Mariela Rios of Staff of Life. Photo by Chip Scheuer.
I know the entire Santa Cruz community joins me in congratulating the tireless visionaries at Staff of Life celebrating (I can't believe it) 44 years in the heart of the natural food business. Join the 44th anniversary festival activities—food, music, demos, lots of fun—starting at 12:30 on Saturday May 18 at the full-service, politically correct, much-loved Soquel Avenue store. Started up in 1969 by Richard Josephson and Gary Bascou, Staff of Life flourished at its familiar Water Street corner for 40 years before making the move to its current expanded, Green-certified facility at 1266 Soquel Avenue. This is truly an “only in Santa Cruz” success story, and anyone with organically conscious tastebuds should stop by this Saturday and enjoy the party.
Eat Like a Greek: This weekend, May 17-19, downtown Santa Cruz will be perfumed with dolmas and retsina. Yes, it's the 7th Annual Greek Food Faire, featuring everything you hope for and more. The three-day event will plie us with authentic Greek everything. You should be ready for a huge array of authentic Greek food and desserts for purchase, including traditional specialties like moussaka, spanakopita, grilled marinated lamb souvlaki and handmade pastries. Sample a hand-whipped Greek frappe at the Kafeneio. Or, quench your thirst at the taverna featuring Greek beer, wine and traditional spirits such as metaxa and my all-time favorite acquired taste, retsina. Yes you probably will start dancing like Zorba once those zithers start up and fill the block with Greek music. Everybody is welcome, free admission. Please leave your pets at home. All proceeds benefit the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church. The Greek Food Faire happens at 223 Church Street (corner of Center and Church Streets) downtown Santa Cruz; May 17, 5 – 10 pm; May 18, 11 am – 10 pm; and May 19, noon – 8 pm. For more information, please contact Athena Wolfe, Director of Marketing, 831.334.4400.
June is Vintners Festival Month: Mark your calendar for some Santa Cruz Mountains winetasting with the 23rd Annual Vintners Festival, from noon to 5pm, June 8 and 9, as well as the Downtown Santa Cruz Street Faire, on Pacific Ave (between Locust & Walnuts streets) on June 9, from 11am until 3pm. “This year’s Vintners' Festival is an evolution of previous events and a great opportunity for wine lovers to enjoy our region’s wines by touring and tasting, as well as at a new street faire in Downtown Santa Cruz that will feature local wine, artisan foods, music and live entertainment,” says Megan Metz, executive director of the Santa Cruz Mountains Wine Growers Association. Here's what you do: purchase your $40 per person ticket—for winery tours and street fair—either online in advance, or $50 at the door. Tickets and list of participating wineries are available online. A giant block party with local food, local folks, and locally-produced wines. What's not to like?
This just in—the Outstanding in the Fields summer dining series has added another local venue – Fogline Farm in Soquel – on Monday May 27. The long afternoon of choice flavors will involve many moving parts from farm tours led by growers of Fogline's fabled produce, chickens and pigs, to wine tasting, to sampling multiple courses created on site by chef Greg Dunmore of San Francisco's Nojo restaurant. There are some $220 tickets remaining to share in this very special dining event. Go to the website to make your reservation.
