Sunday Brunch: You’re Invited To Add One!, By Ron Kustek

FEATURED COLUMNIST Sunday Brunch: You’re Invited To Add One!

Since things have opened up, we’re all trying to get back to the way things were. But after having friends in town on multiple occasions for the weekends, we were amazed that no one is offering Sunday Brunch anymore! Seriously?

So that we’re all on the same page, let’s make sure we have the common understanding of Brunch. According to Wikipedia, Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch, and regularly has some form of alcoholic drink (most usually champagne or a cocktail) served with it. It is usually served between 10 o’clock in the morning and midday.

The word is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. Brunch originated in England in the late 19th century and became popular in the United States in the 1930s.

Oxford defines brunch as “a late morning meal eaten instead of breakfast and lunch”. So brunch means a different meal than breakfast or lunch — so just offering the same breakfast items on Sundays, or the same lunch menu on Sundays, is not brunch.

For customers: Good luck finding

Café Sparrow once had what many considered the best champagne brunch in all of Santa Cruz County, but they’ve decided to remain closed on Sundays.

Equally confusing is the choice of our local resorts Chaminade & Sanderlings, which only open on Sundays at 11:30 a.m. with their standard lunch menu, just like Palapas and Persephone in Aptos Paradise Beach Grille and the Shadowbrook Restaurant in Capitola.

East End Gastropub and The Crow’s Nest DO serve brunch on BOTH Saturdays and Sundays along with The Harbor Café’s daily breakfast & specials.

Additionally, Parish Publick House in Aptos is planning on bringing back their Sunday brunch (no specific date promised).

For businesses: What happened to yours?

For you business owners this question should be food for thought, as breakfasts and/or brunch offerings are usually the most profitable meals a restaurant can serve.

Also, we are not talking about a ‘brunch buffet’ as this mode of eating will not likely be an option anytime soon.

The question becomes, as there is so much pent-up demand for eating out, socializing and for supporting local small businesses, then why aren’t more of our nicer sit-down restaurants offering a Sunday Brunch? I guess they’ve chosen to leave this market opportunity to a few of our local cafes and diners.

If one did a simple yelp search for “Best Sunday Champagne Brunch in Santa Cruz” you’d find that many of the places listed don’t have a brunch at all, let alone on Sunday, or a Champagne Brunch. Then again, this is so Yelp can charge those establishments for every click one does to get more details.

Nonetheless, this simple search can show a simple opportunity, for locals and tourists alike, who are thirsty and hungry customers waiting for some of our better full-service dining establishments to satisfy this business opportunity!

Now, perhaps when this article was written mid-June, some of the establishments mentioned may have been planning their new Sunday Brunch menu, so I may have missed some business and if so, I welcome hearing from you! n •••

By Ron Kustek

Ron Kustek is a former senior marketing executive at The Cola-Cola Co., and entrepreneur who is currently teaching business at Cabrillo College. Contact him at RoKustek@ Cabrillo.edu

“Pro: Rail & Trail” from page 23

Imagine traveling stress free and car free between where you live and San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles or anywhere else in CA or the USA.(11)

So what should happen to the rail corridor? We should use it for transit service and a great trail!

Pausing this project threatens our ability to address worsening traffic and congestion, address climate change and improve the quality of life in our community.

It is clear expanded transit, especially rail transit, is a priority for funding at the state and federal level. We threaten our ability to bring this money home by not moving forwards.

Join Friends of the Rail & Trail, the Sierra Club, Bike Santa Cruz County, Youth for Climate Justice, the City Council of Santa Cruz, the City Council of Watsonville, the Monterey/Santa Cruz Counties Building & Construction Trades Council, the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party Central Committee, the Pajaro Valley Cesar Chavez Democratic Club, the Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County Environmental Committee, the San Lorenzo Valley Women’s Club Environmental Committee, the Campus Democrats at UCSC, and Roaring Camp Railroads and many other local organizations and businesses in promoting a rail and trail today! n

1-Predicted travel times between destinations from the RTFS are: Watsonville — Santa Cruz 40 minutes; Aptos Village — Santa Cruz 18 minutes; Capitola Village — Santa Cruz 11 minutes. 2-County of Santa Cruz — Greenhouse gas emissions Inventories and emissions reduction targets. Tables 2.1 and 2.2. http://www.sccoplanning. com/Portals/2/County/Planning/policy/Climate%20 Action%20Strategy/2.0.pdf?ver=Ez5JfoXNLQ2WS8wjOCC_Q%3d%3d 3-TCAA/RNIS Table 5.21 Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions 4-EPA Equivalency Calculator https://www.epa. gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator

5-Fact sheet for the Current Rail Trail Plan https://sccrtc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FactSheet_MBSST_Coastal-Rail-Trail.pdf 6-$41M estimated cost to reverse policy. UCIS Appendix B, Table B-13: Trail Only 7-Pre-covid METRO annual reports indicate there are about 5,000,000 annual boardings on the bus 2 system or about 13,700 boardings per day. The TCAA/RNIS (Table 5.19) predicts adding LRT will increase use of public transit countywide to 34,300 boardings per day. Doing the math: 34,300 / 13,700 = 250% 8-See highest priority item 30 in the 2021 Final Draft Unmet Paratransit and Transit Needs prepared by 6 the Elderly and Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee of the RTC. Linked here: https:// sccrtc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Final-DraftUnmet-Needs-List-w-RTC-edits.pdf 9-TCAA/RNIS Table 5.9: Safety Performance Measures 10-https://www.flipsnack.com/sctrafficsafety/ the-impact-of-traffic-violence-on-santa-cruz-county.html 11-2018 SRP and TAMC’s RNIS both illustrate the future regional and state rail networks to which the 12Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line connects at the Watsonville Junction “Con: Rail & Trail” from page 23

“Building Greenway would be a huge benefit for alternative, safe transportation in our county,” he said. “You could quickly and safely get across town--choosing a bike would far outweigh sitting in traffic. Currently, cutting through town is a zigzag of roads and mixed bike lanes. It’s dangerous and not friendly for kids. I really hope one day I’m able to hop on a bike with my family and use this path.”

The list of surfers and ocean-minded watermen and waterwomen are the vanguard of rising support for Santa Cruz County Greenway.

Unite with them in their support for the creation of an environmentally friendly, affordable and safe Greenway, which will be used for transportation and recreational purposes for generations to come. Interested community members can learn more at https://sccgreenway.org/ endorsers and add their name to the Greenway petition that already has more than 10,000 signatures. n