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.
… On a Friday night, gently thumping bass drew me up a staircase in Aptos’ Deer Park Marketplace toward Fawn Pizza & Vinyl Bar, a restaurant that could easily be mistaken for a house party.
Fawn Pizza’s emphasis on both food and acoustic entertainment reflects an international trend. Listening bars, also known as sound or record bars, originated in Japan a century ago, and have popped up across the U.S. within the past decade, mirroring the resurgence in the popularity of records.
“The fact that vinyl is making a comeback is great,” Fawn owner Carlos Perez told me. “It’s good for the next generation to be able to touch and feel and listen to something, rather than be on your phone.” Japanese sound bars inspired Perez to open Fawn in February, but his love of music and food goes back decades. Read the full story here.
… Last week, restaurateurs, chefs and community members marked the conclusion of the county’s first Vegan Chef Challenge with awards and a buffet of plant-based bites at La Posta restaurant in Santa Cruz. Nearly 30 restaurants participated in the monthlong event in April, and customers were encouraged to vote for their favorite dishes. Circle & Square Bistro, which opened in Corralitos last August, took home first place. Here’s what you missed.
Will the event return next year? “That’s the million-dollar question!” organizer Allison Garcia told me in an email last week. “It went great, so it’s likely.” You’ll hear it here first.
… Last month, Mexican seafood restaurant Dos Pescados made changes to its menu, blending newer dishes added under chef Trent Lidgey over the past two years, and old favorites that hark back to its former days as Palapas Restaurant y Cantina in Seascape Village. “We have decided to marry the two and are excited to announce that Estella, the former chef of Palapas, will rejoin our team and head the culinary operations,” the restaurant posted on Instagram on April 2.
After launching Dos Pescados in 2024, Lidgey has returned full-time to his Campbell sushi restaurant, One Fish Raw Bar, while assisting with operations in Aptos, he told me last week via email. He and business partner Brandon Smittcamp realized that modern Mexican “wasn’t what the people of Aptos wanted,” he wrote. “So, we wanted to incorporate a lot of what Palapas were doing with more of a focus on local seasonal ingredients.” View the new menu here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
After years of uncertainty tied to a proposed senior housing development, the longtime Silver Spur restaurant will relocate to the former Jeffery’s Restaurant site at Soquel Avenue and Capitola Road this fall. Co-owners Juan Valencia and Daniel Govea said the expanded space will keep the same menu and staff while adding more seating, remodeled interiors and beer, wine and mimosas. Here’s the story.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Traveling farm-to-table dinner series Outstanding in the Field will kick off the 2026 season with two events in Santa Cruz County. On June 6, founder Jim Denevan will host the first event of the year at Happy Valley Farm with his brother, farmer Bill Denevan, and chef Brad Briske of Home in Soquel. On June 14, the dinner returns to Everett Family Farm in Soquel with guest chef Kim Alter of Nightbird in San Francisco. Tickets to each event are $390.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
If you read this on Tuesday, I’ll be driving back from two days of camping at Refugio State Beach just north of Santa Barbara. It’s our first camping trip of the season and, because I treat camping like a vacation, I make sure we dine well.
What do we like to eat on vacation? My husband, Mike, and I usually have a steak dinner the first night, after marinating the meat in the cooler all day, with a big salad and homemade dressing. For lunch the next day, I like to splurge on fancy snacks for the beach: good salami and cheese, cold cucumbers and hummus, multiple bags of everyone’s favorite chips, fresh fruit and endless fizzy canned drinks.
Breakfast is pancakes, bacon and eggs, and hot cups of coffee in the French press, because is there anything better on a chilly camp morning? The second evening, Mike usually likes to make Italian sausage, peppers and onions, with a side of sturdy bread and olive oil.
And what do my picky children eat? Their favorite foods: boxed macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and s’mores, of course. We’re all on vacation from nightly dinner battles.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Americans are cutting back on alcohol due to high gas prices, industry data suggests. Sales of beer and other malt beverages fell almost 6% in early May, and could indicate pressure on consumers to afford gas over other convenience store purchases. (CNBC)
➤ If you’re interested in craft beer, business and the business of reporting, check out this column by San Francisco Chronicle reporter Jess Lander on her three-year coverage of Anchor Brewing’s bankruptcy, purchase and slow simmer back to life. (San Francisco Chronicle/$)