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.
… Baker Cameron Meyers’ stunning, springy loaves of focaccia are fueling my current sandwich obsession at her farmers market stall, Melrose Café. If the deeply golden, bubbly loaves don’t catch your eye as you walk past her weekend pop-ups at the Westside Santa Cruz or Live Oak farmers markets, the colorful fillings will. The menu changes weekly, but think roasted eggplant and Jimmy Nardello peppers with fior di latte mozzarella, El Salchichero chorizo with roasted potatoes, greens and aioli made with fresh eggs, and a breakfast sandwich finished with vibrant, zippy scallion pesto.
Then there are the slices of dessert focaccia, which on different visits were topped with roasted peaches and a caramelized cinnamon-and-sugar lid, and layered with homemade jam like a jelly donut.
Read about this new weekend destination here.
… I have an update on the Nutrition and Education Farm project in the works at Live Oak School District. In May, I reported that a team of educators, farmers and activists is working to transform an unused baseball field on the Del Mar Elementary School campus into a working farm for the district. The site would be an education center for students, and contribute fresh fruits and vegetables to school meals through the district’s groundbreaking nutrition program.
Today, I have an update. In September, Geoff Palla, a former manager at Life Lab, was hired as the Farm 2 School manager to oversee all farm operations and support food purchases from other local farms. Palla is also drawing from his 13 years of experience managing another famed school garden: the Edible Schoolyard Project in Berkeley, founded by chef and activist Alice Waters in 1995.
This Saturday, Oct. 26, from 9 a.m. to noon, the site will host its first event, Pumpkins & Pancakes, with a pumpkin patch, pancakes, pumpkin and face painting, a farmers market and a raffle. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $15 per family to the future farm.
… Mark your calendars: Chocolate Restaurant is celebrating 25 years in downtown Santa Cruz with three days of specials and events the weekend after Halloween. Earlier this year, Chocolate expanded its hours to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and serves lunch daily from noon to 4 p.m. The anniversary festivities draw attention to its continued all-day presence on Pacific Avenue.
Friday, Nov. 1, through Sunday, Nov. 3, Chocolate is hosting happy hours, lunch and dinner specials, and discounted drinks starting at noon.
“We at Chocolate have worked hard at keeping that late-night service going for 25 years. We are celebrating a return to being here all afternoon and evening, serving cocktails, meals and desserts as well as celebrating the miracle of a quarter-century of service,” said owner David Jackman in an email. Cheers to you!
… Sadly, this Thursday, Laurie Love will publish her last wine column for Lookout. After a year of covering Santa Cruz County’s wine industry in the biweekly Laurie Love on Wine, she will focus on other professional and personal projects. Thank you for all your hard work, Laurie, and for spotlighting local winemakers, trends and your favorite bottles. Read all of her work here, including recent stories on the 2024 harvest, area wineries embracing sustainability and memorable events. It’s “see you later,” not “goodbye” – readers may see more from Laurie on Lookout in the future. Cheers!
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
New Leaf Comm Community Markets had a big week last week. A week ago Tuesday, the downtown Santa Cruz location closed in advance of a 2025 move to a larger store a mile away off of River Street. And, the locally founded grocery store chain announced that it will open its newest location in the King’s Plaza Shopping Center in Capitola on Nov. 9. The old location in the nearby Begonia Plaza will close on the evening of Nov. 8.
NOTED
Real estate developer Lori Greymont, owner of the property where Soquel restaurant the Silver Spur sits, met with community members on Thursday to outline her plan to build a 90-unit assisted living/memory care facility on the site. The meeting was mostly civil, but many in the crowd were skeptical of the plan and its effect on traffic, parking and infrastructure in the neighborhood. If approved, the Silver Spur would have to relocate or close. More from my colleague Wallace Baine here.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
Sometimes, you just have to tear down a wall in your kitchen. My husband, Mike, and I love our home except for one feature: The dining room is cramped and so dark we never want to eat there. This is a big deal, because hosting dinner parties used to bring us so much joy when we lived in our other house (and before we had kids). After staring at the dated breakfast counter that separated our kitchen and dining room with loathing for three years, Mike started peeling away the trim with a hammer on Saturday afternoon. “Now there’s no going back!” he said.
Within an hour the entire counter and cabinet were out, leaving a giant doorway and so much more space in our kitchen and dining area. There’s still a lot to do – floors, rerouting electrical and fun stuff like that – but it already feels so much better, and I’m scouting Facebook Marketplace for a new dining room table that seats eight.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ If Santa Cruzans want to visit the best food city in America, they don’t have to go far, according to half a million people who cast their votes in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards. Oakland took the top spot in the list, which also included foodie destinations like second-place winner New Orleans and Chicago, No. 7. (Condé Nast Traveler)
➤ More kids are eating baby food pouches well beyond infancy. While an occasional pouch – typically filled with fruit or veggie purees – can be part of a healthful diet, doctors and nutritionists warn that overreliance can interfere with nutrition, long-term food preference and even dental hygiene – not to mention all the waste from packaging. (Los Angeles Times)