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EAT THIS: The Bigfoot Sandwich at The Grove in Felton
I have eaten lots of vegan meals in Santa Cruz County over the past few weeks and some of them have been very good. (You can check out my stories on Copal’s mole negro and Bookie’s plant-based pizza and maitake mushroom wings from earlier this month.) But I haven’t craved anything the way I’ve been craving the Bigfoot sandwich ($15) at the Grove Café and Bakery in Felton.
This simple but substantial sandwich is filled with crunchy sliced sweet potato, fresh pea shoots, plenty of avocado and a zippy scallion “aioli” made with aquafaba on thick toasted slices of luxurious homemade sourdough bread. It feels fresh and alive, but also cozy and satisfying, and it’s entirely plant-based.
The thing is, the Grove isn’t a vegan café, or even meat-free. Chef Jessica Yarr describes her menu as “plant-forward,” where plant-based ingredients take center stage and animal products play a supporting role. Vegan items like the Bigfoot blend seamlessly into the menu, alongside items like a vegetarian reuben sandwich with smoked beets and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a homemade biscuit.
Read more about the Grove and Yarr’s “plant-forward” cooking philosophy on Lookout.
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Best of the Weekend
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
News of the week
ICYMI – Here are the food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed, plus important news from beyond our borders picked by yours truly.
- Dolphin Restaurant, damaged in December storm surge, awaits its fate on Santa Cruz Wharf (Lookout)
- Bookie’s elevates plant-based pizza and vegan ‘wings’ from afterthought to stars (Lookout)
- Uber Just Shut Down Its $1 Billion Alcohol Delivery Service (Eater SF)
- Farms fuel California’s food surplus (Axios)
- Reviving the Classic American Burger (The New Yorker)