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.
… I’m sorry to share the news that restaurateur Bernie Shapiro, founder of Dharma’s Restaurant in Capitola, passed away on Aug. 17 at the age of 77 from complications from bladder cancer. His son, Yogi Shapiro, who has managed Dharma’s for years, shared the news last week via the restaurant’s newsletter.
For more than four decades, Bernie poured himself into the vision of serving organic vegetarian and vegan cuisine with purpose, wrote Yogi: “Generations of customers have grown up with Dharma’s as a part of their lives, and that is part of Bernie’s legacy.”
… Humble Sea Brewing Co is teaming up with chef Aaron Salit of Second Line Pleasure Club, a touring event company, for a crawfish boil at the Swift Street taproom on Sept. 1. Salit plans to pick up crawfish from the Sacramento Delta that morning, boiling them New Orleans-style and serving them with traditional fixings, including corn, andouille sausage and potatoes.
There are a variety of price points based on the amount of crawfish, from $40 for 1 pound plus fixin’s and butter to a 30-pound “table pour” for multiple people. Purchasing tickets in advance is recommended.
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… Santa Cruz-based cookbook author Andrea Nguyen has teamed up with chef Pim Techamuanvivit of San Francisco’s Kin Khao and Nahm and New York City’s Naro on a new book, “Cooking Thai,” and they are coming to Bookshop Santa Cruz on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. for a discussion and book signing. The event is free but RSVP is recommended.
… Live Earth Farm is celebrating 30 years at the 18th annual Rooted Fall Feast, its largest fundraiser, coming up on Sept. 19 from 5 to 8 p.m. Chefs Tyler Reiner of Circle & Square Bistro in Corralitos, Pamela Burns of Monterey’s Wild Plum Café and Diego Felix of Santa Cruz’s Fonda Felix will prepare the family-style meal, which includes live music, local beverages and a keynote speaker. Tickets start at $150 per person.
… Mark your calendars for Open Farm Tours, returning for a 12th season on Oct. 10-11. Modeled after the Open Studios Art Tour, this weekend is a chance to visit Santa Cruz County farms for tours, classes, u-picks and organic produce. On Oct. 10, guests have a chance to visit eight farms in South County, and five farms in North County on Oct. 11. Tickets are $25 per car, with five people max per vehicle.
ON THE MENU
Last week, I stopped by Watsonville’s newest gin distillery as it prepared to welcome private tours in early September. Electrical engineer Chad Kecy and marine biologist Elisha Wood-Charlson founded Fathom Spirits after a pandemic home-brewing hobby transformed into a passion. Their gins celebrate Santa Cruz through enticing botanical combinations, like a Midtown gin brewed with Meyer lemon, lavender and nasturtium – all found in Kecy’s neighborhood. Watch for the story later this week.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Stockwell Cellars will close its Westside Santa Cruz tasting room Sept. 1 after a decade, as owners Eric Stockwell and Suzanne Zeber-Stockwell shift the business toward wine distribution. The move comes as the couple says the traditional tasting-room model has become less viable amid a broader downturn in wine consumption, rising costs and changes in how people spend their time and money. Read it here.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Boots & Brews returns to the Seabright neighborhood in Santa Cruz on Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m. for a second round of line dancing and local drinks and eats. This free event brings the community together to support nearby businesses affected by the Murray Street Bridge closure. Surf City Line Dance will lead the crowd on a pop-up dance floor, and all proceeds from beverage sales support area businesses.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
The Mission fig tree in my front yard is making fat, dark figs by the fistful. This is my favorite very simple yet decadent snack on repeat: figs cut in half with chunks of Irish cheddar, drizzled with honey and flakes of sea salt. The least fancy dishes are my preferred way to enjoy summer treats.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Americans are avoiding salad greens since they became the culprit for an outbreak of explosive diarrhea, and lettuce prices plummeted. They’ve dropped 16.4% since June, plunging from an all-time high earlier this summer driven by high fertilizer prices. (CNBC)
➤ Speaking of salad, one reporter made the case that we should stop eating lettuce altogether. The leading source of foodborne illness, lettuce gets wasted in huge quantities, has little nutritional value and carries an environmental cost. (The Washington Post/$)