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.
… A new bakeshop is on the rise, bringing golden loaves of sourdough and organic pastries to restaurants, cafés and farmers markets throughout Santa Cruz County from a home base inside the Capitola Mall.
If you haven’t heard of Dani O Bakeshop yet, just give it a couple of months. Word of 35-year-old baker Danielle Orlando’s airy yet chewy croissants, twisted sugar-dusted “cruffin” morning buns and well-structured sourdough bread – all made with organic ingredients, healthy fats like butter and olive oil, and without refined sugars – has spread like a ball of cookie dough in a hot oven since the bakery opened inside the food court at the mall in September. Read the story here.
… After seven years, Soquel wine bar VinoCruz has tapped out. The final day for a glass of Santa Cruz Mountains pinot noir and charcuterie was April 27. But fans of VinoCruz can travel to Scotts Valley to get their French food fix, where the menu and vibe will live on at Adorable French Bakery, an old-world bakery and bistro, in the former Malone’s Grille on Scotts Valley Drive.
The Soquel space won’t be vacant for long. Home restaurant, located around the corner on Main Street from the former VinoCruz, plans to open Home Away, a lunch and early evening spot with a market, by mid-June. Check out the story to see what chef Brad Briske and wife Linda Ritten have planned for the former wine bar.
… Congratulations to Humble Sea Brewing Co. on opening a new taproom on Pier 39 in San Francisco! Opening day is this Friday at 4 p.m. This is the Santa Cruz-based brewery’s sixth location – including a seasonal beer garden on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf – making it one of the most prolific breweries in the state. Last spring, Frank Scott Krueger, who owns Humble Sea with fellow Felton natives Nick Pavlina and Taylor West, told me that the 10-year-old craft brewery has grown 25% year over year, defying a downward trend in the overall industry. Read the story from last May here.
… When legacy institutions such as Palace Art & Office Supply and Logos Books & Records closed their doors on Pacific Avenue, they left gaping holes in the fabric of downtown Santa Cruz. But what has become more perplexing over the years for anyone who walks past the dark windows and locked doors is why those spaces, once so full of life, have remained empty for years.
The circumstances around each vacancy defy broad brushstrokes, but when taking them as a whole, some themes appear: the difficulties in matching businesses with properties, especially in an era when retail and restaurant owners prefer smaller, more versatile space, and a lack of support for business owners to navigate the city’s permitting process and make renovations that are affordable and timely. Read this story here, and find all of Lookout’s reporting in our Changing Santa Cruz: The Future of Downtown series.
ON THE MENU
Over the past four years, event company Collective Santa Cruz has become known for throwing dynamic community-focused events packed with local artists and vendors. This summer, it’s launching the Extra Tasty Tour, a series of five monthly food-themed events focused on one of the five “tastes”: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. The series kicks off with the return of a dessert-themed festival at Humble Sea Brewing’s taproom on the Westside in Santa Cruz on May 24. Watch for a story on how Collective founders Jalen Horne and Kendall Denike will bring these flavors to life.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
The 2025 NEXTies, an awards show celebrating rising stars and changemakers in Santa Cruz County, will be held this Friday, May 16, at Woodhouse Blending & Brewing in Santa Cruz. Among the 19 honorees, six are coming from the local food world: Mission West owner Max Turigliatto (Entrepreneur of the Year); Food Talk chef Donnie Suesens (Foodie of the Year); Felton collaborators Emerald Mallard and Humble Sea Tavern (Business of the Year); nonprofit coffee cart Skills of Life Café (Wildcard Award); LGBTQ+ tavern The Neighbor’s pub (New Business of the Year); and Esperanza Community Farms, an organic farm focused on social justice (Health & Wellness Guru of the Year). Tickets are $30 in advance; $35 at the door.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
On Thursday, during my weeklong staycation, my husband, Mike, and I went up to San Francisco to see the Wayne Thiebaud exhibit at the Legion of Honor. I adore Thiebaud’s iconic and fantastically vivid paintings of cakes, and was surprised to learn that his subjects extended well beyond food to nudes, cityscapes and portraits. But my favorite works in the show were still “Display Cakes,” “Cakes & Pies” and “Buffet.” I highly recommend checking out the exhibit – it’s on display through Aug. 17.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ After 65 years, the Monterey Bay Artichoke Festival has been canceled due to financial challenges. The agricultural festival was founded in 1959, but the upfront costs of insurance, permits and event operations have become too great, organizers said. (Monterey County Now)
➤ Santa Cruz’s controversial soda tax went into effect on May 1. Uber-powerful soda companies spent $2 million to block the Measure Z campaign last fall, and threatened to rain down lawsuits should it pass, but now it looks as though that could have been largely bluster. After hearing from folks on both sides, politics reporter Christopher Neely doubts Big Soda will sue. (Lookout)