Reopened last spring by Tyrolean Inn owners Whitney Belvin and Charles Cheatham, the Casablanca’s reinvention as an inn and bistro stresses a regional organic menu, thanks to chef Job Carder’s many personal contacts.
Articles by Christina Waters
Restaurant Week: La Posta
Under Katherine Stern’s expertise, La Posta‘s popularity has continued to grow, as evidenced in imaginative pastas, feather-light pizzas and entrees like braised quail and fennel sausage.
Restaurant Week: Laili
The culinary art direction at Laili involves a romantic and vibrant menu of items ranging from hummus platters and lamb kabobs to walnut date flatbread and grilled chicken. It is the handiwork of an ambitious and skilled young chef named Elder Lopez.
Restaurant Week: Davenport Roadhouse
Armed with a lengthy culinary background and a popular roadhouse setting on the rugged North Coast cliffs, chef Tim Edmonds is winning praise from local foodies and visitors alike. His freshly conceived menu at the Davenport Roadhouse showcases bright flavors in all the major food groups.
PLATED: Hot Links and Brews
Surely one of the planet’s oldest and cleverest culinary creations—for the fifth straight year, the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing folks are letting it all hang out at Sausagefest on Saturday, Oct. 8, 5-9pm at the corner of Western and Mission (site of the Westside Farmer’s Market). Also: the latest in beer and ice cream.
PLATED: Creative Libations
Creativity Under the Influence at MAH and something big underway in the Westside dining world.
PLATED: Graze on The Green
“I love it,” admits excitable event director Jeni Brill, who is deep into last-minute details for her 8th Annual Gourmet Grazing on the Green food & wine festival. Brill created this event for the board of the Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group, which has raised more than $1 million since 1995 to support local outreach and research organizations. “The basic idea was an event that would feature all local foods, local wines and local beers. All the produce used is donated from local growers,” she adds.
PLATED: Drive-Up Entrepreneurs
Longtime foodies (and sweethearts) Amber Turpin and David Stimpson serve up sweet and savory hand pies, cinnamon toast and Four Barrel Coffee espresso at their venture, Filling Station, now operational on the Westside.
PLATED: Local Color
Bonny Doon’s Sunset shout-out, Vine Hill’s new tasting room and Storr’s awarding-winning Pinot in this week’s PLATED.
PLATED: This Little Market
Last Tuesday I found Carra Duggan, the flower grower at Everett Family Farm, ensconced on the sunny porch between Farmers Exchange and River Cafe. For the past month, Duggan and Everett Family growers have been offering an organic mini-market on Tuesdays from 11:30am–4pm at the popular veranda location on River Street. “We’re seeing how it goes,” said Duggan, who is especially proud of the incredible watercolor-tinted yarrow that thrives on the farm property.
