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.
… Earlier this month, owners of Live Oak restaurant Lago di Como opened an Italian deli and market just down the street on the corner of 17th Avenue and Portola Drive.
There’s a lot going on inside this little Italian jewel box. A market is stocked with imported shelf-stable goods, including dried pastas and jarred sauces, boutique bottles of balsamic vinegar and fine olive oils, and little candies and treats. At the other end of the store is a gelateria with 12 different kinds of gelato, and espresso. Fresh pastas are made daily, as well as jarred pesto and sauces, and thick focaccia-style pizzas.
But if you visit Bottega del Lago, you should leave with at least one warm panini wrapped in red-and-white-checkered paper. True to form, owners Matteo Robecchi, Lindsay Rodriguez and Giovanni Spanu created truly Italian combinations that are unavailable at other delis in the area. Read the story here.
… An update on Woodhouse Blending & Brewing’s saga to obtain a permit for outdoor entertainment at its taproom off River Street in Santa Cruz:
After Santa Cruz’s planning commission voted in September to expand Woodhouse’s use permit to allow outdoor entertainment, a neighboring business owner has appealed the decision, expressing concern that the events would lower the value of an apartment complex he plans to someday build on the site. The city council is slated to vote on whether to uphold Woodhouse’s change of use on Nov. 19. Read the story here.
… Last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it will postpone the start of the commercial Dungeness crab season until at least Dec. 1, due to an abundance of humpback whales along the Central Coast. The whales can become entangled in fishing gear used to harvest crabs.
This is the sixth consecutive year that the Dungeness crab season has been delayed in order to protect whales, so the decision didn’t come as a surprise to local fishers, who have been seeing a lot of whales themselves out on the water. “Our hope is that we can open before Christmas for the holiday markets. We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Santa Cruz fisher Tim Obert told me. Read the story here.
… Congratulations to the winners of the Chili Cook-Off, held at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk last Saturday. San Jose-based competitive BBQ team Ric’s Righteous Ribs won first place in both the Best Professional Con Carne and Vegetarian categories. Two local teams, Seascape Golf Club and Pretty Good Advice restaurant, won second place in the con carne and vegetarian categories, respectively. For the amateurs, team Smokin Hot Chili won for best con carne chili, and Veggin’ Out won for best vegetarian chili. View all the 2024 winners at beachboardwalk.com.
… As I mentioned last week, Chocolate Restaurant will celebrate its 25th anniversary this weekend on Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz, with an anniversary happy hour on Friday from noon to 6 p.m., lunch and dinner specials and discounted drinks all day on Saturday, and an anniversary lunch on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., followed by an invitation-only celebration that evening. Special drinks include a pomegranate-rose martini made with pomegranates from owners David Jackman and Lori Rivera’s own tree, and a blueberry cosmo with syrup from Triple Delight Farms. Congratulations on a quarter-century of service!
And a correction… Last week I misstated that Chocolate is only open for lunch on the weekends. In fact, it is open for lunch daily. More info at chocolatesantacruz.com.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Don’t miss these two recent food-related stories in Lookout’s digital pages. Santa Cruz-based writer Mat Weir wrote about performer Andy Fairley’s quest to break the Guinness World Record for tallest stack of pancakes, which he attempted to construct at an all-day music festival on Santa Cruz’s Westside last weekend. And, in a story that is both heartbreaking and hopeful, Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach reveals how she is learning to cook for herself in the wake of her husband’s death in February.
ON THE MENU
I’ve reported on so many great sandwiches lately – at Bottega del Lago, Melrose Café, LG Meats and many more – that a guide to sandwiches in Santa Cruz County is practically writing itself. I’m excited to share my list of great sandwiches, worthy of going out of your way to try. Do you have a sandwich that you love? A sandwich so good, that if you had a friend who was spending only 24 hours in Santa Cruz, you’d tell them they had to get it? Email me at lily@lookoutlocal.com.
NOTED
Cruz Kitchen and Taps, which opened in the former Saturn Café spot at the corner of Laurel Street and Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz in early 2022, has closed after almost three years. In an Instagram post, co-owner Mia Thorn cited financial difficulties.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
I’m so lucky to be able to do what I do, but it occasionally presents some interesting workplace challenges. Like the time I researched a guide to pizza, and ate my way across the county until I was 50% dough, 50% mozzarella. I’m not complaining, but I also didn’t touch a slice of pizza for a long, long while after. (The burger guide was also a real gut-buster, but I actually felt pretty good after writing the plant-based guide.) All of the eating and drinking I do on my beat requires careful planning, and more refrain than you might imagine. But Wednesday, I’m tasting a new cocktail menu at a local bar – at 10 a.m. On one hand, that time fits with my schedule – evenings away from my two young kids are always tough – but on the other, I’m worried about the rest of my work day. Unlike wine tasting, you can’t really spit a cocktail. I’m hoping tiny, restrained sips will save me from having to sneak in a nap, or tuck myself into a corner with some dark sunglasses to write, Hemingway-style.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Costco has issued a recall of Kirkland Signature smoked salmon products purchased between Oct. 9 and 13. The salmon could be contaminated with the sometimes deadly bacteria, although no illness has been reported so far. (CNN)
➤ Costco’s recall is the latest in a series of listeria-related product recalls and outbreaks, including an outbreak due to Boar’s Head liverwurst that led to the death of 10 people and the hospitalization of 59. So, what’s going on? Underfunded and deregulated federal oversight is to blame, among other systemic issues. (Eater)