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.
… Alta Organic Coffee founder Patti Spooner has passed the Santa Cruz-based roastery known for its dark roasts to her granddaughter Lilly Spooner and “honorary granddaughter” Melia Spooner, ushering in a new generation for the 40-year-old family business.
As the two young women steer Alta into its next phase of life, Melia and Lilly aim to maintain Alta’s commitment to organic ingredients and a preference for darker roasts, while modernizing the company with regular events, food service and online subscriptions.
Patti told me she’s thrilled that her life’s work will stay in the family. “It’s epic,” she said. “I didn’t have to teach them very many things because they already know it. They’ve grown up with it. They’re not starting from the beginning.” Read the story here.
… Tacolada lovers, rejoice! El Toro Bravo reopened in Capitola Village last week, following a fire on Christmas Day 2024 that necessitated a yearlong remodel. One of the most notable updates is an eye-catching sky-blue exterior paint job, but the owners, hospitality and recipes are the same as they’ve been for 59 years at this family-run restaurant.
Longtime customers showed up en masse during the first few days, some who’ve been coming to the El Toro for decades. One couple told longtime server Hillary Guzman – granddaughter of founder Delia Rey and cousin to current owner Kristie Baron – that they had their first date there more than 44 years ago. Another woman in her 30s shared how it was the place her grandmother brought her when she got good grades in school.
“When anybody goes through a tragedy, and people reach out, it just reminds you of the community surrounding you,” Guzman said. Here’s the story.
… Farmers market staple Living Swell Kombucha has opened a brick-and-mortar location in the Sash Mill in Santa Cruz. The spot is open Mondays and Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m. for customers to fill up reusable glass bottles with Santa Cruz-brewed kombucha in seasonal flavors like pineapple guava and strawberry-peach-ginger. Find it at 303 Potrero St., Ste. 1A.
… Cliffside Coffee Bar, a coffee cart on East Cliff Drive, temporarily closed at its regular spot near Pleasure Point last week due to permitting issues with the county. But less than 24 hours later, owner Sean Burau was set up at a new spot half a mile away at the end of 41st Avenue. “We’re still working on getting back to Pleasure Point, but in the meantime you can still get your favorite drinks with a gorgeous view,” wrote Burau in an Instagram post.
… Dungeness crab season is in full swing, and Venus Spirits Cocktails & Kitchen is offering a weekly crab dinner on Tuesdays at both the Beachside location in Aptos and the Westside location in Santa Cruz. Full crab ($36) and half crab ($26) dinners come with house-made coleslaw and crispy fries seasoned with Old Bay from 5 p.m. to sellout.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Santa Cruz-based Healthy Oceans Seafood, the parent company of Pescavore tuna jerky, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, while its co-founder Clarice Owens remains incarcerated on charges of stalking and violating multiple protective orders. After a successful rise that included distribution of Pescavore products to more than 1,300 national stores, the company’s financial standing began to crumble in late 2024. Here’s the update.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day is coming around again on Saturday, Feb. 7, and the Penny Ice Creamery is celebrating at all five of its Santa Cruz County locations. Each spot will open at 9 a.m. and is serving up specials in addition to scoops of ice cream, including a breakfast sundae with lemon morning cake and Verve Coffee ice cream, and Goldilocks porridge drizzled with organic cream.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
Following the holidays and a big birthday celebration for my husband’s 40th birthday in mid-January, my family is naturally settling into a wintery rest period. If you’ve ever heard of the Nordic philosophy of “hygge,” a cozy, comforting togetherness that often happens intentionally during colder months, I feel like it resonates with our current routine: fires and listening to records in the evening drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows; afternoons at beaches up the coast watching dazzling sunsets; and long mornings meeting up with friends at the playground with hot coffee in thermos and peanut butter sandwiches for the kids.
Hygge has followed me into the kitchen, too, where low-stress, warm and hearty meals dominate: beef and mushroom stew with miso and lots of ginger made in the slow cooker; tortilla soup that comes together quickly with a rotisserie chicken; store-bought meatballs that come to life simmered in jars of homemade tomato sauce. Other staples: a French press of hot tea, whole-wheat pancakes, and so many oranges.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Trader Joe’s humble $3 canvas tote bag has unexpectedly become a coveted global fashion symbol, showing up on streets from London to Seoul, and commanding eye-popping resale prices up to five figures. Americans might take the grocery chain for granted, but its lack of international stores implies a kind of well-traveled worldliness to wearers outside of the U.S. (The Wall Street Journal/$)
➤ In this powerful and fascinating essay, New York Times recipe developer Yewande Komolafe discussed life in the kitchen after losing her fingers and lower legs after an illness. “Even after a long hospitalization, when so much of my physical body had changed, I was grateful for what remained intact: my sense of taste and smell, my culinary knowledge, my ability to eye when a dish is cooked just right,” Komolafe wrote. (The New York Times/$)