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.
… New Seascape Village restaurant Dos Pescados opened last month in the former Palapas Restaurant y Cantina, carrying on the location’s tradition of cocktails, Mexican food and views of Monterey Bay. But with chef Trent Lidgey at the helm, Dos Pescados’ menu offers fresh, modern takes on Mexican seafood, with bright, unexpected flavors driven by the season.
Lidgey, who also owns One Fish Raw Bar in Campbell, co-owns Dos Pescados with restaurateur Brandon Smittcamp, and focuses on sourcing seasonal and sustainable ingredients. His approach is refined, but casual, and he’s still tweaking the menu based on customer feedback, he told me. Read my review here.
… Missing Cafe Sparrow since it closed in April? Next week, former chef and owner Donnie Suesens will open Food Talk, a new pop-up restaurant at Ulterior, a speakeasy-style dining area above Motiv in downtown Santa Cruz. Suesens is veering away from the French cuisine Sparrow was known for and will offer a farmers market-driven menu of bar snacks, including a burger with beef ground in-house and a grilled cheese with house-fermented kimchi. It opens for dinner on Aug. 7.
… Attention downtown workers: Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting opened inside the Cruzio Building at the corner of Cedar Street and Church Street and in downtown Santa Cruz last week with a menu of coffee drinks, quick snacks such as avocado toast and breakfast burritos, and pastries. Some may already be familiar with this coffee cart from the Westside, Live Oak and Scotts Valley farmers markets. Owner Amelia Loftus roasts all of her coffee at a facility in Watsonville, uses only organic ingredients, from coffee beans to dairy products to flour, and offers gluten-free and vegan options. It’s open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
… Lookout arts and culture reporter Wallace Baine wrote a sweet ode to Silver Spur, an enduring breakfast spot in Soquel with a devoted following. How devoted? One customer, Bob Henkel, eats there every day. Yes, every single day. And he’s not the only regular at the Spur by a long shot. They come for its comforting community roots as much as its straightforward American fare. Read it here.
… The Watsonville Strawberry Festival returns to the ‘Ville’s downtown area this Friday through Sunday for three days of celebrating Santa Cruz County’s most lucrative crop. The entertainment lineup includes live music, a fun run, pie eating and costume contests, a carnival, arts and crafts, and dance performances, plus food and drink vendors brimming with strawberry-flavored treats. The event starts on Friday evening at 5 p.m. and runs all day Saturday and Sunday. Entry is free. More info here.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Downtown Santa Cruz’s one-year-old Firefly Tavern closed in June, and new owner Noel Cardona opened CT Lights Lounge in the storied Walnut Avenue space. With Firefly Tavern chef Jose Ortega still at the helm, new dishes are coming to an eclectic menu that blends Asian, Latin and American flavors. Here’s the story.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
On Aug. 17, Humble Sea Brewing is throwing a festival in honor of its most popular beer, Socks & Sandals, a cloudy, hoppy brew and the brewery’s first “foggy” IPA. The Santa Cruz brewery is partnering with local event company Collective Santa Cruz to throw a party with beer cocktails made with Socks & Sandals, a sock drive, comedy with DNA’s Comedy Lab, artists and food vendors, and live music.
I’ll be there, too, participating in a hot sauce-soaked interview a la the show “Hot Ones.” The tables will be turned this time, and I’ll be interviewed by Instagram food influencer Daniel J. West of Double Meat Please, along with two other local foodies (the lineup is TBD), while we attempt to make it through increasingly spicy chicken provided by Santa Cruz’s Chubb’s Chicken and flavored with Hella Hot Hot Sauce. The event is free and open to the public. More info on Instagram.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
My family got back from five days in Mendocino last week, and I’m still swooning over the foggy mornings at our cabin in the redwoods, the dramatic coast and the sweet downtown. With two little kids in tow – Cecilia is 1 and Marco is 3 – we didn’t eat out much, but we did spend an afternoon hanging out in Noyo Harbor, a working seaport just outside of Fort Bragg. We’re fans of Princess Seafood Market, a woman-owned fish market and restaurant, and ended up buying a fresh filet of ahi that the woman behind the counter said had been swimming that morning. Back at the cabin, we made a crudo with lemon zest and juice, capers and olive juice, and luxuriated in the buttery texture and briny flavor. Sometimes life’s simple pleasures are the best.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
A Santa Rosa winery is supporting local journalism through a limited edition wine. The Press Democrat Journalism Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing journalism through educational opportunities, will receive $20 from every $49 bottle of Good Press, a 2022 Russian River Valley pinot noir from Benovia Winery. (The Press Democrat)
Your favorite frozen food brands may soon be packaged by robots. Chef Robotics, a San Francisco-based start-up, launched new AI-powered robotic arms that can package frozen foods more quickly, accurately and cheaply than humans. After a successful pilot program, brands like Amy’s Kitchen are rolling out the robots at scale. (Technology Review)
It’s been five years since the tragic shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, a beloved community event and important to the economy of the Gilroy area. The festival has struggled to make a comeback, but efforts are ramping up to bring the event back to its full glory. (Monterey Herald)