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.
… Meal delivery service Village Foods opened a storefront in Live Oak for limited hours for grab-n-go pick up. Founder Kelly Langstaff is in the process of renovating the former restaurant at 2-1245 East Cliff Dr. next door to Windmill Café into a kitchen and grocery, and offers à la carte items from her weekly delivery service. The current hours are Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 5 p.m.
I stopped by last week and grabbed a chicken and kale Caesar salad wrap ($16), brown-butter crispy rice treats ($8), and a 12-ounce portion of Korean-style pot roast ($15), which I heated up for dinner that evening with some rice and a side of kimchi. There are other protein sides like grilled chicken thighs and pesto turkey meatballs in different sizes, as well as full meals and treats. And unlike the delivery service, there’s no minimum for checkout, so visitors can just grab whatever they like for customizable meals.
… Sante Arcangeli Family Wines is launching a new Music on the Green live music series in Aptos Village on the lawn in front of New Leaf Community Markets and across the street from its tasting room. The good times kick off on July 18 with music from 2-5 p.m. with coastal roots band Suns of Surf, in which winemaker John Benedetti plays. Sante Arcangeli will offer by-the-glass specials on Santa Cruz Mountains pinot noir and chardonnay, alongside a buy-one-get-one-free deal on socks at Sockshop & Shoe Company next door. The final event is Aug. 15 with Americana singer-songwriter Alecia Haselton alongside a full band. Both events are free – lawn chairs recommended.
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… Since going public about its plans to build a new food distribution center next door to its existing one, Grey Bears received $355,000 in donations toward its $9.6 million fundraising goal, said Executive Director Jennifer Merchant in a newsletter this week. With $8.1 million already raised and $1.5 million left before the commercial kitchen, market, storage, dining area and gathering space for older adults is fully financed, the Kristina Mailliard Center for Healthy Seniors is on its way to becoming a reality. Read about this vital new center in my story from April.
… After closing last week so its owners could attend the World Cup, Toriman – the brick-and-mortar shop from pop-up Yakitori Toriman – is open Wednesday through Sunday for small meals like onigiri and tonjiru, a Japanese soup, and a konbini market with Japanese drinks, snacks and ingredients. Unfortunately, they aren’t serving their famous smoky yakitori skewers yet while they figure out the mechanics of opening the new location in Capitola’s Brown Ranch Marketplace.
Owners Kaito Akimoto and Yuko Asaoke are also planning on opening a sake shop in the former Margins Wine tasting room in the Westside neighborhood of Santa Cruz. More on this soon!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Aptos farmers market, held on Saturdays at Cabrillo College, is celebrating its 50th birthday this summer. Don’t miss the story by Lookout contributor Ruth S. Intress as organizer Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets looks back on a half-century of community spirit and impact created by hosting dozens of nearby farmers and food vendors every week.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Mark your calendars for Rooted Fall Feast in the Fields, Farm Discovery at Live Earth Farm’s annual fundraising dinner, on Sept. 19. The event invites guests to celebrate the bounty of the organic farm while supporting the education programs organized by its nonprofit arm, Live Earth Farm Discovery. The evening includes farm activities, live music and a family-style dinner paired with local wines, craft beers and cocktails. Tickets start at $150 per person.
LIFE WITH THE BELLIS
Our family has reached a summer milestone: Our garden has become our primary source for produce. I’ve said this before, but I have to give full credit to my husband, Mike, for our garden’s productivity. He put some serious work into improving the soil in the beds, and we are seeing a major improvement over last year.
We harvest from the garden daily, and there’s still so much that hasn’t come online yet. We’re still waiting on tomatoes, hot peppers, eggplant, bok choy, fennel and artichokes. So what are we eating, you might wonder? Lettuce, mostly. So, so much lettuce.
Forget protein-maxxing; we are salad-maxxing at the Belli house. I cut huge heads of romaine, feathery arugula and soft, dark leaves of lettuce every other day. I like to wash it in big stainless steel bowls outside where my kids can help use the spinner and we can toss the water back into the garden. Then every day, sometimes twice a day, we eat a huge salad.
If the lettuce didn’t taste so good, it might be a problem, but I honestly don’t mind. I’ve started getting creative to see what kinds of dinner cravings I can salad-ify. Last night I made a spicy Asian chicken salad with soy sauce, garlic, gochugaru, sesame oil and smashed cucumbers (also from the garden). Although, as we finish off the heads from our initial planting, we are going to be a little more conservative for planting Round 2.
FOOD NEWS WORTH READING
➤ As food and agriculture companies consolidate, small farms are struggling to compete against corporate-owned enterprises. The near-monopolies easily undercut independent farmers, and no area of the industry is spared, from seed and pesticide production to ranching. (Civil Eats)
➤ Canned cocktails are on the rise and pushing back on an industrywide trend toward drinking less alcohol. But some consumers, who might be used to crushing a few low-ABV seltzers or beers, are unintentionally getting smashed more quickly on the higher-alcohol drinks. (The Atlantic/$)