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Eat this: Vegan pie & maitake wings at Bookie’s
This month, I’m on the hunt for the best plant-based eats in Santa Cruz County, and every week in this column, I’ll share a great vegan meal that I think should appeal to anyone, regardless of diet.
Chef Todd Parker at Bookie’s, his restaurant inside Sante Adairius Rustic Ales’ Santa Cruz Portal, delivers a delicious vegan experience in a package I never thought it could come in: pizza and wings.
At Bookie’s, Parker specializes in Detroit-style pizzas, a style characterized by its thick, focaccia-like crust and a crispy cheese “crown” along the edges. He channels his fine-dining experience working at some of the best restaurants in the world, including Manresa in Los Gatos, into his pies, using the best ingredients he can find and creating flavor combinations that shift with the seasons.
His attention to detail extends to his vegan pie ($25), a pizza with toppings that are both fresh and unexpected, while pushing the boundaries of what I thought vegan cheese was capable of. The fried maitake mushroom “wings” ($16) are tossed in a silky, spicy buffalo sauce that coats the shatteringly crispy exterior.
Read the full story on Lookout.
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 the food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed, plus important news from beyond our borders picked by yours truly.
- Dungeness crab season finally gets local opening date, with restrictions (Lookout)
- ‘Pushed to the limit,’ Capitola Bar & Grill to close at the end of January (Lookout)
- After three years dark, Santa Cruz Fungus Fair returns for its 50th (Lookout)
- Laurie Love on Wine: Kissed By An Angel’s new tasting room, recycling bill’s impact (Lookout)
- 2023 was a challenging year for the local dining scene. Will 2024 be better? (Lookout)