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EAT THIS: FILET MIGNON & BONE MARROW TACO AT JOHNNY’S HARBORSIDE
After 20 years in the Santa Cruz Harbor, seafood restaurant Johnny’s Harborside is entering a new phase of life. Longtime part-owner Ciera Kash has taken the reins, and former Alderwood executive chef Jeffrey Wall returned to the area to revive the menu.
Over the past three months, Wall and Kash have reinvented the food and atmosphere at Johnny’s, crafting precise yet playful takes on familiar dishes like chilled shrimp Louie salad, a Dungeness crab sandwich, and fish and chips made with local halibut, while staying true to the soul of this neighborhood haunt that’s beloved by fishers and harbor residents.
Johnny’s has become a very good restaurant any day of the week, but Wall’s creativity shines on Taco Tuesdays, when Johnny’s puts aside its regular menu in favor of a collection of Mexican specials. Although Wall inherited this weekly tradition, he took a straightforward list of common Mexican dishes and ran miles and miles away with it, ultimately resulting in the most delightful and thoughtful compositions I’ve ever eaten off of a tortilla.
Among the list of 10 à la carte tacos, there are no losers, but the carnivorous filet mignon taco with bone marrow ($12) is a knockout. I’ve seen all manner of innards and gizzards in a taco, from tongue to stomach to spleen, but nothing so decadent and utterly beefy as scooping marrow from the bone over medium-rare steak, with warm, bursting heirloom tomatoes and addictive, crunchy salsa macha – Mexico’s version of chili crisp.
Read the full story about Johnny’s journey here.
BEST OF THE WEEK AHEAD
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 food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed.
- Verve Coffee workers in Santa Cruz, San Francisco push to unionize on Labor Day (Lookout)
- ‘We don’t see those benefits’: Verve faces employee pushback over 5% health benefits fee (Lookout)
- Chefs bring punk rock energy, wood-fired dishes to Death Box pop-up in former Alderwood (Lookout)
- Ribbon cut at La Bahia: Santa Cruz’s most opulent hotel set to welcome guests Sept. 8 (Lookout)
