Alderwood loosens its tie under new chef Mikey Adams

A few days before Alderwood Santa Cruz reopened under the helm of new executive chef Mikey Adams in mid-June, my eyebrows rose to the top of my forehead when I saw its new menu. All evidence of Alderwood’s previous iteration has been wiped clean and replaced with an entirely new vision. 

Gone was the long list of à la carte prime cuts of beef, some reaching into triple digits in price, which were its foundation under Alderwood’s former chef, Jeffrey Wall, who departed in March. The additional sauces and sides – available for a supplemental fee – disappeared, along with most of its raw bar and all of its former flagships: the hen of the woods, the potato wedges, and the burger. 

In its place, Adams’ menu is a compact list of three fresh oysters, five appetizers and five entrees, plus two “reserve” dishes – a salt and pepper barramundi with ramps ($50) and a rib-eye with porcinis and black truffle jus ($95) – and three desserts. 

The drink list also lost a lot of weight. The leather-bound beverage book of Wall’s day, once filled with a cumbersome number of cocktails (none of them alcohol-free), reserve spirits, beers and $20-and-up wines by the glass and numerous bottles, has been trimmed to a manageable single page. The list of wines by the glass, all from California or France, now has a few more-affordable offerings, including a Provencal rosé ($16) and an oceanic, citrusy albarino from San Luis Obispo ($18). Its list of spirited cocktails, many of which rang a bell from meals at its short-lived sister restaurant Alderwood Pacific, now includes three zero-proof drinks, too. 

In effect, it feels like Adams has loosened the tie on Alderwood’s shirt, and appears to be trying to cultivate a more relaxed atmosphere at Santa Cruz’s only restaurant mentioned in the Michelin Guide. There’s even a vegetarian sandwich ($23) on the entree list, which vibes more “bistro” than “Michelin star.” The feeling extended through the dining room, where intimate two- and four-tops replaced the large round group tables, and the servers, who previously wore pressed dress shirts and slacks, now simply wear black. 

This unbuttoning of buttoned-up fine-dining restaurants is taking place throughout the industry. Customers collectively seem to be tiring from multi-hundred-dollar tasting menu experiences in favor of more reasonable price points and time commitments. Three-Michelin-starred Quince in San Francisco and two-Michelin-starred Commis in Oakland are both part of a growing number of fine-dining restaurants that have introduced shorter and less expensive tasting menus and à la carte options. 

It’s unclear whether Alderwood’s change was brought about by management seeking to turn over a new leaf for the 4-year-old restaurant, or due to Adams’ own aesthetic. Alderwood declined an interview with Lookout, and declined to set up a time for Lookout to take photos.

It’s too bad, because the food circulating around the dining room was stunning. The dishes I tried had none of the over-tweezed stuffiness that Wall’s Alderwood occasionally slid into, but retained the technique-driven elegance that sets the downtown restaurant apart from its neighbors.

A dark and delicate nori cracker somehow supported slices of blush-colored raw kampachi ($16), its buttery flesh briefly kissed by Alderwood’s live-fire hearth and amplified with vivid green herbs and heated bites of Fresno chili. 

Adams elevates a plate of humble cacio e pepe pasta ($32) with dramatic squid ink-infused homemade rigatoni dusted in a ghostly flurry of Parmesan cheese. The fat, rustic noodles were bound in a silky sauce with an assertive peppery heat that still allowed the nutty, woodsy flavor of black truffle to shine through. 

The grilled trout ($36) uses the descriptor with a light hand – the still-raw fish couldn’t have spent more than a few seconds over direct heat – but its supple flesh was a divine foil to the other textures present in the dish: the crunch of seeds, the occasional wet, briny pop of roe, and comforting crispness of potatoes. 

The rib-eye on the reserve list is a showstopper, a steak for people for whom such decadent cuts are synonymous with celebration. Squat, glossy porcini mushrooms crowned well-seared hunks of flesh, reclining in a moody black truffle jus and sweet summer corn.  

Lest all that fine food lull you into a heady sense of luxury, Alderwood’s dessert menu will ground you back in reality, with playful finishes that include a twirling tower of soft serve ($18) glazed with caramel and cocoa nibs, and a creme brulée ($18) topped with torched slices of pineapple. 

Its strong reentry was not without small flaws. While the menu’s simplicity is refreshing, it bordered on too lean. A few more choices would be appropriate and welcome. The cacio e pepe was mesmerizing, but slightly too al dente, and the portion was small to be a main course. I’m also curious whether Adams plans to bring back the chef’s counter, a special dining experience where guests are treated to multiple chef-prepared courses. Will Adams’ menu, and Alderwood, keep evolving? Time and return visits will tell. 

155 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz; alderwoodsantacruz.com. 

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