Taylor Strand offers up biscotti and more at Companion Bakery, with Katrina Gimbel in the background.
Gaga for Gluten-Free: No, not Lady Gaga. I can’t resist the enticing lineup of artisanal cookies and cakes showcased at Lulu Carpenters these days. When I head into the Octagon, right there at the front counter where I order my favorite double macchiato is a jewel box filled with pretty nut-topped pastries, most of them absolutely free of gluten. One bite of the chewy Nut Crisps will have you asking, “How can anything without gluten taste this good?” Ditto the fragrant almond cakes. These, and many other delightful locally-crafted morning sweets (but not too sweet), are priced from $1.50 to $3, and are beyond perfect with your favorite caffeine brew…Also TDF, and sans gluten, are the ultra-chewy anise, almond and apricot biscotti from Companion Bakeshop. But as you know, there’s nothing that isn’t positively celestial at this local treasure. The banana, walnut and date tea cake is a fixture at my house.
Last Call to Go Greek: This weekend the lusty, tasty, dancing, singing, eating and laughing Greek Food Festival unfurls in front of the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church. Do not miss this—bring everyone you know. They will love it. You will love it. The ghost of Kazantzakis will love it! Sept. 6, 7 & 8 at the corner of Church and Center streets.
West End Tap Dance: Rita and I made quick work of a substantial lunch at West End the other day. We began with intense pastrami cubes (El Salchichero, of course) frosted with pickled mustard-seed relish and purple-cabbage puree. Next we shared a smartly executed caprese salad of heirloom tomato wedges, succulent fresh mozzarella and dark red frisée in a garlicky dressing. A delicious flatbread “pizza” topped with mushrooms, arugula, roasted garlic and crescenza cheese was so generous that we took half of it home for the next day. Nice pricing and attractive presentation. Plus it was fun sitting in one of those wrap-around “tasting caves” tucked into the main Tap Room. (A little later in the day and I would have called for a house IPA, instead of San Pellegrino.)
UCSC Plant Extravaganza: Time to start thinking about those fall and winter home-grown veggies, and the place to stock up on organically-raised seedlings is at the ever-popular UCSC Farm & Garden’s Fall Plant Sale, happening this Fri., Sept. 6 and Sat., Sept. 7. What you’ll find at this year’s Fall Plant Sale will be one of the largest arrays of all-organic vegetables, annual flowers and landscape plants in the Monterey Bay Area. In short, everything you need to make sure your garden produces fresh, home-grown veggies and flowers for your table, as well as a chance to give perennials a head-start on the season. More temptation: at this year's Plant Sale you'll find peas, spinach, kale, chard, lettuce and salad mixes, collards, fennel and leeks, along with broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Napa cabbage. And this year features an expanded selection of Asian greens, a riot of radicchio varieties, four types of artichokes plus all the alliums you can handle. Flower-wise, look for sweet peas, bachelor’s button, statice, calendula, scabiosa and stock.
Of course, in addition to winter vegetables, annual flowers and culinary herbs, the sale offers perennial flowers and shrubs, including lavenders, ornamental thistles, a wide selection of salvias and lots of California native species. It's also a lot of fun and a chance to schmooze with other like-minded “only organic” aficionados. (Hmm, “OO” could be a good acronym. Or “NBO”—Nothing But Organic! Usw.)
The sale will be on Fri. from noon-6pm and Sat. from 10am-2pm in the Barn Theater parking lot, at the intersection of Bay and High streets in Santa Cruz (base of the UC Santa Cruz campus). Be there early!
