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.
… “There’s a fundamental irony that the Homeless Garden Project is, itself, homeless,” Doug Engfer, the vice president of the nonprofit’s board, told me last week.
That could change at a zoning meeting tomorrow.
The nonprofit, which provides job training and placement for unhoused individuals in Santa Cruz County, is working to purchase 4 acres of land that it currently leases on Shaffer Road at the edge of Santa Cruz’s Westside, known as Natural Bridges Farm. It’s part of a 10.3-acre parcel owned by engineer Ron Swenson, who has agreed to sell the farm to Homeless Garden Project for an undisclosed amount.
On Wednesday, the city zoning administrator will vote on whether to separate the 4-acre parcel from the original 10 acres and approve the design permit and a coastal development permit, among other details. If approved, it would be a milestone for the project, paving a clear path forward to purchase the lot. Read the story here.
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… In case you missed it last week: Bookie’s Pizza signed as the first commercial business in the Anton Pacific mixed-use development on Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz. Opened by chef Todd Parker in 2022, Bookie’s will move from its location inside craft brewery Sante Adairius’ Santa Cruz Portal to a 3,475-square-foot space on the ground floor at 800 Pacific Ave. The project is currently in the design phase and aims to open late spring 2027.
The restaurant will be Bookie’s “fully realized,” Parker told me, with a full liquor license, private dining room and 1,400-square-foot outdoor patio. “We may expand the menu a little bit, but we’ll stick with what we do, and that’s pizzas, salads and wings,” although he might add a few pastas. Here’s the info.
… Save your spot for a meeting of two extraordinary culinary minds at Bookshop Santa Cruz on Sept. 1. Michelin-star restaurateur Pim Techamuanvivit of San Francisco’s Kin Khao and Nari, and Bangkok’s Nahm, and co-author Andrea Nguyen, an award-winning author of seven cookbooks and Santa Cruz area resident, will discuss their new cookbook, “Cooking Thai.”
Techamuanvivit and Nguyen will discuss Thai culinary heritage and the book, which blends intriguing flavors, rich culture, and multi-hued stories. The event is free, although RSVPs are encouraged to save your spot. Event organizer Stefanie Berntson told me that there will be samples.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
My monthly roundup of Santa Cruz County dining highlights celebrated the start of summer with four June finds: a barley and kale salad at Davenport Roadhouse, a smash burger at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a blue corn cookie from Pacific Cookie Co. and a salmon poke bowl at H&H West in Santa Cruz. Read it here.
FOR THE RECORD
I need to correct an error in last week’s newsletter: Point Butcher Shop in Pleasure Point is open, and will remain open until owner Tim Estrada moves into the work-in-progress Carne in Live Oak, date TBD. Follow on Instagram to watch the process.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Bargetto Winery’s Art and Wine Festival returns for its 37th year at the Soquel tasting room this Saturday and Sunday. Both days offer free admission to enjoy all-day live music and more than 60 artists and food vendors. Purchase a festival glass for $25 to taste wine.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
I know I’ve written about our vegetable garden several times already, but it’s become the center of our lives. Every evening when we get home, it’s the first place we go to see what we can pick and what needs watering or trimming. Yesterday, Marco, 5, called me from the kitchen – “Mom! Mom!!! Come here!” – to show me with great excitement that the first two cherry tomatoes were ripe.
The joy extends beyond our home. The kids and I made another batch of fermented kosher dill pickles, which meant another four-block meander to the corner store for water (our tap water is too chlorinated), a discovery of blackberries along a neighborhood stream, a visit to a neighbor for more grape leaves – the tannins keep pickles crunchy – and a handful of mulberries, and several quick chats. Days like this are full of “il dolce far niente” — the sweetness of doing nothing.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ You’ve probably seen the headlines by now: Cyclospora, a parasite transmitted by eating contaminated fruits and vegetables, has sickened more than 800 people in the U.S. with severe diarrhea. Most of the cases are concentrated in the Midwest. No deaths have been reported. Make sure to thoroughly wash produce to avoid becoming ill. (San Francisco Chronicle/$)
➤ A recent article in The New York Times shares some fascinating facts: In sales and volume, berries are the fastest-growing category in American produce. Most of that growth is driven by Driscoll’s, the undisputed global market leader. Founded in Santa Cruz County, the private company is the second-highest-earning brand in U.S. supermarkets, behind only Coca-Cola. (The New York Times)