What are we drinking in our H20? How much filtration do we really need? And is bottle water really the “pure” alternative its marketers claim that it is?
News
A Night With Mycologist Henry Young
In the multipurpose room at Bonny Doon Elementary School—a gymnasium-meets-theater-meets-conference-room complete with basketball hoops, a piano, gymnastics mats and a stage built into the wall—local mushroom expert Henry Young is knee-deep in his talk, “Mushrooms 101.” The Rural Bonny Doon Association recruited him to teach them how to identify the mushrooms they’ve seen popping up in extra abundance around their properties lately thanks to the heavy rains. Forty-five of the Association’s members have shown up and are listening intently.
Mr. Toots’ Tasty Coffee, Big Cookies
Even on a chilly winter morning, the sunny balcony of Mr. Toots—overlooking the Capitola Beach and estuary—invites coffee lovers to linger, soak up some sun (assuming it isn’t raining, of course) and nurse that double latté for a while. Amazingly, when Lisa and I met for our monthly literary reconnoiter last week at the upstairs coffeehouse, Mr. Toots seemed exactly as I had left it. Church pews, couches, cafe tables and plenty of free wi-fi make Mr. Toots a pleasant place to park that laptop and surf the web.
Crowds Gather to Watch Mavericks
From the rocky beaches of Half Moon Bay, Mavericks’ famous wave breaks don’t look large enough for aquatic-minded squirrels on water skis. And even during Sunday’s gridlock morning traffic on Highway 1, rubbernecking drivers couldn’t have made out the jersey colors on the surfers gliding the frigid walls of blue water if they squinted. But two miles from the shore, the most dangerous big wave surf competition on the West Coast was underway—where the ocean swell can snap surfboards like toothpicks in the mouth of a bulldog, as it did for competitor Rusty Long in the first heat.
Q&A: Food Activist Sandor Katz
More and more, Santa Cruz is a hotspot for locally grown food: the county is dotted with small farms and farmers markets, it seems every third lawn has been ripped out to make space for growing food and our elementary schools are surrounded with edible gardens.
The Joy of Zumba
It all started by accident. Alberto “Beto” Perez showed up to teach an aerobics class in Cali, Columbia, and forgot his traditional aerobics music. So he improvised with some mix tapes of salsa and merengue music he had in his backpack. The class went wild for the resulting workout, and Zumba was born.
Letters to the Editor: Jan. 23-29
I am a local wine broker representative and have had my profile pictured in these pages. I have seen way too many restaurants fold over my 30 years in the business, and three years running a wine bar. My take on the restaurant scene is this: “Santa Cruz is the land of the bottom feeders.” People here do not spend, either because they cannot or will not. It is a way of life here.
The Future of Fine Dining in Santa Cruz
Steeped in natural foods culture and surrounded by grazing lands, small farms, the Pacific Ocean, wine regions and Northern California’s wealthiest county, Santa Cruz County would seem perfectly positioned to become the next Napa Valley.
Ambrosia’s Impressive Lunch Buffet
We’ve been fans of the plush and well-seasoned Indian cookery at Ambrosia India Bistro in Aptos since it opened. On the site of the former Bleu Spoon (and before that a locally beloved pancake house), Ambrosia offers a long list of tandoori classics, a wide range of naans and plenty of curries—vegan and vegetarian as well as lamb, chicken and beef.
Letters to the Editor, Jan. 16-22
Much love for John Craigie, not as much for disruptive library patrons and President Obama.
