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.
… After 12 years, Izakaya West End – formerly West End Tap & Kitchen – has closed. Its last service was on Sunday, the restaurant announced on social media that evening. The bar will remain open through Thursday with a creative pop-up menu of Japanese-inspired hot dogs and snacks, if you’d like to toast the Westside Santa Cruz restaurant.
A reputable local restaurateur made an offer on the business, and Izakaya owners Geoff Hargrave and Quinn Cormier decided it was time for them to move on, Hargrave told me yesterday. He declined to share more details about the identity of the new owner before they made their own public announcement.
“We had a good run. I was very happy with the 12 years we were there. We were received well by the community, but now it’s time for a new chapter in that building,” he said. “It’s bittersweet, but we feel positive about this move, transition and changeover for ourselves and the Westside community.” Read the full story here.
… Yesterday, an early morning blaze severely damaged Sushi Garden on Bay Avenue in Capitola. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the fire caused heavy damage to the inside and outside of the restaurant, including a partial roof collapse.
Lookout photographer Kevin Painchaud spoke to Becky Wi, the daughter of owners Bryant and Wendy Wi, and the office manager for the family’s three restaurant locations, at the scene on Monday morning. She said her mother received a call from Capitola city officials around 4 a.m. on Monday. The Wi family were able to rush to the restaurant from their home in Watsonville.
Despite the grim prognosis, Wi didn’t hesitate when asked if her family plans to rebuild the restaurant: “Yes. We love our restaurants. We are definitely going to try to rebuild,” she said. Here’s the story.
… A daily coffee cart parked on East Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz, authentic Egyptian street food on UC Santa Cruz’s campus and weekly neighborhood supper parties at a Boulder Creek home are among ten new food and drink businesses coming to Santa Cruz County, thanks to a new ordinance that went into effect at the beginning of the year.
On Jan. 1, a two-year pilot program for microenterprise home kitchen operations, or MEHKOs, went into effect. In its first six months, the program is off to a promising but rocky start, with fewer applicants than expected and a loss of federal funding that led organizers to redistribute available funds in order to cover the cost of home inspections by county officials.
So far the county has granted nine permits, with a tenth in the pipeline. That’s a lower turnout than expected, and immigration fears seem to be a factor, according to some would-be entrepreneurs. Olga Zuniga, a deputy director at the county’s Health Services Agency, and her colleagues discovered this barrier after people who had initially been interested in the program last fall didn’t apply. “We started calling them individually and trying to encourage them to apply. And some of them communicated that they were having this uncertainty,” Zuniga told me. Read the full story here.
… Once the site of cocktails named after pop culture references, moody candle-lit tables and downtown Santa Cruz’s only rooftop lounge, the former 515 Kitchen & Cocktails has been under construction for more than three years. Now, the building is for sale for $995,000.
Initially, owner Germaine Akin was just trying to repair a leak in the roof when she temporarily closed the restaurant in 2022. But structural issues with the 140-year-old building were uncovered during construction, including an aging foundation. Skyrocketing construction costs finally led Akin to throw in the towel. Here’s what happened.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
After more than two years of watching and speculation by Santa Cruz Westsiders, a new restaurant has opened in the former Burger spot at the corner of Bay and Mission streets. D20 Pizza is currently in a very soft opening with takeout only while owner Colin Freas dials in the process for his richly textured Detroit-style pies.
D20 Pizza is named after the 20-sided die used in the game Dungeons & Dragons, and when it’s fully open this fall, it will offer dozens of board games for guests – from classics like Monopoly to buzzy newcomers like Wingspan and Ticket to Ride – and host tabletop gaming events and trivia nights. Read the rest in Eaters Digest.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
The Watsonville Strawberry Festival returns to downtown Watsonville this Friday, Saturday and Sunday to celebrate this special berry. The free, family-friendly festival includes live entertainment, carnival rides, artisans, kids activities, specialty vendors, and a variety of mouthwatering treats, including berry-infused pizza, churros, beer and even tacos.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
On Saturday, I hosted 11 Lookout members for a behind-the-scenes tasting tour at the Sour Slam Summer Jam, the third event held on Collective Santa Cruz’s Extra Tasty Tour. This festival celebrated all things acidic, citrusy, tangy and fermented — and featured an incredible skateboard jam with Santa Cruz Skateboards, because why not? We tasted sourdough cheddar bagels at Sour Sammy, zippy whole-grain mustard and tart raspberry lavender jam with Twins Kitchen, fiery hot sauces with Hella Hot Hot Sauce and Willy Willy Hot Sauce, strawberry sour beer with Fruition Brewing, and a yuzu and orange cocktail with Venus Spirits.
This was our third member event on the Extra Tasty Tour, and they are truly so much fun. There are two more events left: an umami-themed event in Felton on Aug. 23 and a salty festival in Santa Cruz on Sept. 27. If you haven’t been to one yet, mark your calendar and don’t miss out!
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Grocery Outlet promises big savings, but is it for real? A class action lawsuit filed in Oregon accuses the California-based retailer of fabricating “elsewhere” prices to give shoppers the illusion of savings. When a trio of Oregon residents visited other grocery stores, they found some products for less than even Grocery Outlet was selling them for. (Law Commentary)
➤ Navigating local permits and building codes can be a costly deterrent to local restaurateurs aiming to open businesses in Santa Cruz County and throughout the state, but a new bill aims to cut through the red tape. Assembly Bill 671 would require local building departments to approve or deny restaurants’ permit applications within 20 business days. Fail to meet the deadline, and the permits would be automatically approved. (Eater SF)