Ashley Rebello of 515 Kitchen in Santa Cruz, where the appetizers are as good as the cocktails. Photo by Chip Scheuer.
First off, a shout out to the sensational winter tomatoes grown by Miyashita Farms in Watsonville. Packaged as West Vista Farms cherry tomatoes, these crimson orbs are that rarest of finds—a completely ripe, locally grown winter tomato. We've been using these all fall and winter in arugula salads, on top of toast and cream cheese to go with our breakfast eggs, or tossed with basil, garlic and angel hair pasta. I've been finding these at New Leaf stores and Shoppers Corner, but now only Shoppers seems to carry them. Trust me, these are head and shoulders above any of the others currently on the market. A taste of late summer in what is supposed to be late winter.
Menu Walk: I like what I see when I check out Bantam's latest culinary thinking. Beautiful salads layered with Dungeness crab, butter beans, artichokes and cress—this sort of sophisticated side makes magic with wood-fired pizza. Bantam's kitchen recently whipped up a bold chicory Caesar salad fueled with radicchio from Mariquita Farms. Those wildly popular pickled carrots and turnips are still on the menu crying out for a glass of something red. Spaghetti Bolognese and even a Fogline farm fried chicken with mashed beets, favas and chiles have been added to the sleek pizza palace menu. Bantam is located at 1010 Fair, corner of Ingalls on Santa Cruz' vibrant Westside…Meanwhile on the other side of town, at Au Midi in “downtown” Aptos, Muriel Loubiere is offering beets and goat cheese mousse salad with apple vinaigrette dressing. Entrees of Prince Edward Island mussels with fresh tomatoes, cream, brandy, basil and garlic have me salivating. Au Midi is one of the only dining rooms in the area to finesse an authentic cassoulet, complete with heirloom beans, duck confit, Toulousian and French garlic sausage….At 515 in downtown Santa Cruz I was thrilled to discover the lovely appetizer dishes of roasted asparagus spears with prosciutto, as well as addictive fingerling potatoes with aioli. Terrific dishes to share over cocktails, which is just what I did…And at Soif chef Santos Majano is re-imagining soup and turning it into an earthy fantasy of carrot and tangerine laced with candied ginger and crème fraiche. Another bold and wonderful entree —cannelloni of rabbit confit with mixed mushrooms and mascarpone, kalamata olives and arugula. This dish would prosper with a glass of French Pinot noir, or hmmm, sparkling rosé? Yes!…The bar menu at Oswald already has its own cult following. Many swear this is the best burger and fries in town, plus you can enjoy Dungeness crab with avocadoes, or fried chicken, or even a sophisticated mac & cheese, all at the bar while swilling something in the key of vodka. Oswald, located at the corner of Front and Soquel Avenues, offers a 3-course prix fix menu, priced at $29, every Wednesday night.
Free docent training at the UCSC Farm & Garden begins March 12: Docent training program begins Tuesday, March 12 at two of Santa Cruz’s most beautiful locations: the historic Alan Chadwick farm and UCSC Farm on the UC Santa Cruz campus. Docents lead visitor tours at the 30-acre organic farm and three-acre Chadwick Garden. The training involves five Tuesday afternoons, from 4-5:30pm, starting March 12, ending April 9. For more details and to arrange for parking during the training, please contact Amy Bolton at 831-459-3240, or [email protected] by Tuesday, March 5. The training is sponsored by the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz. More information about the UCSC Farm & Garden and CASFS is available at http://casfs.ucsc.edu.
