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.
… H&H Fresh Fish Co., the seafood buyer and fishmonger in the Santa Cruz Harbor, opened a satellite location in the Swift Street Courtyard in Santa Cruz’s Westside neighborhood last week.
Owners Hans Haveman and Heidi Rhodes expanded their culinary options at the new spot. In addition to a seafood counter, there’s a menu of fish-focused to-go meals and snacks, including poke bowls ($15), tuna crudo ($12), fresh oysters ($3 each), a tinned fish and pickle plate ($7 and up), rock crab claw cocktail ($15) and “rip & dips” – hand-held sashimi (prices vary) – plus snacks like onigiri and ceviche.
The shop also boasts a market of local and artisan treats like crackers, sauces and tools such as oyster shuckers. I went down last week, and enjoyed the silky carpaccio-like crudo pressed with fruity yuzu and wasabi salt and a Hawaiian-style poke made with salmon caught in Monterey Bay.
Last year, Haveman told me that the shop will help H&H reach customers on the Westside while the Murray Street Bridge is under construction, which makes the opening of H&H West well-timed for the summer closure. H&H West is open Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and aims to expand hours in a few weeks.
… The Scotts Valley farmers market is moving. Starting June 27, the market will be held at its new long-term home in the Graham Plaza upper parking lot at 219 Mount Hermon Rd. This Saturday is the final time it will be in front of the Boys & Girls Club, due to upcoming renovations.
The market runs every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon until Thanksgiving, with abundant offerings from nearby farms, small food businesses and local artisans. This site also offers the Market Match Program, which stretches funds from CalFresh/EBT by matching $15 with an additional $15 in market tokens for fresh fruits and vegetables. More info at santacruzfarmersmarket.org.
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… Santa Cruz nonprofit Homeless Garden Project will host its biannual Sustain Supper fundraising dinner on Saturday, June 20, at 4 p.m. at the Natural Bridges Farm. The keynote speaker this time is Mai-Nadine Nguyen, a James Beard Award-winning farmer and activist. Grains from Nguyen’s heirloom grain library will be on the plate, prepared in desserts and bread by chef Estevan Silva of Oakland’s Studio Estepan. Santa Cruz-based chef Andrea Mollenauer, an instructor in Cabrillo College’s Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management program, will prepare the rest of the meal, with Kathryn Kennedy wines, Alta Organic Coffee and India Joze chai. Tickets are $188.
… Ten-year-old Scotts Valley microbrewery Steel Bonnet Brewing Co. is preparing to open a taproom in Old Town Salinas. Over the past 18 months, owners Susan and Donald Cramb expanded brewing operations to a larger production space in Salinas, increasing the availability of their traditional ales and lagers. Later this summer, they will add a family-friendly pub and pourhouse.
“While the heart of Steel Bonnet’s small-batch experimentation and community-focused brewing remains rooted at the original Scotts Valley microbrewery, the Salinas expansion allows the team to scale up production of its core beers and share its award-winning lineups with a broader audience across the region,” the couple said in a media release. The opening comes on the heels of several state wins for Steel Bonnet brews.
Customers can try the first-place Big Trees Red Ale and Black Dragon Stout at the Scotts Valley location.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
From active disasters to impenetrable politicians, Lookout reporters aren’t afraid to “go there.” Except, apparently, when it comes to covering a new, pendulum-like thrill ride at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk that inverts at 60 feet in the air.
As a food reporter with an iron gut, a love of roller coasters and a strong, pain-free spine, I was uniquely suited for this assignment. So when no one else threw their hat in the ring, I volunteered as tribute to ride Vertigo 360 and review several concessions new to the Boardwalk this year. Read it here.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
On June 27, Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains’ annual “Midsummer Night’s Taste of Terroir” dinner comes to Beauregard Ranch Vineyard in Bonny Doon. The historic property, which has produced wine for more than a century, will welcome guests for a farm-to-table dinner crafted by chef Brad Briske of Soquel’s Home restaurant, paired with Beauregard’s low-intervention Santa Cruz Mountains wines. Tickets are $175.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
My father-in-law is a skilled gardener, and his beds are already bursting with basil, strawberries and green onions, with tomatoes, beans and zucchini well on their way. On Sunday, my kids – Marco, 5, and Cecilia, 3 – helped him process his basil into jars of pesto he can keep in his freezer.
I was pleasantly surprised at how helpful and enthusiastic the kids were. They participated in every step. I showed them how to pick the leaves to encourage more growth, then destem and wash them. Marco even peeled garlic! Both liked measuring olive oil, nuts and cheese into the food processor and pushing the buttons, until it blended everything into a bright green sauce. My mother-in-law and I spooned it into glass jelly jars, topping it with a bit of oil before closing the lids.
Did my picky eater, Marco, try a bite? Not this year… but Cecilia – who takes after my husband’s Italian family and we joke is “our little Italian bambina” – lived up to her nickname and ate it by the spoonful.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ The Michelin Guide is quickly phasing out its green stars, which recognized environmentally friendly and low-waste practices, to the anger of chefs. The elusive international restaurant guide is replacing it with a system that is “more rigorous,” but lacks stars. Restaurants must remove green stars by the end of the year. (The Times)
➤ You’re not imagining it – fruit is way sweeter than it used to be. Companies are developing grocery store strawberries, oranges, grapes and apples for high levels of sugar, and customers can’t get enough of them. But when we gain sweetness, do we lose something else? (The Atlantic/$)