The best places to get your pasta on, according to the 2011 Santa Cruz Weekly Reader Survey. Buon appetito!
Articles
Project Cooking: Making Cassoulet
What started out as a French peasant pot dish, likely created to allow a farm cook to recycle her leftovers, has become the world’s most glamorous casserole.
The New Santa Cruz Mountain Winemakers: Mica Raas
The Watsonville-based vintner takes on a winemaking establishment that he says isn’t doing the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation justice.
The New Santa Cruz Mountain Winemakers: Lindsey Otis
Lindsey Otis’ travels as a winemaker have taken her all over the world, but she finally found her place in the Santa Cruz Mountains, close to home. After graduating from UC-Davis’ prestigious oenology program, she headed to France. She then spent time working at Saratoga’s Cooper-Garrod winery and later Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz. She moved to New Zealand. She made shiraz and riesling in Australia. Back in the States, she worked in Napa Valley at Silver Oak Cellars, makers of one the region’s bestselling cabernet sauvignons. But Napa wasn’t for her.
The New Santa Cruz Mountain Winemakers: Denis Hoey
It was while enjoying a glass of wine with his then-girlfriend and future wife, Claire, that Denis Hoey realized he wanted to become a winemaker. He had been helping out at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, and one day he got the last bottle of grenache rose to come off the bottling line. That day, the satisfaction of a hard day’s work, the beauty of the wine and the pleasure that came with enjoying it with somebody he loved sealed the deal.
The New Santa Cruz Mountain Winemakers: Kenny Likitprakong
Everything about Kenny Likitprakong’s story is filled with independent attitude. Growing up in Healdsburg of Thai, Chinese and Jewish ancestry, he exercised his passions for skateboarding and snowboarding in tandem with plenty of world travel. His umbrella Hobo Wines group is named partly in homage to songwriter/vagabond Woody Guthrie and the free spirit of wandering.
Joni Mitchell Tribute at Kuumbwa
A masterful lyricist, composer and painter, Joni Mitchell is an inimitable creative force. She’s racked up eight Grammys, has her name in stars on sidewalks and gets honorary doctorate degrees and lifetime achievement awards. She is also a chain-smoking, media-wary introvert with a serious case of stage fright. These seemingly disparate facets, however, serve only to strengthen the allure of Mitchell, whose musical contributions are held up with those of Dylan and the Beatles. Her catalog is immense and varied and she has won the loyalties of countless die-hard fans who understand that with Joni, the artist cannot be separated from the art.
Doobie Brothers, Joan Osborne at BluesFest
The Santa Cruz Blues Festival celebrates its 20th year this Memorial Day weekend with an eclectic lineup. Tickets go on sale at www.santacruzbluesfestival.org starting Feb. 29
Sinbad on Striking Balance: Still Edgy, Still Clean
Anyone who’s grown tired of watching videos of famous dead comedians should google Sinbad, the performer many people forgot was still alive. They’ll find a genuinely talented comic (if funny in a different way than you thought when you were 7) with a unique knack for skewering human nature while keeping the jokes clean.
No Heroes: Banff Film Fest Winner Tests The Genre
As the camera pans away from the glare of the rising sun, jagged white and blue ice peaks fill the screen. The tallest catches the first pink light of dawn. In the foreground we see a climber encased in his red down survival spacesuit. He is walking very, very slowly, inching up a steep knife-edge ridge toward us. As the scene shifts to slow motion, we can see that he is stumbling.
