Our founder Bernardus Pon chose to cultivate his premier-class wine brand in Carmel Valley. With its west-facing orientation, hot days, chilly nights, and stunning beauty, it is the perfect location to produce wines that rival the greatest on the globe. Following the creation of its powerhouse wine portfolio, Bernardus welcomed a new member to its family in 2022, the world’s first Provence Rosé Golden State. This joint venture with Château La Coste in the world-famous Provence region resulted in a premium French Rosé with a twist of California. Today the brand is more than just wine, with a challenging championship golf course based in the Netherlands which will host the 2026 Solheim Cup. Bernardus creates memories that will last a lifetime. www.bernardus.com/rose
7 EDI BLE NOTABLES
The owners of Santa Cruz’s most creative and communal café go from best friends to business partners; A new lending collection at Pacific Grove Library helps home cooks embrace their inner Top Chef; The prolonged drought was devastating to local bee populations, but what about the cold, wet winter of 2022-23? Local beekeepers have the lowdown on this year’s harvest 23 WHAT’S
Revered for their honeyed flesh and divine fragrance, these beguiling fruits
36 BACK OF THE HOUSE DISARMING LUXURY
Chez Noir’s short road and long journey to a Michelin star
48 EDIBLE SUSTAINABILITY CALL OF THE WILD
Daniel Laggner is on a mission to protect American wildlife by selling free range game meat
55 COOKING WITH THE SEASONS FIKA BAKESHOP
Make these buttery scones to evoke the flavor of fall
58 ON THE FARM
PASSIONATE FARMING Blossom’s Farm comes to Aromas
65 EDIBLE D.I.Y. CONGEE
Learn to make these nourishing grain dishes for the cooler days ahead
69 DINE LOCAL GUIDE
80 LAS T BITE
GLASS GEM CORN
Recovering Indigenous varieties of corn results in stunning discovery
RECIPES IN THIS ISSUE
27 Spiced Membrillo
28 Roasted Quince and Root Vegetables
57 Cider-Glazed Apple Cinnamon Scones
66 Jasmine Congee With Leeks, Shiitakes And Crunchy Chile
COVER PHOTOGRAPH
Echinacea growing at Blossom’s Farm by Michelle Magdalena
CONTENTS PHOTOGRAPH
Seasonal seafood at Chez Noir by Emma K. Morris
JACKS
California Cultural Cuisine
Locally sourced ingredients paired with award-winning wine and cocktails
Breakfast: 6:30am to 10:30am
Dinner: 4pm to 10pm
jacksatportola.com
Complimentary Parking
Monterey’s Original Craft Brewery
Serving award-winning craft beer with a pub style menu and sports on 18 HDTV’s
Happy Hour: 4pm to 6pm & 9pm to 10pm
peterbsbrewpub.com
Welcome to the 12th anniversary issue of Edible Monterey Bay! Yes, it was fall 2011 when we published our very first issue. Seems not so long ago, but it has been long enough to watch kids grow up and go off to college, loved ones pass away and babies be born.
I know 12 is not a big round anniversary number, but it made me stop and think about why Edible Monterey Bay has been able to achieve success and longevity when other local publications come and go.
Why has a local food magazine launched in the aftermath of the Great Recession been able to thrive amidst COVID, paper shortages and skyrocketing print costs, not to mention the daily onslaught of Instagram reels and algorithms?
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Deborah Luhrman deborah@ediblemontereybay.com 831.600.8281
FOUNDERS Sarah Wood and Rob Fisher
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Mark C. Anderson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Laurel Miller
COPY EDITOR Doresa Banning
LAYOUT & DESIGN Matthew Freeman and Tina Bossy-Freeman
There are three key reasons.
First, it is due to our loyal readers. People in the Monterey Bay area care deeply about what they eat and where their food comes from. And they have a big appetite for food information. So—in addition to our weekly emails that are packed with timely food news—in print we strive to tell deeper stories about the farmers, food artisans and restaurants that make up the Monterey Bay foodshed in all its splendid abundance and diversity.
Which leads to reason number two, our quality content. Edible Monterey Bay works with highly skilled professional journalists, photographers, editors and graphic designers who have a genuine passion for storytelling. You can see and appreciate their talent in every issue.
There’s nothing I enjoy more than delivering a new edition of EMB and watching people’s eyes light up with excitement. “Finally! A magazine you can actually read,” I’m frequently told.
Of course the third reason is our wonderful advertisers—many of whom have been supporting our work since the beginning. Smart advertisers know that EMB readers spend a long time interacting with every issue (52 minutes on average, according to our research). They trust the ads they see in our magazine much more than a fleeting digital image, and the longer engagement results in better and longer lasting brand awareness.
It’s the perfect trifecta of readers, storytellers and loyal advertisers that create the foundation for Edible Monterey Bay’s success. I’m so grateful to all of you who are part of this values-driven publication. Here’s to the next 12 years!
AD DESIGNERS Bigfish Smallpond Design Coline LeConte • tracysmithstudio
Zephyr Pfotenhauer
CONTRIBUTORS
Julie Bidwell • Jamie Collins • Ellen Farmer
Margaux Gibbons • Diane Gsell • Coline
LeConte • Michelle Magdalena • Kathryn
McKenzie • Emma K. Morris • Laura Ness
Ashley Owen • Geneva Rico • Nadine Schaeffer
Patrick Tregenza • Amber Turpin
Terry Walters • Angela Welch
ADVERTISING SALES ads@ediblemontereybay.com • 831.600.8281
Shelby Lambert shelby@ediblemontereybay.com
Kate Robbins kate@ediblemontereybay.com
Aga Simpson aga@ediblemontereybay.com
Fran Fitzharris fran@fitzharris.com
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER
Mick Freeman • 831.419.2975
CONTACT US:
Edible Monterey Bay P.O. Box 487 Santa Cruz, CA 95061 ediblemontereybay.com 831.600.8281
info@ediblemontereybay.com
Deborah Luhrman Publisher
At Edible Monterey Bay , our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
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 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. Thank you.
The best of fall has arrived at New Leaf, like organic dry farmed tomatoes packed with flavor, locally harvested organic squash and pumpkins and crispy, California grown apples.
10% of profits go back to the community
Coffee is a powerful elixir. It wakes us up and goes with an array of foods. It’s a staple in many cultures, and it has a special way of bringing people together. For best friends Chelsea Cabrera and Tram Vu, coffee’s magical attributes are what sparked the creation of downtown Santa Cruz’s one-year-old Mariposa Coffee Bar.
This region has no shortage of quality beans, thanks to the thirdwave coffee movement of the early aughts that birthed purveyors like Verve, 11th Hour and Cat & Cloud. Still, Mariposa (butterfly in Span-
ish) brings something different, the integration of Cabrera’s Cuban roots and Vu’s Vietnamese heritage, which manifest as a vibrant menu inspired by the coffee and foods both founders grew up with.
“We both grew up with a very dominant matriarch in our families, and we’re trying to create an environment that represents our families’ cultures and foods,” says Vu. “My mom had a coffee shop when I was born, so it’s been cool to see history repeat itself. I used to try and steal her coffee all the time, and my daughter is trying to do that right now.”
Mariposa’s menu balances the traditional with the contemporary. Cuban-inspired beverages include the Cafecito, a double espresso with whipped organic cane sugar, and Cabrera’s new Bella Bon Bon, a cortadito with condensed milk that tastes like an elevated salted caramel macchiato, named after her great grandmother.
Vietnamese-style drinks range from Vu’s signature Mint Drip, coffee steeped with fresh mint leaves for 12 hours, to Cafe Sua Da, a classic iced number made with a drip filter called a phin and served over condensed milk, which can be served tableside. “We set up the entire Vietnamese iced coffee experience, including the filter that sits over the condensed milk,” says Vu. “You let it drip for 10–15 minutes and then pour everything over ice.”
The food also reflects staples found in both founders’ kitchens and combines family and new recipes. Bold flavors and fresh ingredients abound in classic bakery items like Vietnamese pâté chaud, a savory puff stuffed with plant-based beef, onions and garlic, or Cuban guava and cheese pastry, to entrées like Vietnamese spring rolls, vermicelli
noodle bowls and Cubano sandwiches (here made with soy-based “ham,” house-made mustard, Swiss cheese and pickles, and a “midnight” version with roast pork-style jackfruit). Across the menu, one thing is consistent: Everything is vegetarian.
“Cubanos are typically pretty meaty,” says Cabrera. “We don’t skip out on flavor, and we try to make everything taste the way the original would. That provides a much wider window for people to be able to eat our food, whether or not they want to eat animal protein.”
Mariposa opened last fall, but the idea began percolating years earlier. Cabrera grew up in Miami and dreamed of starting a vegan Cuban food truck before pursuing a nursing career that eventually brought her to Santa Cruz. Vu, a native of San Jose, dove into the food industry at age 15. She eventually moved to Santa Cruz and opened The Sandwich Spot in the space that eight years later would become Mariposa.
The two women became friends in 2019, bonding over their love of coffee, food and music. When the pandemic hit, they both faced career
The duo took to the woods to gain clarity, but instead stumbled upon an entirely new path.
A café by day, Mariposa transforms in the evening with DJs, poetry readings and dance parties.
challenges—Cabrera burned out from life as an emergency room and trauma nurse, and Vu was unable to keep the sandwich shop open due to state regulations. The duo took to the woods to gain clarity, but instead stumbled upon an entirely new path.
“Growing up, I drank a lot of Vietnamese coffee, but I always heard that Cuban coffee was the strongest, so when I met Chelsea, I had to try it,” says Vu. “We would go camping and Chelsea would make the coffee, and I would wake up to the smell of espresso in the air. That’s when we realized this was something special and the idea was born. Let’s put two of the strongest coffees together under the same roof.”
In September of 2020, they held their first Cuban coffee pop-up, with Cabrera whipping up drinks on a single espresso machine and the friends using a megaphone to entice passersby. Soon after, everything paused when Cabrera traveled to Miami to be with her grandmother, a significant inspiration for Mariposa, during her final days. After her passing, Cabrera returned to Santa Cruz and doubled-down on the coffee business—and her best friend was ready and waiting.
Cabrera and Vu resumed operations in January 2021, and by early July, they launched a Cuban food menu featuring the pastries and sandwiches that remain fixtures today. The enthusiastic response led the friends to think bigger—a permanent location, an expanded menu that included Vietnamese delicacies and a robust calendar of events. By September 2022, they were on their way to making their dream a reality.
After securing a brick-and-mortar location, Cabrera and Vu got to work. Expanding the menu to include Vu’s Vietnamese creations was easy compared to the exten-
sive remodeling the space needed, most of which they did themselves, learning as they went. “We gave the entire space a facelift, redid the floors, learned how to drywall, painted the walls, did the baseboards, and are renovating the bathroom,” says Vu. In addition to serving their favorite dishes, Cabrera and Vu are also creating a convivial atmosphere. That’s why all of the seating is open, there is no Wi-Fi and a huge redwood community table serves as the café’s centerpiece.
“It’s become such a culture to be productive at a coffee shop, but in Miami and Vietnam, most coffee shops are full of people chatting over their drinks,” says Cabrera. “We have friends who bring projects here, and the next thing you know, the entire redwood table is like an assembly line. And that’s what we want…people creating and collaborating.”
Cabrera and Vu are also infusing this energy into Mariposa’s night life. On First Fridays, the coffee shop features a rotating lineup of DJs, plus a new mocktail menu and food served until 11:30pm. They’re also hosting curated poetry readings, called Glow Mic, so people can speak their truths and tap into radical self-expression.
Whether Cabrera and Vu are hosting dance parties reminiscent of Miami’s nightclubs or serving up some of the strongest coffee in town, what remains true is their commitment to letting their delicious dreams unfold.
“It started with coffee, then we added food and now it’s taken on a whole new life,” says Cabrera. “The butterfly is not a mistake; it’s very intentional. We’re constantly metamorphosing and thinking of ways to make things more comfortable and pleasurable.”
Mariposa Coffee Bar: 1010 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz • mariposacoffeebar.com
Ashley Owen is a writer and recent Massachusetts transplant. Her passion for learning about local food is only overshadowed by her passion for writing about or eating it. Safe to say, she is a lover of food and words, and also driving very fast in the left lane.
A new lending collection at Pacific Grove Library helps home cooks embrace their inner Top Chef
BY KATHRYN MCKENZIE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGAUX GIBBONS
There’s a seemingly endless array of kitchen gadgets and devices in the world these days—simply scrolling through a cookware website is enough to make even the savviest home cook feel both tempted and overwhelmed.
All that excess can be paralyzing, however. Should I spend money on, say, a sous vide cooker or an Instant Pot? But how much should I spend, and what brand do I choose? How do I know if I’ll even like cooking with it?
Happily, a new lending collection at Pacific Grove Public Library might just make these choices a little easier.
Earlier this year, the library introduced a collection of cookware and kitchen tools that can be checked out by cardholders, in what seems a perfect way to try out some more exotic pieces of kitchenware, like an air fryer or the aforementioned sous vide machine.
The collection can also be an avenue to borrow simple things like a roasting pan or cookie cutters, items that perhaps are needed only once or twice a year, says library director Diana Godwin.
Some 40 kitchen tools and kits are available on a rolling metal rack, everything from a 10-piece sushi-making set to a deep blue tajine, an earthenware vessel used to make the savory Moroccan meat and couscous dish of the same name. There’s a dumpling maker, a pasta machine, a rice
cooker and a food mill, just to name a few of the available items, each packaged in a see-through tote that includes instructions, tags like “WASH BEFORE RETURNING,” and a library barcode. The rack is conveniently kept next to a selection of cookbooks, a pairing sure to inspire.
On the top shelf, an array of cake pans can be found, one of which is butterfly shaped—completely apropos for this library in Butterfly Town, U.S.A.—but there are other kid-friendly options too, as well as a Bundt pan and basic round pans suitable for making traditional layer cakes.
Godwin says the idea of the cookware lending collection was sparked when there was a little leftover money in the library’s budget that needed to be used. She and her staff brainstormed on what else the library might want to offer. Unusual lending options are not new to the Pacific Grove Library, which also has a collection of framed art prints and maps available to borrow.
Kitchen tools eventually won out over other lending suggestions, and staffers tested out some of the more unusual cooking items, discarding those that didn’t seem practical. “We did get rid of the things that didn’t clean very easily,” says Godwin.
The kitchen collection has been popular with families, teens and anyone who wants to try something new and different. “It’s ideal if you want to experiment with using an air fryer, but don’t necessarily want to buy one,” says Godwin.
The cooking tools and cookware can be checked out for 14 days at a time, although anything that’s powered by electricity is only available to adults 18 and older, who must sign a waiver to use it. At this point, Godwin says, there’s no plan to add to the collection, but there’s always the possibility of future additions.
This “Library of Things” concept has been kicking around for the past decade, yet it isn’t as prevalent as one might imagine. It’s part of a larger movement of sharing that mingles community with the idea of buying and using fewer items, which is beneficial for the environment. Although intriguing lending collections can be found at several libraries around the Monterey Bay region, the Pacific Grove branch appears to have the only local kitchen tools library; others can be found in Livermore, Sacramento and the Bay Area.
Pacific Grove also shares a catalog with Monterey Public Library, which allows patrons to borrow everything from ukuleles and night-viewing telescopes to state park passes and STEM science kits.
Monterey Public Library launched a seed library in 2014, which offered free vegetable seeds to patrons under the guidance of administrative assistant Francesca Garibaldi. Unfortunately, the project was put on hold during the pandemic due to staffing and funding issues, although Garibaldi says she hopes it will return next year.
In the meantime, cooks of all stripes and experience can have fun playing with the kitchen offerings at Pacific Grove Library, the ever-popular tortilla press and ice cream maker among them.
Pacific Grove Public Library: 550 Central Ave., Pacific Grove pacificgrovelibrary.org
Kathryn McKenzie, who grew up in Santa Cruz and now lives on a Christmas tree farm in north Monterey County, writes about the environment, sustainable living and health for numerous publications and websites. She is the co-author of Humbled: How California’s Monterey Bay Escaped Industrial Ruin
The cooking tools and cookware can be checked out for 14 days at a time.
The prolonged drought was devastating to local bee populations, but what about the cold, wet winter of 2022-23? Local beekeepers have the lowdown on this year’s harvest.
BY LAURA NESS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLINE LECONTE
Inside Jeff Walls’ honey house in Soquel are two dirt bikes. “When Jeff was a kid, he really wanted one, so his dad told him to earn the money by working with the bees. That’s all he’s wanted to do ever since,” says Walls’ wife April.
She hands me a frame from one of their hives and invites me to poke into it to release the pale blonde liquid inside. This particular varietal is sage, the most ethereal and delicate of honeys, akin to what a riesling might be to wine lovers. April then explains the process of extraction, which frankly sounds like way too much work, but given what honeybees must do to create and store honey, it seems a worthy effort.
The recent 10-year drought has been tough on farmers and crops, but dire for bees. Fewer flowers and shorter growing seasons resulted in smaller crop sizes and yields, leaving them weak and thus more susceptible to disease.
Conversely, torrential rains last winter caused massive flooding not just on the Central Coast, but also in the Central Valley where crops like almonds, cantaloupes, cashews, pistachios, cherries, plums and peaches are grown. Hundreds of hives were lost throughout the state. More rain, followed by cold, damp weather, delayed the spring bloom.
“The drought years were hard,” says April, whose father-in-law Greg started the family honey business three decades ago. “The flowers had no nectar and our production was way down. We had to leave a lot of the honey in the hives for our bees to live on.” Each hive houses approximately 60,000 bees, including one queen.
Most of the Walls’ 200-plus hives are kept at Everett Family Farm, also in Soquel, but some are transported to pollinate fruit trees, broccoli and winter squash. Have you ever tasted lima bean honey? It’s redolent of a dark amber maple syrup, with a hint of baking spice. “This year we got a really late start due to the weird weather, but at least we had crops that needed bees,” says April. She’s hopeful for a good yield this year.
Meanwhile in Big Sur, Peter Eichorn of Country Flat Farm in Palo Colorado Canyon has been keeping bees since 1964. He’s mostly retired now with just nine hives, having lost 26 to the drought and mites.
Eichorn’s hives are located at Glen Deven Ranch, which is part of the Big Sur Land Trust. Hives have been kept there since the 1920s, and it’s also the location where author Meredith May’s grandfather, E. Franklin Peace, kept bees in an old Army bus as described in her memoir, The Honey Bus. The book details her 1970s childhood in Carmel Valley following her parents’ divorce.
“I took over the hives from Franklin when he retired,” says Eichorn. “It’s mostly eucalyptus and sage in this
Have you ever tasted lima bean honey? It’s redolent of a dark amber maple syrup, with a hint of baking spice.
area. Sage honey is very dense and slow to crystallize. Bees can get more nectar from it than any other flower species in California.”
Eichorn says the 2023 season got off to a very slow start due to the unseasonably cold weather. “Bees must survive on their stores until mid-April around here. I have a location in mid-Carmel Valley that’s warmer through the winter and has a greater variety of floral sources, but here in the canyon, the eucalyptus trees are way down low by the creek where it’s not warm enough for the bees to fly.”
Last year, Eichorn only harvested 1,100 pounds of honey due to the drought. “Honey is way heavier than water,” he says. He’s hoping to get two harvests this season, but he has a new challenge beyond the weather: a juvenile black bear has discovered how wonderful the honey is, and has yet to get a pot stuck on his head.
Farther south, Big Sur Honey is the passion project of Dylan Horst and Jessie McKnight, who live off the grid in Lucia with their two children. They keep 100 hives in their backyard, an endeavor that began 12 years ago, after Horst watched an apiarist capture a wild swarm. From that moment, he began searching for
his first swarm. All his bees are wild, native species, never purchased. He’s carefully selected queens for vigor and his hives have successfully grown stronger. Although other beekeepers treat their hives to mitigate disease, he has never needed to do so.
“I absolutely fell in love with bees,” he says, although his day job is managing a landowner’s property on the Big Sur coast. To make beekeeping his primary vocation, he’d require at least 200 to 300 hives, a daunting task for just one person.
“This is very wild land,” says Horst. “We are lucky in a way and unlucky in another. The native tree and shrub season here is short, and if we were in an area with more human influence, there would actually be more opportunities for bees.” Humans plant lots of flowers, shrubs and other species as well as food crops, which further extend the nectar season. “Still, here I don’t have to worry about pesticide residues from agriculture,” he adds.
While Big Sur Honey mainly sells its honey in jars, Horst says the best way to enjoy it is from a comb. “I love comb honey, but most people do not understand it,” he says. “My grandfather loves it, and that’s all he will eat. This is la crème de la crème: it melts in your mouth. It is absolutely the highest quality honey of all. Please ask for it!”
This year, Horst had all of his honey collected by mid-July. His harvest last year totaled 2,000 pounds and he was hoping his yield for 2023 would be double that.
His employer gives him two to three months off to harvest and get the hives ready for winter, when the bees hibernate. “For those of us who keep hives in rural, non-agricultural regions, fall is the beginning
Jeff Walls’ Family Honey: Walls’ honey house in Soquel, local markets and Clementine & Co. in Capitola. Contact April Walls by text at 831.588.5016
Country Flat Farm: Earthbound Farm’s Farm Stand, the Phoenix Shop at Nepenthe, Carmel Highlands General Store and countryflatfarm.com.
Big Sur Honey Company: Coast Big Sur Gallery and bigsurhoneycompany.com.
of winter. It’s the brown season already; there’s nothing left flowering here.” Horst’s bees will live off of their honey store, then go dormant until next spring.
And as we head into the fall season, now is the time to stock up on all these wonderful honeys to help sweeten up what will hopefully be another wet winter.
Honey is truly one of nature’s most precious gifts, and we thank beekeepers for the essential work they do in preserving this essential element in the food chain. Bees are to agriculture what canaries are to coal mines.
BY NADINE SCHAEFFER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK TREGENZA AND NADINE SCHAEFFER STYLING BY DIANE GSELL
Golden in color, uniquely fragrant, transcendently delicious when cooked, quince just may be the very best fruit you’ve never had.
A member of the rose family, quince (Cydonia oblonga) is one of the most ancient and venerated of all domesticated fruits. Quince trees are mentioned in historical records from Mesopotamia to Constantinople, dating to the Garden of Eden according to rabbinical texts. The Greeks cultivated quince trees for making preserves. The Romans considered the voluptuous fruit a perfect symbol of love and happiness, and dedicated them to the goddess, Venus.
Italian historians in the Middle Ages described far more varieties of quince than exist today. Their records document using the fruits to perfume linens, and to make a sweet, dense fruit paste that in Spain is known as membrillo. At the turn of the last century, many American and European family farms had a quince tree or two tucked into the corner of the garden.
Quince are beautiful fruits roughly the size of a softball. They glow the color of liquid sunshine when ripe and are prized for their flavor and divine fragrance. A single quince also contains enough pectin to set any batch of preserves, making this pome fruit—cousin of apples and pears—invaluable for use in other fruit jams, jellies and butters. Quince are harvested in the fall and can be stored in a root cellar or refrigerator for many months. In the cold of winter and gray, wet days of early spring, a single quince can add a touch of sweetness and taste of summertime past to any meal.
Despite its allure, quince suffers from just one flaw, which led to its near obsolescence: The tantalizing fruit generally cannot be eaten fresh. I mean, you could, but biting into a freshly picked quince generally leads to regrets. The raw fruit is usually highly astringent and rock hard. Quince must be baked, roasted or transformed into preserves to be appreciated fully; heat is the alchemy that releases their intensely perfumed, sweet and slightly spicy flavor, which has notes of citrus, pineapple and honey.
Though there is little in the way of modern books about quince, the U.S. Library of Congress retains a complete version of the 1896 publication, Quince Culture: An Illustrated Hand-Book for the Propagation and Cultivation of the Quince by William Witler Meech, which remains relevant to home orchardists today.
Quince are extremely easy to grow, fruit quickly and prolifically and can live for up to 100 years. Although they can grow up to 15 feet tall, a quince tree can be pruned to a smaller size for the backyard; I like to keep my trees at about eight feet for ease of harvesting. Quince trees are also exceptionally hardy, with great natural disease resistance and tolerance of a wide range of climate zones, soils and growing conditions. Once established, quince trees are also quite drought resistant and so hardy, they’re used as the rootstock for grafting pear trees, which are more delicate.
On the Central Coast and in the Monterey Bay region, quince trees bloom from late March to early April, and what a show they put on. The trees burst with large, delicate pale pink blossoms, which are followed by fuzzy baby fruit surrounded by woolly leaves. Bees adore the flowers, and I have discovered more than one bird’s nest tucked under the sizeable leaves. The fruit are harvested in September and October, with mature trees producing a generous 100 pounds or more of fruit. The astringency
of the raw fruit also repels birds and squirrels, and most insect pests.
If you’d like to plant a quince tree in your yard, now is the time to order a tree to plant, bare root, this winter. Though there are dozens of quince varieties available to order, two deserve special mention and recommendation. The aromatnaya quince is an extremely fragrant variety from the Black Sea region of Russia and Turkey. This cultivar is tough, sturdy and produces fruit quickly after just a few years in the ground. Though I have read it can be eaten fresh, I haven’t found that to be the case and still prefer its flesh well cooked. I also recommend the Van Deman quince, which was bred by renowned American botanist Luther Burbank in the late 1800s. Supposedly, he grew out and tested 50,000 quince seedlings to select and develop this variety. This tree produces exceptionally large, golden fruit and is hardy enough to thrive in a wide range of growing conditions.
When purchasing quince trees, be sure to buy a fruiting variety and not an ornamental, as several landscaping hybrids have been bred for their stunning flowers and graceful shape, but don’t produce impressive fruit. Quince are also self-fertile, so you won’t require a second variety in your yard to produce fruit.
To plant bare root trees, find a location that gets at least six hours of sun a day, preferably more. Dig a hole twice as big as the root ball, place the new tree in it and gently backfill the remaining space with soil. Water the tree immediately after planting and apply a six-inch layer of mulch around the base, but don’t let it touch the actual trunk, as it can lead to rot or harbor insects.
If you want to constrain the height of your quince tree, cut the trunk down to two to three feet in height, which will encourage the lower branches to sprout. In early spring, apply an organic granular tree fertilizer, available at most nurseries or garden centers. Water your planting weekly if there is no rain, and for the first two years of growth, remove any flowers or fruit that form to focus the tree’s energy on building strong roots and scaffolding. By year three or four, you should be able to harvest your first fruits. They are ready to pick when they are completely gold and can be removed with an easy twist or tug.
If you don’t have a quince tree of your own, our regional farmers markets will generally have them available in fall.
Nadine Schaeffer is a farmer, artist, grower of odd fruits, lover of all roses, lapsed linguist, embarrassed epicurean and inadvertent menagerie keeper living on California’s Central Coast. Birdsong Orchards is her farm in the Pajaro Valley, where she grows over 200 varieties of fruit trees and 1,000-plus roses.
They glow the color of liquid sunshine when ripe and are prized for their flavor and divine fragrance.
Cooking with quince is a joy since they can be used in both sweet and savory dishes and are well-suited for baking, poaching and roasting. They can also be turned into jam, jelly, quince “butter” and membrillo, a famed Spanish quince paste traditionally eaten with Manchego cheese. The following recipes are two of my favorite ways to serve quince.
Courtesy Nadine Schaeffer
Membrillo keeps for over a month refrigerated, pairs well with any cheese and is a wonderful accompaniment to cured meats. Although most recipes usually call for just quince, sugar and lemon juice, I like to add a blend of spices to augment the flavor. You may be tempted to reduce the considerable amount of sugar in the recipe, which will yield a membrillo with a softer texture that, while not sliceable, is still quite tasty.
3 pounds quince, peeled, quartered and cut into large chunks
2 pounds white granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup water
Coconut oil, for greasing baking dish
Wash, peel, core and roughly chop 1 quince into 1-inch pieces. Note that they will immediately start turning brown, but it won’t impact the flavor of the membrillo.
Place all of the ingredients in a medium pot over medium heat. Stir to combine them, and continue stirring regularly for at least an hour. The sugar will dissolve, and the mixture will begin to bubble and change from yellow to pink to a deep ruby red or magenta color.
The mixture is finished cooking when an inserted candy thermometer reads 220° F and the membrillo passes the plate test. To do this, put a plate in the freezer to chill it. Spoon a little of the liquid onto the cold plate and wait 2 minutes. Push the liquid with your finger and if it wrinkles, it’s ready. Otherwise, continue to simmer the mixture and re-test it every 10–15 minutes until it achieves the proper consistency.
Once cooked, blend the mixture into a smooth paste with an immersion or standard blender.
Grease an 8x8-inch glass baking dish with coconut oil. Pour the hot, blended mixture into the baking dish and smooth the top with a spatula. Let the paste cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24–48 hours until firm.
If your membrillo is not firm enough, you can put it in a dehydrator or oven at 125° F for 8 hours to improve the texture. Makes 2 bars.
San
Courtesy Nadine Schaeffer
You can substitute any root vegetables for this recipe
but in total, you should include roughly 3 pounds of produce. This roasted assemblage of earthy and fruity flavors makes for a wonderful autumnal side dish that pairs well with roasted pork or chicken. Be sure to scrub, trim and dry the root vegetables before chopping.
2 quince
1–2 beets
1 sweet potato
1 potato
1 parsnip
1–2 carrots
1–2 turnips
¼–½ cup olive oil
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 425° F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Peel the produce and then chop all fruits and veggies into roughly 1-inch chunks. Mix and place chopped items on the baking sheets in a single layer, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast for 30 minutes, add rosemary and stir, and roast for 15 minutes more or until edges are golden and crispy. Serves 8.
You can find quince trees at Trees of Antiquity (treesofantiquity.com), Raintree Nursery (raintreenursery.com) and One Green World (onegreenworld.com).
Monday Pacific Grove Certified Farmers Market
3–7pm • Year-round Central and Grand avenues 831.384.6961 everyonesharvest.org
Tuesday Carmel Barnyard
Certified Farmers Market
9am–1pm • May through September
3690 The Barnyard 831.728.5060 • montereybayfarmers.org
Alisal Certified Farmers Market
11am–4pm • June to October 632 E. Alisal St., Salinas 831.384.6961 • everyonesharvest.org
Old Monterey Marketplace & Farmers Market
4–7pm • Year-round Alvarado Street • 831.655.2607 oldmonterey.org
Wednesday Natividad Certified Farmers Market
11am–3:30pm • May to October 1441 Constitution Blvd., Salinas 831.384.6961 everyonesharvest.org
Hollister Certified Farmers Market 3–7pm • April 19 to October 11 San Benito Street, Hollister 831.636.8406 downtownhollister.org
Thursday
Carmel–by-the-Sea Farmers Market
10am–2pm • Year-round 6th and Mission streets 831.402.3870 • goodrootsevents.com
Seaside Certified Farmers Market
3–7pm • Year-round
Laguna Grande Regional Park
1259 Canyon del Rey Blvd. 831.384.6961 • everyonesharvest.org
Soledad Certified Farmers Market
4–8pm • April to October 137 Soledad St. • 831.678.3504
Friday
Monterey Certified Farmers Market
8am–noon • Year-round
1410 Del Monte Center 831.728.5060 • montereybayfarmers.org
Salinas Valley Memorial
Certified Farmers Market
12:30-5:30pm • May to November
450 E. Romie Lane • 831.384.6961 everyonesharvest.org
Saturday
Old Town Salinas
Farmers Market
9am–2pm • Year-round
300 block Main Street 650.815.8760 wcfma.org/salinas
The Power Plant Certified Farmers Market 9am–2pm • Year-round 7990 Highway 1, Moss Landing 831.453.0022 • thepowerplant.store/farmers-market
Sunday
Carmel Valley Certified Farmers Market
10am–2pm • Year-round Mid-Valley Shopping Center 550 Carmel Valley Road 650.290.3549 • wcfma.org
Marina Certified Farmers Market 10am–2pm • Year-round 215 Reservation Road • 831.384.6961 everyonesharvest.org
Del Monte Certified Farmers Market
8am–noon • June 4 through September 1410 Del Monte Center 831.728.5060 • montereybayfarmers.org
How does it all zip by so fast? It still feels like we were just coming out of that crazy winter, and now all of a sudden it is fall again. The calendar keeps turning, the seasons keep shifting and we continue to mark our time by what’s at the market, on our tables and in our bellies. Perhaps it is lucky for us this year, with such a late onset of summer, that we can linger a bit with those deep season goodies.
Tuesday
Felton Farmers Market
1–6pm • May through October 120 Russell Ave. • 831.454.0566 santacruzfarmersmarket.org
El Mercado Farmers Market
2–6PM • April through October
Ramsey Park, Watsonville 831.726.4257 • pvhealthtrust.org
Wednesday
Downtown Santa Cruz
Farmers Market
1–6pm • Year-round
Lincoln and Cedar • 831.454.0566 santacruzfarmersmarket.org
Thursday
Center for Agroecology’s Farmstand
12:30-6pm • July 6 through October 5
Cowell Ranch Hay Barn at UCSC 831.459.3240 • agroecology.ucsc.edu
Melons and eggplant and peppers and, of course, tomatoes, can easily segue into our fall menus. And maybe even make it to our (decolonized) Thanksgiving platters? Bioneers suggest featuring locally sourced ingredients as one way to re-center the holiday away from its oppressive beginnings. A great place to start is at our local farmers markets. —Amber Turpin
Friday
Watsonville Certified Farmers Market 2–7pm • Year-round
Watsonville City Plaza, Peck & Main streets 831.588.7366
facebook.com/watsonvillefarmersmarket
Saturday
Aptos Certified Farmers Market 8am–Noon • Year-round 6500 Soquel Drive • 831.728.5060 montereybayfarmers.org
Westside Santa Cruz Market 9am–1pm • Year-round 2801 Mission St. • 831.454.0566 santacruzfarmersmarket.org
Scotts Valley Farmers Market 9am–1pm • May to November 5060 Scotts Valley Drive, Boys & Girls Club Parking Lot • 831.454.0566
santacruzfarmersmarket.org
Sunday
Live Oak/Eastside Farmers Market 9am–1pm • Year-round 21511 E. Cliff Drive • 831.454.0566
santacruzfarmersmarket.org
Capitola Certified Farmers Market 11am–4pm • Year-round 1855 41st Ave. • 650.290.3549 wcfma.org
Corralitos Farm & Garden Market 11am–3pm • Year-round 127 Hames Road • 831.724.1332
wayne@catalyst2001.com
Corralitos
BY MARK C. ANDERSON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHELLE MAGDALENA
Michelin’s anonymous inspector shared this take with Edible: “Chefs Jonny and Monique Black have extensive experience working in the restaurant industry, notably at fine dining establishments such as Per Se, Atelier Crenn and Quince. This makes Chez Noir's seemingly quick ascension less surprising. They know their stuff.”
This summer’s Michelin star recognition for Chez Noir in Carmel, granted within 10 months of its opening in October 2022, might seem sudden.
It’s not.
And that isn’t the afterglow from a Noir dinner talking. Full disclosure, however: Between the house-curated caviar, the luminous windowpane oyster shell ceiling in the bar and the sparkling cava from the Costa Brava, the glow is real.
A hint at the longer story surfaces after the Michelin ceremony.
Chef/co-owner Jonny Black is moving from an interview at the tufted linen corner booth to coaching a new cook in the kitchen to a 10-inch stack of invoices that piled up as the Michelin star upped hype, reservation requests and abalone orders.
He pauses and looks around the space.
“A lot had to happen,” he says. “For this to happen.”
A teenager without a tribe stands at a professional demonstration kitchen on the floor of a convention center the size of 11 football fields. He’s prepared to debone a chicken and roast it while completing several sides and a dessert, from scratch.
Judges follow his every move—for eight hours—sometimes poking around his mise-en-place, wondering: How are his knife grips? How’s he handling raw chicken? Does he discard the apple core or use it for a glaze?
The national competition, now known as the SkillsUSA National Culinary Arts Competition, pits dozens of state qualifiers against each other.
The self-described loner from Virginia came to win. And Jonny Black had to win, if he wanted to finance his dream. Top finishers earn a scholarship to attend the Culinary Institute of America.
Pro chef Renny Parziale looked on. Black was ready for this, Parziale knew, because they’d been preparing for months. Still, Parziale walked away, unable to stomach the anxiety.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Parziale remembers. “I couldn’t take it.”
He had clues the kid could.
“From the beginning, it was obvious that cooking was what he was going to do,” Parziale says. “That’s what drew chefs to go out of their way to help him.”
Parziale and Black met at a gathering of the Virginia Chefs Association, a chapter of the American Culinary Federation. Black, then 16, showed up of his own accord, knowing two things: 1) His family couldn’t afford to send him to CIA, where his favorite mentors went; 2) High school wasn’t his jam, but cooking was.
Doing the dishes at Chick-fil-A, slinging sandwiches at Subway, line cooking at The CrabCake House in Poquoson—and working in another half-dozen restaurants around Williamsburg, Va.—he took to kitchens like butter to brioche.
“I don’t know why,” he says. “I just felt more like I belonged.”
Parziale, a former culinary school instructor, knew a few things himself—ways for a student-cook to earn financial support, and how to cater a mean meal, to start.
He put Black to work in his garage, which had been converted into a commercial kitchen for Parziale’s Virginia Culinary Company.
They made oils, dressings and mustards; consulted on food styling, menu development and restaurant planning; hawked kitchen gear at food shows; and catered constantly.
“We did a lot,” Parziale says.
Instead of workshopping things the efficient way, they turned tedious and tactical.
No food processors on the potatoes, zucchini and carrots. Black cleaned and tournée-cut them all himself.
No buying bones for stock. Black broke down every chicken they needed—and roasted chicken for Parziale and his young family three times a week.
“Wax on, wax off,” Parziale says. “He really excelled, and he washed a lot of dishes.”
Cue the movie montage: Black assembling crudité platter after crudité platter. Black winning his region. Black pulling chicken after chicken after chicken out of the oven. Black on stage winning state. Black hustling to load the truck for the next food event. Black in Kansas City, getting his gold medal.
With the Kansas City championship, Black won himself an education in the distinguished kitchens of CIA in Hyde Park, N.Y.
“I really loved the intensity of the competition,” Black says. “That’s probably why I love intense kitchens, and why ours is more intense than others. We’re very passionate about what we do.”
The water inside the restaurant reaches waist height..
Almost nothing—besides the custom island stove, weighing several tons—is where it was the previous day, whole appliances having drifted off.
Then a pig head floats by.
Monique Bourgea and Jonny Black, along with co-workers, stare at what’s become of the restaurant they believe in deeply.
They both work the kitchen at Governor, a new restaurant in the trendy Brooklyn waterfront district Dumbo. They have known each
“Thank you to all the farmers and fishermen who collaborate with us to bring a cuisine authentic to our region,” Chez Noir posted to Instagram in July. “We are just getting started here in Carmel.”
other for two years, but just started dating, and were miles—and years—from honeymooning in Carmel.
They met across town on the line at Colonie, a Brooklyn Heights spot known for its farm-forward menu and cocktails.
Bourgea got to Colonie first. At the time she was a line cook with a resume that included nannying, marketing internships, small scale catering and running a tiny Slavic restaurant where she was do-it-all hostess/ cook/server/dishwasher/rat controller.
Her big sister, Nicole Bourgea Gleason, remembers a resolute young woman, “There’s no telling her, ‘No,’ and she’s probably right.
“Mo working six jobs at once was not surprising,” Gleason says. “She is scrappy. As a kid she was always the one with the milkshake mustache and mischief in her eye.”
Meanwhile an important realization was happening: “Whenever I worked in kitchens,” Monique says, “I liked that best.”
Black arrived at Colonie not long after, a pedigreed toque from Thomas Keller’s Per Se. They both left Colonie, where Per Se alum Brad McDonald served as chef de cuisine, to help him start his first restaurant. They were all in, full send.
“I was learning so much from Brad and Jonny,” she says. “There was a level of intensity, and we were all putting our whole selves into it.”
The flood came the month after The New York Times published a review that had them vibrating with possibility.
“Governor is a serious restaurant,” it read in part, “where fresh, approachable flavors are put through some contemporary flips and twists.”
Then Hurricane Sandy surged into the Atlantic Northeast, killing 44, wreaking $70 billion plus in damages (mostly by flood) and filling Monique’s basement apartment to the ceiling.
“It brings back memories I’ve long blocked,” McDonald says. “When I left one night, I was thinking, ‘This will suck, but we have insurance.’ The next day…I knew it was done.”
A decade later, there are reasons the Blacks ended up in Carmel. Sandy ranks up there.
“It was a sign,” Jonny says.
It’s so early many awake are still creaky or cranky, making final arrangements with their stalls for Saturday morning at Ferry Building Marketplace.
Chez Panisse alum Michael Tusk and Jonny Black pull up to their favorite farmers market in the city before it opens.
“Michael always wanted to be the first one at the market,” Jonny says. “He drove it into me: Have a menu that’s very much of the moment.”
Anyone worth their sea salt in California cooks seasonally, he adds. It’s another thing to be this obsessed, talking to producers, keeping a diary about annual availability, bugging growers for harvest times and buying out a farmer’s entire supply of spring asparagus or piquillo peppers.
“Stuff like that, I love it,” Jonny says. “I don’t R-and-D dishes for weeks. I like spontaneous—go to market, get the stuff, get it on the menu immediately. It’s the funnest way to cook.”
It was two months after Hurricane Sandy when Jonny headed west—asking Monique to join—for a talk and tasting with Michael and his wife Lindsay. The Tusks run Quince, a Michelin three-star, and its casual neighbor Cotogna.
The couples harmonized on many notes, team building and service among them. But nothing like that hunger for ingredients.
“Going to the market always renewed me,” Jonny says. “But Michael really turned that up.”
Jonathan Rodriguez, now executive chef of Salt Wood in Marina—who worked the line with the Blacks at Colonie, Governor and several stops thereafter, including Quince—sees that at the Friday Del Monte Farmers Market.
“Jonny must have the strongest arms at the market,” Rodriguez says with a laugh. “He fills his truck with six times the crates other chefs do.”
That echoes Monique’s discovery when she started cooking—“I just loved getting the best the market has and figuring out what to do in the kitchen”—so it’s ironic Quince would pause her line cook career.
She asked to work front of house, and to start at the bottom.
“I had been thinking about switching to the front,” she says, hinting at a master plan already incubating. “I wanted to learn.”
She began as a barista, then became a food runner and was captaining table service within six months.
“I like food a lot,” she says. “But I really love people.”
The Blacks’ culinary influences run deep, adorned with Michelin stars and name-check chefs.
They include—in part—Roland Passot of La Folie; Neil Ferguson of Allen & Delancey; Paul Liebrandt at Corton; and Per Se’s David Breeden, who now runs the day-to-day at French Laundry.
And that doesn’t dip into Jonny’s apprenticeship run through London and Copenhagen.
Post Quince, he leveled up his fine French and seafood-forward game with wisdom from Dominique Crenn. At three-star Atelier Crenn, he served as her first executive chef, while overseeing Petit Crenn and Bar Crenn and visiting France with Crenn, at one point cooking at Élysée Palace for the president of France.
Another thing about Quince: It’s in the Relais & Châteaux family of restaurants. That meant a hefty discount at L’Auberge for the Blacks’ first visit to Carmel together, where they’d later honeymoon, and decide they’d like to end up.
That move was realized when the couple left San Francisco for Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn, two young kids in tow.
Carmel, California • May 1, 2023
It’s a May Monday before 5:30pm and Chez Noir is sizzling.
Pintxos, inspired by the Blacks’ travels through Spain—think fried baby fava beans and grilled oysters with passionfruit and espelette—fly from the open kitchen.
Bigger plates from the seafood-centric menu—like the Dungeness crab tortelloni and Santa Cruz chili pepper rockfish with piperade, charred by the imported Mibrasa grill they vetted in Girona, Spain— grace the room with foodie perfume.
Rotating seasonal drinks like a snap-pea Rickey and a spring onion martini emerge from the bejeweled bar area where Ashley Havens plies
fresh simplicity to create tastes that stand alone or flatter the food.
Guests feeling festive order Chez Noir’s caviar service, which typifies Jonny’s ingredient infatuation. He handpicks his preferred white sturgeon at California Caviar in Sausalito, then the eggs are smoked and seasoned with Big Sur Salt, to house specs.
Sustainability pioneer Deborah Keane, founder and CEO of California Caviar, observes a certain drive.
“He’s very hands on. He needs to know the source, touch the product, feel it, smell it, taste it,” she says. “He also has a side that’s very collaborative.”
Our two-top gets order envy watching neighboring dishes land, but the “Let Us Cook for You” prix-fixe dinner ($175 per person) means we’ll be just fine.
One of the first salvos makes the night, by itself. The abalone skewers, grilled over coals on a bay laurel stick, laced with Meyer lemon and an abalone liver sauce that caramelizes as it cooks, merit a meditation.
Like the abalone, the signature brioche (a must-order), the squid gildas with anchovy, the whole grilled mackerel with rhubarb and the fudge-like dates with Garden Variety sheep-milk sorbet all summon happy gasps, each dish born of few ingredients and precise handling.
I find myself taking smaller and smaller bites (and sips) of everything, trying to stretch out the experience.
Meanwhile, much else seizes the senses.
The design: antique brass lighting and vintage mirrors with fluted glass in the dining room, jade green tiled backsplash and washed white oak in the bar.
The music: A house playlist, eight hours long and crafted over months by Black as he readied for Noir’s opening, slides from French electronic pop jam “La Femme à la Peau Bleue” to Marvin Gaye’s “Make Me Wanna Holler” to Will Holland’s “Cumbia Sobre el Mar.”
Then there’s the art. Monique later points out the commissioned pieces by her sister.
The torn paper series, which moves from the dining room to the bar, unlocks scenes of the Black family looking over surging surf. “Telling a story about being brave and diving in,” Monique says.
Later her sister relays the way Monique puts it: “It’s like, ‘Oh, my god, I’m up here riding an elephant, this is crazy.’ Then it’s, ‘Oh, my god, I’m riding an elephant! This is awesome.’”
If the art, sound and design elements didn’t dovetail so well, they’d be distracting. Still, something more abstract underlies it all—something you know when you see it, or more accurately, feel it.
It’s the stoke of the team. Committed, but not too turned up. On it, present and eager. At the top of my menu, I scribble a word: joy.
The fact that Monique and Jonny took a ton of time and thought to consider details big and small did not happen by accident.
It happened by catastrophe. Namely, COVID-19.
An awakening came first. Masterminding the food for Post Ranch Inn, a top resort in the world, can sound like a dream gig.
Only Jonny was used to small-batch operations. So he jumped to private cheffing.
Monique translates. “He was managing an aircraft carrier—which is cool—but he’s supposed to be captaining a catamaran, making changes to implement right away.”
Global shutdown was next, a surprise blessing that led the Blacks further into family days trekking forest and beach, and Jonny closer to his farmers market fever dream: shop, create, cook, repeat.
Like it did for many, COVID made them re-evaluate priorities—and provided time to deep scheme the next chapter.
Around then they met Anthony and Alissa Carnazzo from Stationaery, fellow parents of pre-schoolers, who became fast friends and role models for an existence wherein crazy restaurant demands and kids can co-exist. (At the time the Carnazzos lived above their spot off San Carlos with two kids; they now live two blocks away with three.)
“The public has a conception of people at this level of restaurant— nose in the air, not approachable—because they can provide a worldclass experience,” Anthony says. “But they’re the same people they’ve always been. People are eager to be around them.”
The stars are out, projected on the soaring dome of the Chabot Space & Science Center’s planetarium, carved into the cookies, branded on the stainless steel Yeti wine goblets.
A few hundred seasoned industry pros funnel into the steep auditorium for Michelin’s 2023 California reveal. Monique and Jonny join the queue.
“We’re just happy to be invited,” he says, perhaps relieved he doesn’t have to cook in front of judges for eight hours. “More than anything it’s great to see so many friends.”
That tracks: At the red-roped entry earlier, they can’t take a few steps without stopping to catch up with industry peers. Between the Michelin Man running around, historic satellite exhibits and Wagyu mousse with crispy seaweed from Michelin Guide-recognized Gozu, it’s a scene.
But the Blacks would rather be at a different party, and FaceTime into that one the first chance they get.
That celebration unfolds further south, at Chez Noir. There, General Manager and Wine Director Nate Cohen pours from his small and mighty list of natural and family-owned wines that echo the SpanishFrench-West Coast character of the menu and setting.
As Cohen navigates the room’s 30 guests—“I love being on the floor, this room is so conducive to a good time, the energy so palpable,” he says—he tracks the Michelin reveal as best he can.
When John Haffey of Aubergine wins Michelin’s 2023 California Sommelier Award (see story, p. 46), Cohen texts congrats. (Aubergine would also retain its Michelin star for the fifth consecutive year.)
Then the six new restaurant recipients of Michelin stars are announced, Chez Noir among them. Cohen’s phone explodes, and he updates a Chez Noir regular seated at the corner booth for her birthday—as he promised—and she screams.
The news ripples through the close quarters, guests start buying staff drinks and up go glasses of Jacques Lassaigne Champagne that Cohen hand-picked for the “Let Us Pour For You” pairings ($95).
The feel of a dinner party at a pal’s house—a goal Monique broadcasts, reminding people they live upstairs—is full-bodied.
“Authentic connection is important to us,” she says. “It makes life good.”
On the second floor of the Craftsman structure, the Black kids sleep, under the watchful eye of their live-in au pair. Perhaps they’re dreaming of the next “family dinner” downstairs with the Chez Noir team, or of foraging with their folks, or traversing the Carmel Farmers Market two days later with Dad.
“Jonny and I joke we don’t have anything to offer our kids other than this,” Monique says. “This is what we do. We’re restaurant true believers. We want to share what brings people the most joy. That’s why you open a restaurant.”
• Hand crafted from fresh ingredients
• Quickly transform everyday cuisine into a culinary masterpiece
• Six delicious flavors to choose from
• Try them all!
Available at Star, Deluxe, Brunos, Grove, Jerome’s and Seascape Markets
montereyfarms.net
This summer’s Michelin honor for John Haffey of Aubergine might seem sudden.
It is.
He started enjoying wine seven years ago. He’s been in the industry for six. Up until 2017, he was a sales exec at Pet Food Express.
So it’s a stunning accomplishment that he became a sommelier in one of the world’s richest wine regions, at quite possibly the Monterey Bay’s best restaurant, let alone the sole wine pro among thousands to earn Michelin’s recognition as its 2023 California Sommelier.
That speaks to a few truths.
Truth one: Haffey has the taste bud version of a photographic memory.
“For some reason the way my mind works, I can store away the information,” he says. “Once I see the label and taste the wine, I can sort of create a file for it in my mind.”
His hard drive was booted up in 2017 by a five-hour lunch with family friends in the wine industry wherein a vintage Mondavi was paired with rosemary roast lamb. The synergy of vino, food, history and conversation swallowed him whole.
“This was everything I love in life encapsulated in this one thing,” he says. “That lit the fuse.”
When he saw an opening for a wine educator at Folktale Winery & Vineyards, where he was a regular, he left Pet Food Express at a trot.
David Baird, head winemaker at Folktale, recognized Haffey’s interest and started him tasting far-ranging clones and products of barrel programs.
“Let’s be clear: [Haffey] is a brilliant dude, and he has an amazing palate,” Baird says. “He was looking for his passion, and he found it. I started sharing, and he ran with it. Fast.”
Other insights emerged from blind tastings hosted by Windy Oaks wine educator Kerry Winslow.
“The first get-togethers, he was a little confused and shy, but I could tell this guy was ready to do it,” Winslow says. “He has this passion, discipline and unbelievable amount of humility, which you don’t often see in this business. He came up, in really fast time. He’s like a meteor.”
Less than a year in at Folktale, Haffey spied an Instagram post from Aubergine executive chef Justin Cogley seeking a team member. Haffey had dined there and marveled at the service.
“You don’t even notice your water has been refilled,” he says— telling his wife Montana, “My dream is to work here.”
Truth two: Haffey knew how much he had to learn, so he hustled hard as a dining room attendant, as barkeep and as substitute sommelier, tasting every bottle he could while quizzing his wine director about its backstory.
“The learning curve was intense,” he says.
Truth three: The industry and a new generation of wine professionals see a fresh era taking shape.
“Somms go against an assumption we’ll act high and mighty,” he says. “We cultivate a reality that we’re approachable and generous with information and that, at the core of what we do, is trying to make diners’ experience better, and maybe that’s just keeping your water full.”
Truth four: A little modesty goes a long way.
“At the end of the day they’re not here for me,” he says. “They’re coming to see what our chefs are doing and what ingredients they’re procuring.”
He holds the fact visitors are willing to drop $250 on his selections as a sacred challenge.
“We all work hard for our money and want it to go as far as we can,” he said after receiving the Michelin star. “We want to make sure people enjoy what they’re spending their money on.”
Alexis Carr, co-owner/operator of Santa Cruz wine bar Soif, believes Haffey’s thoughtfulness helps set him apart.
“He is constantly asking questions about the winemaking techniques involved,” she says. “I am in awe of how much knowledge he can retain about different vintages and producers. I could go on and on.”
That’s what Winslow thinks Haffey will do.
“He brings a rare level of energy and discipline,” Winslow says. “That won’t stop any time soon.” — Mark C. Anderson
Throughout his Austrian childhood, Daniel Laggner spent weeks at a time on his grandparents’ farm in the southern province of Carinthia. While his grandmother baked bread and churned butter from their cows, Laggner’s opa grew wheat and hunted.
“My twin brother Jakob and I never consciously thought anything about the fact there would be a whole deer hanging in the cellar,” says Laggner. “It was perfectly normal to us, and aside from a few staples, everything was made from what was hunted or from the farm.”
Although Laggner and his immediate family immigrated to the United States when the boys were 16, those early experiences with alpine agriculture and subsistence hunting planted a seed for the teen that decades later would manifest as Wildstag Provisions.
An avid “ethical” hunter and fisherman (see sidebar page 50) and an academically trained conservationist, Laggner launched his Santa Cruz-based company in 2021. He sells high-quality, free-range game sausages (think elk with jalapeño and Cheddar, venison-blueberry, rabbit with white wine, wild boar-cranberry, smoked bison), bone broth and more sourced from sustainable ranches and farms.
Laggner describes his products, which are sold
online and at the Westside farmers market in Santa Cruz, as “wild meat” because they’re not from domesticated species and the government has no regulation on the terminology used to describe and differentiate wild game species from farmed or feral animals. It’s also prohibited to sell hunted game, says Laggner.
The creation of the Lacey Act in 1900 made the sale of hunted meat for monetary gain illegal to protect wildlife populations from market hunting and to ensure the meat is inspected by the USDA prior to being sold. The ranches from which Wildstag procures its meat allow the animals to roam on thousands of acres of pasture, where their lives are spent engaging in natural behaviors.
While Laggner’s upbringing fostered his love of the outdoors and terrestrial wildlife, he initially wanted a career with marine mammals. “Since I was young, I wanted to work with whales and dolphins, but once I was actually employed in that field, I realized it wasn’t for me,” he says.
Laggner moved to Pacifica in 2008 to complete his master’s degree in environmental studies and work on his thesis on blue whale research. He was living with Jakob, and the brothers frequently visited Santa Cruz to surf. When Jakob moved to Scotts Valley in 2009, Laggner found himself crashing at his brother’s place whenever possible and relocated to Santa Cruz soon after.
It was during this time that Laggner began to realize that his chosen career wasn’t a good fit. Eventually, he came to the realization that his dream job encompassed two of his other passions: butchering and cooking wild game.
“I’ve always loved being in the kitchen and once I started hunting in my early 20s, it unlocked a new challenge for me, which was turning a whole animal into delicious table fare,” he says. “Creating a business by expanding my culinary skills from serving friends and family to my community really resonated with me.”
Wildstag is also a platform on which Laggner can educate the public about the conservation aspects of hunting native wildlife populations. “The money generated by hunting license sales, as well as federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition and angling equipment contributes to as much as 80% of the funding for state wildlife agencies,” says Laggner, adding that the money is then used to survey animal populations and habitat to ensure they’re healthy and sustainable. A decline in hunting would restrict funding, thereby leaving wildlife agencies inadequately staffed and unable to protect critical habitat.
Laggner primarily hunts deer in the mountains of California, which also fulfills his love of remote, rugged wilderness. To be a mindful, ethical hunter, “it’s absolutely critical to be educated on the regulations and wilderness savvy, as well as an expert marksman,” he says. “Beyond that, every hunter should understand the basic biology, ecology and seasonal variations of the species they’re targeting.”
Hunters must also factor in equipment, hunting strategy, time management and navigation skills, and have the knowledge and ability to field dress the animal, pack it out, prevent spoilage and utilize it in a manner that limits waste. “It’s a mountain-to-plate approach,” says Laggner, who follows the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. It operates on seven interdependent principles, which state:
• Wildlife resources are conserved and held in trust for all citizens.
• Commerce in dead wildlife is eliminated.
• Wildlife is allocated according to democratic rule of law.
• Wildlife may only be killed for a legitimate, non-frivolous purpose.
• Wildlife is an international resource.
• Ever y person has an equal opportunity under the law to participate in hunting and fishing.
• Scientific management is the proper means for wildlife conservation.
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Of the potentially controversial nature of his business, Laggner says, “I had no reservations about the concept because the foundation and philosophy are something I wholeheartedly believe in. If someone wants to argue with me, I’m happy to talk to them.”
Indeed, Wildstag’s farmers market booth usually has a small crowd eager to learn more about Laggner’s products and meat sourcing, which he views as a more sustainable, animal welfare-focused alternative to commercially raised livestock. “By far the most important thing to me in sourcing meat, be it hunted or farmed, is the quality of the animal’s life,” he says. “It’s the main
As with domestic livestock, game species have diversified feeding patterns. Elk and bison are grazers and require significant pasture on which to roam, while deer are browsers that need a variety of vegetation. “If the habitat, acreage and food sources aren’t present for these species, they don’t have the ecosystem they’re genetically adapted to,” says Laggner. “And, unlike cattle, sheep or pigs, game species eat and then move on, which keeps the ground vegetation intact, allowing for proper regrowth and soil health.”
Wildstag’s bison, elk and venison come from
Wyoming’s 55,000-acre Durham Ranch, a family-owned operation that also provides Laggner with domestic meat rabbits. Prior to slaughter, the animals are placed in a holding corral so that a USDA inspector can oversee the process, which is done in a certified processing facility on-site.
The wild boar—technically, feral hogs—come from Texas, because that state has a trapping program that allows the animals to be sold on the open market, with USDA inspection before and after slaughter. These invasive opportunistic omnivores are now found in 40 states and cause billions of dollars annually in damages to wetlands, waterways and agricultural, forestry and public park lands. They also consume the eggs and young of birds, wildlife and domestic livestock. Fortunately, feral hog meat is also tasty and low in fat, making it a desirable product.
Laggner learned to field dress (removing the internal organs to cool the carcass and help preserve it until it can be refrigerated) and butcher wild game due in part to a former job in a veterinary tissue lab which required expertise in animal anatomy and dissection for scientific research. He orders primal cuts of meat from his purveyors and breaks them down in a commercial kitchen in Scotts Valley for use in his various products.
Because game meat is extremely lean, proper technique is required to avoid overcooking, but foods like sausages and Wildstag’s venison heart and liver Primal Meatballs, required exhaustive research and
While it is unlawful to sell hunted game, Laggner has developed sources for free range game meat that comes from enormous ranches in Wyoming and Texas.
development. To compensate for the low-fat ratio in the meat, Laggner supplements the sausages with lard from Pajaro Pastures hogs, while the meatballs are made more succulent by the addition of chicken liver. One of Wildstag’s best-selling products is a lemongrass-ginger bison bone broth, but there are also packaged cuts of meat like venison medallion, wild boar shanks and elk loin roasts.
For Wildstag’s applewood cold-smoked salmon, Laggner says the search for a sustainable wild source eventually led him to the realization that salmon populations worldwide are in decline. Because our local fishery was closed for the 2023 season, he sought a farmed alternative that met his criteria, which led him to New Zealand King Salmon, an aquaculture farm on the South Island. “I prioritize animal welfare and environmental stewardship over geographic distance, and no other country that I’m aware of has a salmon farm of this quality,” he says.
This type of due diligence is what makes Wildstag Provisions so special. While the quality of Laggner’s products is exemplary, it’s his commitment to conservation that raises the bar for makers and food purveyors.
“Offering something good to my family and community and fostering education via my local farmers market is as close to a dream job as I can get,” he says. “I hope we become known as a staple in Santa Cruz, like, ‘You want something special to eat? Go to Wildstag, but watch out, he’ll talk your ear off about protecting wildlife.’”
Laurel Miller is a food, spirits, travel and design and freelance editor. She grew up raising dairy goats on her family’s California ranch, and is a former cheesemonger and the author of Cheese for Dummies. She recently relocated from Austin back to her native California to be closer to the best burritos on earth.
“By far the most important thing to me in sourcing meat, be it hunted or farmed, is the quality of the animal’s life.”
After Susan Ortmeyer and her family relocated to the Santa Cruz Mountains from Southern California in 2011, the former attorney quickly realized she was more suited to rural life than practicing law and in the process turned her love of baking into a bustling second career.
Ortmeyer owns Fika Bakeshop, a licensed cottage food home business located in Ben Lomond. The name is a nod to her Swedish-American mother, Rose Lee, and the Swedish tradition of taking small, mindful breaks to enjoy a warm beverage with a sweet treat. She currently sells her delectable baked goods online and at her wildly popular regional popups.
One recent Sunday at Mountain Feed & Farm Supply, Ortmeyer sold out in mere minutes, not a cardamom bun crumb left to be savored. The fluffy, chai spice syrup-brushed buns are a signature pastry, and rightfully so. They’re outstanding.
Ortmeyer is also an avid gardener and diehard proponent of eating seasonally, and her frequently updated menu highlights local ingredients at their very peak. “In the fall, I do an apple cinnamon scone with a boiled cider glaze that people really love,” she says. “I always use my own apples or source them along with the cider from Watsonville’s Gizdich Ranch, so they’re extra tasty.”
The following recipe will inspire you get into the spirit of fika, just in time for the cozy season ahead.
Courtesy Susan Ortmeyer, owner, Fika Bakeshop in Ben Lomond
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for hands and work surface
1 tablespoon baking powder
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, partially frozen
½ cup heavy cream, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing
1 large egg
½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 heaping cup apple, (use firm, tart varieties such as Granny Smith or Pippin), peeled and chopped
Optional for topping: Coarse sugar, also known as decorating or pearl sugar, available online or at baking suppliers
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. With a box grater, grate the partially frozen butter directly into the bowl. Using your fingers, gently and quickly work the mixture until it forms pea-sized crumbs. Place in the freezer for 10–15 minutes while you mix the wet ingredients together.
Whisk ½ cup heavy cream, the egg, brown sugar and vanilla extract together in a small bowl and remove the dry flour and butter mixture from the freezer. Drizzle the wet mixture over the chilled ingredients and add the apples. Mix the dough, first with a spoon, then with your hands, until everything appears moistened.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured pastry slab or counter and with floured hands, work it into a ball as best you can (you can also work the dough into a ball right in the bowl and then place it on the counter). If the dough is too crumbly and dry, add 1–2 tablespoons of heavy cream as needed.
With your hands or a rolling pin, gently pat or roll the dough into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges. Brush scones with remaining heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place the scones on a plate or lined baking sheet and chill in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Arrange the scones 2–3 inches apart and bake for 20–22 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and let cool. Makes 8.
For the glaze
1–1½ cups sifted powdered sugar
2–4 tablespoons boiled apple cider (see below)
Add 1 tablespoon of boiled apple cider to the powdered sugar and blend with a spoon. Add additional cider little by little, until the glaze is thin enough to drip slowly from the spoon. Drizzle over the cooled scones. Leftover scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Boiled apple cider is the secret ingredient for adding a hit of tangy fruit flavor to this recipe. Take 1 quart of the best apple cider you can find and bring it to a boil in a large pot. Reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 30–45 minutes, until it has reduced by ⅓–½. It will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for months.
The secret to great scones is to keep everything really cold and use a light touch while working the butter so it doesn’t melt or absorb into the flour. The butter needs to be in small, discrete chunks in the dough when the pastry goes into the oven. That way the butter will melt and release steam as the scones bake, creating the lift and layering necessary for light, fluffy scones. This is why we freeze the flour/butter mixture and then freeze it again after the scones are shaped. This results in scones that retain their shape and have lovely, crunchy edges and an airy interior.
Using a box grater to grate partially frozen butter is the simplest and quickest way to reduce the butter to small chunks. Then the grated butter can easily be crumbled into even smaller chunks with your hands and mixed with the flour. Use a light touch however, because you don’t want the butter to disappear into the flour. It needs to stay in small, separate bits.
Our planet needs healing, and Delmar McComb and Carin Fortin of Blossom’s Biodynamic Farm in Aromas are committed to being part of the cure.
They provide a model deliberately designed to spark your curiosity. And while they are happy to sell you some home-brewed kombucha or herbal skin cream, they are even happier to teach you the biodynamic principles and practices they follow, healing the earth—and people too—as they farm.
The couple grows a huge variety of medicinal plants and turns them into an array of tinctures, salves and hydrosols. They also teach classes and workshops on the art of biodynamic living on their 45-acre property and sell their products at farmers markets throughout the Monterey Bay area.
After more than 10 years of farming on leased land, first in Bonny Doon and then in Corralitos, McComb and Fortin decided they needed to put down permanent roots. With lots of help, they found a gently sloping southwest-facing farm at the western edge of Aromas on San Juan Road.
When they moved in during the spring of 2022, the region was experiencing a third year of severe
drought, and irrigation lines had to be put in place to get trees and other plants started.
“The land was essentially fallow when we purchased it,” says McComb. “The former owner had a greenhouse, which he removed before we arrived. He was not organic, but one does not need to be certified organic to sell herbal products.”
While striving to “perennialize” the farm as much as possible with plants and herbs that come back year after year and do not require tillage, McComb says he is not inherently anti-tillage.
“In areas where we have annual plants, we do till as needed but always with adding compost in during the process,” he says. “We know that tilling can be destructive to the soil and soil life, but when used properly, tilling is a tool that can allow cosmic forces to actually enter the soil and to allow an explosion of microbial life as well. It’s all about timing.”
While many people are learning that “no-till” farming helps preserve the lives of soil microbes and keeps greenhouse gasses sequestered underground, there is a time when tillage is important, and that’s right at the beginning when the farm’s layout is being established.
Delmar McComb and Carin Fortin (page 58) are transforming a fallow farm in Aromas into a place to grow and prepare their herbal wellness products, as well as a biodynamic learning center.
This approach allows a regenerative “farm organism” to develop over time that is in harmony with both the environment and the cosmos as a whole.
The ultimate goal is to set up a farm perimeter like a “skin” with hedgerows and shrubs that attract pollinators, birds and other beneficial insects, and then simply let it grow.
McComb and Fortin chose a curved terrace system for their perennial herbs and flowers. By using their own farm-made compost “teas” derived from various ingredients including nettle, comfrey and whey, and using other biodynamic preparations, they practice reciprocity in the rich biodiversity of their homestead. Their house is nestled back on a hillside covered with shade-providing coastal live oaks.
Transformation of this land is currently up and running with several interns, apprentices, one employee and a few key volunteers lending a hand.
The rhythm of each day begins at dawn with milking one cow and tending the other animals. Most days the truck must be packed for regional farmers markets and then there’s breakfast together and a half hour check-in to find out how everyone is feeling.
“The rhythms of the land anchor us,” Fortin says.
Residing on this property just one year, McComb embraces the challenges of establishing a biodynamic farm capable of certification. Comprehensive in scope, taking into account everything from the cycles of the moon and stars to the soil, plants, animals and people, biodynamic farming involves attention to detail.
This approach allows a regenerative “farm organism” to develop over time that is in harmony with both the environment and the cosmos as a whole. The resulting harvests of this farm organism provide foods and medicines that are truly nutritious and full of vital energies, as the farm’s website describes.
“I’ve tried to re-word the biodynamic messaging to make it more accessible to the growing number of people embracing regenerative agriculture,” McComb tells me, figuring if the spiritual connection goes unspoken, it will still be there.
Biodynamic farming grew out of the life-long dedication of German scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner to help humanity develop its full potential. He saw human separation from nature as a rift that needed to be healed.
Steiner joined with other land stewards in the early years of the 20th century to fortify and defend farming practices that for centuries had no need of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Because this was happening at the end of his life, others took up the cause and devised the Biodynamic Demeter Society, still going strong today and offering certification.
In biodynamics, it’s understood that there is a collaborative, co-creative association with nature. It’s not that one dominates and extracts from nature what one wants or needs. But it is also not a “humans are bad, don’t do anything that isn’t natural” approach either.
“It’s an approach where the farmer listens to and observes what the land, animals and plants need while also being a ‘conductor’ of the farm ‘orchestra,’ working in concert with, in tune with and in harmony with nature all at a tempo that is sustainable,” says McComb. “I can’t really say it better than farm legend Alan Chadwick”:
There is one rule in the garden that is above all others. You must give to nature more than you take. Obey it, and the earth will provide you in glorious abundance. — Alan
ChadwickYou’ve likely heard the term “regenerative agriculture” tossed around; it’s definitely trending right now as a way to feed the world healthy food while sequestering carbon. What happens on 30% of the earth’s land surface—the amount we cultivate for food, fiber and medicine—could make a a measurable difference in slowing global warming.
So take a step back and observe the earth. The hydrological cycles determine the weather. The earth functions best for humans when there are enough green canopies and roots in the ground to absorb and release water. As forests and perennial farmlands breathe in carbon dioxide, sequestering carbon in the process, humans inhale the life-giving oxygen plants exhale. If we can manage this well, we just might go back to a time when we get enough rain in predictable amounts to nourish our crops.
Whom should we be supporting in this endeavor? We’ll get the best result when we switch our buying habits from industrial to regenerative agriculture.
Blossom’s Farm welcomes all farmers, gardeners and community members to delve into new methods of growing food, fiber and medicine in a way that heals the earth and addresses climate change directly.
Blossom’s Farm: 2033 San Juan Road, Aromas • blossomsfarm.com Ellen Farmer is a freelance writer and organizer living in Santa Cruz.
BY TERRY WALTERS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIE BIDWELL
When a macrobiotic counselor recommended congee for me decades ago, I was so overwhelmed by all of the changes he had prescribed that I just never got around to making the congee happen. That consult was one of the first experiences that empowered me to use food to support my good health, so I’m certainly grateful for it. At the time, however, walking out with a 26-page booklet of things I needed to change was overwhelming. There have been times since when I have tried to add just one new food or supplement to my routine and struggled!
Flash forward several decades, and I’ve finally checked most of the boxes in that booklet. However, it wasn’t until my daughter called one day and asked, “What do you know about congee?” that I started taking an interest and doing some experimenting to check that final box. Thanks to her, these delicious, warming, satisfying and nourishing grain dishes have finally become part of my winter routine.
Healing porridges are an important part of culinary traditions from all over the world and can be made with a variety of grains and legumes. In the Korean tradition, these porridges are called juk, in Japan okayu and in India kitchari. In Norway and many other countries, it is simply porridge. There’s Italian polenta and risotto, and even American southern grits.
The term congee comes from
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and describes a healing porridge sought for its ability to support healthy digestion. In TCM, different grains and legumes are used to make congees that provide a variety of healing benefits—some add sweetness and cooling that moistens internal heat, and others counter “dampness” or stagnancy.
My favorite congees include jasmine rice, a gentle and sweet version that TCM suggests can help balance conditions of excess heat (think: red eyes, swelling, water retention and even anxiety). Millet congee, which conversely is thought to alleviate coldness characterized by weak digestion, is naturally sweet, and lends itself well to the addition of dried fruit, sweet roots and winter squashes, nuts and seeds. And quinoa, my favorite of the three, is high in protein and thought to boost metabolism (an influence I negate by cooking it in whole coconut milk!).
Congee can be cooked with a variety of ingredients to add flavor or dressed up after it’s cooked to yield both savory and sweet whole meals. The recipe that follows is fairly simple, in keeping with the original intent of congee as a gentle, warming, calming, easy-to-digest, feel-good winter food. I hope that convinces you not to wait as long as I did to try congee.
Terry Walters is the best-selling cookbook author of Clean Food, Clean Start, Eat Clean Live Well and most recently, Nourish: Plant-Based Recipes to Feed Body, Mind and Soul. She is a James Beard Foundation Award finalist and a dedicated chef, coach and advocate, sharing her knowledge and passion for making healthy changes in the way we eat and live.
A gentle and sweet congee with added kombu for minerals and umami, shiitakes and leeks for heart health and immune support, and a little crunchy heat for this savory and delicious one-dish meal.
1 cup white jasmine rice
8 cups water or vegetable stock
1 stick kombu
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 leeks
2 tablespoons avocado oil
12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons mirin
Crunchy chile or hot sesame oil
2 tablespoons toasted ivory and black sesame seeds
Place rice in pot and cover well with water. Soak at least 1 hour or as much as overnight. Drain and rinse.
In Dutch oven over medium heat, combine drained rice with water or stock. Submerge kombu and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered 1 hour (or until liquid is mostly absorbed), stirring occasionally to keep rice from sticking to bottom of Dutch oven. Turn off heat, stir in salt and let cool to thicken. Any rice that sticks to bottom of pot will easily come off after congee cools a few minutes.
Cut white and light green parts of leeks widthwise into rings. In large skillet over medium heat, drizzle avocado oil and add mushrooms. Sauté 5 minutes to brown and crisp, adding 1 tablespoon mirin to deglaze and caramelize. Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside. Drizzle remaining tablespoon of oil in pan and sauté leeks 5 minutes, deglazing pan with remaining mirin when needed. Remove from heat.
Serve congee topped with sautéed leeks and shiitakes, a drizzle of crunchy chile or hot sesame oil and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Serves 4.
NOTE: To cook in pressure cooker, place water or stock in pressure cooker, submerge stick of kombu, and cook on high 30 minutes, then let cooker depressurize naturally (about 15 minutes). Open pressure cooker and stir in salt.
The excerpt and recipe are reprinted, with permission, from Nourish: Plant-Based Recipes to Feed Body, Mind and Soul, © Terry Walters 2022. Photo by Julie Bidwell.
Healing porridges are an important part of culinary traditions from all over the world and can be made with a variety of grains and legumes.
APTOS
Persephone
7945 Soquel Drive
831.612.6511 • persephonerestaurant.com
With a namesake like the mythic Persephone, this restaurant in Aptos proclaims its deep reverence for seasonal cooking. Themes central to harvest, winter and spring are core to Persephone’s story, and are reflected in the changing menu at this fine dining destination, where chef Cori Goudge-Ayer presents inventive, ingredient-driven creations. The restaurant is a family-run passion project, bringing together parents, siblings and a long history of culinary arts in a beautifully redesigned space overlooking Aptos Creek. Open for dinner W–Sa 5–8:30pm. Fourth Sundays, Winemaker Dinner with five-course pairing menu.
New Leaf Community Markets
161 Aptos Village Way
831.685.8500 • newleaf.com
This latest branch of the beloved local market group occupies the remodeled Hihn Apple Barn, built in 1891. In addition to local groceries and organic produce, New Leaf Aptos has made-to-order sandwiches, pizza, freshly rolled sushi, soup and hand-prepped salads, as well as a coffee bar, juice and smoothie bar and organic Straus soft serve ice cream.
Open daily 8am–9pm.
The Penny Ice Creamery
141 Aptos Village Way, Suite 2
831.204.2523 • thepennyicecreamery.com
Open Su–Th noon–9pm, F–Sa noon–10pm. See The Penny description under Santa Cruz for more.
Seascape Foods
16B Seascape Village • 831.685.3134
A charming family-owned market with an ample deli counter featuring daily chef specials, salads, breakfast items, freshly-squeezed juices and sandwiches on housemade organic sourdough bread. The grocery section includes organic produce, artisanal products, local beer and wine, and gifts. Eat outside next to the fountain on the patio or take your goodies to the beach nearby. Open daily 8am–8pm.
East End Gastropub
1501 41st Avenue
831.475.8010 • eastendpub.com
East End Gastropub is a sister eatery to the popular West End Tap & Kitchen, but aside from sharing owners and chefs, East End’s beautiful, modern interior is entirely different and offers its own robust, sophisticated menu. Chef Geoffrey Hargrave has created dishes that are familiar yet innovative, such as house-made focaccia bread, fried chicken bao buns and fire roasted shrimp. Shared plates, pizzas and salads come in generous portions for a family-style meal. The restaurant also offers a rotating selection of local beer, a strong wine list and seasonal craft cocktails. Open M–Th 4–9pm, F noon–9pm, Sa-Su 11am–3pm for brunch, and 4–9pm.
New Leaf Community Markets
1210 41st Avenue
831.479.7987 • newleaf.com
The café at the entrance offers great alternatives to fast food, serving economical daily specials, wraps, pizza and homemade soup and espresso drinks—with free wi-fi in the outdoor dining area. Inside the market, a full deli has made-toorder sandwiches, healthy takeout salads and entrée items.
Open daily 8am–9pm.
The Penny Ice Creamery
820 41st Avenue
831.204.2523 • thepennyicecreamery.com
Open Su–Th noon–10pm, F–Sa noon–11pm. See The Penny description under Santa Cruz for more.
Trestles
316 Capitola Avenue
831.854.2728 • trestlesrestaurant.com
Just steps away from the iconic Capitola train trestle, chefowner Nick Sherman’s passion for great food is evident in every dish at his popular neighborhood bistro. Local seasonal ingredients star in appetizers like chicory salad, roasted fairytale pumpkin with goat cheese and mole negro, Brentwood street corn and crispy pork belly with wa-
All of these restaurants emphasize local ingredients and they also advertise in Edible Monterey Bay! so please check online before you go and tell them we sent you.
termelon radish. Entrées include smoked eggplant gnocchi, Niman Ranch pork chop and fresh fish—all served with local wines and craft beers on tap. Open W–F 5–9:30pm, Sa–Su 4:30–9:30pm.
Covey Grill
8205 Valley Greens Drive
831.620.8860 • quaillodge.com/dining/coveygrill
Covey Grill at Quail Lodge features USDA steaks and sustainably sourced seafood complimented by unique plantbased offerings in addition to seasonal American cuisine. Covey Grill offers casually elegant indoor and outdoor dining options against the stunning backdrop of Quail’s sparkling lake and lush garden landscapes. Open for full dinner service Mon–Sun 5–9pm, with bar opening at 4pm.
Earthbound Farm’s Farm Stand
7250 Carmel Valley Road
831.625.6219 • earthboundfarm.com
Earthbound Farm’s 100% certified organic kitchen delights with specialty coffee and tea, soft serve ice cream and a made to order breakfast and lunch menu—including soups, sandwiches, salads, baked goods, fresh juices and smoothies. Food is available to be enjoyed on the beautiful grounds or for takeaway. In addition to certified organic produce, the Farm Stand offers a selection of natural, organic, local beer and wine, groceries, gifts and flowers. Stroll through the gardens and learn about Earthbound’s commitment to organic integrity. Open daily, but check hours online as they change seasonally.
Grasing’s 6th Avenue and Mission
831.624.6562 • grasings.com
Chef-proprietor Kurt Grasing’s namesake restaurant has expanded since opening in 1998 to include two large dining rooms, multiple outdoor dining areas and the ever-popular bar/lounge. A Carmel classic located in the heart of the village, Grasing’s serves California cuisine, with an awardwinning wine list and a vintage spirits program featuring classic cocktails made with rare Mad Men-era gins, whiskeys, Camparis and amaros. Open daily M–F 11am–9pm, Sa–Su 10:30am–9pm.
Sea Harvest Fish Market & Restaurant
100 Crossroads Boulevard, Suite A 831.626.3626 • seaharvestfishmarketandrestaurant.com
The Deyerle family that owns this local gem has its own fishing boats for the freshest catch on the Monterey Peninsula. Sea Harvest doubles as a fish market and casual restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. The oysters and clam chowder are customer favorites, but don’t miss the fried combo platter, grilled fillets and fish tacos. Open daily 8am–8pm.
Stationaery
San Carlos Square, Between 5th and 6th avenues 831.250.7183 • thestationaery.com
A neighborhood restaurant offering daily brunch and lunch, Stationaery is owned by your hospitable hosts Anthony and Alissa Carnazzo. The kitchen team, led by chef Amalia Scatena, specializes in comforting flavors and local ingredients, with elegant presentations. A new bottle shop next door offers a good selection of European and California wines to enjoy with your meal or take home. Brunch 8am–3pm daily. Dinner 5:30–9pm Tu–Sa.
Jerome’s Carmel Valley Market
2 Chambers Lane
831.659.2472 • jeromescarmelvalleymarket.com
A chef-owned, friendly neighborhood market, Jerome’s offers local and organic produce, natural meats and seafood, and a great selection of domestic and imported wine, beer and microbrews. French-trained chef and owner Jerome Viel prepares delicious hot foods, sandwiches and salads for
eating at outdoor seating or take-away. The offerings start with breakfast burritos, croissants and other French pastries in the morning, followed by favorites such as coq au vin, spaghetti carbonara and chicken enchiladas for lunch and dinner. Open M–Sa 7am–7pm, Su 7am–6pm.
Lucia Restaurant & Bar
Bernardus Lodge & Spa • 415 W. Carmel Valley Road
831.658.3400 • bernarduslodge.com
Indulge in artisanal California country cuisine, award-winning wines and an expansive heated outdoor terrace with the finest restaurant view in Carmel Valley. At this Forbes 4-Star charmer, named for the Santa Lucia mountain range and wine appellation that beckons to the south, executive chef Christian Ojeda offers both a signature tasting menu and dishes à la carte. Wine list is equally notable. A chef’s table and wine cellar are also available for private dining and special occasions. Open daily 7am–9pm. Live music Tu–W 5–8pm. Saturday and Sunday brunch with live music 11am–2:30pm.
Sunny Bakery Cafe
18 E. Carmel Valley Road
831.659.5052 • instagram.com/sunnybakerycafe
Friendly local café offering homemade pastries, espresso drinks and light fare. Warm, welcoming service and a great array of treats made daily on site with wholesome ingredients that honor the seasons. Owner Analuisa Bejar heads the locally-minded kitchen with favorites like egg sandwiches, quiches, panini, frittatas, and irresistible BLTs. Buttery pastries, cookies, cinnamon rolls, muffins and cakes round out the list. Open W–M 7am–1pm.
The Grove Cafe and Bakery
6249 Highway 9 831.704.7483 • thegrovefelton.com
Chef Jessica Yarr’s community-focused café serves breakfast and lunch dishes brimming with bright flavors and local, seasonal produce. A variety of breads—sourdough, mountain rye and Japanese milk bread—are made in-house and star in dishes like the mushroom magic toast with roasted shiitake and oyster mushrooms, and goat cheese, or the signature smoked beet Reuben sandwich. Breakfast bowls, hearty salads and 11th Hour Coffee drinks round out the menu. Open Tu–Su 8am–4pm.
Wild Roots Market
6240 Highway 9 • 831.335.7322 (Felton) 13159 Highway 9 • 831.338.7211 (Boulder Creek) wildrootsmarket.com
Wild Roots’ 100% organic produce, natural groceries, organic meats and FishWise-certified seafood all go into the prepared foods offered by the store’s full-service deli, salad and soup bar and juice bar. Enjoy on the patio out in front or take home. Open daily 9am–9pm.
the C restaurant + bar
InterContinental The Clement Monterey
750 Cannery Row
831.375.4500 • ictheclementmonterey.com
Step into the C restaurant + bar, and the bustle of Cannery Row will seem like a world away. Elegant yet relaxed, a stunning renovation opens up ocean views from the C’s floor-to-ceiling windows and oceanside deck. Executive chef Matt Bolton provides equally gorgeous food imaginatively prepared from sustainably sourced seafood, meats and produce. Pastries and breads from Food Network baking contestant Michelle Lee are superb and creative craft cocktails are sure to please. Open daily for breakfast M–F 7–11am, Sa–Su 7–11:30am. For dinner Su–Th 5–9pm, F–Sa 5–10pm.
Coastal Kitchen
400 Cannery Row
831.645.4064 • coastalkitchenmonterey.com
Executive chef Michael Rotondo’s tasting menu at Monterey Plaza Hotel’s flagship restaurant represents one of the most habit-forming in the region, but there’s a lot more to recommend this spot. Sweeping views of the Pacific await from each seat, all on top of the water. Local delicacies receive elevated treatments: tempura artichoke with black button sage honey, wood-roasted black cod with shishito, squash blossom and charred coconut jus, and king salmon with raspberry, aromatic herbs and seasonal tomatoes— paired with hand-picked top-shelf wines. It’s a place well worth the splurge. Open Tu–Sa 5:30–8:30pm.
Estéban Restaurant
700 Munras Avenue
831.375.0176 • estebanrestaurant.com
At the heart of the downtown Monterey dining scene, Estéban Restaurant serves Spanish influenced cuisine made from local, seasonal ingredients, which can be enjoyed on a new Mediterranean garden patio. The menu features a selection of long-time Estéban favorites, as well as new dishes created by executive chef Ben Hillan, like Vieiras con Jamón (seared scallops with Serrano ham) and Mejillones y Almejas (mussels and clams with chorizo and saffron/ achiote broth). Open for dinner Su–Th 4:30–8:30pm, F–Sa 4:30–9pm. Tapas hour from 4:30–6pm daily.
Jacks Monterey
2 Portola Plaza
831.649.7830 • jacksatportola.com
Jacks Monterey provides a refreshing culinary experience in downtown Monterey, inside the Portola Hotel & Spa. Emphasizing local ingredients, high-quality seafood, and an award-winning wine and cocktail program, Jacks philosophy derives from globally-inspired traditions of California Cultural Cuisine. The atmosphere at Jacks is sophisticated— never pretentious. Open daily for breakfast 6:30–10:30am, dinner 4–10pm, and bar only F-Sa 10–11pm.
The Perfect Crumb Bakery
301 Lighthouse Avenue, Suite B 831.241.6269 • theperfectcrumbbakery.net
A charming spot for breakfast or a light lunch, The Perfect Crumb specialty bakery and café gets rave reviews for its croissants, blueberry scones and cinnamon buns (served on weekends only). Heartier appetites will enjoy the breakfast sandwich with eggs and hash browns served on a home-made biscuit, and for lunch the grilled cheese or Mediterranean turkey sandwich with roasted peppers and sundried tomatoes. Open W–Su 7:30am–3pm, Sa 4–9pm for dessert night.
Peter B’s Brewpub
2 Portola Plaza
831.649.2699 • peterbsbrewpub.com
Peter B’s Brewpub combines award-winning craft beer and sports on 18 high-definition televisions in a relaxed brewpub environment. Monterey’s original craft brewery is distinguished for its variety of beer on tap, innovative pub menu, happy hour, sports bar atmosphere, and outdoor dining on the pet-friendly heated patio with fire pits. Peter B’s is open Wednesday-Sunday with nightly happy hour from 4–6pm, as well as late night happy hour 9–10pm. Open W-Su 4–10pm. Sunday breakfast and football 9:30–11am from September to January.
Schooners Monterey
400 Cannery Row
831.372.2628 • schoonersmonterey.com
Residents regularly vote Schooners Best Drink With a View, and they’re not wrong. The eye candy rolls from the waves crashing on the tidal zone below to Seaside and Santa Cruz beyond, and the sippers are memorable. But that’s only part of the program. The seafood-centric menu ups the atmospheric effect with contemporary takes on a Monterey cioppino pot, seared sea scallops, Dungeness crab dip and Thai-style steamed mussels. Specialty cocktails, organic fresh-pressed juices and curated small batch beers and wine complete the affair. Open 7am–9pm daily.
Sea Harvest Restaurant & Fish Market
598 Foam Street
831.626.0547 • seaharvestmonterey.com
This fresh and casual seafood spot near Cannery Row is perfect after a day exploring the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There are grilled entrées and lots of fried options with chips, including calamari, clams, prawns, scallops and oysters. Try Sea Harvest’s popular clam chowder or a basket of crispy artichoke hearts. Open daily 9am–7pm.
Stokes Adobe
500 Hartnell Street
831.264.8775 • stokesadobe.com
Located in one of Old Monterey’s historic adobe homes, now beautifully restored, Stokes Adobe offers fresh pastas made in house, truffle chicken and shareable appetizer plates. The bar and cozy outdoor fire pits feature seasonally inspired classic cocktails, and a selection of quality wines by the glass and local beer. Friendly, welcoming staff make sure your visit feels like coming home. Open Th–Tu for happy hour 4–5:30pm and dinner 5–9pm.
Tidal Coffee
400 Cannery Row
831.645.4030 • tidalcoffeemonterey.com
Thoughtful coffee blends with organic beans headline here, but picnic-lunch goodies and house-made sandwiches also come recommended. Monkey bread, maple scones and almond croissants feature in early, followed by soups, salads and panini like the roast beef with horseradish aioli, grilled onion, slices tomatoes, smoked mozzarella and pickled peppers. The coffee shop aesthetic is cute, but the adjacent decks overlooking Monterey Bay present a superior spot to spoon a fig-mascarpone or vegan chocolate-hazelnut gelato with a fresh cortado. Open Tu–Th 6am–noon, F–M 6am–4pm.
Wild Plum Café & Bakery
731 Munras Avenue
831.646.3109 • thewildplumcafe.com
Located in Old Monterey in a vibrant and diverse neighborhood, Wild Plum draws people from all walks of life with sustainable bistro fare that uses organic, locally sourced produce, hormone-free Diestel turkeys roasted on site, grass-fed beef and house-baked bread and pastries. Breakfasts include scrambles, omelets, and breakfast tacos and burritos, and for lunch, choose among soups, salads, sandwiches and paninis, burgers and house specialties. Food to go and catering available. Open W–M 7:30am–3:30pm, Tu closed
Sea Harvest
2420 Highway 1
831.728.7081 • @seaharvestmosslanding
Outdoor tables on a wooden deck overlooking Elkhorn Slough are the perfect place to enjoy fresh seafood hauled in by a fisherman who is part of the Deyerle family that runs the restaurant. Choose from grilled catch of the day, shrimp Louie, fish and chips or some of the best Baja-style battered fish tacos around. Open daily 11am–7pm.
Woodward Marine Market 10932 Clam Way
831.632.0857 • woodwardmarinemarket.com
Moss Landing, population a few dozen, enjoys an outsized amount of beaches, marine research institutes and, thankfully, eateries. Its newest ranks among the most inviting. WMM occupies a historic location at the Moss Landing Harbor fuel dock that delivers place-appropriate fuel for the eager eater. Clam chowder, crispy artichokes and Monterey Bay calamari lead the way on the appetizer front. A pair of salads offers roughage with style. Plates and bowls round out the menu—think bouillabaisse, fish and chips, Woodward burger, artichoke-prosciutto sandwiches and seared fish tacos. Local wines and Prosecco available, as well as local craft beer, including Alvarado Street, Other Brother, Fruition and Corralitos brewing. Wood-fired pizza F–Su. Open Tu–Sa 11:30am–6pm, Su 11:30am–4pm.
Muzgo Salon and Spa coming soon!
Julia’s Vegetarian
1180 Forest Avenue, Suite F
831.656.9533 • juliasveg.com
Voted the best vegetarian restaurant on the Monterey Peninsula for more than 10 years running, Julia’s is known for its wild and exotic mushrooms and housebrewed kombuchas on tap. The menu features a creative twist on vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free food. Try some of the most popular dishes like the fried “egg and bacon” sandwich, exotic mushroom sampler and buffalo cauliflower wings. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Wild Fish
545 Lighthouse Avenue
831.373.8523 • wild-fish.com
Owners Liz and Kelvin Jacobs welcome you to feast on the bounty of nearby waters and farms at their 100% local and organic seafood restaurant, enjoying exquisite dishes like crispy sablefish, halibut and petrale sole, accompanied by local vegetables. Chef Melissa Kacos also prepares fresh oysters, innovative salads, house-baked bread and sides like fingerling potatoes with poppyseed crème fraîche or baby carrots with wild nettle pesto, that make this a dining destination. Did we mention English sticky toffee pudding for dessert? Open Su–Th 11:30am–3pm and 5–9pm, F–Sa 11:30am–3pm and 5–9:30pm.
Inaka Japanese Restaurant
313 Third Street
831.593.5100 • facebook.com
Beloved by locals, Inaka has a vast menu of Japanese appetizers, soups, salads, tempura, teriyaki and noodle bowls, but most people come for the sushi. Try the San Juan roll with spicy tuna, cucumber and tempura crumbs topped with maguro, hamachi and avocado. There is also a wide selection of vegetarian rolls and a dozen different sakes, some brewed locally in San Benito County. Open W–Su 4–8pm.
Lolla
201 Third Street
831.593.5064 • lollasjb.com
Owner Sarah Griss has created a soup, salad and sandwich luncheonette in an adobe building right across the street from San Juan Bautista Historic Park. Lolla sources healthy food from local farms and food producers, giving customers a quick and convenient way to eat locally, seasonally and deliciously. Daily special soups are not to be missed. Open W–Su 11am–3pm.
Margot’s Ice Cream Parlor
211 Third Street
831.623.9262 • margotsicecreamparlor.com
Bringing smiles to the people of San Juan Bautista for 25 years, Margot’s was originally opened as a retail outlet for wonderful handmade candies, including chocolatedipped apricots, almond butter crunch, marshmallows, oreos, grahams and pretzels, as well as 10 flavors of chocolate truffles. In addition, it offers 28 flavors of Lappert’s ice cream, espresso drinks and Dole pineapple whip. Open M–Th 11am–7pm, F–Su 11am–8pm.
Vertigo Coffee Roasters
81 Fourth Street
831.623.9533 • vertigocoffee.com
Artisanal coffee roasted on site as well as fresh pastries baked in-house, brunch items, local craft beers and wines, plus wood-fired pizzas with naturally leavened, twice fermented sourdough crust 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. Check website for current hours.
Windmill Market
301 The Alameda
831.623.2956
San Juan’s friendly neighborhood grocer has everything you need for a picnic or quick meal, with ample outdoor tables and booths around the windmill. A full-service deli counter and taquería offers made-to-order sandwiches and Mexican specialties like tortas, burritos, tamales and combo plates. There is also a salad bar, a hot bar and plenty of grab-and-go items. Open daily 6am–9pm.
Barceloneta
1541 Pacific Avenue, Suite B
831.900.5222 • eatbarceloneta.com
With its cheerful beach stripes, wicker light fixtures and whimsical details, dinner at Barceloneta can feel like a holiday. Owned by chef Brett Emerson and his wife Elan, who ensures service is superb, Barceloneta offers Spanish tapas made with seasonal, farmers’ market produce and several types of authentic paella, along with Spanish wines, beers and cocktails. Open Tu–Sa 5–8:30pm. Closed Su–M.
Bookie’s Pizza
1315 Water Street
bookiespizza.com
Located inside the Santa Cruz outpost of Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, Bookie’s Pizza is owned by fine dining veteran chef Todd Parker and offers “inauthentic” Detroit-style square pies. Each pizza is made using the best seasonal ingredients from local farms, fishermen and foragers. Dough is made with organic flour, naturally leavened for 48 hours, and each pizza comes with its own unique sauce. Open Su–Th noon–9pm. F–Sa noon–10pm.
Charlie Hong Kong
1141 Soquel Avenue
831.426.5664 • charliehongkong.com
Charlie Hong Kong has been providing the Santa Cruz community with healthy, sustainable, affordable and highquality food since 1998. The colorful, casual eatery’s delicious fusion of Southeast Asian influences and the Central Coast’s local organic produce have 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 signature dishes are vegan with the option to add meat or fish. Gluten-free options are available. Dog friendly. Open daily 11am–10pm.
Chocolate
1522 Pacific Avenue
831.427.9900 • chocolatesantacruz.com
As its name suggests, there are all kinds of decadent chocolate desserts and cocktails at Chocolate the restaurant, but this farm-to-fork local favorite is much more than a dessert spot. Everything is prepared simply and with local organic ingredients whenever possible. Open in downtown Santa Cruz since 1999, options include three kinds of chicken mole and their signature Pasta Rosettes. Many entrées and desserts are gluten free! Cocktails feature Santa Cruz-based distilleries, including Venus Spirits. Check out their extensive cocktkail menu. A party room for your special celebration is available, with seating and menu options to suit the occasion. Open nightly 5–9pm. Lunch Sa–Su noon–4:30pm.
Crow’s Nest
2218 E. Cliff Drive
831.476.4560 • crowsnest-santacruz.com
A perfect spot to enjoy breakfast and lunch or catch a dinnertime sunset over the harbor, the nautical-themed Crow’s Nest is a Santa Cruz institution that never goes out of style. There’s always something happening, from live music to comedy nights and happy hours. Famous for its salads, house-smoked salmon and seafood entrées, the Crow’s Nest is a member of Seafood Watch and is a certified green business. Open M–F 9am–8:30pm, Sa–Su 8am–8:30pm.
The Grille at DeLaveaga
401 Upper Park Road
831.423.1600 • delaveagagolf.com/dining
DeLaveaga earns obsessive attention for its trails, golf and disc golf, and it also enjoys a worthy epicurean program. The grill’s backdrop enhances the experience, with absorbing views, an outdoor patio and deck, welcoming fireplace and well-appointed bar. Food goes continentalCalifornian, local and organic, starring breakfast and lunch dishes like the croissant Benedict, the “Moss Landing-style” breakfast sandwich, the DeLa Black Angus burger and the “wedge shot” Louie salad with crab, bay shrimp or both. Open W–Su 8am–3pm.
Laílí
101B Cooper Street
831.423.4545 • lailirestaurant.com
Exotic flavors of The Silk Road are served in a stylish dining room decorated in eggplant and pistachio colors and on a hidden candlelit patio. Locals rave about Laílí’s homemade naan served warm from the oven with a selection of Mediterranean dips. There is a wide variety of deliciously spiced vegetable dishes, and all meats are hormone free and free range. Open Tu–Sa 4–8pm.
La Posta
538 Seabright Avenue
831.457.2782 • lapostarestaurant.com
A cozy neighborhood bistro not far from the Santa Cruz yacht harbor, La Posta chef Rodrigo Serna prepares traditional rustic Italian cuisine using local ingredients. The emphasis is on simple, seasonal selections, with the balance of the menu reflecting whatever produce is freshest right now. La Posta also offers a great selection of Italian wines and a heated outdoor patio. Open W–Th 5–8:30pm, F–Sa 5–9:30pm, Su 5–8:30pm. Closed M–Tu.
New Leaf Community Markets
1134 Pacific Avenue
831.425.1793 • newleaf.com
New Leaf’s headquarters in a former bank building on Pacific Avenue is a worthwhile stop for all foodies. Crowded with gourmet natural foods, it also has a deli with sandwiches, salads and hot entrées. A dining area out front is great for people watching and listening to street musicians. Open daily 8am–9pm.
New Leaf Community Markets
1101 Fair Avenue
831.426.1306 • newleaf.com
The Westside New Leaf has a large deli counter and coffee bar, with a big selection of sandwiches, salads, bakery items, soups and other hot foods. You can eat at an instore counter or at tables outside. Open daily 7am–9pm.
The Penny Ice Creamery
913 Cedar Street
831.204.2523 • 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 chocolate caramel sea salt and strawberry pink peppercorn. Open daily noon–11pm.
The Picnic Basket
125 Beach Street
831.427.9946 • thepicnicbasketsc.com
Across the street from the main beach, owners of The Penny Ice Creamery have opened an alternative to boardwalk fast food. Sandwiches, organic salads, coffee and beer, all from local food artisans, and of course Penny’s popular ice cream, are all on offer to eat in or outside with your feet in the sand. Open daily 7am–4pm.
Staff of Life
1266 Soquel Avenue
831.423.8632 • staffoflifemarket.com
A Santa Cruz landmark, Staff of Life started in 1969 as a small natural foods bakery and has grown over the years into a full service natural foods supermarket known for its local organic produce, seafood and natural meats as well as an extensive bulk department. Deli items and foods from the hot bar can be enjoyed at the Café del Sol. Open daily 8am–9pm.
West End Tap & Kitchen
334D Ingalls Street
831.471.8115 • westendtap.com
Perfect for any parent looking for a happy hour to satisfy the whole family, 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 seasonal fish with garden fresh veggies, house smoked pork belly with cheddar grits and their famous house ground burger. Also featuring a long list of craft beers, ciders and wine options make West End a Westside staple. The outdoor patio is perfect for people watching amidst the bustling Swift Street Courtyard. Open daily noon–9pm, happy hour M–F 3–5pm.
The Pizza Series
226E Mt. Hermon Road
831.600.8318 • thepizzaseries.com
Chef and world champion pizza thrower Matt Driscoll plans to open his own long-dreamed-about pizzeria in early summer in the spot formerly occupied by Tony & Alba’s, next door to CineLux Scotts Valley. Meanwhile a wide variety of Detroit-style square pies and New York-style round pizzas are available to go Wednesday to Sunday, including cup-n-char pepperoni, sweet heat and BBQ Kauaiian. Check website for days and hours.
Other Brother Beer Co.
877 Broadway Avenue
831.474.1106 • otherbrotherbeer.com
The main attraction here is fresh, delicious beer. However, the brewery’s brand new kitchen inspires a visit on its own. Not coincidentally, dishes are designed to pair poetically with Other Brother’s house beers. The menu features goodies like: Our signature smashburger, fried chicken sandwich, wings, fries, a hearty smoked BLT, a lovingly-crafted spicy capicola sandwich, creative and refreshing salads and a stunning beet-and-whipped-goatcheese toast topped with watermelon radish, edible flowers, sea salt and Like Family extra virgin olive oil. Taproom open M–Th 11:30am–9pm, F–Sa 11:30am–10pm, Su 11:30am– 8pm.
Staff of Life
906 E. Lake Avenue
831.726.0240 • staffoflifemarket.com
Opened in 2021, Staff of Life’s second store in Watsonville is its first and only branch. The store is sustainable down to its bones and includes all the natural groceries, organic produce and includes all the natural groceries, organic produce and baked goods you would find at the Santa Cruz store, along with a juice and smoothie bar, freshly made sushi, a gelato bar, a full deli and a hot bar. Open daily 8am–8pm.
Every year when the seed catalogs arrive, I open to the heirloom corn page and swoon in delight. There are so many colorful varieties with interesting histories, but the most gorgeous is glass gem corn—showing off a rainbow of gleaming colors that are too brilliant to be real, yet they are.
Glass gem is a type of flint corn (Zea mays) that has a hard outer layer covering each kernel to protect the endosperm. Native peoples grew “hard as flint” corn because it held up in freezing temperatures due to its low moisture content. It also could be stored for long periods, making it a staple in the pantry when other food was scarce.
Evidence of corn cultivation can be found dating to 1,000 B.C. It was originally domesticated in Mexico through years of selective breeding that transformed wild teosinte grass with tiny grains into the corn we are familiar with today.
Unlike sweet corn, flint corn is too hard to be eaten fresh and is best suited for hominy, ground into corn meal, made into masa or popped for popcorn. While it would be terrific to have rainbow colored popcorn, unfortunately, when popped, glass gem corn (or any other colorful heirloom) turns the familiar white or light yellow.
Traditionally native corn was grown along with beans and squash, the seeds planted at the same time, directly into the earth to grow symbiotically together. In this system, the corn made a tall trellis for the beans to grow on. The beans in turn provided nitrogen to the soil, feeding both the corn and the squash. The squash utilized horizontal growing space between the corn and beans. These staple crops—known as the Three Sisters—could all be stored for sustenance in the winter. Together they provided carbohydrates, protein and fats—the building blocks of a balanced diet.
Glass gem corn evolved, over many years of kernel selection for the brightest and prettiest colors, by Carl Barnes, a half Cherokee plant breeder in Oklahoma. When he planted older varieties of corn, he would notice some of the colorful ancestral kernels in his corn
crop. He isolated those particular kernels and replanted them, finding the resulting plants matched traditional corn varieties that had been lost to local tribes.
Barnes made it his life work to collect and trade seeds, reintroducing heirloom strains to Native elders—for whom corn represented their cultural and spiritual identity. They were so grateful that they gave Barnes the spiritual name White Eagle for his contributions to their ancestral culture. His mantra was: “The seed remembers.”
In the process of recovering lost heirloom corn varieties in the late 20th century, he developed glass gem corn, which shines in many hues like rainbow glass beads. The variety has only been available commercially for the past few years.
Like opening a treasure, shucking an ear of this corn will always delight and surprise because no two cobs are the same. Sea to Sky Farm in Santa Cruz grows glass gem corn to sell for use in fall displays. Coowner Chris Laughlin loves the corn because the stalks are a pretty purple hue and each cob is unique and colorful. She planted more this season because last year all her stalks and corn sold before she could bring them to market. Look for glass gem corn at local farmers markets this fall. If you get your hands on some, you too can save the seed and plant it next spring, keeping this remarkable variety alive.
Jamie Collins is the owner of Serendipity Farms. She hosts U-Picks and a Friday Farm Stand at 26500 Val Verde Drive in Carmel, and attends farmers markets in Carmel and Santa Cruz, where you can find her fresh organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Find out what is being harvested @fabulous_serendipity_farm.
For over 30 years the Farm Stand has been celebrating organic wholesome food. We are honored to continue this tradition each season and showcase our love of healthy living. We take pride in our organic certification - from the flower fields of our farm, to the flour in the bakery, and the Grown Here vegetables in our soups. Always fresh, always organic, we promise.
