Good Times Food & Drink Magazine 2016 by Weeklys

Food&Drink GOOD TIMES

MAGAZINE 2016

Fine Pub dining

Why ciders and sours are cool again

Santa Cruz’s Best

Cocktails WHERE THE NEW MIXOLOGY TREND IS TAKING OFF LOCALLY

GTWEEKLY.COM | SANTACRUZ.COM | 55+ |

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

The Ultimate Santa Cruz Dining Experience

Seasonal live entertainment poolside Seasonal menus Locally sourced, organic Cage free and sustainable Poolside drinks and dining Fireplace Weekday Happy Hour 4-7 pm For Craft cocktails

SENTINEL: “One of the few places locally where you can dine poolside the setting is gorgeous”

LO C AT E D I N

611 Ocean St. Santa Cruz, CA Reservations 831.600.4545 www.opentable.com

S . F. C H R O N I C L E : “Impeccably stylish while maintaining and urban forest aesthetic”

2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

Look for the Orange 2016 Clean Ocean Business emblem in the City of Santa Cruz These local businesses have made special efforts to protect local creeks, the San Lorenzo River, and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary by adopting practices that keep pollutants away from both storm drains and the sewer system.

These Vehicle Service Facilities are 2016 Clean Ocean Businesses AAMCO Transmissions Abraham Auto Detail Advanced Auto *Ainsworth Auto Repair Apco Gasoline Art of Steel Autoworld Sales & Leasing Avis Rent a Car Big O Tires Chevron, Soquel Ave City of Santa Cruz Auto Services (Fleet) County of Santa Cruz Auto Services (Fleet)

De Laveaga Service Center Doc Auto Enterprise Rent-a-Car Fanucci Auto Body Fidelity Automotive Firestone Complete Auto Care First Transit Flyers Goodwill Industries (Fleet) Goodyear Tire & Auto Repair Graniterock (Fleet) Greg Solow’s Engine Room

Holiday Muffler & Brakes Jiffy Lube Jim Ludy’s Automotive Keener Auto Body Las Animas Concrete Legacy Automotive Lloyd’s Tire Service Monterey Bay Automotive Monterey Bay Marine North Bay Ford Dealership Ocean 76 Perrigo’s Auto Body Shop Polar Automotive & Radiator Service

Rene’s Auto Repair Reyes Auto Repair Riley Collins Auto Body Shop Rod & Ros Gas Mart 2 Rotten Robbie RPM Auto Repair Rusty’s Repair RV Service Center of SC Santa Cruz Auto Parts Santa Cruz Auto Tech Santa Cruz Automotive Santa Cruz Harbor Boatyard Santa Cruz High School

Auto Shop Santa Cruz Imported Truck Service Santa Cruz Metro Transit District (Fleet) Santa Cruz Motorsports Santa Cruz Nissan Dodge-Volkswagen Sav-On Gasoline Scott’s Body Shop Stanford Ave Garage Stoodley’s Small Engine Services Tim’s Auto Electric

These Restaurants are 2016 Clean Ocean Businesses A Slice of Kianti’s Akira Sushi Aldo’s Harbor Restaurant Allbright Donut Shoppe At Thai Recipe *Aunt Nettie’s Kitchen Bagelry, Cedar St Bagelry, Seabright Ave Bantam Beach Street Cafe *Beckmann’s Bakery Best Western All Suites Inn *Betty Burgers, Seabright *Black China Bakery Boardwalk Boccis Cellar Branciforte Middle School Burger King *Café Delmarette Café El Palomar *Café Gratitude *Café Lena Café Limelight Café Lucio *Café Mare *Caffé Bene Caffe Pergolesi Charlie Hong Kong Chipotle *Chocolate Civic Auditorium Coffeetopia *Coldstone Creamery *Companion Bake Shop Costco County Cafeteria Crepe Place Crow’s Nest Days Market

*De La Hacienda Taqueria *De Laveaga Lodge Restaurant Del Pueblo Market DeLaveaga Elementary School Denny’s Donnelly Fine Chocolates Dream Inn El Hermoso Mar *El Palomar Elks Lodge *Elm Street Mission Emily’s Good Things to Eat Engfer Pizza Works *Erik’s Deli Café Falafel House Feel Good Foods Ferrell’s Donuts, Mission St Ferrell’s Donuts, Ocean St Fins Coffee Firefly Coffee House *Food Bin and Herb Room Fortune Garden *Foster’s Freeze Front Street Residential *Gabriella Café *Gilda’s Restaurant *Golden City Golden Palace Harbor High School Harvey West Clubhouse Hindquarter Bar & Grille Hoffman’s Downtown Hula’s Island Grill Ideal Bar & Grill India Joze *Iveta Gourmet

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

Jack in the Box Jack’s Hamburgers Jamba Juice, Mission St Jamba Juice, Pacific Ave Java Junction Jeffery’s Restaurant Joe’s Pizza & Subs, Branciforte Ave *Joe’s Pizza & Subs, Pacific Ave Johnny’s Harborside Kiantis Pizza & Pasta Bar Kitchen Santa Cruz Kuumbwa Jazz Center La Posada *La Posta Las Palmas Taco Bar Lillian’s Italian Kitchen Linda’s Seabreeze Café Local Harvest Catering *Los Pinos Louden Nelson Center Lupulo Craft Beer House Maharaja Mariannes Ice Cream Marini’s Downtown Marini’s Munchies May’s Sushi Restaurant McDonalds, Mission St McDonald’s, Ocean St Mei Garden *Metro Center Midtown Café Mission Hill Creamery Mission Hill Jr. High School Kitchen Mission Street Barbeque Mobo Sushi New Leaf Community Market, Fair Ave

New Leaf Community Market, Pacific Ave New Life Center Ninety Nine Bottles Ocean City Buffet Olitas Cantina & Grille *Omei Oswald’s Oyunaa’s Mongolian Cuisine *Pacific Blue Inn Pacific Cookie Company, Pacific Ave *Pacific Cookie Company, Potrero St *Pacific Cultural Center *Pacific Thai Paradox Hotel *Parish Publick House *Pearl of the Ocean *Peet’s Coffee & Tea *Phoenix Asian Restaurant Planet Fresh Burritos Plantronics Polar Bear Ice Cream Pono Hawaiian Grill Portuguese Hall Quality Market Real Thai Kitchen Ristorante Avanti Ristorante Italiano Riva Fish House Rosie McCann’s Irish Pub Sabieng Thai Safeway, Mission St Safeway, Morrissey Blvd Saint Francis Kitchen Sake Samba Rock Café Santa Cruz Ale Works

Santa Cruz Bible Church Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Co. Santa Cruz Diner Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Saturn Café Seabright Brewery *Sentinel Café *Shogun *Shopper’s Corner Shun Feng Soif Staff of Life Stagnaro Brothers Seafood Starbucks *Subway, Mission St Subway, Soquel Ave *Sunshine Villa Surf Bistro *Surf City Grill Surfrider Cafe Sushi Now Sushi Totoro *Taco Bell, Mission St Taco Bell, Soquel Ave Tacos Morenos *Tam’s Chinese Restaurant Tampico Kitchen *Taqueria Agave II Taqueria Apatzingan Taqueria Jalapenos Y Pupuseria Taqueria Santa Cruz Taqueria Santa Cruz Two *Taqueria Vallarta, Mission St Taqueria Vallarta, Soquel Ave

United Parcel Service (Fleet) Valero Gas, 335 Mission St Valero Gas, 1319 Ocean St Valero Gas, 1516 Soquel Ave Valero Gas, 2202 Mission St Van Cafe Water Star Motors Weston’s Auto Body & Paint Westside Auto Repair Whalers Car Wash *Denotes 5 Year Qualifiers

*Thai Orchid The Art Bar and Cafe The Buttery The Picnic Basket Togos, Almar Ave Togos, Ocean St Tony & Alba’s Pizza *Top A Lot Yogurt Tramonti Pizzeria *Twisselman Enterprises (Boardwalk) *Upper Cruz Pizza & Pasta Vasili’s Greek Restaurant Verve Coffee Roasters, Bronson St Verve Coffee Roasters, Pacific Ave Viva’s Mexican Food Walnut Avenue Café West End Tap & Kitchen Westside Coffee Company *Whiting’s Foods (Boardwalk) Whole Foods Market Wingstop Woodstock’s Pizza Yan Flower Yogurtland Your Place Zachary’s Restaurant Zoccoli’s Deli * Denotes 5 Year Qualifiers

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2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

Table of

Contents

FIVE O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE SANTA CRUZ PERFECTS THE ART OF THE INNOVATIVE COCKTAIL

POP CULTURE WHY THE POP-UPS ARE FLOURISHING IN SANTA CRUZ

THE ROAD LESS STUMBLED LEAVE THE DRIVING TO OTHERS ON NEW WINE TOUR

FOODIE FINDS A CALENDAR OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FOOD AND DRINK EVENTS

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

BREWING A MENU CHEF SANTOS MAJANO ON FUSING CRAFT BEER WITH A FARM-TOTABLE PHILOSOPHY

FRUIT CHIC

HOW CIDER AND SOUR ALES ARE MAKING A COMEBACK

PRO CHOICE

PROBIOTIC DRINKS FROM SANTA CRUZ’S FARMHOUSE CULTURE

MAKING A SPLASH

THE SECRETS OF COOKING WITH WINE

Editor’s

NOTE

he big question for foodies used to be “Where do you want to eat?” These days, though, it’s just as likely to be “Where do you want to drink?” In this issue of Food & Drink, we give Santa Cruz’s spirited spirits scene its due. First, Christina Waters looks at how the mixology movement has made its way to Santa Cruz, and where to find it. She also confirms that it’s now okay to admit you drink ciders and sours, so allow me to finally say: I don’t care who thinks I am the world’s wussiest drinker, I will take a blueberry sour at Mission Street BBQ every day of the week, and twice on Sundays. Wow, that felt good. Good talk! OK, anyway, if you worry that happy hour is bringing down the dining scene, I recommend reading Lily Stoicheff’s interview with the Kitchen at Discretion’s Santos Majano about his one-man pub food revolution. And don’t miss her article on local pop-up culture, which goes beyond the typical “hey, pop-ups exist” angle to explain why Santa Cruz is an ideal place for them to thrive. Dig in! STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

STAFF PUBLISHER Jeanne Howard

WEBMASTER Lily Stoicheff

EDITOR Steve Palopoli

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Debra Whizin

MANAGING EDITOR Maria Grusauskas

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES John Bland Lisa Buckley Nadine Kelley Sue Lamothe Ilana Rauch Packer

CONTRIBUTORS Josie Cowden Anne-Marie Harrison June Smith Lily Stoicheff Christina Waters PROOFREADER Josie Cowden ART DIRECTOR Tabi Zarrinnaal DESIGNERS DiAnna VanEycke Rosie Eckerman PHOTOGRAPHER Keana Parker

ACCOUNTING Katherine Adams CIRCULATION MANAGER Mick Freeman OFFICE MANAGER Lindsay Keebler CEO Dan Pulcrano VICE PRESIDENT Lee May

A Good Times publication. Cover design by Tabi Zarrinnaal.

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In Discretion A conversation with the Kitchen at Discretionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Santos Majano about pairing his menu with beer, and his crusade to revolutionize pub food

RAW FLAVOR Tombo Poke with avocado, pickles, cilantro and tortilla chips ($14) served at the Kitchen at Discretion Brewing. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER

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“... if Discretion spends the time and puts the energy into sourcing the best ingredients to make the best beer, then I want to match that ... Our philosophy is identical. It’s almost like sharing the same brain.” - Chef Santos Majano

BY LILY

antos Majano’s decision to leave Soif, where he had been the chef for five years, to partner with the barely 1-year-old Discretion

Brewing came as a surprise to many on the dining scene. But since that transition two years ago, Majano’s reasons for the move have become clear to those who have explored his innovative new offerings. Deeply inspired by the rise of craft beer in Santa Cruz, and Discretion Brewing’s philosophy in particular, Majano appears to have hit his culinary stride at the independently operated the Kitchen at Discretion, owned by Rob and Kathleen Genco, as he reinvents what one would expect to pair with a pint while staying true to his firmly held belief in the farm-to-table ethos.

Why did you choose to transition from Soif, where you’d been for five years, to a brewery?

I knew about Soif even before I moved to Santa Cruz. They have a very unique wine list, and I loved their farm-to-table philosophy. It was great. I loved it. I still have a great relationship with Patrice [Boyle, the owner]. She knows I’m someone who is ambitious. I’m a dreamer. I never want to get comfortable. STOICHEFF And I think it shows in my menu. We don’t want to keep doing the same thing. We always want to be thinking a little outside the box. I knew Discretion from the time they were building it. My wife said, “There’s a new brewery opening up, and it seems like craft brewing is starting to happen in Santa Cruz.” So we peeked through the window. After a year or so, we heard Main Street [Garden & Cafe] had left, and I became curious about what was going to happen next. One of my prep cooks also worked at Everett Family Farms and she would drop flowers off at Discretion every week, and she told me they were looking for someone else to go in the kitchen. I could not believe the opportunity was available. I felt for sure someone would have jumped in there right away. It seemed too good to be true. We met and we really connected. They care about their product, and are invested so much in what they put out. 10 >

2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

Did you feel that there was some frontier in pairing food and beer? Wine has been the dominant alcohol to pair with food for so long, but pairing with beer is still fairly new. Yes, I absolutely agree. I’m always looking for something exciting, and Santa Cruz is just blooming with crafted beer. I like to move with that. I am a chef who has worked hard to build up where I am right now, to make the kind of food I want to make. I think a lot of people thought when I left Soif that I was just going to be making bar food, and it’s not like that. People asked how my food was going to match the beer, but you know, when you think about wine, you think about the smells, the body, the acidity, the balance. Beer also has those components. It has roastiness, there’s chocolate, there’s hoppiness, bitterness. You have to think slightly differently, but it’s the same thing when you are creating. You just have to look for the balance of flavors. I think it’s kind of crazy to say, “oh, you can’t pair your food with beer.” That’s not true. You can actually make some amazing dishes. Did you make adjustments to your culinary style when you transitioned from Soif to Discretion? I wouldn’t say “adjust,” but we did think slightly differently. The adjustments came when we were thinking about how to incorporate beer into the food. We thought about things like “how can we incorporate a black lager into our barbecue sauce?” But ultimately we knew we wanted to do something exciting that showcased the farm-to-table philosophy. How much do you consider the beer when you’re creating a menu item? A good 60-70-percent. I know someone is going to come here, have a beer and look for something to go with it. Whether the beer complements the food or the food complements the beer, there has to be one or the other. 12 >

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

CRAFTED PALATE Chef Santos Majano puts a lot of thought into pairing his dishes with the beer selection, and often incorporates it as an ingredient. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER

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What inspires you right now? What’s influencing your menu? Always the season. The farmers market is a big thing for us. We work with a few farms that will call us when they get really exceptional produce in. But we have some menu items that will never go away. We tried to change them once, and people didn’t like that. I remember when you tried to take the chicken and waffles away. And people were like, ‘Whoa! You can’t just put something like this on the menu and then take it off!’ Of course, chicken and waffles is nothing new. But I wanted to make it different, because someone else is always going to do it. When people think of that dish, they think fried chicken. Well, I don’t have a fryer. And when people think of a brewery, they automatically think of chicken wings, so we decided to go with that instead. I also wanted to do something unique with the syrup. I love the flavors when you combine Asian cooking with French or the South. We infused our syrup with ginger, lemongrass and a dash of soy sauce. And we sell so many of those things. This is what we’re looking for all the time. We didn’t want to do something too strange. We want it to be familiar to people, but when they pick it up at the window, they’re wowed.

FARM FANATIC Meyer lemon risotto with asparagus, parsnips, spring garlic, and Reggiano ($17) made by Chef Santos Majano of the Kitchen at Discretion. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER

Have new customers been receptive to the style of food you’re doing here? I have my mindset with what I want to do and what I believe, but I also know that when you walk into a brewery, most of the time there’s going to be a burger. But the truth is, that’s not our philosophy. There are already a ton of breweries out there where you can go and have that. I’m not against it, but if Discretion spends the time and puts the energy into sourcing the best ingredients to make the best beer, then I want to match that. They make beer right here, sourcing the best ingredients, and we do exactly the same thing. Our philosophy is identical. It’s almost like sharing the same brain.

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

You’ve always been a huge supporter of the farm-to-table movement. Why is it so important to you? I grew up in El Salvador, and I came to Monterey in 1997. It’s funny, I distinctly remember my mother telling me that dinner was ready, all I needed to do was grab it from the kitchen. And I didn’t want to. I was, like, I don’t want to go to the kitchen! But the connection to the farm was important to me. I worked with my dad and my brothers on our farm, where we were growing our own

squash, watermelons, green beans, corn, tomatoes … We would sell half of what we produced, and the other half we’d keep for the family. Now, looking back on what I had makes me appreciate so much. That’s why now when I go to the farmers market, I look at produce that was picked that morning or the day before and I can definitely appreciate that. I know it hasn’t traveled 300 miles to get there, it traveled 20 minutes for us to grab it and bring it to our kitchen. That connection to the farm has always been there, from when I was little.

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Cocktail Hour

Where to seek out Santa Cruz’s new mixology chic

fter several decades of silent consumers, who, (it was believed) preferred running given over to extenthe bitter edge taken off their cocktails. It’s sive wine tasting and craft beer hard to argue with the visual and sensual brewing, the cocktail boom is on appeal of vodka, Triple Sec, cranberry juice, in Santa Cruz. and sweetened lime juice. Pretty and pink. The origins of the term “cocktail” are lost As sophistication levels grew, patron desires in a vague haze of media hype and archival for the new drove the Cosmo to morph into a misprints, but it seems to have been used wide range of postmodern libations involving well before the characters created by Charles cranberry and lime. Mint, for example, Dickens got thoroughly added an herbal thrill. blitzed on rum punch BY CHRISTINA WATERS Gin replaced vodka for a and gin rickeys. So let’s deeper perfume of juniper. just say that for a good And cucumber reigns as 200 years thirsty patrons in search of highthe go-to vegetal collaborator. proof excitement turned to “mixed drinks” Fashionable new cocktails borrow their involving more than two ingredients to amuse appealing complexity from the addition their tastebuds and release their inhibitions. of unexpected change-ups of ingredients. The growing appeal of liquor-infused Blood orange, chilis, cucumber, saffron, drinks—with even the area’s top wine bar fruit purees. Others amp up their impact by poised to unveil its new liquor license—points adding more than one extra shade of liqueur. to a spiritual revival, with a 21st century Amaro plus vodka. Fernet plus hard cider emphasis on the botanical and artisanal. plus gin. See what I mean? At Oswald, responsive mixologists are So convinced was Santa Cruz entrepreneur always happy to give house cocktails a Sean Venus of the rising tide of high-proof customized spin. A bit less simple syrup, a cocktails that he recently opened the area’s hint more bitters, or perhaps the substitufirst distillery, making artisanal gins as well tion of basil for mint—the patron can help as tequila and bourbon. “I think the cocktail dial in their desires. I often ask for the and spirits craze is a natural evolution of Amorous to be made with Fernet Branca what we have seen in other culinary trends,” for a slightly bitter sparkle. The point is to he says. New flavors and the handmade create a complex artwork in a glass that can touch are noted by Venus as fueling this move through various flavor notes while the renaissance. patron lingers, sips, and lingers some more. “I think this has been building for quite The Cosmopolitan broke open the martini some time, but recent changes in legislation mold about 20 years ago to court female around the country has made it easier for a

18 >

2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

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small distiller to exist,” says Venus. “This has reinforced and accelerated the movement, as there are many more distillers today out there telling their story and sharing their spirits.” At 515 Kitchen & Cocktails, the upstairs bar works up uncanny cocktails with alchemical precision. The inventive cocktail menu suggests a science experiment in an heirloom garden. For example, the Garden Still is a blend of two gins, absinthe, Cynar, basil, and lemon. And my favorite, the Cantina Band, is stocked with St. George Terroir Gin, Fernet Branca, ginger beer, and lime juice. Disarming combinations, ecstasy for the mouth. Red, upstairs in the historic Santa Cruz Hotel, is on everyone’s shortlist of places to hang and sip a slow handcrafted cocktail. Serious martinis and cucumber Cosmos with basil are just the tip of the iceberg at this throbbing outpost of adult beverages. “We pride ourselves on creating original cocktails with fresh produce and house -infused spirits,” says general manager Taylor Fontana. “A few of our most popular cocktails would be our Cucumber Mojito

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

and the Naked and Famous.” Fontana notes the presence of organic mint in the mojito, and offers the recipe for the N&F: mezcal, peach liqueur, housemade honey syrup, habanero bitters, lime juice, and ginger beer. Blazing idea. At Aptos’ busy Kauboi Japanese Grill & Sushi Bar, another outpost of mixology, a signature hit is the Hinky Dink, involving no fewer than four liquors—vodka, pomegranate liqueur, limoncello, and Cointreau—as well as lemon juice and mint. The cocktail menu is astonishing. My mouth waters for the Mexican Elvis, a mix of Reposado tequila, Minero mezcal, Fernet Branca rinse, pineapple syrup, and lime. Ay caramba! At the surf saloon with a view— Aquarius, tucked inside the Dream Inn— theme cocktails rule. The Legend offers purists a classic martini starring Ketel One. But for a walk on the wild side many swear by the Aeronaut loaded with designer tequila, hibiscus, Cointreau, agave and cranberry. Seriously, how could you have any more fun for only $12?

MIXOLOGY PRIMER: THE PEGU CLUB Everyone has a favorite cocktail. Here’s the Pegu Club, a favorite of organic gin-smith Sean Venus. 1 1/2 ounces Venus Gin Blend No. 01 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce orange simple syrup* 2 dashes Angostura bitters Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and serve up with an orange twist. *Orange simple syrup: Combine sugar and water in a saucepan over medium high heat, 1-to-1 ratio. Add zest from one orange and stir until sugar is dissolved. Immediately remove from heat and strain. Store refrigerated.

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Whose Cider You On? Why hard ciders and sour ales are cool again BY CHRISTINA WATERS

e’ve been noticing sour ales and hard ciders making their way back onto enlightened wine and beer lists in California, thanks in part to the artisanal tinkering of handcrafters looking for something new and different. What goes around comes around, and in the case of hard cider, the new trend is indeed an ancient one. The French and English were cider aficionados since before the Norman Conquest, preferring the reliable flavor and cleanliness of fermented apple and pear juice to the

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

questionable pedigree of drinking water. In the late 18th century New World, a restless grower euphemistically dubbed “Johnny Appleseed” broadcast apple seeds as he worked his way west. But it wasn’t so that we could have big, fat, delicious apples to go with our lunches. It was for harvesting and fermenting into something with a few decibels of alcohol. So prevalent was hard cider as a mildly alcoholic beverage in the U.S. that during Prohibition the G-men actually ripped up apple orchards in an effort to prevent

zealous lawbreakers from making up a bit of hard cider. Paul Cocking of Gabriella Cafe serves Square Mile cider from Oregon. The flavor is crisp, dry and delicious. “It comes in 12-ounce bottles, which no one around here seems to be making,” Cocking notes. “People asking for it seem to just have developed a taste for it. It’s drier than beer and has less alcohol than wine.” Sour ales are another handcrafted item adding sex appeal to libation menus. I first tasted one of these distinctive creations at Assembly a few months ago, thanks to Zane Griffin, Assembly’s beverage manager. “Sour ales have been very popular in the recent craft beer movement,” says Griffin. “Using wild fermentation methods and pitching interesting yeast and bacterial strains coupled with breweries’ house ‘bugs,’ brewers are able to yield dynamic and interesting flavor profiles.” Griffin describes the sour results as offering notes of “barnyard funk, apricots, minerality, lemon, and slatey earthiness.” Michael Enos and Julie Rienhardt at Watsonville’s Elkhorn Slough Brewing Co. specialize in handmade wild and sour ales. They write: “We think the reason why these ales are becoming more popular is a byproduct of the general food and beverage revolution. People are recognizing more that fermented foods are good for you, so more people are experimenting with fermentation in general.” The duo made their first batch of spontaneously fermented hard cider by accident. “The resulting cider was so good, we decided to try using the wild yeast to make beer. We began experimenting and ended up making some very good award-winning barrel-aged beer,” write Enos and Rienhardt. The brewery’s award-winning June Bug is an example. “We produce this annually, after first making our base beer with our harvested wild yeast from the apples in the late fall, and then adding olallieberries from our garden in the summer to re-ferment the beer in the barrel.” Wild beer is different from sour beer. If the yeast is harvested from the natural environment, the beer can be called wild. “It produces some tartness and funkiness, but those characteristics are created naturally,” the Elkhorn brewers explain. Sour beer can use laboratory-produced yeast and bacteria. Griffin believes much of the allure of these new ales results from how beautifully “they complement the renaissance of artisan from-scratch food.”

1.2h

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POP-UP LUCK The Blue Lotus dish at Ulterior includes locally caught smoked sustainable sable fish on a bed of kimchi fried rice with blistered snap peas, a rice crisp, Miner’s lettuce, and borage flowers. PHOTO BY KEANA PARKER

Pop Life Instead of burning out, the pop-up trend has caught fire. Why does it work so well in Santa Cruz? BY LILY STOICHEFF

hen Tighe Melville and chef Zachary Mazi met in 2014, they set out to make the kind of food they felt was missing in Santa Cruz. LionFish SupperClub held regular pop-ups at the Food Lounge throughout 2015 and into 2016, featuring menus inspired by Asia, India, the Middle East and beyond, exploring these flavorful cuisines while making good use of “some of the best local ingredients in the world.” “There’s a hunger here for more diverse foods, and it’s just not available,” says Mazi. “What diners desire is shifting,” agrees Melville. “There are a lot of young foodies in Santa Cruz who grew up here and want more. I think pop-ups are addressing that demand. What’s cool, too, is a lot of businesses are embracing it. Midtown Cafe, the Food Lounge, MJA Winery, the breweries … They’re seeing there’s value in it.” LionFish SupperClub recently added a “permanent pop-up” called Ulterior, a brickand-mortar kitchen above Motiv, on Pacific Avenue, earlier this year. Mazi and Melville’s goal is to maintain the inherent playfulness of their food that is so well received by their fans in their new space. “We feel like we have this blank canvas to paint a more conceptual restaurant,” says Mazi. “California cuisine is kind of played out and there’s a lot of restaurants doing the same thing, but slightly different. Variance draws people to pop-ups—‘What are they doing this week? Let’s check it out!’” 24 >

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

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2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

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UP SWING Pop-ups work much differently than a typical restaurant. The service is almost always to-go, lines tend to be long and menus brief. Arrive late and you run the risk of seeing a heavy chalk mark across your favorite item after they’ve run out. But customers keep coming back for more of these adventurous eats, and more entrepreneurs are using this low-investment format to test the market waters. It was just a couple of years ago that local culinary entrepreneurs really began embracing the format. And rather than burning bright and then fading away, pop-ups have become a new norm. Locals seem eager to come out in droves for these gone-in-a-flash restaurants, whose service occurs over the course of a few intense hours on a single day, perhaps once a week or even more infrequently. Lines down the block have been typical in many spots, and yet no one really seems to mind. Assembly restaurant partners Zachary Davis and Kendra Baker were inspired by the underground food movement in San Francisco when they decided to turn an adjacent street-facing storefront into POPUP, a reconfigurable space that hosts a variety of food events. They knew pop-ups were taking off in the Santa Cruz food scene, and wanted to create an opportunity for them to do something more public in a certified kitchen, while still maintaining a spontaneous vibe. “Santa Cruz has a very creative entrepreneurial spirit, and it exists in the food world as well,” says Davis. “The issues we have around food trucks have pushed some of the people that might have gone in that direction into other lower-overhead ways of trying out their business. With a pop-up, they can experiment, learn, and test their product without the larger commitments of opening a restaurant.” Throughout 2015, Manresa Bread, the bakery offshoot of the Michelin-starred Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos, supplemented their farmers market appearances over the hill with weekly pop-ups at POPUP. Co-owner and head baker Avery Ruzicka says that that develop-

STRIKING GOLD Chef Zachary Mazi of LionFIsh SupperClub graduated from pop-ups to a kitchen of his own, Ulterior at Motiv, where he’s pictured here with a handful of locally harvested Miner’s lettuce. PHOTO BYKEANA PARKER

ment phase was crucial for her business. “It ended up being a testing ground for products that would end up in our own retail space. We could showcase them in the pop-up and get customer feedback, and our own feedback,” says Ruzicka. They chose to vend on Wednesdays in order to be a part of the downtown farmers market experience, albeit one street over. Says Ruzicka, “At a farmers market and at a pop-up, the line between producer and consumer is very thin. There is no line, you’re right

there with that person. That’s really attractive.” Overall, she found the Santa Cruz community extremely receptive to this kind of research and development, frequently selling out of their artisan breads and inventive pastries. “Santa Cruz has a very well-educated and adventurous, open community. People have the idea of life balance down, and it allows for moments of, ‘Hey, let’s try something new,’” she says. “Living in Santa Cruz turns something that could be mundane into a beautiful, wonderful 26 >

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CHICKEN SLINGIN’ Justin Williams and Danny Mendoza of Kickin Chicken use their weekly pop-ups at POPUP on Pacific Avenue to introduce new customers to their late-night delivery service. PHOTOS BY ZACHARY DAVIS <24

moment. One way to enjoy the moment is to go out to dinner, try something new, take a little bit of a risk.”

MAKING IT POP Customer outreach is crucial for any fledgling business, and the transient nature of pop-ups means chefs can bring their food to the customer. That’s a perfect system for Kickin Chicken friends Justin Williams and Danny Mendoza, who started frying chicken in their condo as a way to bring in some extra cash in 2014. Now, they use their popular feasts to introduce their product to potential new fans, who will hopefully get hooked and order their latenight delivery service, now prepared in a professional kitchen at the Food Lounge. So far, their methodology has worked. They’ve gone from being the self-described “drug lords of late-night chicken” to weekly pop-ups and catering to looking for a permanent location. Mendoza and Williams feel that while the brevity of pop-ups is innate to the form, the characteristic spontaneity is largely an illusion. They definitely want people to

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

show up. “Marketing is 90 percent of the work,” says Mendoza. “The instantaneous marketing where you send out a tweet or an Instagram post and say, ‘I’ll be here in an hour’ only works for food trucks. It doesn’t work for us,” adds Williams. Consistency is also key. Pop-ups allow for more creativity than a chef might normally have in a brick-and-mortar restaurant, but if a customer falls in love with a dish, they’ll keep coming back for more. “Getting a consistent menu has helped us out so much, because people know what to expect and what to order from you. We have people who have ordered every week for a year, more than a year, and sometimes they’ll order a new thing, but they’ll always get the chicken,” says Mendoza. “Doing something unique is important, too,” says Williams. “I think it would be really hard to do, like, a barbecue pop-up or a burger pop-up, because that’s already readily available here. You have to do something different, and you have to do it really, really well.” Zane Griffin, who manages POPUP, is always looking for movers in the backyard food scene to bring into the light.

“There’s this underground food culture wherever you go. We see and read about brick-and-mortar places, but there’s a lot of other stuff going on off the books that’s really cool too, and I’ve been talking to those people. I can’t really say who, because they don’t have their permitting together, but that’s who we’re trying to work with and help out.” He believes that part of the appeal of this kind of dining harkens back to street food culture, which he doesn’t see in Santa Cruz, where you walk down the street and stop just because something smells good. He believes that as people continue to become more familiar with the format, more delicious things will come. “The pop-up scene is in its infancy. It’s learning to walk. People are still getting used to the concept, both cooks and consumers, but there’s a lot of excitement and interest from the community, which is awesome,” says Griffin. “I think it’s important to have something fresh and surprising. It’s only going to get more exciting and busier as the food artisans of the community start to crawl out of the woodwork and make an impression.”

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2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

GUT FEELING Santa Cruz’s Farmhouse Culture expands its fermented empire with Gut Shot probiotic drinks BY JOSIE COWDEN

hen Santa Cruz’s Kathryn Lukas started her sauerkraut company Farmhouse Culture, it was an instant success. Naturally probiotic and delicious, sauerkraut adds raw organic goodness and a burst of tangy flavor to all kinds of dishes, and Lukas found fermented favor with flavors like Classic Caraway and Horseradish Leek.

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

Now, Farmhouse Culture has come out with a line of probiotic drinks called Gut Shot—all made with cabbage. Organic, vegan and glutenfree, with no added sugar, Gut Shots come in flavors such as Kimchi, Garlic Dill Pickle, Smoked Jalapeño, and, my favorite, Ginger Beet. While most people know about the health benefits of eating cabbage in the form of sauerkraut, drinking

flavored cabbage water might sound a bit out there. But its salty goodness is surprisingly tasty, proponents say it aids digestion and boosts the immune system. Farmhouse Culture’s sauerkraut and Gut Shot drinks can be found at most local farmers markets and food stores such as Staff of Life and New Leaf. Visit farmhouseculture.com for more info.

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Offering spectacular oceanfront dining just off the beach in Santa Cruz. The restaurant and Jack O’Neill Lounge is truly a “window box on the sea”. Come enjoy local wine, craft beer and our seasonal menu. Book a table at opentable.com or 831.460.5012 175 WEST CLIFF DRIVE, SANTA CRUZ 2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

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hat better way for visitors and locals to experience our superb wineries than with a guided wine tour? Started by Seth Kinman in January, Mountains to the Bay Wine Tours takes guests on informative and upbeat trips in the Santa Cruz Mountains, exploring some of California’s breathtaking scenery along the way. Couples, groups and private parties can enjoy a relaxing time together without having to worry about driving after enjoying several flights of wine. “I grew up here and started the company to bring real quality to the wine tours,” Kinman says. “I love taking people

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

Mountains to the Bay Wine Tours offers a new way to experience local vineyards BY JOSIE COWDEN

around and showing them the beauty of the area—just enjoying the day and the weather and having a good time.” Kinman gained a wealth of experience doing wine tours for almost 10 years with another company before launching out on his own. “It’s been encouraging because I’m doing really well,” he says, adding that he expects the peak season, May through November, to be especially fruitful. “Harvest is my favorite time to be out there,” Kinman says. “It’s a favorite time for everybody.” For more information, visit mountainstothebay.com, or call 275-4445.

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GRAPE DINE

How to take the intimidation factor out of cooking with wine BY JUNE SMITH

here is nothing mysterious about cooking with wine; it is as basic as salt or lemon juice. Along with flavor and aroma, wine also contributes vitamins and minerals. The wine you plan to drink with dinner can be a good one to use in preparing food. Don’t be afraid to use your best wine; the end result in the sauce or stew will be all the better for it. And the contrary is also true: if you wouldn’t drink it, then don’t add it to your food.

When cooking with wine, remember that the sugars, acids and tannins will show up on the plate, while the sublter characteristics will fade. Scan your recipe for acidic ingredients like vinegar or citrus, and cut back a tad to allow room for the acid in the wine—especially if cooking with white wine. A dry, non-oaked wine works best for fish or vegetables, and a full-bodied, less dry red or white works well with dishes that already contain lots of sugars.

If used to marinate or tenderize, add wine in the beginning. Mild acids have a tenderizing effect on meat through lengthy marinating or long, slow simmering. If the end result is to retain the fresh flavor in the food, add wine to the dish just before serving. Michael Clark, owner-chef of Michael’s on Main in Soquel, cooks with wine on a regular basis and would like to see the myth that alcohol remains in the finished dish dispelled once and for all. In fact, the 34 >

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

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S U S TA I N A B L E FOOD & DRINK NEWS

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THE FIELD

2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

PRAISE FOR BRAISE Winemaker Richard Alfaro says that slow-cooking meat in a nice Pinot Noir makes for a rich and satisfying beef Bourguignon.

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alcohol evaporates, leaving behind only the delightful wine flavor and aroma. An exception to this rule is desserts, where wine can provide the extra kick needed to balance the richness in the dish. Winemaker Richard Alfaro loves to cook, and when grocery shopping, hits several independently owned stores. His wife Mary Kay says she hasn’t had to make a meal in 30 years. “My favorite way to cook with wine is braising,” he says. “Slow cooking in a nice Pinot Noir makes for a rich and satisfying meal.” Alfaro believes the quickest way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach. “I have been known to try to cook my way out of trouble while in the dog house,”

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

he says. “Once I spent the whole day cooking, hoping to mend things with a gourmet meal, and felt sure I was out of the dog house. Then Mary Kay said, ‘Enjoy sleeping on the couch tonight!’” Tim Slater, proprietor of Sarah’s Vineyard, studied at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, and is an intermediate level credentialed chef. While in classes, he observed that French chefs give scientific reasons for why things should be done in a specific way—and that the art of cooking is not all that different from the art of winemaking. “There is a strong overlap between winemaking and cooking, as technique is critical in both,” says Slater. “Top chefs use the best ingredients, sometimes

sourcing them from specific places, and winemakers spend hours in the vineyard so as to make the best possible harvest decisions. The choice of barrels is important, as different woods provide different nuances of flavor, and are the spice rack of the finished product.” At winery functions, Slater demands that his preferred caterers prepare food that is “a step above.” So it’s no wonder, at a philosophical level, that wine should be a natural part of cooking—after all, winemakers are constantly thinking about food. “When I make the wines,” says Jim Cargill, winemaker at House Family Vineyards, “I envision what I will want to eat with them in five years and beyond.”

Dining Days A CALENDAR OF THE MOST ENTICING LOCAL FOOD EVENTS AND FESTIVALS ARTISAN FOOD MARKET AT FOOD LOUNGE

WESTSIDE MARKET POP-UP BREAKFAST

The Santa Cruz Food Lounge has been a major hub for Santa Cruz’s emerging pop-up food culture. Every second Friday of the month, the Food Lounge comes alive with the Artisan Food Market. Pop in for a signature cocktail, wine, beer or cider after work, buy some artisan gifts for the foodies in your life, and have some dinner or take it to go. The Artisan Food Market also includes live music and locally made jewelry and crafts.

Pan-griddled walnut-vanilla bean French toast. Grilled wild salmon filet brioche with farm egg and greens. Drooling yet? Grab your own plate and silverware, that’s only the first few items off this year’s Pop-Up Breakfast menu on May 28. Four monthly breakfast events at the Westside and Scotts Valley markets where local chefs fuse sensational medleys of simple cuisine with seasonal ingredients from farms represented at the market. Each breakfast connects locals to farmers, chefs to landscapes, and healthy stomachs to happy hearts.

Info: 4-8 p.m. Second Friday of the month. Santa Cruz Food Lounge, 1001 Center St., Suite One, Santa Cruz.

Info: 9:30 a.m., Saturday, May 28. Westside Farmers Market, Western Drive and Mission Street, Santa Cruz. santacruzfarmersmarket.org. 831-325-4294. $37. 2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

Dining Days

FOODSHED PROJECT FARMERS MARKETS POP-UPS If all schools combined learning with food incentives, we might have a whole new generation of engaged students, albeit wellrounded ones (healthy incentives only, of course!). The FoodShed Project is doing it all with its community education and outreach programs at Santa Cruz farmers markets. Free and family friendly, they host events at the downtown farmers markets on the second Wednesday of each month between June and September. This year’s menu kicks off with “Pie in the Sky” on June 8 with a focus on local strawberry history and “Cowabunga!” on July 13, with a “you make-it and taste-it” meat demo. Info: 3 p.m., Wednesday, June 8, Downtown Farmers Market, Center and Lincoln streets, Santa Cruz. santacruzfarmersmarket.org/ campaigns/the-food-shed-project. Free.

7TH ANNUAL HOP N’ BARLEY FESTIVAL Local craft beer and cider production is booming, and the 7th annual Hop N’ Barley Festival is a joyous two-day celebration of the delicious homegrown libation. On Saturday, June 25,

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

festival goers can choose from 60 local and regional breweries and 10 cider companies in an unlimited tasting from noon-4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 25 presents the Beer Masters Cup, in which amateur and professional home brewers compete for the Best in Show Beer. The festival also runneth over with live music on two stages, food, beer games, and a dog-friendly atmosphere. Info: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 25 and 12 p.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, June 26. Skypark, 361 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley. $5 for Non-tasters, otherwise $40/Saturday, $20/Sunday, $55/Two-Day. Children under 10 free. hopnbarley.org.

WINE PASSPORT DAYS Here in Santa Cruz, we kind of have the best of everything. Not only has the local craft beer scene exploded, but our wines are nothing to whine about—taste for yourselves with the Wine Passport from the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association. On the third Saturdays of July, November, January, and April, tasters with a passport can steep in the local history of vintners and dive into more than 50 wineries throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. Info: Noon-5 p.m., Saturday, July 16. scmwa.com. $55.

SANTA CRUZ GREEK FESTIVAL

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FAIR

Didn’t get enough Greek goodness in May? Fear not, the Santa Cruz Greek Festival has got even more to dish out with music by the Spartan Band, authentic food, folk dancing and more. Eat, drink, shop, and dance till you drop with Santa Cruz’s best street festival that will get you saying opa!

Deep-fried everything. Need we say more?

Info: Friday-Sunday, Sept. 9-11, Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, Santa Cruz. livelikeagreek.com. Free.

34TH ANNUAL CAPITOLA ART & WINE FESTIVAL Bask in the Capitola sunshine with eats, arts, and more than 20 wineries from the Santa Cruz mountains. For the little ones there’ll be juice tasting, craft projects and music with MusicalMe and Music Together. Full schedule available online. Info: Saturday - Sunday, Sept. 10-11, Capitola Village, Capitola. capitolaartandwine.com. Free.

Info: Sept. 14-18, Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E Lake Ave., Watsonville. santacruzcountyfair.com. $5-$10.

MOLE & MARIACHI FESTIVAL Just because it’s tucked up in the Santa Cruz Mission Adobe State Historic Park’s grounds, out of sight, don’t let the Mole & Mariachi Festival remain out of mind! In its swift ascent to a Santa Cruz summer staple, the festival is a battle among the best in local mole—and it’s stiff competition. Last year’s festival drew nearly 4,000 people and winners included My Mom’s Mole and Mama Marquita’s. A full-on party, the festival boasts a colorful celebration with dancing, music, and mojigangas (giant puppets) and is a benefit for the nonprofit Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Info: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, Santa Cruz Mission Adobe State Historic Park, 144 School St., Santa Cruz. Tasting kits $10.

2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

Dining Days

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12TH ANNUAL GOURMET GRAZING ON THE GREEN

7TH ANNUAL SANTA CRUZ BOARDWALK CHILI COOK-OFF

California cows are known to be happy—so why not join them on the green with some perfect midsummer grazing? Do so in style with a day of fine wine, gourmet grub from local restaurants and live music. Organized by the Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group, proceeds benefit local organizations that help individuals with cancer, including Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services and Hospice of Santa Cruz County.

Revel in the tastiest of comfort foods with one of the most locally beloved Boardwalk events, the annual Chili Cook-Off. Who will win this year’s competition? You decide. Professional and amateur chefs provide the finest in Amateur Red, Amateur Vegetarian Red, Professional Red, and Professional Vegetarian Red. A portion of the proceeds go to the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center.

Info: Saturday, Sept. 24, Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos. sccbg.org/events.

Info: Saturday, Oct. 22. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. beachboardwalk.com/chili. Tasting kit $9.

33RD ANNUAL HOSPICE OKTOBERFEST

12TH ANNUAL ‘A TASTE OF SANTA CRUZ’

Dust off the dirndls and lederhosen, Bavaria’s best export is back. The Friends of Hospice present their 33rd annual Oktoberfest with plates and plates of German-inspired grub, music, cash prizes, silent and live auctions and more. Check website for event details and upcoming date.

Ever wish you could just sample all of Santa Cruz’s best food options in one place instead of having to trek all over the county to figure it out? You can: what began as a fundraiser to raise funds for low-income first-time home buyers through the Housing Foundation’s Closing Cost Assistance Grant Program, the annual Taste of Santa Cruz event puts it all on the table.

Info: Date TBA. Scotts Valley Community Center, 360 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley. Hospicesantacruz.org. Free.

Info: 5:30-9 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 10, Cocoanut Grove, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. $40.

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016

island

grill

EXPERIENCE ALOHA IN S A N TA C R U Z ! Happy Hour & Outdoor Dining & Hawaiian Cuisine

Happy Hour at Hula’s

Pupus • Tiki Drinks • Wine by the Glass MON 4:30-6pm TUES 2-close WED-SUN 2-6pm

831.426.HULA

221 Cathcart Street • Downtown Santa Cruz www.hulastiki.com 2016 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM | FOOD & DRINK

B E R L R A I E C S O L ARE

HERE!

It’s local strawberry season and we think that’s cause for celebration. These sweet treats are picked at their peak and delivered daily. Try our grab n’ go Strawberry Shortcake Cup today!

www.newleaf.com 40

Westside Santa Cruz • Downtown Santa Cruz • Capitola Pleasanton • Half Moon Bay • Felton • Boulder Creek

FOOD & DRINK | SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | 2016