Welcome to Lily Belli on Food, a weekly food-focused newsletter from Lookout’s food and drink correspondent, Lily Belli. Keep reading for the latest local food news for Santa Cruz County – plus a few fun odds and ends from my own life and around the web.
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… Hook & Line, a new sustainable seafood restaurant from chef Santos Majano, opens this week in the former Soif location in downtown Santa Cruz. Majano was the executive chef at Soif from 2009 to 2014, then went on to open The Kitchen at Discretion Brewing in Soquel until 2020.
For the past four years, I have missed his hyper-seasonal, thoughtful and elegant cuisine. At Hook & Line, Majano will offer a seafood-focused menu that celebrates local and sustainable fisheries, paired with coastal wines and refreshing cocktails. Learn more about what’s in store in this preview.
… After 34 years in Aptos, Palapas Restaurant Y Cantina is changing hands. “Now is the time for a fresh new concept to shine in the oceanview space,” former owner Kay Holcomb said of the Mexican spot in an Instagram post. New owners Brandon Smittcamp and Trent Lidgey own One Fish Raw Bar in Campbell, and plan to rename the restaurant Dos Pescados in a Spanish-language reference to their other restaurant. Palapas will reopen as Dos Pescados later this spring, offering chef Lidgey’s take on coastal Mexican cuisine. In a letter posted to the restaurant, Holcomb thanked the community for three decades of support. “You have been the heartbeat of this long-running community establishment,” she says.
… Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains, an organization that promotes winemakers in the Santa Cruz Mountains Agriculture Viticultural Area, has announced the lineup for its annual Taste of Terroir dinner series. At each event, Santa Cruz-area wineries and chefs team up at a scenic location to bring guests a unique experience and an opportunity to dive deep into local wines.
The season kicks off on Friday, May 10, with “Vineyards in the Sky” at Wrights Station Winery on the Summit with a dinner prepared by chef Nick Sherman of Capitola’s Trestles and Aptos’ Cavalletta. See the full lineup here.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
In March, a year after leaving its location inside Lago di Como in Live Oak, Italian bakery Emozioni Pasticceria opened a new shop in Soquel Village. Pastry chef Crescenzo Pelliccia and co-owner Michele Tartaglia specialize in Neapolitan pastries and desserts from Pelliccia’s home city of Naples, like plump rum-soaked babà and crisp mille-feuille layered with pastry cream. Read this before you go.
NOTED
Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets is seeking community input on the new location for the downtown farmers market. The market has been held in the parking lot on Cedar Street between Cathcart and Lincoln streets for more than 20 years, but the city is planning to redevelop Lot 4 into an affordable housing/library project.
Market organizers have been working with the city for several years to create a new permanent home for the market. As they zero in on where that might be, the market is asking the community how they would like to use the space. Check out the survey here through April 24.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Food Truck Fridays at Skypark in Scotts Valley is returning for another year of food trucks, live music and fundraising. This event series is held on the last Friday of the month through October, with a rotating selection of food trucks, beer and wine, music and kids activities. The season kicks off on April 26 with seven local food trucks, including Aunt LaLi’s Ice Cream Truck, Mattia Pizza and Pesce Veggie. See the full schedule on foodtrucksagogo.com.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
Flipping through food magazines is a little different as a mom of two under 3 than it was a few years ago. Before I had kids, I would let a recipe catch my eye and happily spend my whole evening cooking dinner, enjoying the process while chatting with my husband, Mike, or listening to a podcast. Now, my window to cook is much shorter, and the idea of even sauteeing an onion is, on most days, not possible.
Instead, I’ve been embracing quick recipes with minimal dishes that offer big flavor, and this gochujang-butter-braised tofu from the spring issue of Bon Appétit magazine is my new favorite. It sounds and tastes way fancier than the process, and the first time I made it I didn’t even have to go to the grocery store. It takes about 15 minutes from start to finish and doesn’t dirty any bowls – everything just goes directly into the pan – but the silky, spicy marriage of Korean gochujang, butter, tofu and fish sauce is sensational. Try it out.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Is charging more for alternative milk at coffee shops discriminatory? A lawsuit filed against coffee chain Dunkin’ Donuts says its policy of charging an extra 50 cents to $1 is harmful to people with lactose intolerance and milk allergies, and seeks no less than $5 million in damages. (Eater)
➤ A coalition of social justice groups and environmental activists is suing the Monterey County agricultural commissioner and a state regulatory agency for failing to prevent pesticide use near schools in Monterey County. The complaint alleges that county officials have approved permits to allow restricted fumigants near several schools in the Pajaro Valley. (Lookout)