In a scene straight from the heyday of Studio 54 openings, what looked like half of Santa Cruz waited patiently in front of the Del Mar for a turn at sampling the handiwork of Carlo Espinas, chef of the restaurant-in-progress Assembly. I took advantage of my press status to pop in for an advance look-see, grabbing a glass of excellent River Run Zinfandel from the VinoCruztable before heading up to the movie palace mezzanine for some appetizers.
Articles
Meet the Couple Behind Seabright’s Window Displays
While sitting on a couch in Richard and Nanette Stauff’s living room, next to a plush red heart pillow, an unidentified pink light bounces across the pages of my notebook. Is it a droplet of the Barefoot Summer red wine Nanette served me upon arrival, in a flute painted with pink and red hearts?
Felton Launches First Friday Event
This month, downtown Felton will celebrate its first-ever First Friday art walk.
Santa Cruz’s Most Romantic Restaurant
Shadowbrook wins the popular vote, just in time for Valentine’s Day
Foodie File: Ferrell’s Donuts
Darin Taing has been up since a little after midnight, and it’s now 8:15am. Taing, who owns the Mission Street Ferrell’s doughnuts, comes in seven nights a week around 1 or 2am, and he stays until 8 or 9am.
Where to Take a Date for Valentine’s Day
We live in a town with an endless stream of outstanding musical offerings, and this year’s Valentine’s Day lineup is no exception.
Local Hip-Hop Crew Slop Opera Returns
The crew in hip-hop used to be the standard, unlike today where most rappers are solo artists. Locals Slop Opera, who formed in 2004, have those old school hip-hop values—they’re overachievers, in fact, as most crews back in the day had three, four, maybe five guys. Slop Opera has eleven, which is even more than the ridiculously big Wu Tang Clan.
From Breakup to Standup
Most people, it seems, are tangentially connected to at least one famous person. For me, it is my ex-boyfriend. Or it will be, when he gets famous. I met Brian Frange in my college improv group at Indiana University, where we dated for three years before parting ways. Now he lives in New York and does comedy full-time.
DIYine Festival Returns to the MAH
High school chemistry teacher Stacey Falls started the Santa Cruz Fruit Tree Project with her husband Steve Schnaar four years ago, to help locals deal with excess fruit in their yard and show them how to dry cure and preserve harvests. “Since Steve and I started the Fruit Tree Project, we really haven’t bought much fruit at all,” Falls says, “and he eats fruit!”
Good News and Bad News on the Dining Scene
Happy news: Local charcuterie wizard Chris LaVeque of El Salchichero has won a prestigious 2014 Good Food award. At a blind tasting last fall LaVeque’s Coppa wowed judges who chewed through over 1450 total entries from all over the country.
