Quick Take
“Quit my job today. Call me if you want good food,” Jeffrey Wall wrote Friday on Instagram. It’s unclear why Wall left Alderwood or who will take the reins of the Santa Cruz fine-dining restaurant now that he’s gone.
Alderwood Santa Cruz executive chef Jeffrey Wall has suddenly departed from the downtown fine-dining restaurant where he had worked since it opened at the end of 2018.
“Quit my job today. Call me if you want good food,” Wall said simply Friday in a post on his Instagram account that has now expired.
It’s unclear why Wall left, whether he plans to stay in the Santa Cruz area, or who will take the reins of the restaurant now that he’s gone. Alderwood is the only restaurant in the city of Santa Cruz listed in the prestigious Michelin Guide, an organization that ranks the best restaurants in the world.
In a text message to Lookout on Sunday, Wall declined to comment on the reason for his departure. “I am focusing on private events, private cooking classes, and commercial photography as I move forward,” he wrote.
Sam Woods, the executive director of operations at Santa Cruz Sky, Alderwood’s parent company, confirmed that Wall has left. “Although we are saddened by his departure, we wish him all the best on his future endeavors,” Woods told Lookout via email. “Despite this change, Alderwood will remain committed to serving this community with the same level of dedication and excellence that we are known for.” Woods hinted that she will announce “exciting plans” for Alderwood in the coming weeks.
Wall came to Santa Cruz in 2018 from Atlanta to open Alderwood, having already opened several restaurants that earned national attention, including Atlanta’s Kimball House. He and owner Ahmed Hamdy opened Alderwood later that year in December. Wall was also the chief culinary officer of Santa Cruz Sky, Alderwood’s parent company, of which Hamdy is the chief executive officer.
In an interview with Lookout in 2022, Woods said Santa Cruz Sky aims to revitalize Santa Cruz County’s dining scene. Its business portfolio includes Flashbird, a fast-casual craft fried chicken restaurant with locations in Santa Cruz, Pleasure Point and Scotts Valley, in-house bakery Buns & Sons, and organic hot sauce brand Burn.
Wall’s abrupt departure Friday is the third major upset to the company since it opened four years ago. In 2020, the company fired an off-duty employee dining at the restaurant after he and a group of patrons got into a physical fight. The controversial decision led at least half of Alderwood’s staff to quit in response as outrage boiled over onto social media.
Then, in 2023, Santa Cruz Sky opened Alderwood Pacific in downtown Santa Cruz, a more casual sibling to the upscale Alderwood Santa Cruz located just a few blocks away on Walnut Avenue. The restaurant was highly anticipated, but closed suddenly just six months later, citing a disagreement with its landlord. The company at first said the closure was “temporary,” but recently confirmed to Lookout that it is permanently closed.
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