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.
… If you walked through Capitola Village last Wednesday afternoon, you may have noticed an unusual sight: an elegant table draped in white cloth running down the center of the newly rebuilt Capitola Wharf, ready to seat nearly 200 guests. It was the first dinner of the 24th season of Outstanding in the Field, a pioneering farm-to-table event company founded in Santa Cruz County in 1999 by Jim Denevan, who grew up in Pleasure Point and still lives there today.
On Wednesday, with his trademark cowboy hat and a wine glass in his hand, Denevan addressed the crowd: “After visiting all 50 states and now 25 countries, we’ve returned to the closest location to my house.”
What began in the 1990s as an inspired but rather harebrained idea to get people to connect with their food systems evolved into a cultural phenomenon that helped pioneer the farm-to-table movement. Through years of financial struggles and more than one humbling interaction with the great outdoors, Denevan’s vision proved prescient. Today, Outstanding in the Field hosts 60 to 70 events annually, commanding around $400 per ticket. The success is a testament to Denevan’s unwavering belief that people would pay premium prices for authentic connections to their food’s origins, even – maybe, especially – if that meant dining in cow pastures or on wind-swept beaches instead of restaurants. Read the full story here.
… Three Santa Cruz County dessert businesses are in the running for USA Today’s annual Readers’ Choice top-10 lists. Marini’s Candies, Marianne’s Ice Cream and Pacific Cookie Company are nominees in the Best Candy Store, Best Ice Cream Store and Best Cookie Store categories, respectively, from the area.
The USA Today rankings are a mix of the paper’s judgment and reader voting. The ultimate winners will be announced June 18. People can vote once per day through next Monday, June 9. More info here.
… FYI: Chaminade Resort & Spa’s seasonal Sunday brunch has returned. Every Sunday through Sept. 7 – including graduation and Father’s Day weekend – guests can enjoy a brunch buffet overlooking Monterey Bay for $55 per person for adults and $25 for children. On Sunday, June 15, Chaminade is also hosting a Father’s Day bourbon tasting from 3 to 5 p.m. for $25 per person.
… This month, Verve Coffee Roasters is offering a new beverage at all of its locations to celebrate Pride, and donating all of the proceeds. Through the end of June, 100% of proceeds from the iced matcha topped with blueberry cold foam will be donated to Equality California, the largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in the U.S. Additionally, Verve is donating 20% of purchases of its Streetlevel coffee to Equality California.
Verve recently expanded its matcha menu with nine new drinks, in response to a growing trend of green tea drinkers. Read my story from March here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The American Beverage Association filed a lawsuit last week challenging the city of Santa Cruz’s new, voter-approved sugar-sweetened beverage tax, setting the stage for a court battle that could determine the fate of similar taxes across the country.
The tax, which charges 2 cents per fluid ounce on the distribution cost of putting most sugar-sweetened beverages on store shelves and in restaurants, won with a narrow majority in the November general election (Measure Z) and went into effect on May 1. The tax was the first of its kind to pass in the U.S. since 2018. Read more from politics and policy correspondent Christopher Neely here.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Save the date: Venus Spirits Cocktails & Kitchen will host the third annual Pig Roast for Whiskey Folks at the Westside distillery on Saturday, June 21, from 2 to 6 p.m. Come hungry for slow-roasted pork and whiskey specials at this community event. Tickets forthcoming.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
Fellow foodies who are also campers, I need your advice. My family and I are going camping for four days next week in southern Big Sur. I’m curious, what are your favorite meals to make while camping? It’s our vacation, so we want to eat well, but I’m also mindful of easy cleanup and storage. We also have to drive four hours to our campsite, so ingredients have to be able to travel well. Plus, meals should have some toddler-friendly components. Breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner options are welcome – email me at lily@lookoutlocal.com.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ For years, nutrition experts have urged people to choose brown rice over white rice because of its higher fiber and nutrients. But recently brown rice has come under scrutiny for containing higher levels of arsenic. Those concerns are mostly overstated when it comes to adults, but pregnant people and children might want to avoid both white and brown rice, and opt for other grains instead. (The Washington Post)
➤ The No Tax on Tips Act was approved by the U.S. Senate in May, and seems close to becoming a reality, but it’s unclear if it would help or hurt restaurants. While front-of-house workers can anticipate higher paychecks, it could create greater gaps in wages for servers and back-of-house kitchen staff, who in many states are legally eligible to earn tips. (San Francisco Chronicle)