodisiacal qualit ies.

Europeans discovered the buttery appeal of avocados in the 1840s, but it wasn’t until the 1900s that they were grown commercially, when in 1926 the Hass variety—a MexicanGuatemalan crossbreed—was developed and planted in Los Angeles County.

Fast forward to today, and avocados are one of the most consumed fruits in the U.S., and every year even more avocados are eaten. In 2015 more than 4 billion avocados were purchased—double the number bought just a decade earlier—perhaps due to the debunked myth that fat is bad for you.

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

Avocados are 60-82% oil, making them one of the fattiest fruits in the world, ranking just below olives. But their fat is especially healthful and has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease by improving the HDL cholesterol level and lowering LDL and oxidative stress in the bloodstream, as well as reducing inflammation in the body. Avocados also have a decent amount of protein, 3 grams per cup (or one medium avocado), which is easy to ingest when scooping guacamole with a chip.

Delicious and full of satisfying healthy monosaturated fats, packed with potassium, vitamin E, loads of feel-good B vitamins and fiber, they are practically a perfect food. Avocados are also a perfect first food for babies and good for a child’s developing brain. An

interesting fact: While avocados themselves have carotenoids, they also help increase the absorption of beta-carotene in the body, which gets converted into active vitamin A. So adding avocados to your (cooked) tomato salsa or leafy green salad with carrots will improve the carotenoid absorption by two to six time s!

Avocado oil is made from the flesh of avocados and has similar health benefits as olive oil with the added plus of a higher smoke point, making it healthier for roasting or frying foods than olive oil. It does not have a strong flavor, so it is very versatile. It can even be used on the skin as a moisturizer.

The jury is still out on avocado pit meal, a newly touted health food, because the safety of ingesting it has not been studied enough yet.

VARIETIES AND GROWING

ere are more than 1,000 known cultivated varieties of avocados in the world, several of them grown here in the Monterey Bay area.

All avocados come from three original varieties of the species. Mexican varietals are frost hardy with plum-sized, black or purple fruit and smooth skin. eir anise-scented leaves are used in Mexican cuisine, similar to a bay leaf, and the anise-fragranced skin of the fruit can be eaten as well, providing antioxidants in the dark pigment. Mexican varieties include Fuerte, Zutano and Mexicola, which tend to ripen in the fall months. Guatemalan types bear larger fruit, with rough, bumpy skin that can be green, purple or black, and ripen in the spring or early summer. Varieties include Reed, Gwen, Pinkerton, and Hass, which tend to store very well. e third type is West Indian and has large, light green fruits with smooth skin. All cultivated avocados came from these original genetics; some varieties, however, have characteristics of multiple species.

About 90% of avocados in the U.S. are the California-grown Hass variety. Hass corners the market in the States and around the globe, due to the high fat content and thick skin—which protects fruits from bruises and allows them to be stored for long periods of time. But on the Central Coast, Hass does not perform as well as other varieties because

PLANTING AND CARING FOR AVOCADO TREES

Avocado trees should be planted from the end of March through May to give them a chance to take root before the heat of summer stresses them.

Ellen Baker and Fred Menge of Epicenter Avocado Trees & Fruit in La Selva Beach suggest preparing a mound consisting of a mix of native topsoil, sand and compost that is 2 feet above the soil and 6 feet wide to be sure the t ree has adequate drainage. Dig a hole 2 feet deep into the mound you prepare and plant the tree within it. Cover the mound with 4 inches of mulch, except for the water basin around the tree; that should have only a light amount. Spread 15 pounds of gypsum over the mulch and water it in. Water the tree twice a week, keeping it damp but not oversaturated, and apply composted manure several times, stopping before the end of summer. Drip irrigation is not ideal for avocados as they like a deep soak. “Extra care makes the tree happy and produce fruit faster. If you don’t do anything—no fertilizer or mulch or care—you can easily kill an avocado tree,” Baker says.

Avocados love their leaf litter to mulch their shallow roots, so be sure not to remove the debris. Pull weeds that can compete with the tree and allow fallen leaves to accumulate, adding more mulch on top or even better, raw horse manure because it stops fungal disease from spreading. Avocados are evergreen and don’t need to be pruned unless you want to keep them from growing too tall; the trees can get up to 80 feet high if not well managed.

Epicenter Avocado Trees & Fruit www.epicenteravocados.com

it is very sensitive to frost. In fact, I would argue that other varieties of avocados thriving in unique microclimates and banana belts in our area are even tastier and offer a more diverse flavor profile. Master propagators Ellen Baker and Fred Menge of Epicenter Avocado Trees & Fruit in La Selva Beach agree.

LOCAL AVOCADOS

Epicenter propagates 12 varieties of what Baker and Menge consider the most delicious and best varieties for year-round frost-tolerant avocado production on the Central Coast. ey annually graft, grow and sell 800 of those trees using fruiting wood from their 30 mother trees. Each spring they sell 1-year-old cleft-grafted trees to the public. Cleft grafting consists of cutting a large wedge in the scion (fruiting wood) and inserting it into a 2-inch long cut in the cold-hardy, Mexican Zutano seedling rootstalk. e union is held together by a horticultural rubber band and then wrapped with Parafilm to protect the graft and keep the fruiting wood from drying out. From that point the fruiting wood is kept in a propagation house until the next season when it is dug up to be sold as a year-old tree. Buying a grafted tree will ensure you will get fruit, unlike growing your own from a seed. It takes at least five years for an avocado grown from a seed to produce fruit, and there are no guarantees it will even produce any. If you are very lucky, you may discover your own variety, but the likelihood that it is suited to your growing conditions is a long shot. Epicenter has its own variety, which it calls Bonny Doon, developed by taking fruiting wood from an avocado tree growing in front of the Boony Doon Tasting Room, a seedling tree that appeared to have withstood cold temperatures down to 22 degrees. is tree produced an excellent crop of round, bumpyskinned fruit, which gave indication that it was of Guatemalan heritage, but the frost resistance shows that the Bonny Doon has some Mexican genetics too, says Baker. Epicenter offers this summer-ripening, one-of-a-kind avocado variety along with the several others suited for the Monterey Bay on its website: www.epicenteravocados.com.

Here are Baker’s suggested varieties for growing tasty avocados year-round in the Monterey Bay area. Spring is the time to plant

them, and if you decide to grow your own, see Baker and Menge’s tips in the sidebar on p. 21.

Bonny Doon — See preceding text for description.

Reed — Believed to be a seedling of the Guatemalan Nabal, the Reed originated on the property of James Reed in Carlsbad, Calif. Its fruits are big, round and prolific, with bumpy green skin and contain the highest oil content of this list. Needs no other avocado tree nearby to produce abundant fruit. Ripens in November, and turns green when ripe. Its flesh is described as smooth and delicate, with a nutty flavor. Oil increa ses the longer the fruit hangs on the tree. is tree will produce fruit quicker than any other variety.

Carmen — Baker’s favorite, for flavor and because it blooms twice a year—in July/August and again in March. Closely related to Hass with skin that is bumpy and green and turns black when ripe and very firm flesh.

Lamb Hass — A more frost-tolerant Hass variety due to crossing with a Gwen avocado, green and bumpy skin, black when ripe. Produces high yields of 10- to16-ounce fruits that are ready in the fall.

Ardith — Commonly grown in coastal Israel, even though it originated from the breeding program at UC Riverside. Develops 12- to 15-ounce fruits within a few years that are buttery and delicious. Green and bumpy skin, ripe when black. At a California Rare Fruit Growers avocado tasting, this variety rated the best. Frost tolerant down to at least 25 degrees.

Zutano — A smooth-skinned variety that produces fruit in late winter, early spring. Used as rootstalk for fruiting wood due to its cold hardiness, uniform seed germination and thick stems.

Bacon — One of the most frost resistant of all varieties listed, hardy to 28 degrees. Nutty and sweet, with light green creamy flesh and thin skin that is shiny green when unripe and dull green when ripe. Despite its name, does not taste like bacon.

SELECTING AND EATING

Avocados vary by season. Spring avocados contain the most water; as the season goes on and the trees are exposed to more carbon, they make fat out of it, so the longer they

hang on the tree, the greater their fat content. Some of the best avocados we have eaten are those that hung on our trees so long that the seed separated from the flesh—something you can hear when you shake the avocado. is is the closest to tree ripened you can get, even though avocados will only ripen completely once picked. To know when the avocados are ready to be harvested, we also look for what we call the “belly button”—a darkened, round indentation on the bottom of the smooth-skinned avocado varieties. Once picked, it can still take five days to two weeks for an avocado to ripen at room temperature. To have a continual supply of ripe avocados, I like to put some in the fridge and allow a few to ripen on the counter, pulling out the refrigerated ones as we eat the others. Once cut, an avocado begins to oxidize and change color, which is never appetizing. Squeezing lemon or lime on the avocado will help somewhat, but the color will still darken as time goes on.

Avocados are most often eaten raw as a dip, on a sandwich or in a salad. But how about removing the pit and cracking an egg into the hole and baking it at 350° F until the egg is cooked for a healthy breakfast? Or making a chilled avocado and cucumber soup by adding some vegetable broth, yogurt, chopped sweet onion, lemon juice and mint? Or making a salad dressing out of the avocado by adding some roasted poblano peppers and apple cider vinegar, honey and salt? Personally, I love using avocado in a raw chocolate pie instead of using dairy—see Kari Bernardi’s raw pie recipe from the Fall 2013 issue of Edible Monterey Bay.

Jamie Collins is owner of Serendipity Farms, which grows organic row crops in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties and distributes them through a CSA, u-picks and farmers’ markets and a virtual farm stand which can be found on Serendipity’s Facebook page.

RECIPE: See page 25 for Dungeness Crab Salad with Avocado and Meyer Lemon, courtesy of Matt Bolton, executive chef at the C Restaurant, InterContinental e Clement Monterey.

DUNGENESS CRAB SALAD WITH AVOCADO AND MEYER LEMON

Courtesy Matt Bolton, executive chef, the C Restaurant in Monterey

Serves 2

Dungeness Crab Salad

2 whole Dungeness crabs, cooked and all meat picked (see accompanying recipe)

2 whole avocados

1 teaspoon shallots, chopped

2 sprigs parsley, leaves picked and cut in a chiffonade

2 sprigs tarragon, chervil, chives, picked and minced

4 bunches mâche

Kosher salt, to taste Cracked black pepper, to taste Piment d’Espelette

Extra-virgin olive oil Meyer Lemon Purée (see accompanying recipe)

Toss crab meat with the extra-virgin olive oil and 2 teaspoons of Meyer lemon purée. Add chopped parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil and shallots. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place two bunches of mâche near top of plate. Whisk 1 teaspoon Meyer lemon purée with olive oil and drizzl e over mâche. Quarter avocado and fan out in front of mâche. Place crab salad on top of avocado. Garnish plate with sprinkle of piment d’Espelette, and using a squeeze bottle, place 3 dots of Meyer Lemon Purée on the plate.

Dungeness Crab

2 2-pound Dungeness crabs

1 bunch thyme

2 cups dry white wine

½ cup kosher salt

Small handful black peppercorns

Place all ingredients in a pot and fill with enough water to easily cover crabs. Bring liquid to a boil then add crabs and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from the water and allow the crabs to cool. Once cooled, crack and clean the crabs with a cracker or small mallet. Reserve the crab meat.

Meyer Lemon Purée

4 Meyer lemons

1 cup simple syrup

6 threads saffron

Halve the lemons, then juice. Strain and reserve the liquid.

Take the lemon halves and cut into quarters, lay flat and with a sharp knife, slice down the length of the rind, removing the pith. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the lemon rinds for about 30 seconds, strain. Refill the pot with cold water and repeat this process two more times (to remove bitterness). Make sure all the white pith is removed from the lemon.

Place lemons in a pot with the simple syrup, lemon juice and saffron. Simmer on low heat until translucent, about 30 minutes.

Remove the rind from the liquid and place in high-speed blender, adding spoonfuls of the cooking liquid to get the rinds moving. Purée until smooth.

Monterey Abalone with Parisian Gnocchi

Chef Matt Bolton, the C Restaurant

BEHIND THE BOTTLE BECOMING BIRICHINO

Naughty Bonny Doon offshoot puts down roots in Santa Cruz

BY DEBORAH LUHRMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHELLE MAGDALENA

Birichino’s John Locke and Alex Krause check out the Pinot Noir vines at the Lilo Vineyard in Aptos, which is in the process of being certified organic.

It all started at an epic wine lunch in Montreal. “e buyer for one of the world’s largest wine importers was basically begging Bonny Doon Vineyard or somebody to start making Malvasia Bianca again to supply 440 shops throughout Québec,” recalls Alex Krause, export sales manager for Bonny Doon and co-founder of Birichino wines.

“Randall (Grahm) wasn’t interested. He had just sold off his big production wines and downsized the company. It’s not where his head was at,” he said of his boss at the pioneering Santa Cruz winery.

So with a ready market, Krause enlisted the help of a friend— longtime Bonny Doon assistant winemaker John Locke—and the partners started producing the obscure Italian white wine in 2008, using grapes from the Delicato family’s San Bernabe Vineyard nea r King City.

“It’s a grape variety that nobody has ever heard of and we made only Malvasia Bianca for the first two years,” he says with a laugh.

“en, one of our most brilliant marketing strategies was to choose a name that nobody can pronounce,” adds Locke, with typical deadpan humor.

Birichino (pronounced Beer-a-KEEN-o) is actually a name pulled out of the Italian dictionary after the Canadian importe r nixed their first two choices: Arpent, which he said was “horrible,” and Alluce, which apparently means big toe.

Birichino means naughty or mischievous in Italian and seems to fit the winemaking duo that set out to defy expectations with their outrageously aromatic wines.

ey describe their 2013 Malvasia Bianca, for example, as reminiscent of a Hawaiian vacation. “It’s so super-charged aromatically and has this intense jasmine, honeysuckle and lime blossom perfume that you’d expect it to be excruciatingly sweet, but we take it in a different direction so that it is bone dry in every vintage,” says Krause.

LEARNING THE ROPES

Locke, who grew up in Michigan, and Krause, who is from Boston, have very similar stories of how they ended up in Santa Cruz, knocking on the door at Bonny Doon Vineyard.

Both are Francophile liberal arts majors who caught the wine bug while studying abroad in France. Locke went to Caen, where his host family took him foraging for mussels and mushrooms, and drank wine at every meal. Krause studied in Provence, where he recalls drinking liters of cheap beer in the park, but also remembers his French family breaking out occasional bottles of 1970s vintage Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Following graduation, Locke worked at a K Street law firm in Washington, D.C. as an anal yst for interstate gas pipeline regulations. “I wore a suit and felt important, seersucker with a yellow tie and braces in the summer,” he says.

But after five years of long workdays he quit. “I gave away my suits and sold a bunch of stuff and moved out here. Bonny Doon was my favorite winery, and I just showed up,” he adds.

Krause started out as a brokerage assistant at Charles Schwab in San Francisco aft er graduation, but soon moved south to Bonny Doon, attracted by the Rhône varietals he’d learned to love in Provence.

Both worked their way up the ladder at the winery. “My first job was putting government warning labels on the eau de vie,” says Locke, who eventually became assistant winemaker and then senior creative director—visiting European projects, working on packaging and dreaming up special e vents for Grahm.

“He gave me way more rope than I deserved to have,” he says, reminiscing that his favorite times were driving around looking for grapes with Grahm in one of his infamous Citroën cars. “He had a big gold one with some cooling problems, so to get over the passes we would have to go up two miles and then back down one mile to let it cool down.

“One of the brilliant things about him [Grahm] and the thing that helps us in our business is that he’s both paranoid and utterly fearless at the same time. Nothing is out of the question,” says Locke.

Krause—who continues to work at Bonny Doon—started out in the tasting room, then learned to drive a forklift and clean tanks in the cellars before switching over to the commercial side. “One of the things I love and admire about Randall is his incredible intellectual curiosity, his passion for what other winemakers are doing throughout the world,” he says. “We owe him a huge debt of gratitude.”

OLD VINE OBSESSION

After a couple of years, a British importer suggested Birichino might want to diversify, and they began producing their second and third wines: an Old Vine Grenache, using grapes from the Besson family vineyards planted in 1910 just over Hecker Pass; a pretty pink Vin Gris, made with Grenache from the same vineyard; and Mourvèdre from Contra Costa County grapes planted in 1918.

Like their white predecessor, both wines have a wow factor that comes from being exceedingly aromatic and deliciously dry.

Locke and Krause credit the special vineyards they choose for the intense aromas in their wines, searching out old vines that get some marine influence.

“Any time anybody says ‘we have old vines,’ that immediately perks our interest,” says Krause. “And the nice thing about our Rolodex is that even though our company only started in 2008, we have many, many years of contacts and connections.”

“It just drives me nuts when some winemakers talk about how they do nothing, that the wine kind of makes itself,” Locke says. “I think what we’re doing is fairly simplistic but quite difficult.”

“Old vines probably have deep root systems so they are going to be less susceptible to heat and drought and cold and stress,” explains Locke. “After a certain age, they don’t push out a huge crop, so there is more intensity of flavor and more contribution from what’s in the soil.”

Currently Birichino offers more than a dozen varietals, including an “against type” Zinfandel from the cool-climate Besson Vineyards; a Pinot Noir from the organically cultivated Antle Vineyard near Pinnacles National Park; and a Chenin Blanc from the Jurassic Vineyard in Santa Inez, planted in “the late Disco era.”

Production from the 2016 harvest was just under 10,000 cases and most of the wine is made at the Salinas custom crush facility owned by Ian Brand—a close friend and fellow Bonny Doon alum. Like Brand, they prefer the lower-alcohol, minimalist style favored by the school of “new California” wineries.

“Our winemaking approach is largely informed by what we like to drink, which isn’t super-extracted, high-alcohol, hit-you-over-the-head wines,” says Krause. “We crave something that has freshness and vi-

Monterey Bay MARKETPLACE

brancy. I almost think of it in auditory terms, like this bell tone clarity and uplift that leaves you wanting to have another sip.”

e partners pick early, use temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, work with old barrels that don’t impart much oakiness and they don’t age the wines a long time in barrels. In other words, “We don’t adhere to the Napa lifestyle of the rich and famous,” jokes Locke, adding that their minimalist style of winemaking is not as easy as it sounds.

“It just drives me nuts when some winemakers talk about how they do nothing, that the wine kind of makes itself,” he says. “at’s a kind of perverse false modesty. I think what we’re doing is fairly simplistic but quite difficult.”

SETTLING DOWN

anks to numerous contacts around the world, Birichino has won plenty of honors and is sold in international markets including Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Lebanon, Singap ore and Scandinavia. Denmark and Finland are two of their biggest markets,

and they are about to add New Zealand, thanks to an importer there who was impressed by the wine while dining at a restaurant in Helsinki.

ey were also approached recently about offering Birichino in the first-class cabins of Etihad Airways, which flies out of Abu Dhabi.

The high-flying global brand is, perhaps, less well known here at home, but that is about to change as Birichino is set to open its first tasting room. Construction is underway, and an April opening is planned for the new tasting room on Church Street in downtown Santa Cruz.

Located in a vintage 1947 Airstream-style building, it will be a bare-bones tasting room with a custom-made pewter bar and artwork by Krause, an accomplished photographer. “No barrels or plastic grapes,” they promise.

It will be the first wine tasting room in downtown Santa Cruz, and the partners are looking forward to joining the city’s exciting local food scene.

“We love Zach and Kendra from the Penny Ice Creamery and are super excited to be around the corner from them,” says Krause. “ere

are so many talented local artisanal producers of chocolate, ice cream, food, beer and charcuterie that—kind of like us—are really well-known outside our own backyard. It’s nice to be able to try to build a little critical mass.”

e new tasting room is long overdue, he concedes. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to brainwash the public and convert them to see the wisdom of our ways.”

Deborah Luhrman is deputy editor of Edible Monterey Bay and editor of our weekly newsletter. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourish ing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Birichino

204 Church St., Santa Cruz • www.birichino.com

BACK OF THE HOUSE

OVERWORKED

Chef John Cox offers a rare glimpse into the grueling life of local line cooks

BY JOHN COX ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGE CWIRKO-GODYCKI

Carl first walked into the kitchen six weeks ago, a tidy knife roll tucked beneath the starched sleeve of an immaculate chef coat. He was bright eyed and exuberant, eager that this second job would enable him to get ahead on hi s school loans and car payment.

If you saw Carl today, you wouldn’t recognize him—there are dark bags beneath his eyes, his jacket is wrinkled and his shoulders sag. He lethargically nurses a massive cup of coffee while staring blankly at the morning prep list. Casting his eyes toward the floor, he addresses the chef, “I’m sorry, I didn’t get home until midnight. I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”

“Can do what?” the chef asks.

“I can’t keep working until midnight and then getting here at 8am. It’s killing me.”

That was it. A few days later Carl packed his bag and went his way. Six weeks of working double shifts in the kitchen had wrecked him. They shook hands on his way out the door. Just as Carl stepped away, the chef whispered something just loud enough for the two of them to hear, “At least now you know how it feels to be a real line cook.” It was harsh but true.

Someone outside the industry could never imagine the physical and psychological endurance required of professional cooks. I’m not talking about the recent culinary school graduates or kids making a living while pursuing school. I’m talking about the lifers, the cooks who have spent more time in the kitchen than anywhere else on earth. ere is something super-human about career line cooks that often keeps them going from before dawn until past midnight. What drives these men and women to give their lives to such a demanding profession?

In the case of another cook, Tomás, it was growing up in the tiny village of Santa

Inés Yatzeche, in the southern corner of Oaxaca. He lived in a single room with his parents and four siblings. By his own account, he grew up with nothing. When I asked what that meant, he described it this way: “When the rains come, it will be a good year. When there is drought, there will be nothing to eat. We were too poor to have a cow or other livestock—we depended on the seeds we planted, and that was all we had.”

Tomás set out to the United States shortly before his 16th birthday. He knew

where a group of older women who worked there slowly taught him to speak English. It wasn’t long before Tomás was working two jobs and making enough money to pay his monthly expenses and send a little money back to his family in Oaxaca. Each week he would travel to Salinas where he could transfer funds and occasionally get a package of food from home; Oaxacan goodies like tlayuda, chiles de agua and chapulines.

Tomás arrived in Seaside in 1988 and has been working two jobs ever since. His first job

only vaguely that he was headed to Seaside, Calif., where he would meet a distant uncle. He did not leave home in search of a better life; he left because he had no choice and because, as the eldest sibling, his family depended on him.

Tomás did make it to Seaside, but finding a job proved difficult. e largest hurdle was that he didn’t speak English or Spanish, making it almost impossible to communicate with anyone. Even today, almost 90% of Santa Inés Yatzeche residents speak exclusively Zapotec, Tomás’ first language. Eventually, despite the language barrier, Tomás was able to get a job washing dishes at a private school,

paid $4.95 per hour for washing dishes. Over the years he steadily moved up through the kitchen and was paid increasingly more. He spent nearly 25 years working at a celebrated local restaurant where he moved up through the ranks from dishwasher to lead line cook. At the height of his career he made more than $20 per hour, but when the restaurant sold a few years ago, he was offered a demotion and lower pay. He elected to leave, taking a dishwashing job at a busy restaurant in Carmel, where he would have less stress and responsibility.

Today he rolls out of bed at 5am. He jumps in the shower, brews a cup of coffee and quietly slips out the front door, trying not to wake his kids or wife. By 6am he is parked

is is Tomás’ life, a relentless grind from well before sunrise until almost midnight—five, sometimes six, days a week. Yet despite the constant throbbing that comes with standing 18 hours a day, he is always smiling, radiating warm optimism and a level of grace that defies explanation.

in downtown Carmel and headed toward his first job as lead cook at a busy breakfast restaurant. During the height of the season the restaurant can serve more than 600 guests a day. Steaming pots of poaching water for eggs, dozens of omelet pans and large griddles are all pushed to their capacity as the cooks burn through close to 1,000 eggs per shift.

e tempo is non-stop; from the time the restaurant opens its doors at 7:30am, there is a constant stream of activity, a perpetual line of hungry tourists eager to be fed and go about their day. It’s all the cooks can do to keep up with the ever-growing stack of order tickets, as they relentlessly spew from the printer to the counter below.

At 3pm the restaurant finally closes its doors. e adrenaline begins to fade, and Tomás can feel the stinging welts left by grease spattered across his hands and the burning red lines across his forearms from bumping the oven door. e kitchen is a mess. A wayward egg has been smashed into the floor mat, and grease from the griddle is overflowing its trap and down into a meandering stream across the floor. Piles of kitchen towels crusted with golden egg yolk, strawberry jam and black soot lie in a greasy pile in the corner.

As the servers count their tips, Tomás takes a deep breath and begins pulling kitchen mats—heavy with grease and food scraps— out of the kitchen and up to the loading dock to be hosed down. He wipes and polishes the counters, then sweeps and mops the floors before returning the cleaned mats to their positions and turning out the kitchen lights.

It’s already 4:15pm, and he was supposed to be at his next job 15 minutes ago. Tomás hurries out the back door and jogs a few blocks to an already bustling restaurant. e morning dishwasher has already left, and the dish station is stacked with dirty plates and pots. e line cooks from the morning shift, also rushing to get to their next jobs, have left a mountainous stack of half-emptied containers and pots and spoons caked with dried sauces. Drink straws and lemon wedges intermingle with chunks of discarded chicken, shrimp shells and a mosaic of greasy sludge covering the stainless dish pit.

By 5pm, despite a deluge of dirty dishes continuing to arrive from the dining room, Tomás has caught up with the mess and has been able to clean the pit in preparation for

dinner. e line cooks had put up a plate of tacos for the staff, and he is just in time to snag a couple and store them on top of the dishwashing machine to keep warm for later. His hands are prune-like and swollen from the hot dishwater, but that doesn’t stop him from taking a few quick bites before the dinner rush.

Dinner service pumps out dishes relentlessly from around 6pm until well after 10pm. By the time the last plate is washed and the floors are cleaned, it is just past 11pm. Tomás walks through the empty streets of Carmel back to his car parked six blocks away. At 11:45pm he quietly slips through his front door, trying not to wake his children or wife.

is is Tomás’ life, a relentless grind from well before sunrise until almost midnight— five, sometimes six, days a week. Yet despite the constant throbbing that comes with standing 18 hours a day, he is always smiling, radiating warm optimism and a level of grace that defies explanation.

After 28 years of working as a cook, this schedule has somehow become a normal part of life. No matter how difficult the work or how long the days, he sleeps well knowing that he has made an incredible difference in the lives of his parents and children.

Today, four out of his five siblings live and work in Seaside. ey spend holidays together, often with more than 30 family members gathering to celebrate the occasion. His eldest daughter is now studying law at UC Santa Cruz on a full scholarship while his middle son applies for computer engineering programs.

Meanwhile, with the help of their kids, Tomás’ parents in Mexico have been able to build a larger house and create a more sustainable farm with chickens and cattle. ey are no longer entirely dependent on the summer rains and have been able to use the money their children sent home over the years to create a life they would have never dreamed possible.

When you look at what Tomás has been able to achieve over the last 30 years, it is truly a testament to how much he loves and respects his family. It is a reminder that, for many, the true American dream is far from easy to attain—it is a road that is long and grueling, one that both makes lives and takes them away.

It is easy for us to talk about a “living wage” or whether restaurants should abandon the traditional gratuity models in exchange

for a higher inclusive menu price and consistent pay for both cooks and servers. It is easy to speculate about how higher hourly pay rates will destroy the service industry. It is much harder to talk about the facts, the raw reality of the way many people in the restaurant industry live. e hard numbers can be seen on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator, shown below And remember, the figures don’t include movie tickets and dinners out on the town. ey also don’t include vacations to San Francisco or flights back home. ey only cover the bare necessities required to live a basic life.

When you consider that Tomás currently makes an average of $15 per hour between his two jobs, and that he has a wife and three kids, it is hard to understand how he makes ends meet, let alone finds enough at the end of the month to send back home. It’s only possible by working literally twice the hours that the “living wage” calculation is based on—instead of eight hours per day, he works 16. And even putting in such an excessive number of hours, he still falls about $2 short of what would be considered a “living wage.”

Looking at his position, you might think he wo uld be bitter or feel that the American Dream was more of a nightmare, but the truth is quite the opposite. He had no expectations when he set off for California; he came here strictly out of necessity for himself and

It is easy to speculate about how higher hourly pay rates will destroy the service industry. It is much harder to talk about the facts, the raw reality of the way many people in the restaurant industry live.

his family. Over the years things have improved for everyone around him, and that is enough to bring him satisfaction and fuel the long hours and personal sacrifice.

e former executive chef at Post Ranch Inn’s Sierra Mar, John Cox is now pursuing a number of projects, including serving as a partner and consulting chef at Cultura – comida y bebida in Carmel and chef-partner at e Bear and Star at the Fess Parker Ranch in Los Olivos. For more, go to www.cheohncox.com.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: If this article was about the success of local chefs or sommeliers, their names would be prominently featured and they would bask in the limelight. But at their request, we have changed the names of the cooks in this story. Sadly, there are thousands of peo-

ple in California who share Tomás’ story and accomplishments—people who will never make it into a magazine or be publicly celebrated. ere is no magic utopian formula that will end inequality or enable a “living wage,” but at the very least we owe these cooks our respect and admiration. I wrote this story to put a spotlight on thousands of faceless restaurant workers who deserve recognition.

MORE: See “Going Home: A cook’s journey” online at www.ediblemontereybay.com for an account of the dangerous and permanently scarring odyssey that one undocumented Central Coast cook had to endure to travel home to California after attending his father’s funeral in Mexico.

LIVING WAGE CALCULATION FOR MONTEREY COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

e living wage shown is the hourly rate that an individual must earn to support their family, if they are the sole provider and are working full-time (2080 hours per year). All values are per adult in a family unless otherwise noted. e state minimum wage is the same for all individuals, regardless of how many dependents they may have. e poverty rate is typically quoted as gross annual income. We have converted it to an hourly wage for the sake of comparison. *Documentation for families with an adult working part-time can be found at http://livingwage.mit.edu/resources/MIT-Part-Time-Documentation.pdf Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology: http://livingwage.mit.edu

ON THE FARM MAN ON A MISSION

Aquarium chef forges friendships and spreads sustainability at a Tres Pinos farm and around the world

BY KATHRYN MCKENZIE PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGAUX GIBBONS

Chef Matt Beaudin of the Monterey Bay Aquarium

For the past few months, Matt Beaudin has been playing a guessing game called “Are ey or Aren’t ey?”

Beaudin, executive chef for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, has been trying to figure out if his three female sheep—shy, shaggy, prehistoriclooking creatures called Jacob sheep, thought to be the first domesticated breed—are pregnant.

It’s not an easy task, in part because of their built-in weapons—female as well as male Jacob sheep can have as many as six horns instead of the usual two, and they’re not afraid to use them. “ey are wicked skittish, and the trick is to get hold of them without getting gored,” says Beaudin.

And why, you may ask, is a chef going to so much trouble to raise a few weird sheep? It’s because Beaudin wants to get down to basics when it comes to locally sourcing food, supporting small farmers and doing good for the world.

His sheep project began after discovering Evergreen Acres Dairy products last year—raw organic goat milk, feta cheese and organic duck eggs, which are used in aquarium menu items—and struck up a friendship with owners Mike and Jane Hulme. (See related story p. 39.)

Now Beaudin is making monthly treks out to the farm in the hinterlands of San Benito County to tend to his sheep and help out the Hulmes when he can, even butchering a pig there in December.

“I want to offer something that you can’t get anywhere else,” says the energetic 33-year-old chef, who plans to make sheep’s milk ice cream, something that is easier for lactose-intolerant folks to enjoy. “is is a labor of love.”

Beaudin, raised on a New Hampshire farm, is no stranger to caring for livestock or making do when the occasion calls for it. His creative skill set has served him well in chef positions around the world, including the West Indies, Hong Kong and other far-flung places, as well as five-star U.S. restaurants.

During one stint on a tiny island in the Eastern Caribbean, Beaudin helped start an organic farm and farm-to-table restaurant at the exclusive Lighthouse Bay Resort. But it was not until he was cooking at a jungle camp in Rwanda that he gained a true appreciation for sourcing his ingredients, since even preparing a simple dish like French toast required him baking the bread himself the night before, and seeking out eggs and milk from neighboring villages.

It was while he was in Rwanda that he began committing to sustainability and culina ry education after meeting young artists who needed a little help to sell their work. Four years ago, Beaudin helped them open the Volcano Arts Studio, which has a restaurant attached, and he continues to sell artwork that they ship to him each month. He sends all the money to them to defray costs at the art studio.

“In Rwanda, I learned that it really doesn’t take a lot to make a difference,” says Be audin.

Making positive changes in people’s lives through food is the goal of Beaudin’s other new project, which he hopes will bring better nutrition, funding and job training to orphaned kids in Mexico.

As part of his work spreading the aquarium’s Seafood Watch message, Beaudin attended the Baja Culinary Fest in 2015 and 2016, and learned about the harsh realities facing orphans in Tijuana, where a l ack of job training and support often dooms them to repeat the cycle of poverty after they age out of orphanage care.

Now, Beaudin and aquarium executive sous chef Adam Young are working with local partners in Baja to create vegetable gardens and aquaponics systems to grow fresh produce and fish for the orphanages. ey also want to help open not-for-profit restaurants with the help of local culinary schools to provide on-the-job training for young people ages 16 to 18 and to generate income for the orphanages.

Back at the aquarium, where he’s worked since February 2015, Beaudin has been busy helping the institution apply its commitment to sustainability to its kitchen. An innovative box-free initiative he developed with Russo’s Wholesale Produce is now saving thousands of pounds of cardboard each month and he has also convinced other vendors to change their packaging.

“It’s an amazing thing to locally source food,” says Beaudin. “I’m out on the docks or at the farms at least once a month, and I’ve developed partnerships or friendships with all our vendors.”

Beaudin spoke passionately last year at the the aquarium’s Monterey Peninsula Chef Summit of the need for chefs to support their local food purveyors, whether salt sellers, farmers or fishermen. “Every meal should have a good story behind it,” he told other chefs and hospitality employees there. But aside from that, he says, it’s vital for chefs to cook with area ingredients, thereby creating demand and making it possible for small-scale operations to stay in business.

His hope is that he’ll inspire a food culture where chefs compete to see who creates food that’s truly sustainable and train the next generation of chefs to think that way.

“People think changing the world is hard to do, but if you do it one person at a time, it’s not so hard,” says Beaudin.

Kathryn McKenzie, who grew up in Santa Cruz and now lives on a Christmas tree farm in north Monterey County, writes about sustainable living, health and horticulture for numerous publications and websites.

Beaudin’s Jacob sheep

HIGH-TECHCOUPLE FINDS HAPPINESS ON A GOAT FARM

It’s not easy being green, as Mike and Jane Hulme, proprietors of Evergreen Acres Dairy east of Tres Pinos, will tell you—and it often takes some creative thinking.

e old sustainable ways of farming are being put to the test at this 36-acre organic raw goat milk dairy. For instance, flock protection is provided by the Hulmes’ Maremma dogs, an ancient Italian sheepherding breed, which last year fought off a mountain lion.

e Hulmes’ early warning system for predators? e farm’s noisy resident geese. Rodent control is handled not by poison or traps, but a platoon of rat-catching terriers, and fruit trees are nourished with composted animal manure. ey’re also growing their own organic fodder for the animals in a newly constructed greenhouse.

For the coup le, both refugees from the high-tech world of Silicon Valley, working with this low-tech enterprise brings joy and satisfaction that they’ve found nowhere else.

“We prefer dealing with animals rather than people,” says Mike Hulme with a chuckle. “But this does offer unique challenges”—especially when you consider that they are doing all this mostly by themselves.

Both Mike and Jane spent time workin g on farms in their youth. Mike, born in England, relocated with his family to the countryside during World War II, and Jane, a native of China, sought employment in rural areas after high school—but they both wound up emigrating to the United States and working in the Bay Area, Mike as a tech executive and Jane as a software engineer.

Economic downturns in Silicon Valley led them back to the farming lif e. In 2011, realizing that it was time to commit to a certified dairy operation, the Hulmes bought the property with the help of investor Sallie Calhoun of Paicines Ranch, and the dairy is now fully certified to Grade A raw milk standards, in addition to being a

is also on the CCOF list for organic certification.

Evergreen Acres produ cts can now be found at New Leaf Markets throughout Santa Cruz County and the Bay Area; they’re also available through a variety of Bay Area and Southern California CSAs, farmers’ markets and independent grocers.

e Hulmes are enthusiastic advocates for the health benefits of their organic products. Guernsey goats, which Evergreen raises, are known for having milk with a higher butterfat content and milder taste; “Children like it, and it’s easy to digest,” says Mike. Its other main product, organic duck eggs, are a favorite with chefs and nutrition devotees—duck eggs have twice the folate, choline and omega-3 content of chicken eggs and six times the amount of vitamin D, as well as a richer flavor and creamy texture.

e Hulmes are getting ready for more sleepless nights, as most of their 200 goats will be giving birth in March to spark milk production.

“Happiness is really important,” says Jane. “Sometimes we only sleep four hours a night, but we are fine, because we eat healthy and are happy.”

Evergreen Acres Dairy

606 Santa Anita Road, Tres Pinos • 831.628.3736 • www.evergreenacresdairy.com

certified cheese creamery and processed food facility. Evergreen Acres

Matt Beaudin, Adam Young, Jane Hulme and Mike Hulme

Ron Mendoza, Revival Ice Cream Brad Briske, Home

Kyle Odell, Matt Glazer, Michelle Estigoy, Michael Marcy, Sarah Kabat-Marcy and John Cox, outside Cultura

FINE FOOD, REINVENTED

How three new ventures—Home restaurant, Cultura – comida y bebida and Revival Ice Cream —are helping reshape our local food culture

BY SARAH WOOD PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHELLE MAGDALENA

Is fine dining dying—or even dead?

is question has been bandied about for years as restaurant costs have risen and American culture has become more casual. After all, “fine dining” refers at least as much to a highly formal, labor-intensive and solicitous manner of service as it does to food prepared with the finest ingredients and techniques. Many of the country’s most renowned chefs have been opening more casual eateries for some time now, and an increasing number of talented chefs leaving fancy places have chosen to join or start less formal, more playful and inexpensive places.

In our own Monterey Bay area, one of the first and most notable examples of this movement was Santa Cruz chef Kendra Baker’s departure from David Kinch’s three-Michelin-star Manresa to start an inventive, community-minded artisanal ice cream enterprise, e Penny Ice Creamery, with business partner Zach Davis in 2010.

e Penny rocked the local food world, and Baker and Davis quickly followed with e Picnic Basket, a casual sandwich and salad place that gave nearby Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk goers profoundly delicious quick-service food, made with seasonal ingredients sourced from local farms and food artisans.

e phenomenon has gathered steam in the last five years, with Baker and Davis opening their rustic-California restaurant, Assembly, and Emanuele Bartolini, a former senior manager at New York’s fine dining icon, La Posta, and his wife, Anna, starting La Balena, a Carmel restaurant that offers attentive service and exceptional Tuscan food in a more casual setting, and its own more informal sibling, Il Grillo. Also in Carmel, Kyle Odell, an alum of Oakland’s Commis and Parallel 37 in San Francisco, employed his fine dining chops at Carmel Belle be-

fore moving o n to Cultura’s bar. And in Monterey, James Anderson has used his own high-end restaurant experience to make the Poke Lab something entirely elevated from most conceptions of takeout fare.

In Santa Cruz, standout recent examples include Earthbelly, a counter-service restaurant where owners Chad Greer and Tammy Ogletree practice the same scrupulous commitment to organic, non-GMO farm-to-table cuisine as they did with their fine dining spot in the Hudson Valley, Beso (see story in EMB Fall 2016), and Burn Hot Sauce, the cult condiment company with which Amanda Pargh is putting her experience at Lucques and Ad Hoc to imaginative use (see story in EMB Winter 2016).

On the flip side, local exceptions to this trend are rare—in recent times only one chef, Cori Goudge-Ayer, chose to start a new restaurant following the fine dining model. Her venture, Persephone, opened last August in Aptos.

Taken together, all this exodus from the local fine dining world might suggest that the sector is truly on the ropes, at least in our area.

But in fact, the places the chef-entrepreneurs left behind are still going strong. Moreover, one could argue that those fine dining restaurants also play a special role as an important training ground for the talented young chefs who are transforming our local food scene and creating a whole new form of dining.

Nowhere is this more evident than at three of our area’s most recently opened and vibrant new food ventures—Revival Ice Cream, Cultura – comida y bebida and Home. Each is driven by chefs (and one sommelier) with the same passion to produce the best food possibl e of any fine dining establishment, but they’ve taken what they learned to

make their food more accessible. And each enterprise is a deeply personal expression of the chefs who have opened them.

ELEVATED ICE CREAM

One of the latest is Revival Ice Cream, the wildly creative, seasonal, local artisanal ice cream business started in Monterey this past October by chef Ron Mendoza, formerly the executive pastry chef at Aubergine at L’Auberge in Carmel.

But Mendoza didn’t just open an ice cream shop. He has poured all the technique and attention to sourcing that he developed during a 17-year career at some of California’s finest restaurants—Napa’s French Laundry, Los Angeles’ Patina and Aubergine—into creating very, very special ice creams.

“We used to think casual food was cheap and dirty and junky and unhealthy and all those things,” says Mendoza, but now, he points out, chefs like him are applying accomplished technique and quality ingredients to make foods that are more accessible without being cheap.

“Ultimately, there is nothing I’m doing here that I wouldn’t do in a fine dining restaurant,” Mendoza says of the airy, modern space on downtown Alvarado Street where he and his staff both make and serve their ice creams.

And by selling his scoops for $3 for a single and $4 for a double— and wholesale pints and ice cream bars at other outlets like Earthbound Farm’s Farm Stand—Mendoza is able to share his ice cream with many, many more people than he ever could before.

Due to a California law that requires ice cream makers to use a pasteurized ice cream base or become certified to pasteurize their own, most small-scale ice cream producers use a premade base. But Revival, like e Penny Ice Creamery, has its own pasteurizing operation so Mendoza can tailor the dairy, eggs or vegan alternatives that go into his ice cream to balance whatever flavor he is dreaming up.

All ingredients are organic when possible, and Mendoza gives his flavors a sense of place with local, seasonal ingredients like fruit, vegetables and herbs from the Oldtown Farmers’ Market that sets up outside Revival’s door on Tuesday afternoons.

Mendoza also forages—an example is the eucalyptus leaves he collects for his gooey and unusual riff on mint chocolate chip called Mint, Eucalyptus and Fudge—and he includes products from other local food artisans, like the bee pollen, honeycomb and honey from Carmel Honey Co. that go into his light, honey-forward Bee’s Knees flavor.

Just down the street from the Poke Lab, which opened last year, Mendoza sees Revival as part of the evolution of local food culture, and says he’d like to see other specialized food artisans move in, like bread bakers and a butcher.

TASTE OF HOME

When you walk in the door of the bungalow that houses Home restaurant in Soquel, one of the first things you see is the mounted head of a javelina, a wild desert pig related to the boar.

It seems especially fitting if you know that Briske—a former vegan whose first job out of New York’s Natural Gourmet Institute culinary program was at the San Francisco bastion of veganism, Millennium— is now better known for breaking down his own beasts for his signature whole-animal cuisine.

But the more telling story behind the taxidermy is that the pig was shot at close range with a bow and arrow by his own sister: Home is nothing if not a home for his family, renovated and staffed with the many hands of his extended tribe and intended to feel homey for his beloved community of Santa Cruz as well. e resulting décor and food are deeply personal expressions of Briske and his wife Linda’s tastes, and after turns at Main Street Garden, Gabriella Café, La Balena and Il Grillo, Briske says he wants Home to be his place for the next 30 years.

“It feels great, it’s kind of crazy,” Briske says of the experience of owning and running his own restaurant.

As of press time for this issue, Home had been open just three months, not long enough for Briske to get to the desired point of ease when he is “sharing a brain” with his sous chefs, as he puts it. But all of the hard work—especially that of Briske, his wife, Linda Ritten, and his inlaws, Sanra Ritten and chef Diego Felix, who came from Argentina to help open Home—was winning an ecstatic reception from guests.

“We’re definitely busier than we were anticipating,” he says, noting that the restaurant, even during the usual January doldrums in little Soquel, was doing covers of 70 to 80 on weekend nights when it just had been expecting 45 to 55, and weeknight business of 50 when he had been expecting just 35.

Briske’s aim with the front of the house has been to offer the same excellent service that he saw in action at La Balena, but his v ision for Home’s food is to go both more fancy and more casual.

On the fancy side, Briske has already launched a $75 tasting menu offered at 7pm at a communal table with seven courses plated in inventive ways plus a family-style plate of oysters and housemade charcuterie and dessert.

On the more casual side, the plan is to eventually offer inexpensive takeout lunches of rustic sandwiches made with ingredients like beef tongue and osso bucco, and an early bird dinner.

Meantime, lovers of the handmade pastas and deeply flavorful slow-cooked meats that La Balena has become renowned for will find the same sorts of items on the menu at Home, but with twists, as Briske now has a free hand to use ingredients that aren’t native to Tuscany. So in his own restaurant, Briske’s popular fried chicken, for example, is laced with lemongrass; his octopus is paired with sauces like anchovy miso aioli and arugula salsa verde; and the salads contain avocados. (Prices for the pastas on a winter menu ran $19 to $20; most meat and fish entrées ranged from $21 to $27.)

Come summer, Briske plans to open the front and back patios, as well as an outdoor cooking station equipped with an existing pizza oven and a new open-fi re grill. Some of the herbs, greens and fruits will come from a charming on-site organic vegetable garden established during the location’s long run as eo’s in the 1980s.

Once the restaurant is fully in its groove, Briske plans to sink his prodigious energy into new projects that include a food truck, a deli and a farm.

DREAM TEAM

When you call Cultura – comida y bebida to make a reservation, the first thing the reservationist asks is if you have any food allergies that the restaurant can accommodate. While such solicitous attention to guest

“Ultimately, there is nothing I’m doing here that I wouldn’t do in a fine dining restaurant,” Mendoza says.

Clockwise from upper right, Diego Felix, Linda Ritten and Brad Briske at Home, cocktails at Cultura, ice cream at Revival and Halibut Ceviche at Cultura

needs is not so common among local restaurant hostesses, it’s not surprising to get the question from Cultura if you know that the business partners behind it, Sarah Kabat-Marcy and John Cox, and executive chef Michelle Estigoy all worked together and became friends at Sierra Mar, the fine dining restaurant at Big Sur’s exclusive Post Ranch Inn.

But when you walk in the door of this warm, Oaxaca-inspired farm-to-table restaurant and bar in downtown Carmel, it’s immediately apparent that the collaborators have created something much less formal and entirely unique to our area. In a reference to the chef-driven cocktail program centered on artisanal mezcal, a series of portraits of women personifying the distinct characteristics of various agave plants line a wall of the dining room. Atmospheric black and white photos hang in the spacious bar of the former Jack London and colorfully decorated cow skulls, other artifacts from nature and quirky old dolls are scattered throughout the restaurant, giving it a whimsical, mysterious, yet still elegant feel.

As in the case of Home, the menu goes both high and low, with rich, complex flavors and fine technique tying it all to gether: At the most affordable end, deeply flavorful street tacos prepared with housemade tortillas and changing fillings such as chicken tinga, smoked trout, chorizo, duck, tongue and carnitas are on the dinner menu for $4 apiece and the late night bar menu for just $2 apiece. At the other end of the spectrum, under the heading of Rico Suave, a menu in January offered Monterey Red Abalone, relleno style, for $45 and a 14 oz. Wagyu Eye of Ribeye for a lofty $95.

e core of the menu, the Especialidades in the middle range, start at $19 and are mostly under $25, including the inspired and addictive Cultura Mole, a smoked and braised pork shoulder dish flavored with sesame and sour orange and served with squash blossom tortillas.

For the Cultura team, being able to relax, take risks and let their creativity loose to experiment in creating new dishes like this has been one of the greatest pleasures of their new venture.

“Here it’s a little bit more approachable but still all the love goes in,” Estigoy says, comparing her role to her last as executive sous chef at Sierra Mar. “I can just let my mind go and play around. It’s like playing every day.”

“I think that’s it. at is why we moved in this directio n,” says Kabat-Marcy, who was most recently a sommelier and cellar manager at Sierra Mar, “so that we would have the opportunity to be more playful and expressive and not really have a strict guideline of rules that we have to play by.”

Still, the restaurant’s standards for itself are extremely high.

e ingredients are not just organic and local when possible, for example, but the proprietors have com missioned an organic farmer of Oaxacan descent in San Juan Bautista to grown Oaxacan heirloom vegetables, and the restaurant is even attempting to raise its own crickets for the authentically Mexican bar snacks.

At the bar and out around the fire pits on the patio, the inventive and well-balanced specialty cocktails, created by a team that includes chefs Matt Glazer and Kyle Odell, are made with small -batch, fairtrade, single-origin mezcal and other fine spirits. Some especially tasty mezcal drinks over the winter included the Pina Aplastada (pineapple smash) in which lime and mint keep the pineapple juice from being

overly sweet, and the savory Conejo Bebida (rabbit drink) flavored with carrot juice, orange, ginger, tarragon and Meletti Amaro.

Six months in, Cultura’s formula has been a huge success: Cox said in January that the restaurant was doing covers of as many as 150 on weekends and seeing locals return for dinner two and three times a week. Industry folks have been coming bac k for the late night menu as often as three and four times a week, he added.

THE FUTURE IS NOW

In light of these dynamic and vibrant new fine-casual success stories, one might wonder where fine dining fits into the future of our changing restaurant scene.

Cultura’s Cox, who was most recently executive chef at Sierra Mar, said he believes that as labor costs continue to go up, there will be a contraction.

“We’re still going to have fine dining restaurants, but they will be more and more expensive, and there will be less and less of them.”

Where Cox expects to see growth is in more casual enterprises.

“You really have to create systems to offer a quality product at an affordable price,” Cox says.

Still, the chefs and restaurateurs interviewed for this story say they see a continued role for fine dining and would not want to see it go away.

“e idea of doing something that’s casual in concept but still focused on quality ingredients and good technique is what’s driving what we’re seeing now,” says Revival’s Mendoza.

“e thing is that you usually learn those things in fine dining,” Mendoza adds. “at’s why when I started cooking, I always wanted to work in fine dining because I knew I would get the best ingredients and I would learn the most.”

For her part, Cultura’s Kabat-Marcy said she hopes fine dining will always be around as a choice for diners who can make it. But for now, she’s happy to have a free hand to be more improvisational. “We’re like kids in a candy shop,” she says.

Revival Ice Cream

463 Alvarado St., Monterey 831.747.2113 • www.revivalicecream.com

Home

3101 N. Main St., Soquel 831.431.6131 • www.homesoquel.com

Cultura – comida y bebida Su Vecino Court between 5th and 6th avenues, Carmel 831.250.7005 • www.culturacarmel.com

RECIPES: For Mendoza’s Revival Bouquet, Briske’s Whiskey ief Demi-glace and Estigoy’s Chanterelle Sope, go to www.ediblemontereybay.com/recipes.

“We’restill going to have fine dining restaurants, but they will be more and more expensive, and there will be less and less of them.”

EDIBLE ICONS

BIG SUR BLISS

Globe-trotting farm dinner series shines a light on local land preservation STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMILLA M. MANN

Range to table: Chef Brett Cooper with beef grazed and cooked on site at Glen Deven Ranch.

“is is the one. Maybe the best OITF event ever!” reads the caption for the photo that Outstanding in the Field posted on Instagram about its epic dinner at the Big Sur Land Trust’s Glen Deven Ranch late last fall. “e day, the place, the people, the food…it really was as good as it gets.”

Jim Denevan, the Santa Cruz chef and artist who founded OITF, admits that he almost regret ted making the statement. “I’ve never said that before—best event ever—because I don’t like to think there’s a hierarchy of events.”

Still, the caption remained. And chef Brett Cooper of San Francisco’s Aster, the featured chef at the Glen Deven Ranch dinner, echoes the sentiment. “e weather was so perfect. ere was no wind. It was beautiful and warm and sunny. Everything played out perfectly. Everything went right.”

Denevan created OITF in 1999, when the idea of a culinary event on a farm or ranch—at the source of the food—was still novel. He wanted to connect guests with their food by setting outdoor, communal tables right on the farms, where participating farmers, chefs and food artisans could be showcased and brought closer to the general public.

Over the past 17 years and for nearly a thousand even ts, OITF has set its table in all 50 states and in a dozen countries around the world, from Japan to Mexico. While many individual farms host farm-to-table events, OITF is the only farm-to-table dinner organizer that is international in scope, and its dinners are now held in a variety of natural settings.

Chef Brad Briske of Home restaurant in Soquel, who regularly cooks for onsite

farm dinners all around the Monterey Bay region, has served as chef at three different OITF events over the years. “It’s a great concept…and a great name,” he says, admitting that for a chef it’s grueling.

“at second dinner, we hiked everything we needed a quarter mile in, across dunes, to this secret cove. It was a crazy experience,” he recalls. “at night I did 60 whole fried fish and gazpacho. But, at the end, I got a standing ovation and I have to admit that was cool.”

In the case of the Glen Deven Ranch event, 120 guests as well as staff from the organizers and participating purveyors—including Corral de Tierra Cattle Co., Kunin Wines, Fort Point Beer Co. and TwoXSea — converged high atop a coastal ridge between Carmel and Big Sur to create a restaurant without walls. OITF didn’t name the spot in advance on its website, but described it as an extraordinary secret setting: “Every direction is majesty—ocean, forest, grassland, 360-degree views; it’s all here.”

Glen Deven Ranch is part of the more than 40,000 acres conserved by the Big Sur Land Trust. Donors Dr. Seeley Mudd and Virginia Mudd bequeathed the 860-acre property to the land trust in 2001 with the dream of sharing it with others and inspiring conservation, go als that aligned perfectly with the land trust’s mission. Throughout the summer, the ranch hosts youth nature camps which are attended largely by teens from the Salinas Valley. “For many this is their very first opportunity to connect with land and nature, to sleep under the stars, to enjoy quiet time and consider the possibili-

ties,” says Jeannette Tuitele-Lewis, the land trust’s president and CEO.

e land trust has also maintained the ranch tradition of partnering with Glen Deven’s neighboring community. e ranch serves as an emergency way station for the residents of Palo Colorado during fires and floods. In fact, from where the tables were set for the OITF event, we could see the jagged fire lines that were hand-cut to prevent last summer’s Soberanes Fire from consuming the entire hillside.

“e ranch was integral in defending the canyon during the fire. You can see the drastic, beautiful, scary power of fire. It’s a reminder that we are vulnerable,” Tuitele-Lewis says.

Against that dramatic backdrop, Cooper and his team served eight different dishes, including Devoto Orchards Arkansas black apples with smoked Klingman Ranch pork belly; Laguna Farm Forono beets with Flying Disc Ranch dates, olives, pecans , and preserved Hamada Farms Meyer lemons; and smoked TwoXSea black cod salad with First Light Farm fennel, Hamada Farms mandarins, and shiso.

It was especially moving for Cooper to be able to prepare two beef dishes—a tartar and one that was grilled—with meat provided by Corral de Tierra Cattle Co., which grazes animals at the very ranch where the dinner took place. “I was overcome by the beauty of the wonderful history—the story of the ranch and the generations of people running cattle in Big Sur,” Cooper says.

Mark Farr, the rancher behind Corral de Tierra Cattle Co., says grazing cattle at coastal Glen Deven Ranch is good for both the cat-

THE BIG SUR LAND TRUST WANTS YOU

e Big Sur Land Trust recently acquired 73 acres in Salinas’ Carr Lake Basin and is eager to work with the community to create a longawaited central park.

Land lovers and conservation enthusiasts can support the land trust’s mission in a number of ways, such as becoming members, contributing funds to replant redwoods, and including the land trust in their estate plans . In return, members receive special access to attend events and hike on certain lands preserved by the land trust.

Business owners can partner with the land trust to sponsor community events such as local hikes and donor-appreciation events.

Big Sur Land Trust www.bigsurlandtrust.org

BSLT staff and friends: Matt Millea, Rachel Saunders, Jeannette Tuitele-Lewis, Amber Sanchez Leon, Kate Mitchell Mehle and Todd Farrington

OITF founder Jim Denevan at left, with chef Brett Cooper

“Fogproducesagoodquality grass,andgrazinganimals createvivaciousecosystemsand reduce fire fuel.”

DINING IN THE FIELD

Outstanding in the Field will release its 2017 tickets for sale on the first day of spring, March 20. Prices will range from $215 to $320 per person.

If you want to meet and support local farmers by dining on a Monterey Bay area farm while spending less money, be sure to read the EMB weekly newsletter throughout spring and summer to stay informed about upcoming farm dinners hosted by the farms themselves. Outstanding in the Field (OITF) events, however, can get you into places you might otherwise never go—such as Glen Deven Ranch, and its events are known for consistently stellar chefs and high-quality participating purveyors and service. e events are open to the public, but demand is high and tickets sell out fast.

rough May and June, OITF will be setting tables at farms up and down California. After the 4th of July weekend, the OITF crew hits the road to tour North America before returning to California in November for a few end-of-season events. Outstanding in the Field www.outstandinginthefield.com

tle and the land. “Fog produces a good quality grass, and grazing animals create vivacious ecosystems and reduce fire fuel,” Farr says.

Passion on the part of all the participants was clearly evident—Denevan’s mission to bring producers and consumers to the same table; the culinary creativity that earned Cooper a Michelin star within one year of

opening Aster; Farr’s dedication to producing high-quality grassfed beef while embracing sustainable land stewardship; and the Big Sur Land Trust’s commitment to preserving and sharing the beauty of all its holdings.

Even the diners displayed remarkable determination to be there. More than a few people flew from out of state to attend. “We

barely made it,” I overheard one man say in the shuttle bus to the ranch. “Our flight from Chicago was delayed and then we hit traffic on the way from the airport.” People drove from the Los Angeles area that afternoon; one couple making a weeklong vacation out of their trip booked two back-to-back OITF events for while they were in the area.

Having only been to one OITF event, I can’t say whether it was the best event ever. But there certainly was some alchemy on that bluff that evening. e fog started to roll in as we sat down for our first course. But it stayed at bay for the duration of the dinner, allowing us to revel in the drama of the coastline and witness the sun transform the sky into a vibrant persimmon orange as it dipped into the Pacific Ocean. It was magical.

Camilla M. Mann is a food writer, photographer, adventurer and passionate cook. She blogs at www.culinary-adventures-with-cam.blogspot. com and lives in Seaside.

ONE JAR OF PRESERVED TOMATOES

Spring’s most precious preserves and two recipes for enjoying them

BY JORDAN CHAMPAGNE

“She cans the songs of the whippoorwill And the morning dew and the evening moon ’N’ I really got to go see her pretty soon ’Cause these canned goods I buy at the store Ain’t got the summer in them anymore.”

From “Canned Goods” by folk artist Greg Brown, referring to his grandmother’s home-canned foods

Greg Brown pretty much sums it up.

Spring is the time of year when we most long for the fresh, vineripened local tomatoes of summer and autumn. But tomatoes that are found in the market now pale in comparison to the flavor of tomatoes at their peak, and most canned tomatoes in the store are not preserved from amazing heirloom and dry farmed tomatoes harvested at the height of the season. Instead, more often they are tomatoes that were picked rock hard and green and shipped in bulk in large tractor trailers to a production plant to be processed and put into cans.

is is one of the beauties of preserving food at home. You can capture the most exquisite flavors that a fruit or vegetable has to offer, making the opportunity to open a jar of home-preserved tomatoes months later a chance to release a ray of summer sunshine. So it’s no wonder that in spring, just one jar of preserved tomatoes becomes a very coveted item in the cupboard.

My favorite way to preserve tomatoes is what I call crushed tomatoes. It is a simple preserve of just tomatoes, a pinch of sea salt and a

dash of lemon juice. e preparation allows you to open a jar and use them in any dish you want. We find one pint of preserved tomatoes is a perfect serving size per person for most dishes.

We use canned crushed tomatoes in our kitchen at our café when tomatoes are out of season to make delicious soups, stews and bowls. ey are so full of flavor that you will have a taste of summer every time you use them!

RECIPES: See p. 54 for Champagne’s Best Tomato Soup Ever and Winter Salsa. Please see Summer 2013 edition of EMB or www.ediblemont ereybay.com/recipes for her recipe for Preserved Crushed Heirloom Tomatoes.

Jordan Champagne is the co-owner and founder of Happy Girl Kitchen Co., which preserves more than 10,000 pounds of local, organic tomatoes during peak season from August to November.

Photo this page by Margaux Gibbons

WINTER SALSA

Courtesy of Jordan Champagne, proprietor, Happy Girl Kitchen Café in Pacific Grove

1 pint preserved tomatoes ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely ¼ cup yellow onion, diced 1 jalapeño pepper

1 tablespoon roasted chipotle pepper (optional)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

1 clove garlic, minced

Drain juice from preserved tomatoes and reserve juice to enjoy later as a beverage or in a dressing or sauce. If tomatoes were preserved with the skins on, slip them off, if desired. Chop tomatoes in a food processor on pulse until they are just puréed into chunks. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. e flavor of the preserved tomatoes really shines in this salsa and will warm up your meal. Enjoy within four days.

BEST TOMATO SOUP EVER

Courtesy of Jordan Champagne, proprietor, Happy Girl Kitchen Café in Pacific Grove

1 pint preserved tomatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs ½ teaspoon salt

Heat olive oil and toast herbs to enhance flavor. If tomatoes were preserved with skins on, slip them off, if desired. Add the entire jar of tomatoes as well as juice and sea salt. Blend with an immersion blender to desired consistency. Garnish with a dollop of crème fraîche and basil. e best tomato soup is that easy!

Photos this page by Jordan Champagne

Dine Local GUIDE

Carried Away

APTOS

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, entrées and desserts are all made freshly daily. in-crust pizzas available on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Open M–F 11am–7pm, Sa 11am–5pm, Su closed.

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 restaurant is a great choice for a meal any time of day or night. eir wide selection of salads and seafood dishes features locally grown produce and Seafood Watch-approved fish. Santa Cruz County wines are highlighted; weekday Happy Hour on the patio from 4–6pm is an excellent value. Open daily M–F 6am–midnight, Sa–Su 7am–midnight.

BIG SUR

Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn

47900 Highway 1 • 831.667.2800 www.postranchinn.com

Executive chef Elizabeth Murray and executive pastry chef Ben Spungin use exceptional ingredients, many grown on site, to deliver a unique gastronomic take on the Big Sur experience. Dinner features a 4-course prix fixe menu and the 9-course Taste of Big Sur tasting menu; lunch offers 3-course and 5-course options. Choose from almost 3,000 different wines from the Wine Spectator Grand Award winning wine list. Arrive before sunset for breathtaking views from this iconic restaurant’s floor-toceiling windows and cliff-side terrace. Open daily for lunch 12:15–2:30pm, dinner 5:30–9pm.

CAPITOLA

East End Gastropub

1501 41st Avenue • 831.475.8010 www.eastendgastropub.com

Some would say that East End Gastropub is the new baby sister to West End Tap & Kitchen, but that reference risks diminishing East End’s grand presence, reworking a very much outdated location and delivering a robust, beer-friendly menu. Chef Geoffrey Hargrave has created dishes that are familiar yet innovative, such as the “Kentucky fried” duck leg or Szechuan-cured pork belly with bao buns. e restaurant offers its own brews, along with local rotating taps and a strong wine list. Open Tu–Su 11:30am–10pm.

e Penny Ice Creamery

820 41st Avenue • 831.204.2523

www.thepennyicecreamery.com

Open Su– noon–9pm, F–Sa noon–10pm See e Penny description under Santa Cruz for more.

Shadowbrook

1750 Wharf Road • 831.475.1511

www.shadowbrook-capitola.com

A Santa Cruz County landmark since 1947, the worldfamous Shadowbrook continues to be an overwhelming favorite with locals and visitors alike. Its fine food, extensive wine list and unparalleled setting and ambiance have earned it numerous awards, including Northern California’s “Most Romantic Restaurant” and “Best Date Night Restaurant.” Gift cards and reservations available online. Open M–F 5–8:45pm, Sa 4:30–9:45pm, Su 4:30–8:45pm.

Photo by Michelle Magdalena

Craft beer? Glass of local wine? Delicious, creative food? anks to chef Geoffrey Hargrave, East End Gastropub in Capitola has it all!

CARMEL

Andre’s Bouchee

Mission Street between Ocean and Seventh avenues 831.626.7880 • www.andresbouchee.com

Chef Benoit Petel aims to use the best seasonal and local ingredients in the classic and creative French cuisine he prepares at this warm and elegant restaurant in downtown Carmel. Standouts include Monterey abalone with gnocchi, wild mushrooms and seaweed; escargot with garlic parsley butter, hazelnuts, and puff pastry; and a classic duck confit with lentils. Petel works with Colleen from Savor the Local and the Monterey County Farmers’ Markets to obtain the freshest ingredients. Open daily 5:30–9:30pm, F–Su noon–2pm.

Aubergine

Monte Verde Street at Seventh Avenue • 831.624.8578 www.auberginecarmel.com

Located within the romantic L’Auberge Carmel, a visit to Aubergine feels like a trip to Europe. Executive chef Justin Cogley was named one of Food & Wine’s best new chefs of 2013. He has been nominated multiple times for a James Beard award and it’s no wonder—he’s an eloquent and imaginative interpreter of fine seasonal ingredients. Executive pastry chef Yulanda Santos delights with stunning and inventive desserts. Open daily 6–9:30pm.

Basil Seasonal Dining

San Carlos Street between Ocean and Seventh avenues (Paseo Courtyard) 831.626.8226 • www.basilcarmel.com “Organic, local and seasonal” are not just buzzwords at Basil. is cozy restaurant in the Paseo Courtyard was awarded three stars from the national Green Restaurant Association. General manager/owner Denis Boaro and chef/owner Soerke Peters turn out intensely flavorful dishes and provide a full bar with a great selection of California wines. Ma ny vegan entrées available. Heated, dog-friendly outdoor seating. Open daily for lunch and dinner from 11:30am, Su brunch 11am–3pm.

California Market at Pacific’s Edge

Hyatt Carmel Highlands, 120 Highlands Drive 831.620.1234• www.pacificsedge.com

Enjoy sustainable, locally sourced farm-to-table fare prepared by executive chef Chad Minton’s team while dining on the outdoor deck overlooking unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean. Dine indoors next to the expansive windows and gaze at the rugged beauty of the Big Sur coastline. In addition to the à la carte menus, the restaurant offers exciting daily specials, craft cocktails and the very best California wines. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Cantinetta Luca

Dolores Street between Ocean and Seventh avenues 831.625.6500 • www.cantinettaluca.com

Prepared in the Tuscan tradition, using the freshest and simplest ingredients sourced locally or imported from Italy, this authentic Italian eatery serves housemade breads, pastas and sauces, hand-cut premium meats and antipasti with the restaurant’s artisanal salume. Guests are served in an atmosphere of warm tones and dark woods, which invites lingering over a second glass of wine or an other bite of tiramisu, apple crostata or cheese. Dinner Su– 5–9pm, F–Sa 5–10pm; lunch F–Su noon–3pm.

Carmel Belle

Doud Craft Studios

San Carlos Street at Ocean Avenue 831.624.1600 • www.carmelbelle.com

is bright, airy restaurant is a favorite gathering place for anyone looking for a casual atmosphere and a stellar breakfast, lunch or dinner. e chefs here source only the best local and organic ingredients for their seasonally driven menu. Sign up online to receive Belle’s pop-up calendar and to hear about its special events. Enjoy your meal next to the fire pit or take advantage of the curbside pickup service to take it home. Open W–Su 8am–8pm, M–Tu 8am–5pm.

Earthbound Farm’s Farm Stand Organic Kitchen

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

At its Carmel Valley Farm Stand, Earthbound Farm’s certified organic kitchen delights with housemade soups, sandwiches, baked goods and an expanded salad bar. Experience picturesque Carmel Valley as you stroll through Earthbound’s organic gardens and learn about its pioneering local heritage and commitment to organic integrity. Food is available for take-away or a relaxing afternoon at tables in the gardens. Groceries also are available for replenishing your pantry. Watch Facebook for special events and classes! O pen M–Sa 8am–6:30pm, Su 9am–5:30pm.

Edgar’s at Quail

8000 Valley Greens Drive 831.620.8910 • www.quaillodge.com

Taste the fresh ingredients harvested from local organic farms that are hand selected by Edgar’s executive chef Brian Kearns and exquisitely prepared by his culinary team into the savory dishes available on its new menus. Set in the clubhouse of Quail Lodge & Golf Club, Edgar’s restaurant and bar features a casual elegance with its indoor and outdoor fireside dining located alongside the natural backdrop of the golf course and Santa Lucia Mountains. Edgar’s at Quail is proudly guided in the principles of sustainability by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and focuses on local farm-to-table options. Open daily 11am–9pm.

Il Grillo

Mission Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues 831.238.9608 • www.ilgrillocarmel.com e intent behind this sister restaurant to Carmel’s popular La Balena is to create a more casual spot where diners can gather for a glass of wine, simple pastas and small plates. Enjoy a housemade Italian cookie or dessert after your meal, or put in an order to bring some treats home. Prices are also lower than at La Balena, but the same chef is creating the dishes, so expect impeccable sourcing and delicious results. Garden seating available. Open M–F 11:30am–9pm, Sa 5–9pm.

La Balena

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

Winner of EMB’s 2014 Local Heroes award for Best Chef/Best Restaurant, La Balena has a seasonal menu that changes daily but always expresses an inventive take on the rustic food of a Tuscan trattoria. e outstanding culinary team sources ingredients from local organic farms and prepares the restaurant’s pastas and slowcooked meats from scratch daily. Owners Anna and Emanuele Bartolini have created an excellent Italian wine list and a warm, inviting atmosphere, complete with back garden seating. Open Tu–Su 5–10pm.

CARMEL VALLEY

Cachagua General Store/Lokal

13750Center Street

831.659.5886(Lokal)/831.659.1857 (CGS) www.lokalcarmel.com

Father and son Michael and Brendan Jones are now under one roof with the relocation of Michael’s legendary Monday-night pop-up, the Cachagua General Store, to Brendan’s Lokal restaurant in Carmel Valley Village. e two restaurants will continue to operate independently, both of them emphasizing local and organic ingredients but each remaining the exuberantly creative and distinct foodie oasis it has become known for. CGS is open 10–12:30 on Sundays and 6pm–Midnight on Mondays. Lokal’s hours are 10–2:30 and 6pm–closing –Su.

Lucia Restaurant &

Bernardus Lodge & Spa

Bar

415W. Carmel Valley Road • 831.658.3400 www.bernarduslodge.com/wine-cuisine

Where once there were walls, glass panels now can be folded back to bring the outside into the new Lucia Restaurant & Bar. Named for the Santa Lucia mountain range and wine appellation that beckons to the south of the lodge, the expansive restaurant replaces what once was Wicket’s Bistro and Marinus. Renowned chef Cal Stamenov is still in the kitchen, serving both his signature tasting menu and dishes à la carte. Wine list is equally notable. Open daily 7am–2pm and 5–10pm.

Trailside Café and Beer Garden

3Del Fino Place • 831.298.7453

www.trailsidecafecv.com

ose needing to refuel after a day on the trail can head to Trailside Café for home-cooked meals in Carmel Valley. Beer lovers get to choose from 16 on tap, and sports fans can watch games on the HDTVs. Locals are treated to specials on Mondays and Tuesdays. On the weekends enjoy liv e music in the dining room. Check out the calendar on its website for more details. Dogs are welcome on the patio. Open daily 8am–9pm.

DAVENPORT

Whale City Bakery

490Highway 1 • 831.423.9009 www.whalecitybakery.com

Davenport’s artistic charm and oceanside location make it hard not to slow when you pass through on Highway 1. ose in the know always stop at the historic Whale City Bakery. e bakery tempts with housemade breads, pastries, muffins and pies—and that’s only the beginning! Whale City also offers a full restaurant that serves up comfort classics and other hearty dishes. e bar and live music every ursday attract a loyal local following. Open daily 6:30am–8pm.

FELTON

e Cremer House

6256Highway 9 • 831.335.3976 www.cremerhouse.com

Housed in the oldest building in Felton, e Cremer House showcases progressive, handmade food and drink with a nod to its historic mountain surroundings. is collaborative restaurant project between the Felton New Leaf Market and Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing has filled a niche in the San Lorenzo Valley, bringing organic craft beer, cider and wine on tap, and artisan, housemade breads and “pantry” products to this restored and revered property. Open Su– 11:30am–9pm, F–Sa 11:30am–10pm.

Grillin & Chillin Alehouse and Brewery

401 McCray Street, Suite B24 • 831.637.2337

Grillin & Chillin’s downtown location with an on-site brewery is your go-to spot for a burger and beer. With 40 craft beers on tap and just as many in bottles, there’s something for everyone. A favorite spot among bikers and other Hollister locals, the alehouse has a friendly and knowledgeable staff that can help you pick a pint from the long list of brews. Open Su–W noon–10pm, –Sa noon–11pm.

Grillin & Chillin Roadhouse

3650 San Juan Road • 831.636.1010 www.relaxgrillinchillin.com

Grillin & Chillin’s Roadhouse location is your stop for steaks, burgers, craft beer, and whiskey. With 30 beers on tap (including many locals brews), 100 more in bottles, and a long list of small batch bourbon and whiskies, there are plenty of options to help wash down your fish tacos, Cowboy Burger or 16-ounce bone-in ribeye named the “Tomahawk.” Catch the game on one of the 5 TVs or relax on the covered patio. Open Su– 11:30am–9pm, F–Sa 11:30am–10pm.

HOPE VALLEY

Sorensen’s Country Café

14255 Highway 88 800.423.9949 • www.sorensensresort.com

e next time your travels take you to Lake Tahoe, remember the adorable Sorensen’s Resort cabins and fullservice restaurant just south of the lake. Enjoy specialties such as Mary’s natural chicken with a gremolata topping, fresh and wild fish, New York steak, garden-fresh salads and housemade bread pudding. Enjoy Eggs Benedict on weekends. Accompany your meal with a fine wine or specialty beer. Enjoy a great meal while you get away for a weekend! Open for breakfast M–F 7:30–11am and Sa–Su 7:30am–noon, lunch daily from 11am–4pm, dinner 5–8:30 pm daily.

MONTEREY

e C restaurant + bar

InterContinental e Clement Monterey 750 Cannery Row • 831.375.4500 www.ictheclementmonterey.com

Step into e C restaurant + bar, and the bustle of Cannery Row will seem like a world away. Elegant yet relaxed, e C offers stunning ocean views from its floor-to-ceiling windows and oceanside deck; chef Matt Bolton provides equally gorgeous food, imaginatively prepared from sustainably sourced seafood, meats and produce. Creative cocktails include a design-your-own Bloody Mary. Open 6:30am–10pm daily, Happy Hour 4–7pm Su–.

Jacks Restaurant & Lounge

2 Portola Plaza 831.649.2698 • www.jacksrestaurantlounge.com

Perfect for any occasion, visit Jacks for breakfast, drinks or dinner, or plan a private event on the pet-friendly heated patio or indoors in the fireside dining room. e restaurant features a breakfast buffet with made-to-order omelets and bottomless mimosas, locally grown produce, certified Angus beef and fresh seafood for dinner. Jacks Lounge features daily Happy Hour from 4–6pm with small bites, an award-winning wine list and barrel-aged cocktails. Open for breakfast M–F 6–11am, Sa–Su 6am–noon; dinner daily 5–10pm.

Peter B’s Brewpub

2Portola Plaza

831.649.2699• www.peterbsbrewpub.com

Experience Monterey’s original craft brewery, Peter B’s Brewpub, located behind the Portola Hotel & Spa. Enjoy great food and award-winning handcrafted beers. Watch your favorite game on one of 18 HDTVs or enjoy the pet-friendly heated patio with fire pits. Peter B’s is open daily with nightly Happy Hour from 4–6:30pm. Open Su– 11am–11pm, F–Sa 11–12am.

Schooners Coastal Kitchen & Bar

400Cannery Row • 831.372.2628

www.schoonersmonterey.com

Sit out on the oceanside patio if you can, but it’s still considered seaside dining if you are seated inside the dining room, whose polished wood, bay windows and seafaring décor seem like the interior of a sailing ship. Schooners Coastal Kitchen & Bar serves executive ch ef James Waller’s sustainable seafood and prime steaks. e restaurant takes a creative Californian approach to soups, fresh salads, sandwiches and wood-fired flatbreads, paired with a diverse wine list featuring local favorites. Open daily 6:30am–11pm.

Stone Creek

Kitchen

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

A glass-walled kitchen in the middle of a spacious cookware and tabletop shop turns out imaginative Mediterranean deli treats and sweets to take away or eat under the market umbrellas outside. Sandwiches, salads and entrée options change seasonally. Don’t miss Paella Fridays! Cooking classes, tasting events and dinner parties are hosted in the intimate teaching kitchen. Find a schedule of upcoming events on the website. Open M–F 10am–7pm, Sa 10am–4pm, Su closed.

TusCA Ristorante

Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel & Spa

1Old Golf Course Road • 831.657.6675 www.hyattregencymonterey.com

Blending the beauty and bounty of Tuscany and California, and inspired by the hearty appetite and abundance of southern Italy, TusCA serves up seasonally sourced menus made from fresh, local produce, meats and fish. TusCA chef Steve Johnson delights diners with meals both intriguing and indulgent, particularly those baked in his wood-burning oven or served with the housemade pastas. Open daily for breakfast and lunch 6:30am–1:30pm, dinner 6–9pm Tu–Sa.

e Wharf Marketplace

290Figueroa Street at Wharf No. 2 and Del Monte Avenue 831.649.1116• www.thewharfmarketplace.com e Wharf Marketplace is Monterey’s newly remodeled, go-to fresh, local market with free 24-minute parking. Features the best-grown Salinas Valley lettuces and vegetables, artisanal cheeses, wines and draft beer. e Café & Grab-n-Go selections are designed to satisfy your cravings for every meal. Catering made easy for any staff breakfast or lunch and ready-to-take home dinners are sure to delight. Comfortable indoor/outdoor seating available. Open daily 5:30am–7pm; Taste It ursdays offer complimentary wine and beer tasting with onebite wonders 4:30–6:30pm.

MOSS LANDING

e Haute Enchilada

7902 Moss Landing Road • 831.633.5843 www.hauteenchilada.com

Gourmet Latin fusion dishes await those who venture off Highway 1 and into this fanciful restaurant with its large gallery out back that also serves as a venue for entertainment and private events. Fiesta-colored walls in the restaurant are adorned with enormous gold leaf paintings. Try dishes like Peruvian Ceviche, Squash Blossom Empanadas or the popular Pescado Cubano— line-caught red snapper in a pistachio/pumpernickel crust served with tomatillo avocado sauce. Ingredients are all natural, organic as much as possible. Open daily 11am. Last seating at 8pm.

PACIFIC GROVE

Happy Girl Kitchen Co.

173 Central Avenue • 831.373.4475 www.happygirlkitchen.com

e menu changes daily at Happy Girl’s airy and bright Pacific Grove café, but the food is always delicious, organic and reasonably priced. e sandwich of the day is $6.50, and a bowl of the soup of the day is $6. To drink, you’ll find kombucha on tap and freshly roasted Four Barrel coffee brewed to perfection. Homemade baked goods include a daily scone, cookies and turnovers. Open daily 7:30am–3pm.

Jeninni Kitchen + Wine Bar

542 Lighthouse Avenue • 831.920.2662 www.jeninni.com

Inspired by flavors of the Mediterranean, Jeninni Kitchen + Wine Bar’s rich and decadent cuisine takes you on a journey from Morocco and Spain to the Levant, birthplace of owner and sommelier, amin Saleh. Don’t miss chef Matthew Zimny’s cri spy octopus, lamb burger with signature eggplant fries and occasional paella nights and other special events. Open Su– 4–9pm, F–Sa 4–10pm. Happy Hour—”sips and snacks”—4–6pm every day. Closed W.

Passionfish

701 Lighthouse Avenue • 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. e elegant dining room is celebratory yet relaxed, and the awardwinning 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 Boulevard • 831.648.5774 www.ptpinosgrill.com

With sweeping views of the coast and a relaxed clubhouse vibe, this scenic spot has blossomed under the direction of executive chef Dory Ford. For breakfast, choose from huevos rancheros, chicken fried steak and an array of tasty omelets. For lunch through dinner, enjoy dishes like Ale-Steamed Mussels and Crispy Fried

Dry Rubbed Jerk Chicken Wings paired with craft beers, local wines or a house specialty cocktail. Open M–F 7:30am–8pm, Sa 7am–8pm, Su 7am–6pm. Happy Hour is M–F 4–6pm.

PEBBLE BEACH

e Bench

e Lodge at Pebble Beach, 1700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318• www.pebblebeach.com/dining

Overlooking the 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links, e Bench at e Lodge at Pebble Beach delivers an eclectic menu inspired by international styles and methods, which uses the innovative technique of wood roasting and open-flame cooking. You can also enjoy one-of-a-kind craft cocktails, as well as an array of draft beers and wines by the glass. Open daily 11am–10pm.

Gallery Cafe

e Lodge at Pebble Beach, 1700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318• www.pebblebeach.com/dining

Overlooking the first tee of Pebble Beach Golf Links, Gallery Cafe offers a wide selection of breakfast choices, from light smoothies to omelets and pancakes. For a casual lunch, try the excellent burgers or choose from a delicious selection of artisan sandwiches, plus the best milkshakes this side of the 1950s. Open daily 6am–2pm.

Pèppoli at Pebble Beach

e Inn at Spanish Bay, 2700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318• www.pebblebeach.com/dining

At Pèppoli, the scents of Italian herbs and spices fill the air, and the décor transports you to a cozy Tuscan villa. e menu is big and bold, ripe with traditional pastas, seafood and meats. e extraordinary wine list is matched by equally impressive dishes, including delicious desserts, all with stunning views of Spanish Bay. Open daily 5:30–10pm.

Porter’s in the Forest

3200Lopez Road • 831.622.8237 www.portersintheforest.com

A restaurant on a golf course, not a golf course restaurant. Chef Johnny De Vivo and his team have created a destination dining experience that has quickly become one of Pebble Beach’s top-rated restaurants on Yelp. Worried about driving on 17-Mile Drive? ey will reimburse you up to $20 if you take UBER transportation, which should cover round trip from almost anywhere on the peninsula. Open daily for breakfast and lunch and W–Su for dinner.

Roy’s at Pebble Beach

e Inn at Spanish Bay, 2700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318• www.pebblebeach.com/dining It’s all about big flavors and the gorgeous ocean view at Roy’s at Pebble Beach. Fresh seafood is front and center, where sushi, sashimi and blackened rare Ahi tuna are prepared to perfection, but many exciting meat dishes and island salads are also featured on the extensive Hawaiian-fusion menu. Add a dynamic wine list, exceptional desserts and an energetic environment, and you have one impressive dining experience, all overlooking Spanish Bay. Open daily for breakfast 6:30–11am, lunch 11:30am–5pm, dinner 5:30–10pm.

Stave Wine Cellar at Spanish Bay

e Inn at Spanish Bay, 2700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318• www.pebblebeach.com/dining

A combined wine lounge and retail shop, Stave Wine Cellar is a luxurious yet casual space that is ideal for special wine dinners or gathering with friends and colleagues. You can pair varietals by the glass with a menu of cheese and charcuterie plates. In addition to nearly 30 wines and eight craft beers by the glass, Stave has more than 200 wines for purchase by the bottle, including a wide selection of coveted bottles. A knowledgeable staff, including certified sommeliers are on-hand. Open Tu–Sa 2–10pm, Su–M 2–7pm.

STICKS

e Inn at Spanish Bay, 2700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318 • www.pebblebeach.com/dining

STICKS is the perfect place for home-style comfort food in a lively sports bar atmosphere. Savor a hearty meal, a cold draft beer or one of the many tasty appetizers while enjoying sports on big flat-panel TVs. Outside on the patio, enjoy seating next to our fire pits while soaking in go rgeous views of e Links at Spanish Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Ask about our nightly Bagpiper Specials, such as Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf, Southern Fried Chicken ‘n’ Waffles or Juicy Prime Rib. Open daily 6am–8pm.

Stillwater Bar & Grill

e Lodge at Pebble Beach, 1700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318 • www.pebblebeach.com/dining

Stillwater Bar & Grill prides itself in offering the freshest and most flavorful in sustainable seafood and organic produce. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner—or Stillwater’s famous Sunday Brunch—the menus are sure to delight. Shellfish lovers will marvel at the bountiful seafood tank, while those who prefer turf to surf can choose from a variety of meaty options. Each of these delectable feasts is enhanced by fantastic views of Carmel Bay and the 18th hole of Pebble Beach Golf Links. Open daily 7am–10pm.

e Tap Room

e Lodge at Pebble Beach, 1700 17-Mile Drive 866.543.9318 • www.pebblebeach.com/dining

e Tap Room is more than a legendary 19th hole with an outstanding selection of draft and bottled beers, vintage wines and top quality spirits. It’s also a world-class steakhouse serving up hearty all-American fare, from burgers to prime rib to filet mignon. Renowned for its extensive co llection of prized golf memorabilia, e Tap Room is a comfortable and inviting place for watching televised sporting events or recounting your successes on the courses of Pebble Beach. Open daily 11–12am.

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA

Vertigo Coffee Roasters

81 Fourth Street • 831.623.9533 www.vertigocoffee.com

Artisanal coffee roasted on site as well as local craft beer, wood-fired pizzas, salads, sandwiches, breakfast items plus pan dulce from El Nopal bakery in Hollister have made Vertigo a locals’ favorite as well as a great find for visitors en route to the San Juan Mission, Pinnacles or other area attractions. Open M– 7am–6pm, Fri–Sat 7am–9pm, and Sun 8am-6pm.

SAND CITY

Sweet Elena’s Bakery and Café

465 Olympia Avenue, Suite D • 831.393.2063 www.sweetelenas.com

Whether for a delicious breakfast, lunch or baked goods to go, this warm café provides a welcome respite from the big-box stores that surround it. Baker-owner Elena Salsedo uses fine local ingredients and organic flours in all her quiches, galettes and sweets. She specializes in pies, often made with organic fruit, and sourdough bread made for the farmers’ market. Her granola has a cult following. Sweet Elena’s is also a community anchor—it regularly hosts book signings, art shows and other cultural and holiday events. Open M–F 8am–5pm, Sa 9am–3pm.

SANTA CRUZ

Assembly

1108Pacific Avenue • 831.824.6100

www.assembly.restaurant

is full-service restaurant from Penny Ice Creamery founders Kendra Baker and Zach Davis offers rustic California cuisine based on local, seasonal and sustainably sourced ingredients. Watch for new chef Jessica Yarr to make her own mark. e restaurant’s woodmetal-stone décor radiates from a long community table that anchors the center of the dining room, which is filled with natural light in daytime and bathed in the soft glow of copper accents at night. Open for lunch weekdays 11:30am, dinner W–M until late, brunch 10am Sa–Su, closed Tu.

Charlie Hong Kong

1141Soquel Avenue • 831.426.5664 www.charliehongkong.com

Charlie Hong Kong has been providing the Santa Cruz community with healthy, sustainable, affordable and high-quality food since 1998. e colorful, casual eatery’s delicious fusion of Southeast Asian influences and the Central Coast’s local organic produce has made it an inclusive, family-friendly, neighborhood favorite. Its slogan is “love your body, eat organic,” and its cuisine is proof that fast food can be good for you. All dishes may be ordered gluten-free, vegan or with meat or fish. Open daily 11am–11pm.

e Crow’s Nest 2218E. Cliff Drive • 831.476.4560 www.crowsnest-santacruz.com

A perfect spot to enjoy lunch or catch a sunset over the harbor, the nautical-themed Crow’s Nest is a Santa Cruz institution that never goes out of style. ere’s always something happening, from free seasonal ursday night beach parties to comedy nights and happy hours. Famous for its salad bar and house-smoked salmon, e Crow’s Nest is a member of Seafood Watch and is a certified green business. Open daily for breakfast 7:30am–11:30am; lunch M–F 11:30am–2:30pm and Sa–Su 11:30am–3pm; dinner M–F 5pm, Sa–Su 4:30pm.

Earthbelly

381Soquel Avenue • 831.621.2248 www.eatearthbelly.com

e fine dining veterans behind this food stop are serving sophisticated yet affordable organic, non-GMO food for the 99%. No-fuss counter service doesn’t detract from the open, airy and surprisingly elegant space and the deliciously detailed menu. Enjoy soups, salads, burgers, pizzas and baked goods made with produce from local farms in the restaurant or on the go. Dietary restrictions are accommodated. Delivery is available. Breakfast and weekend brunch now offered! Open M, W,  8am–9pm; F 8am–10pm; Sa–Su 9am–10pm. Closed Tu.

Food Lounge

1001Center Street • info@scfoodlounge.com www.scfoodlounge.com

is airy, contemporary space with a large courtyard is the creative staging ground for exciting pop-up dinners and community events. Monday through Saturday, the fun gets started at 11am with the Pantry Artisan Market, a local artisan food marketplace. Happy hour at the Food Lounge bar runs M–F, 4–6pm and features local beer, wine, cider and small batch craft spirits. For a full list of events and hours see calendar at www.scfoodlounge.com.

Laílí

101B Cooper Street • 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. ere 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–2:30pm, dinner 5–9:30pm.

La Posta

538 Seabright Avenue • 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; pasta, bread, and gelati are made in-house, while the balance of the menu reflects whatever produce is freshest right now. A sister restaurant of Soif Restaurant and Wine Bar, La Posta also offers a great selection of wines. Open Tu– 5–9pm, F–Sa 5–9:30pm, Su 5–8:30pm, M closed.

Pearl of the Ocean

736 Water Street • 831.457.2350 www.pearloftheocean.net

At Pearl of the Ocean you’ll enjoy classic spice- and coconut-infused Sri Lankan dishes, like pakoras, curries and dhal. But here, chef-owner Ayoma Wilen goes beyond the expected to bejewel the dishes with the bountiful local, organic produce that makes Santa Cruz so special. Dishes are accompanied by a dizzying array of sides, like coconut leek sambal and kale mallam. e warm colors, altars and blessings that decorate the space help guests feel transported to an exotic island. Open for lunch daily 11am–2:30pm; dinner Su– 5–9pm and F–Sa 5–9:30pm.

e Penny Ice Creamery

913 Cedar Street • 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. Dozens of exotic flavors rotate seasonally, but two favorites are bourbon bacon chocolate and strawberry pink peppercorn. Open daily noon–11pm.

Downtown – Kiosk 1520 Pacific Avenue, Suite K2 Open Su– noon–6pm, F–Sa noon–9pm See also e Penny under Capitola.

e Picnic Basket 125 Beach Street • 831.427.9946 www.thepicnicbasketsc.com

Across the street from the main beach, owners of e 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 outside with your feet in the sand. Open daily 7am–4pm.

Rosie McCann’s

1220Pacific Avenue • 831.426.9930 www.rosiemccanns.com

No typical Irish pub, Rosie’s emphasizes organic, local ingredients in its traditional Irish dishes like lamb stew, shepherd’s pie, corned beef hash and fish and chips, as well as its California specialties such as grassfed burgers, coriander wild salmon, salads and fish tacos. Expect dozens of beers on tap—including local selections. All desserts are made in house, so save room for the Guinness-Ghirardelli chocolate cake. Open M–F for lunch 11:30am–4pm; dinner 4–10pm. Open Sa–Sun for brunch 9:30am–2pm; dinner 2–10pm.

Soif Restaurant and Wine Bar

105Walnut Avenue 831.423.2020• www.soifwine.com

Inspired by the offerings from local farmers and provisioners, chef Mark Denham’s cuisine shows California flair, with seasonal dishes like autumn endive salad with pear, steamed clams with housemade linguica, potatoes and kale, and a great burger! A cozy, new bar now offers cocktails in addition to the best wine selection in town. e bottle shop next door provides a world-class selection of wines, and a welcoming seating area for sampling them. Raw oysters and live jazz every Monday. Open Su– 5–9pm, F–Sa 5–10pm. Wine bar opens noon Tu–Sa, 5pm Su–M.

Süda

3910 Portola Drive • 831.600.7068 • www.eatsuda.com

Every element of this tasteful space offers the diner with choice and comfort, from the diverse menu with vegan, gluten-free and full-fledged carnivore options to the high caliber beverage program to a variety of intimate booths, bar stools and communal seating. ere’s even a private room in the back, perfect for making a special occasion even more so. Open Su–W 11:30am–9pm, –Sa 11:30am–10pm. Open M 5pm.

Ulterior

10Pearl Street • 831.295.3100 • www.ulteriorsc.com

e enticing, almost secret nature of an upstairs restaurant never fails. Here at Ulterior, the latest venture for the former pop-up team of chef Zachary Mazi and Tighe Melville of LionFish SupperClub, what awaits you at the top of those steep stairs from parent business Motiv down below is an alluring combination of seasonal, innovative dishes, crafty cocktails and a hip atmosphere. is Ulterior nest is also one of the rare places in Santa Cruz where you can get a high quality, late-night nibble. Open S, Tu, W,  5–9pm; F, Sa 5–10pm.

West End Tap & Kitchen

334D Ingalls Street • 831.471.8115 www.westendtap.com

Perfect for any parent who is looking for a happy hour to satisfy the whole family, at West End adults and kids alike can’t get enough of the duck fat popcorn, fried calamari and flatbread pizzas. A diverse, season-driven menu with offerings like charred onion tagliatelle, and an even longer list of craft beer, cider and wine options make West End a Westside staple. e outdoor patio is perfect for people watching amidst the bustling Swift Street Courtyard. Open daily 11:30am–10pm.

SEASIDE

Gusto

1901 Fremont Boulevard 831.899.5825 • www.gustopizzeriapasta.com

Gusto owner Denis Boaro, a partner in Carmel’s Basil Seasonal Dining and a native of Northern Italy, named the restaurant for the Italian word for taste and his enthusiasm for delivering delicious rustic Italian food and great service that can be seen in the happy faces of his diners. e bright red-tiled, wood-fired oven just inside the entrance both sets the restaurant’s festive tone and produces terrific pizzas. Pastas are from Sand City’s Bigoli pasta and are made from organic flours. Open daily 11:30am–2:30pm, 4:30–9pm.

SOQUEL

Surf City Sandwich

4101 Soquel Drive • 831.346.6952 www.surfcitysandwich.com

It makes perfect sense in a town so rich in surf lore that a surfer would be the driving force behind a popular local haunt and similarly storied classic: the sandwich. Owner and chef Paul Figliomeni’s motto, “Go Fresh or Go Home,” is an indicator that anything you order here will be made with good ingredients and by hand. Throw in some vintage surf goods, homemade potato chips and local beer on tap, and you’ll never actually make it down to the beach. Open M–Sa 10:30am–7pm, Su 10:30am–5pm.

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-yorself” 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 bake ry-deli that pleases with its fresh pies, shortcakes and pastries, along with hearty sandwiches and box lunches. is family friendly experience is also a treat for kids, who will enjoy the wide-open spaces and the homemade popsicles. Open daily 9am–5pm.

Hidden Fortress Coffee

125 Hangar Way, Suite 270 831.228.1400 • www.hiddenfortressfarm.com

A local’s market favorite puts down some roots just two minutes off of Highway 1 in Watsonville. Owner Amelia Loftus serves up house-roasted, organic coffee and bagged beans to go, sourced from small-scale family farms in the best coffee growing regions around the world. is low-key, charming cafe also sells local and organic baked goods, housemade seasonal smoothies, yogurt parfaits and sandwiches, and local chef-prepared soups and salad shakers. Open M–F 6:30am–3:30 pm, Sa 8:30am–5:30pm. Closed Su.

Edible Monterey Bay Spring 2017 LOCAL SOURCE GUIDE

Find the Monterey Bay’s best local, seasonal and sustainable products and services here. ese business advertise in Edible Monterey Bay, supporting our mission and enabling us to provide this magazine to you for free. Please thank them with your business and tell them we sent you!

BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS

Santa Cruz County Bank 7775Soquel Drive, Aptos 831.662.6000| sccountybank.com 819Bay Ave., Capitola | 831.464.5300 720Front St., Santa Cruz | 831.457.5000 4604Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley 831.461.5000 595Auto Center Drive, Watsonville | 831.761.7600 A leading community business lender and full-service bank of choice for locals.

BREWERIES AND TAPROOMS

East Cliff Brewing 21517E. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz 831.713.5540| eastcliffbrewing.com

Neighborhood brewery specializing in British-style, cask-conditioned ales.

East End Gastropub 1501 41st Ave., Santa Cruz 831.475.8010 | eastendgastropub.com

Local gastropub serving handcrafted food, beer and wine.

Grillin & Chillin Alehouse and Brewery 401 McCray St., Ste. B24, Hollister 831.637.2337 | facebook.com/grillinchillinalehouse

“Drink Well and Eat Well” is the motto of this alehouse where the proprietors brew handcrafted beer and offer more than 40 beers on tap and gourmet pub food as well.

Peter B’s Brewpub

2 Portola Plaza, Monterey 831.649.4511 | portolahotel.com

Monterey’s first craft brewery features delicious, locally brewed beer and an innovative menu including vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing 402 Ingalls St., Ste. 27, Santa Cruz 831.425.4900 | santacruzmountainbrewing.com

An award-winning, certified-organic craft brewery featuring wildly imaginative seasonal beers, hard ciders, draught root beer and kombucha.

Trailside Café and Beer Garden

3 Del Fino Place, Carmel Valley 831.298.7453 | trailsidecafecv.com

Café and beer garden with handcrafted food and a rotating draft selection of 15 beers and one cider plus over 40 bottled selections including Belgian, German and ciders.

West End Tap & Kitchen

334D Ingalls St., Santa Cruz 831.471.8115 | westendtap.com

Local gastropub serving handcrafted food, beer and wine.

DESIGNERS

Dina Clark Design 831.466.9843 | dinaclarkdesign.com

A Central Coast graphic design studio for logos, labels, illustrations and websites.

CATERING

Aqua Terra 529 Central Ave., Pacific Grove 831.657.9790 | aquaterraculinary.com

Fresh and seasonal food ideas, rooted in sustainability.

Carried Away 7564 Soquel Drive, Aptos 831.685.3926 | carriedawayfoods.com

Seasonally driven and organic prepared foods and catering operating for 25 years in the Aptos Center.

LionFish SupperClub Santa Cruz | lionfishsc.com

LionFish is ready to serve your guests the same locavore delights that have generated a passionate following for its own events.

EDUCATION AND NONPROFITS

ACF - American Culinary Federation Monterey Bay Chapter P.O. Box 7034, Carmel montereybaychefs.org

A nonprofit association of professional chefs, cooks, bakers, home enthusiasts and business associates in the food service and hospitality industry, this local AFC chapter focuses on continued education and participates in many local community events.

Habitat for Humanity/ReStore 4230 Gigling Road, Seaside 831.899.1362 | habitatsc.org 719 Swift St., Santa Cruz 831.824.4704 | habitatsc.org

A nonprofit home improvement store and donation center offering new and gently used furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances to the public. Proceeds build affordable homes, community and hope locally.

KZSC

Santa Cruz, 88.1FM 831.459.2811 | kzsc.org

College radio broadcasting from UC Santa Cruz. Tune in for music, news, public affairs, sports, and more!

Quail Hollow Kitchens

235 Crown Drive, Ben Lomond 831.609.6226 | quailhollowkitchens.com

Specializing in courses for the home cook including artisanal recipes, as well as French and American classics using home-grown and locally farmed organic herbs, vegetables and eggs.

EVENTS

e Foodie Edition with Ruth Reichl, Nancy Silverton and Evan Kleiman

Wednesday, May 17 6pm VIP reception; 7pm general admission Sunset Center, San Carlos Street at 9th Avenue, Carmel 831.620.2048 | sunsetcenter.org

Benefit for the Carmel Public Library Foundation.

FARMS, RANCHES, CSAS AND CFSS

Earthbound Farm

Retail: 7250 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel 831.625.6219 | ebfarm.com

e country’s largest organic grower, Earthbound Farm has been delivering delicious, clean produce to the local community for more than 30 years.

Gizdich Ranch 55 Peckham Road, Watsonville 831.722.1056 | gizdich-ranch.com

A third-generation farm and bakery-café specializing in heirloom apples, berries, juice and pie.

Live Earth Farm 831.763.2448 | liveearthfarm.net

Watsonville based, with a new farm stand 10am–3pm Saturdays at 1275 Green Valley Road and CSA pickup throughout the Monterey Bay and South Bay regions. Committed to sustainable food through a CSA, farmers’ markets and on-farm farm stand and education.

Morris Grassfed Beef

CSM, at markets and online 831.623.2933 | morrisgrassfed.com

A provider of locally grown grassfed beef, fostering healthy relationships between people, land, animals and food.

Real Good Fish CSF, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties 831.345.5153 | localcatchmontereybay.com

A community-supported fishery connecting local fishers and sustainable seafood consumers.

GREEN PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Blade Tech 831.917.1330 | bladetechusa.com

Professional knife sharpening services for business and home kitchen; also offering high-quality knives and accessories for purchase.

MRWMD

14201 Del Monte Blvd., Marina 831.384.5313 | mrwmd.org

Visit the website for a complete schedule of disposal and recycling services, workshops and home composting supplies available at Last Chance Mercantile.

Solar Technologies 705 N. Branciforte Ave., Santa Cruz 831.421.0440 | solartechnologies.com

Local solar energy system provider featuring efficient technology, design and installation for your home or business.

Acubloom 833 Cass St., Monterey 831.383.9652 | acubloom.com

Healing simply, simply healing with Kristan Roth, a healer with more than 20 years of experience in acupuncture and a number of other modalities.

HOTELS AND RESORTS

L’Auberge Carmel Monte Verde Street and 7th Avenue, Carmel-by- the-Sea 831.624.8578 | laubergecarmel.com

A romantic, full-service boutique, Relais & Chateau hotel is within walking distance of all that Carmel-bythe-Sea has to offer, including the iconic Carmel Beach.

BernardusLodge&Spa 415W.CarmelValleyRoad,Carmel-by-the-Sea 831.658.3400|bernarduslodge.com

LocatedintheheartofsunnyCarmelValley,Bernardus Lodge&Spaisanelegantandintimateluxuryresort offeringrenowneddiningandspaexperiencesanda10acreon-siteestatevineyard.

Hyatt Carmel Highlands 120 Highlands Drive, Carmel 831.620.1234 | highlandsinn.hyatt.com Seaside hotel and oceanfront retreat that seamlessly blends the amenities of a luxurious resort with the refined charm of rustic Big Sur.

Hyatt Regency Monterey 1 Old Golf Course Road, Monterey 831.372.1234 | monterey.hyatt.com

Located on Del Monte Golf Course amid 22 beautiful acres of Monterey pines, this hotel also offers a spa and close proximity to Monterey Airport and the city center.

InterContinental e Clement Monterey 750 Cannery Row, Monterey 831.375.4500 | ictheclementmonterey.com e premier luxury hotel in the heart of Cannery Row, situated right next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and overlooking the pristine Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa 400 Cannery Row, Monterey 831.920.6710 | montereyplazahotel.com

At Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa you’ll be able to enjoy the best of Northern California such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, historic downtown Monterey and Fisherman’s Wharf, world-class golfing at Pebble Beach, shopping in Carmel, wine tasting in Carmel Valley and the memorable Big Sur coastline.

PortolaHotel&Spa 2PortolaPlaza,Monterey 831.649.4511|portolahotel.com

ArelaxingretreatinhistoricMontereysurroundedby uniqueshopping,finedining,spectacularcoastaltrails andbeaches.

Post Ranch Inn/Sierra Mar Restaurant

47900 Hwy. 1, Big Sur 831.667.2800 | postranchinn.com

A “sanctuary for the soul” offering the ultimate in luxurious coastal Big Sur lodging, including breathtaking views and exquisite dining.

Quail Lodge & Golf Club 8000 Valley Greens Drive, Carmel 831.620.8808 | quaillodge.com

Quail Lodge features comfortable lodging, an 18-hole championship golf course, fitness center and sustainably sourced, seasonal cuisine on the Monterey Peninsula.

Sanderlings/Seascape Beach Resort

1 Seascape Resort Drive, Aptos 831.662.7120 | sanderlingsrestaurant.com

Overlooking the Monterey Bay, this beachside all-suite hotel is only 12 miles from the Santa Cruz Wharf, but with a private beach, 3 outdoor pools and hot tubs, and a great restaurant, you may see no reason to leave the hotel.

Sorensen’s Resort 14255 Hwy. 88, Hope Valley 530.694.2203 | sorensensresort.com

A historic all-season resort with rustic cabins and outdoor activities located in majestic Hope Valley at Lake Tahoe.

NATIONAL SUPPORTERS

Yogi Tea

Sold at local grocers and at yogiproducts.com. Yogi uses more than 100 exotic herbs and botanicals from around the world to create its sweet and spicy herbal teas.

NURSERIES, LANDSCAPING AND GARDEN SUPPLIES

DIG Gardens

420 Water St., Santa Cruz 831.466.3444 | diggardensnursery.com A garden shop unlike any other: organic, bohemian, modern style from Santa Cruz.

Gardner & Bloome

OMRI-listed organic fertilizers and soils from Kellogg Garden Products distributed locally by:

Aptos Landscape Supply 5035 Freedom Blvd., Aptos 831.688.6211 | aptoslandscapesupply.com

Del Rey Oaks Gardens 899 Rosita Road, Del Rey Oaks 831.920.1231 | drogardens.com

Drought Resistant Nursery 850 Park Ave., Monterey 831.375.2120 | droughtresistant.com

e Garden Co. 2218 Mission St., Santa Cruz 831.429.8424 | thegardenco.com

Griggs Nursery 9220 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel 831.626.0680 | griggsnursery.com

Hidden Gardens Nursery 7765 Soquel Dr., Aptos 831.688.7011

Lakeside Nursery 190 Espinosa Road, Salinas 831.632.2100 | lakesidenursery.net

M. J. Murphy Lumber 10 E. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley 831.659.2291 | facebook.com/M.J.MurphyLumberHardware

Martins’ Irrigation

420 Olympia Ave., Seaside 831.394.4106 | martinsirrigation.com

Mountain Feed & Farm 9550 Hwy. 9, Ben Lomond 831.336.8876 | mountainfeed.com

e Plant Works 7945 Hwy. 9, Ben Lomond 831.336.2212

San Lorenzo Garden Center

235 River St., Santa Cruz 831.423.0223 | sanlorenzolumber.com/gardencenter

Scarborough Gardens

33 El Pueblo Road, Scotts Valley 831.438.4106 | scarboroughgardens.com

Seaside Garden Center

1177 San Pablo Ave., Seaside 831.292.0400 | seasidegardencenter.com

Tope’s Sustainable Garden Center 650 E. Franklin, Monterey 831.920.1203 | topesgardencenter.com

Valley Hills Nursery

7440 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel 831.624.3482 | valleyhillsnursery.net

Mountain Feed & Farm Supply

9550 Hwy. 9, Ben Lomond 831.336.8876 | mountainfeed.com

Mountain Feed & Farm Supply is a unique and complete organic farm, garden, homestead, pet, gift and housewares store located in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

MRWMD 14201 Del Monte Blvd., Marina 831.384.5313 | mrwmd.org

e MRWMD offers premium quality, OMRI-listed organic compost as well as topsoil and wood chips by the truckload at the district scales or bag-your-own at its Last Chance Mercantile shop.

Plant Landscape Design 2801 S. Main St., Soquel 831.476.1895 | plantlandscapedesign.com

Full-service landscaping company: design, build, maintain, serving greater Monterey Bay.

Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping Santa Cruz 831.425.3514 | terranovalandscaping.com

A full-service ecological landscaping company providing design, installation and maintenance of beautiful living systems for public and private lands.

REAL ESTATE

Courtney G. Jones/Carmel Realty Co. Dolores Street between 7th and 8th Avenues 831.233.4839 | courtneygjones.com

Courtney@carmelrealtycompany.com

Family-owned firm offering local luxury real estate experts with a reputation for integrity, longevity and excellence.

Lisa Guthrie/Santa Lucia Preserve

1 Rancho San Carlos Road, Carmel 831.620.6762 | santaluciapreserve.com

Lisa@thepreservelife.com

Santa Lucia Preserve is home for 300 families on 20,000 acres of pristine land in Carmel.

RECREATION

Chardonnay Sailing Charters

704 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz 831.423.1213 | chardonnay.com

Excursions aboard the Chardonnay II are perfect for any age group and fun for everyone from seasoned sailors to first-time adventurers.

RESTAURANTS AND CAFÉS

See our Dine Local Guide, p. 55.

SPECIALTY FOOD AND DRINK PURVEYORS

Earthbound Farm’s Farm Stand and Organic Kitchen

7250 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel 831.625.6219 | ebfarm.com

Serving delicious organic, handcrafted food, gourmet groceries and unique gifts, as well as fresh produce and flowers.

Food Lounge

1001 Center St., Santa Cruz scfoodlounge.com

A dynamic, community-minded venue featuring local artisanal products, special events, a bar and the products and services of resident collaborators Fogline Farm, Kickin’ Chicken, La Marea of the Sea, Lifestyle Culinary Arts, Ocean 2 Table and Tanglewood.

Golden Roots Kitchen 831.471.7787 | goldenrootskitchen.com

Organic prepared meals made in Santa Cruz, available weekly for local delivery or pick up.

Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting

125 Hangar Way, Ste. 270, Watsonville 831.228.1400 | hiddenfortresscoffee.com

Small-batch, locally roasted organic coffee sold by the pound.

e Quail & Olive

3 Pilot Road, Carmel Valley 831.659.4288 | quailandolive.com

A boutique featuring quality, California olive oils and vinegars, as well as natural skin care products and cookbooks for better health.

Shopper’s Corner

622 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz 831.423.1398 | shopperscorner.com

Santa Cruz’s oldest and friendliest family-run market.

Star Market 1275 S. Main St., Salinas 831.422.3961 | starmkt.com

An independent grocer featuring the freshest, best tasting and finest selection of food in the Monterey Bay area; locally produced foods and wines are a specialty.

Stewart & Jasper Orchards

Monterey Plaza Hotel 400 Cannery Row, Ste. C, Monterey 831.375.6887 | stewartandjasper.com

A family-owned almond grower committed to quality, eco-friendly practices, water conservation and customer service.

Stone Creek Kitchen 465 Canyon del Rey Blvd., Monterey 831.393.1042 | stonecreekkitchen.com

Our mission is to create a unique educational and culinary destination for epicureans on the Monterey Peninsula.

Troia Foods

801 Foam St., Monterey 831.375.3354 | troiafoods.com

A local dairy and fine food distributor for businesses.

Vertigo Coffee Roasters

81 Fourth St., San Juan Bautista 831.623.9533 | vertigocoffee.com

Specialty coffee roasters that also feature wood-fired cooking and craft beers.

e Wharf Marketplace

290 Figueroa St., Monterey 831.649.1116 | thewharfmarketplace.com

Monterey County’s fresh food destination, featuring the “bounty of the county”—locally produced provisions at their seasonal best.

SPECIALTY SHOPS AND GALLERIES

Annieglass

310 Harvest Drive, Watsonville 831.761.2041 x21 | annieglassstore.com

Locally designed and handmade slumped-glass plates, bowls and serving dishes that add famed art and style to the dining room.

Last Chance Mercantile/MRWMD 14201 Del Monte Blvd., Marina 831.264.6900 | mrwmd.org

e only reuse store at the entrance to a landfill in the U.S. where one person’s trash truly becomes another’s treasure, Last Chance Mercantile provides convenient drop-off for reusable goods and an ever changing inventory of affordable, pre-owned and salvaged items.

Mmē.

910B Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz 831.216.6366 | mme.ltd

Mmē. is a gorgeous high-end women’s clothing boutique located in a historic 1894 Italianate building in midtown Santa Cruz.

Pacific Trading Co.

1224 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz | 831.423.3349 504C Bay Ave., Capitola | 831.476.6109 facebook.com/pages/pacific-trading-co/65027935549 Independent, local, family-owned women’s apparel boutique.

Seven Bridges Cooperative 325A River St., Santa Cruz 831.454.9665 | breworganic.com e local source for certified-organic homebrew ingredients and equipment.

WINERIES AND TASTING ROOMS

Beauregard Vineyards

10 Pine Flat Road, Santa Cruz 831.425.7777 | beauregardvineyards.com Sustainably produced wines expressing the terroir of the Santa Cruz Mountains through minimal impact winemaking.

Cima Collina Tasting Room

19 E. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley 831.620.0645 | cimacollina.com

Award-winning, artisanal wines from small Monterey vineyards. Tasting room is located in a picturesque historic building.

McIntyre Tasting Studio 169 Crossroads Blvd., Carmel 831.626.6268 | mcintyrevineyards.com Small lot wines that embody the mountainous, maritime terroir.

Percheron-McFarland 46 4th St., Gonzales 831.675.2311 | percheron-mcfarland.com

Dedicated to a world-famous legacy of excellence in California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Taste Morgan e Crossroads Carmel 204 Crossroads Blvd., Carmel-by-the-Sea 831.626.3700 | morganwinery.com

For three decades, Dan and Donna Lee and their Morgan label have been synonymous with artisan, vineyardcentric wines from the Santa Lucia Highlands and Monterey. e Taste Morgan visitors’ center brings the family’s history and craft to life through a relaxed tasting experience.

FIRST PERSON A TINY SILVER SPOON

For the past eight years, I have been fortunate to be Tularcitos’ “Mrs. Garden” three days a week. We grow kale and chard, perennial broccoli, pomegranates, apples and Roger’s Red California grapes. Flowers such as calendula, nigella, achillea and papaver bloom with abandon. And, yes, we like to say: “Welcome to where the wild things grow.”

Why do veggies, herbs and flowers grow and bloom out of bounds? We like to experiment “outside the box.” Plants are allowed to set seed and replant themselves in paths and adjacent beds. We are researching which plants can survive and thrive in other locations. Which plants do gophers prefer, and which ones do they leave alone? Will volunteer kale do well without regular water?

We also plant for a purpose: fava beans and crimson clover for winter cover crops, red cabbage interplanted with culinary sage to deter cabbage white butterflies. We celebrate the seasons, strive for diversity and welcome wildlife. Hummingbirds zip in and out of the Salvia spathacea, bees buzz about the borage and ladybugs feast on copious aphids.

Students watch for alligator-shaped ladybug larvae and learn to wash any clinging aphids from the broccolini before nibbling. Eating from the garden remains a favorite pastime. It only rivals digging and making mud creatures. is spring, fourth graders, studying California history, will mine for the gold beets and golden potatoes they planted last fall. Golden poppies will remain for the bees to plunder.

Whether we find a sliver of silver in a little spoon or an edible nugget of go ld, the richness of the Tularcitos garden continues to reveal itself with time.

BY MARGOT GRYCH

den at Tularcitos Elementary School in Carmel Valley. It appeared as if by magic, right there in the path where hundreds of little feet pound back and forth. Sterling, with the initials MAF, it lay face down in the packed earth. What secrets lie hidden in the slender metal utensil belonging to some mysterious person from long ago? is spring, I will ask students to create a story about the spoon.

An organic gardener since the age of 14, Margot Grych heads the Monterey Peninsula College Horticulture Department and leads a hands-on, garden-based educational program at Tularcitos Elementary in Carmel Valley. rough growing and harvesting their own food, the Tularcitos students learn about nutrition and a healthy lifesty le, ecoliteracy and plant science.

A school garden inspires as well as informs

Margot Grych with a student in the garden