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.
… As part of Lookout’s end-of-year Newsmakers series, I spoke with Sashy Pavy, a Verve Coffee Roasters employee. This year, the shy 24-year-old UCSC graduate emerged as an unlikely leader of a successful 2024 unionization drive at three Verve Coffee Roasters cafés, rallying coworkers around higher wages, consistent hours and respect from management.
After workers unanimously voted to unionize in October, Pavy was elected to represent the downtown Santa Cruz café in contract negotiations expected to continue through 2026.
The experience changed how she sees herself, she told me. “I didn’t think I was that kind of person. I’m learning things about myself. I can be a leader. People want to have my opinion on things,” Pavy said. Read the profile here.
… Going out to dinner on New Years Eve requires forethought — reservations fill up fast. But if the last day of the year snuck up on you, here are a sample of celebratory area restaurants with a few spots left as of Tuesday morning.
Chef Desmond Schneider’s NYE menu at Mane Kitchen & Cocktails, which I recently reviewed, includes smoked mussels, duck confit and porcini mushroom ravioli. Chef Katherine Stern at The Midway is preparing a prix fixe menu for $85 per person, with an optional $45 wine pairing, with grilled cauliflower with winter squash, trout with chickpeas or red wine-braised beef as an entree.
La Posta in Seabright is offering four courses of its elegant Italian-meets-California fare for a $120 fixed price. There are one or two spots left early in the evening, and spots at the bar. In Capitola, Pete’s is open until 8:30 p.m. with its normal menu and gorgeous second-story views of Capitola Beach.
Not looking for a sit-down thing? Davenport Roadhouse is ringing in 2026 with a vinyl DJ set and drinks by Classy Trash, aka bartender Kate Palacio, starting at 5 p.m. Dance to DJ Mai at Cantine Wine Pub in Aptos, with a champagne toast at midnight. Lupúlo Craft Beer House in downtown Santa Cruz with a curated draft list, a Redwood Records DJ set, and Pastrami Mami pop-up at 9 pm serving pastrami sandwiches, grilled cheese, beef hot dogs and nachos.
On New Year’s Day, the Grove Cafe and Bakery in Felton is serving up brunch from 9am to 3pm with an elevated menu of comforting classics, like a beet latke benedict, a beef brisket French dip, and ricotta-stuffed milk bread French toast.
… A year in the works, Other Brother Beer Co. opened in Aptos Village in the space next to Cat & Cloud Coffee last week. It’s the first satellite location from the 6-year-old craft brewery based in Seaside, and currently the only brewery operating in Aptos. In addition to more than 20 beers on tap, the menu features cozy pub food, including a chicken parm sandwich topped with burrata, butternut squash soup, and broiled beer cheese with bratwurst sausage, sweet peppers, and baguette by Manresa Bread. I’m visiting this week, and will report back.
Other Brother is open every day from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., although it will be closed on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
After the closure of Thai kitchen Hanloh at Bad Animal earlier this month, the celebrated natural wine bar-slash-rare book store on Cedar Street in downtown Santa Cruz is set to reopen its restaurant on Jan. 9 with a new chef.
Former Hanloh chef de cuisine Nick Hahn will take the helm and shift the menu from Thai food to a modern Parisian bistro style influenced by both California ingredients and Hahn’s Korean heritage. The re-opening will also mark the end of Bad Animal’s long-running chef residency model and a return to a traditional in-house kitchen.
That’s not all that’s coming in 2026. The wine bar and bookstore on Cedar Street downtown is planning a 2026 expansion next door, adding a gallery space to showcase rare books, art and ephemera. Read the story here.
NOTED
There is no Eaters Digest newsletter on Friday this week due to the holidays.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
Who else woke up on Christmas morning without power? That was a first for me, but with the wind absolutely howling on Christmas Eve, it seemed inevitable. Thankfully, I had the forethought the night before to grind enough coffee for four adults — me, my husband, and my mom and dad, who stayed with us — to get us through the morning. When my kids — Marco, 4 and Cecilia, 2 – woke us up in the dark at 6 a.m. after us grown-ups spent the night of feasting, drinking eggnog and assembling toys, all was well. We pulled the camp stove and some fuel out of the camping box, and soon had hot pots of French pressed coffee in everyone’s hands.
It was quite peaceful, actually, and I was starting to look forward to frying bacon and sausages on our little mint Coleman — when the lights came back on.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
Cost pressures on consumers have led to an “appetizer economy,” some restaurants say. People are still going out, but are choosing typically less expensive starters over full-priced entrees to make the experience more affordable. (CNBC)
A retro restaurant chain is expanding. Benihana’s new owner, The One Group Hospitality, is planning ten new restaurants in the Bay Area rolling out over the next seven years, including a mix of full-service hibachi and fast-casual Benihana Express locations. (San Francisco Chronicle/$)