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.
… Workers at six Verve Coffee Roasters cafés in the Bay Area, including two in Santa Cruz, have officially unionized. In a vote on Friday, about 60 workers at locations on Pacific Avenue and Fair Avenue, in San Francisco and in the South Bay unanimously approved the contract they negotiated with owners Colby Barr and Ryan O’Donovan over the past year.
The contract includes guaranteed hours, advance scheduling, wage increases and other workplace protections. The agreement also includes what union leaders call industry-first provisions for an extra $5 per hour in sick pay to offset lost tips and limits on how Verve can use artificial intelligence to make decisions about employees. Learn more about the contract in this story from September.
… The fifth annual Uncork Corralitos returns to Alladin Nursery & Gift Shop this Saturday. Co-hosted by El Vaquero Winery, this garden party features local wineries, breweries, cideries and food trucks, plus live music and a silent auction, to fundraise for Watsonville-area nonprofits and community programs. General admission is $50, and VIP access is $80 for advance entry with special pours.
Get your first year of Lookout for $99
Take advantage of our election season special and get your first year of Lookout for just $99. Keep reading past Election Day with full access to all Lookout’s coverage — local government, arts & culture, food & dining and more. Sign up now to stay informed year-round.
… Santa Cruz County nonprofit Teen Kitchen Project is expanding to a new 4,200-square-foot commercial kitchen and headquarters in Soquel, with the help of a $1.2 million loan provided by Community Vision. At Teen Kitchen Project, professional staff and teenage volunteers prepare and deliver medically tailored meals to people living with serious illness. Founded in 2012 by CEO Angela Farley, the organization’s goal is to provide community members with nourishing meals, and teach local teens valuable cooking and leadership skills.
The facility will help the organization meet a growing demand for Teen Kitchen Project’s services and improve efficiency by consolidating separate rented kitchens and offices into one space. TKP delivered more than 175,000 meals to around 1,000 households in 2025, according to a media release.
… Looking for a spicy night out? Mountain Feed & Farm Supply in Ben Lomond is hosting a fermented hot sauce class on Friday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Learn how to transform fresh peppers into a tasty sauce that will keep for months, and go home with all the equipment needed to do it yourself. Tickets are $59.
… Early bird tickets are available for Surf City Stroll, a wine tasting event held in Santa Cruz’s Westside neighborhood on Saturday, Nov. 21. Visit around a dozen wineries, breweries and cideries within walking distance of each other. Tickets are $45 through Oct. 23, and will increase to $50.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
September is Santa Cruz County’s quiet stretch of summer, when the crowds thin out and the weather holds. I found four dishes worth tracking down: a sourdough smash burger, lobster cacio e pepe, an agua fresca with a chamoy-coated rim, and squash bread with harissa butter. Check them out in my story on the best things I ate and drank in September.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
This Saturday is Wilder Ranch State Park’s annual Harvest Festival. One of the highlights of a day that includes living history demonstrations, crafts, games, live music and food is the Heritage Apple Tasting, hosted by the California Rare Fruit Growers Association. The tasting is an opportunity to explore rare and unique varieties of the classic fall fruit, all grown nearby. Entry into the festival is free, with a $10 parking fee.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
I have a hot tip for all the parents out there who have ever struggled with cookie house decorating kits. These kits, which typically come with cookie house panels, icing and sprinkles, used to exist only as gingerbread houses, but holiday-themed versions are sold throughout the year. My kids, Marco, 5, and Cecilia, 3, love the spooky haunted house version sold at Trader Joe’s around Halloween.
The box says that the user can glue the house together with the provided tubes of frosting, but this is a lie. After two years of collapsing, sticky shanty shacks and frustration, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Last weekend, I used a hot glue gun to stick the houses together before Marco and Ceci sat down at the table. Yes, the cookie became inedible, but my kids have never been interested in eating it — they’re just here for the icing and sprinkles.
I don’t know if every parent knows this trick and I’m the last one to figure it out, but it totally worked and I’m only doing it this way from now on. The more you know!
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ Bay Area restaurant chain Il Fornaio will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit that alleges “egregious and constant” sexual harassment of at least 100 female employees. Male employees at all levels of the company’s hierarchy were accused of unwanted touching, demands for sexual favors, and rape. The alleged behavior went unchecked for years before the suit was brought in 2022. Il Fornaio denies the claims. (San Francisco Chronicle/$)
➤ California’s wine grape harvest is about half the size of a normal year, but that could be a good thing for winemakers struggling with a glut of unsold wine. Amid declining consumption and falling exports, the reduced crop could help rebalance supply and demand during the industry’s historic downturn. (Wall Street Journal/$)