Quick Take
Santa Cruz’s restaurant community is rallying behind longtime Gabriella Café chef Gema Cruz, who is undergoing treatment for metastatic breast cancer, with a star-studded fundraising dinner on Nov. 16. Some of the region’s most celebrated chefs — all Gabriella alumni — will reunite in the cozy downtown restaurant’s kitchen to create a five-course feast.
The restaurant community is banding together to support a local chef facing breast cancer with a fundraising dinner in mid-November studded with Santa Cruz-area culinary stars.
On Nov. 16, at least five chefs will collaborate on a five-course feast at Gabriella Café in Santa Cruz to support head chef Gema Cruz. Cruz has worked at the iconic farm-to-table downtown restaurant for nearly 30 years, starting as a prep cook in the late 1990s and eventually becoming head chef. Earlier this year, shortly after opening Gabrielita Tamaleria on Pacific Avenue in January – featuring tamales and other regional recipes from Cruz’ native Oaxaca, Mexico – Cruz was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She took a leave from the restaurant in April to undergo chemotherapy treatments and radiation.
Chefs Kendra Baker, Brad Briske, Jim Denevan, Katherine Stern and Rebecca King will each prepare a course for the dinner, and chef Jessica Yarr will make a baked treat for supporters to take home.
Cruz’s tenure at the restaurant has spanned three decades, and she became the head chef eight years ago. “Gema has been a rock at Gabriella for as long as I can remember,” said King. “She’s a part of the Santa Cruz kitchen world, and we want to make sure that she’s taken care of in her hour of need.”
Since 1992, the cozy, European-style space has become an incubator for Santa Cruz-area talent. All of the chefs participating in the fundraiser worked at Gabriella Café at one time, and later went on to establish their own successful enterprises. Briske is the chef and owner of Home restaurant in Soquel, and Denevan began the groundbreaking Outstanding in the Field traveling dinner series. In 2023, Stern opened The Midway, a Midtown restaurant with a highly seasonal menu, and Baker is the co-founder of The Penny Ice Creamery and co-owner of The Picnic Basket. King operates Monkeyflower Ranch in Aromas, where she produces sheep and goat milk cheese under the label Garden Variety Cheese, and Yarr is the owner of plant-forward breakfast and lunch spot The Grove Café & Bakery in Felton.
It’s the first time all of these chefs have worked together under one roof, said King, who led the kitchen at Gabriella Café from 2005 to 2007. “Gabriella Café has been around a long time, and there’s a lot of alumni. It’s a tribute to how much Gema means to everyone that they stepped up to help,” she said, and noted that Cruz’s sisters and brother also work at the restaurant.
“We’ve all worked with Gema. I first worked there in 1999, and she was there then,” said Stern, who was a line cook at Gabriella Café from 1999 until 2001. “She’s a lovely person, with a lovely family. We all know her and want to be supportive.”
“When I think about Gema, I think of her smiling,” said Denevan. He hired Cruz during his 11-year tenure as Gabriella’s head chef, starting just a few weeks after the restaurant opened through 2005, when he left to pursue Outstanding in the Field full time. “She loves to cook for people and brings so much of herself, her warmth. I’m excited to hopefully raise some money and let her know that we love care about her. ”
The event starts at 5 p.m. with appetizers and a raffle, followed by a seated dinner at 5:30 pm. Tickets are $200 per person, and limited to 50 people. All of the proceeds will go to supporting Cruz, and guests can make reservations by calling the restaurant, said Gabriella Café owner Paul Cocking.
910 Cedar St., Santa Cruz; 831-457-1677; gabriellacafe.com.
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