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 10 years, Margins Wine is closing. Winemaker Megan Bell started the Santa Cruz-based winery when she was just 25 years old, specializing in natural fermentation using organic grapes from lesser-known regions and vineyards. In 2024, I shared the story of the many challenges she faced while opening a 120-square-foot tasting room in Santa Cruz’s Westside neighborhood. The “cubby,” as she affectionately calls the tiny space, will remain open through April.
Bell announced the closure Thursday on social media and through Margins Wine’s newsletter, where she said that she could no longer live with the high levels of financial stress from managing the winery. On Instagram, she wrote, “No matter how long you have been part of the Margins community, I am eternally grateful for your support of my little dream. As a 25-year-old, I founded Margins with a goal to create a supportive and respectful wine work culture and increase organic vineyard acreage in CA along the way. I lived that mission with every fiber of my being for the past decade.”
… Heads up: The ninth annual Santa Cruz Burger Week will return Feb. 25-March 8. This weeklong event is a spinoff of the popular Santa Cruz Restaurant Week, both hosted by Good Times weekly newspaper. During the event, participating restaurants throughout the county offer burger specials for $15, $18 or $20, where they showcase popular burgers or new creations. No reservations needed. Participating restaurants and their menus will be added to SantaCruzBurgerWeek.com leading up to Feb. 25.
… The Lunar New Year begins today and runs through March 3, and there are a few tasty ways to celebrate.
Tram Vu, co-owner of Mariposa Coffee Bar in downtown Santa Cruz, is hosting a Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration on Feb. 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. featuring Viet foods that are traditionally enjoyed with adult beverages, and new year’s games. The menu includes yellow curry with chicken, fried tofu, red macaroni and a banh mi board with pickled veggies and steamed tofu for $60 per person. Email Vu at vuqtram@gmail.com for reservations.
Full Steam Dumpling is offering frozen bao ($30 for nine), chicken and leek gyoza ($29 for 15), mushroom and yam gyoza ($29 for 15), lamb-filled wontons ($33 for 18) and red oil dumplings ($33 for 18). They can be purchased online and picked up at Full Steam’s restaurant inside 11th Hour Coffee on Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz. I’ve purchased these dumplings myself, and can attest that they steam up beautifully in a basket or the microwave.
… Pogonip Pizza opened in the Upper Westside neighborhood of Santa Cruz earlier this month. The pop-up turned brick-and-mortar is currently open Thursday through Sunday from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. for dine-in or takeout. The menu offers creative combinations of wood-fired sourdough pizzas with many nods to Santa Cruz culture, like the “Santa Carla” ($22) with zucchini, garlic kimchi, Aleppo pepper and toasted sesame, and “Barking Dogs” ($22.50), a pepperoni pizza topped with dill pickles, tomato sauce and ranch dressing dust. View the menu at pogonip.pizza.
NOTED
I’m on vacation, so there won’t be a Lily Belli on Food newsletter next week. I’ll be back in your inboxes on March 3.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Bad Animal ended its acclaimed Hanloh pop-up in December and brought its kitchen in-house, tapping former chef de cuisine Nick Hahn to lead the downtown Santa Cruz restaurant. Hahn’s opening menu is compact, with three entrees alongside a handful of small plates and a couple desserts, and draws from a range of cuisines, from French to Indian to Japanese. His execution is precise, the textures and seasoning nearly flawless. Still, I kept wishing for a few more surprises, a similar sense of delightful discovery to match the unconventional offerings within the bookstore and wine list. Read my review here.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County is celebrating the generosity of the community and vital funds raised during the holiday season at its annual Holiday Food & Fund Drive Award Dinner on March 5. The event takes place at Hotel Paradox at 5 p.m., with a choice of chicken breast with mushroom risotto or butternut squash ravioli with brown butter and sage as an entree. Tickets are $75, and proceeds support the food bank.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
If you’re reading this the day it comes out, know that I am packing to go on our family’s first real vacation. My husband, Mike, our 4½-year-old son, Marco, and almost 3-year-old Cecilia are going to the North Shore on Oahu for 10 days. Readers of this column will remember that Mike just celebrated his 40th birthday, and as a lifelong Westside Santa Cruz surfer, we planned a trip to one of his bucket list surf spots. It’s the first time Marco and Cecilia have been on an airplane, and to say that they are excited for the trip is an understatement.
I know many readers have probably visited this area, and I want your food recommendations – as long as they’re appropriate for families. Adult-only dinners won’t be possible on this trip, but I want to know the best food trucks, farmers markets, fruit stands and shave ice spots. Email me, and please put “Hawaii” in the subject. Mahalo!
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ In the high-low pairing of the decade, McDonald’s launched limited Caviar Kits for Valentine’s Day – for free. The kits came with a 1-ounce tin of sustainably farmed Baerii sturgeon caviar, a $25 McDonald’s gift certificate, crème fraîche and a Mother of Pearl caviar spoon, and predictably sold out within minutes of their Feb. 10 launch, crashing the mcnuggetcaviar.com website. (USA Today)
➤ Luxury markets like Los Angeles-based Erewhon have tapped into the wellness craze with high-priced groceries and an exclusive vibe. While the store draws internet ire over its $21 smoothies and $200 annual membership, the chain is expanding, and expects to add six more locations in Southern California over the next two years. ($/The Economist)