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.
… For the third year in a row, California’s commercial salmon fishing season was canceled because of critically low fish stocks, dealing another major blow to the state’s struggling fishing industry. While commercial boats will remain docked, for the first time in two years there will be a limited opening for recreational fishing statewide in two-day to four-day increments throughout the summer. The dates are: June 7-8, July 5-6, July 31-Aug. 3 and Aug. 25-31.
“California fishing communities were hoping for some small recovery reflected by the science, but just isn’t there,” Melissa Mahoney, director of the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, a nonprofit organization that supports the fishing industry in Monterey Bay, told me last week when we got the news. “The tough times just keep getting tougher. My heart breaks for fishers. It’s not their fault – it’s what’s happening on land with river management and water policy.” Read the story here.
… Anxiety over tariffs continues to loom large for local business owners, who are trying to grapple with all the ways they anticipate costs will go up for themselves and their customers. When I spoke to area wineries a couple of weeks ago, winemakers refuted President Donald Trump’s claims that tariffs will bolster domestic wine sales, and argued that they will hurt small American producers, exacerbating the industry’s current downturn. In March, brewery and restaurant owners were anticipating surging prices on everything from aluminum to shrimp.
Last week, Charles Nelson, the owner of downtown Santa Cruz cookware store Toque Blanche, sent out a candid email warning of inevitable price increases of 10 to 20% on everything from kitchen gadgets to stainless steel knives. Read the latest here.
… The honorees for the 2025 NEXTies were announced on Friday, and I want to congratulate the food and drink businesses that will be celebrated this year.
Downtown Santa Cruz LGBTQ+ bar The Neighbor’s is the New Business of the Year; Donnie Suesens of Food Talk – which I reported on earlier this month – won for Foodie of the Year; Skills of Life Café, a coffee cart in Live Oak that empowers young people with special needs, won for Wildcard; Max Turigliatto, owner of Mission West, the “five-star dive bar” on Santa Cruz’s Westside, and the forthcoming Alley Oop in downtown Santa Cruz, is Entrepreneur of the Year; Humble Sea Tavern and Emerald Mallard won Food Business of the Year for their collaborative partnership under one roof at the old Cremer House in Felton; and Esperanza Community Farms, an organic Watsonville farm that focuses on social justice, will be honored as Health & Wellness Guru of the Year. See the full list of honorees here.
The NEXTies awards ceremony is Friday, May 16, at Woodhouse Blending & Brewing in Santa Cruz, and is cohosted by Event Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Vibes Magazine. Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 the day of the event.
… This Saturday, I’m excited to be a speaker at Farm Discovery’s Spring Picnic, together with June Ponce, executive director of the Watsonville Community Hospital Foundation, and Life Lab Executive Director Whitney Cohen. The event takes place at the gorgeous Live Earth Farm outside of Watsonville, and includes lunch by students from Cabrillo College’s Culinary Arts program, live music and a guided farm tour. Tickets are $20 per person. If you go, please say hi!
… The summer event series Food Truck Fridays returns to Skypark in Scotts Valley starting this Friday, April 25. The monthly gatherings include several local food trucks, live music and wine and beer for sale. Proceeds from alcohol sales benefit public schools in Scotts Valley.
This year, the food trucks will park in front of the rec building – rather than in the picnic area – in order to provide more space for lines. Admission and parking are free.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Did I have a great time eating my way through the haute Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival a couple of weeks ago? Yes. Would I do things differently next time I go? Also yes. Here are five things I found out from experience and you should know before you go to this celebrity-studded high-end food event.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
On Saturday, April 26, The Perfect Pair returns to the historic Sesnon House at Cabrillo College. At this showcase, Cabrillo Culinary Arts students are matched with local wineries and challenged to create the perfect pairing of small bites and wines. Guests and judges determine the winners. Tasting tickets are $85. Last year, Lookout wine contributor Laurie Love tried pairings like turkey herb meatballs with raspberry sauce matched with Aptos Vineyards’ 2020 pinot noir, and lemon curd puff pastry with Birichino winery’s 2022 pétulant naturel malvasia bianca, a floral, naturally sparkling wine.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
On Sunday, I went to the East Bay to celebrate Easter with my mom’s side of the family. Over brunch, my aunt and uncle turned to me and told me they had brought a surprise – a wedding gift. Mind you, my husband, Mike, and I got married in 2019, and I was oblivious to their faux pas. “You never got us a wedding gift? You almost got away with it!” I said.
But it was worth the wait. Here’s a little family history that explains why: My mom’s family has been making a special spaghetti recipe for decades – apparently my great-great-aunt Nita learned it from a chef in New York City. (I don’t think we have a drop of Italian blood in my entire extended family – Belli is my married name – so why this dish became such a staple in our house is a bit of a mystery.) I remember eating it when I was little whenever we visited my grandpa’s house, and we always ate it with red-and-white checkered bibs.
The reason the gift took so long to get to us is because my aunt learned to sew exact replicas of the bibs, and gifted us a set of eight, along with a handwritten recipe, a bottle of good Italian wine, a loaf of bread, some pasta – and a portion of frozen sauce to make when we got home. They even included a game, “Yeti In My Spaghetti,” to play with my 4-year-old son, Marco, and 2-year-old daughter, Cecilia.
It was, by far, the most thoughtful wedding gift we received.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Le Creuset’s enamel-lined cast-iron cookware has been a kitchen powerhouse for a century. Over the past hundred years, the iconic French brand has created a feverish following of collectors who seek out rare, new and classic designs and colors of the durable, versatile pots, pans and home goods. (The New York Times)
➤ Are we in a recession? According to the freezer aisle, we are. Frozen pizza sales are up, mirroring similar spikes during the Great Recession in 2008 and during the pandemic in 2020. Tighter budgets are driving people toward affordable luxuries, like gourmet comfort meals from the freezer section. (Business Insider)