As other restaurants become louder, O’mei becomes even more precious. Handsome, intimate and cozy, the dining rooms of O’mei provide true culinary—and conversational—oases, where the food has never been better and you can actually converse in words of more than one shouted syllable.
Posts Tagged: reviews
Dining With Local Stars at Gabriella
Just how was this going to work, I wondered? A flotilla of us were convening on the main dining room of Gabriella Cafe in hopes of hearing the loquacious über gardener Orin Martin orate on the topic of peppers, while his artist wife Stephanie demystified a few complex points of intaglio printing.
New Pizzeria Captures Elegant Spirit of Avanti
While the rest of you were feasting on sugary candy corn, we spent our traditional Halloween dinner at Avanti. The “old” Avanti, a.k.a. the new Pizzeria Avanti, where Jeremy Geise, son of owners Paul and Cindy Geise, has grown gracefully into his role as resident host.
New Menu at Aquarius Restaurant
Priced well within the comfort zone of most inquiring foodies, the seasonally evolving menu—which includes a choice tapas menu for enjoyment in the lounge—is loaded with seasonal ideas, local organic ingredients and tons of vibrant flavor. And when you’re sipping that mojito in the lounge, don’t forget to look up and admire the surfboard-lined ceiling.
Santa Cruz’s Best Burritos
When I first moved to Santa Cruz for school, I remember looking out my parents’ car window and deciding to try to eat at every single Santa Cruz taqueria in search of the town’s best burrito. Even as a Southern California native, I was amazed by the high per capita ratio of burrito places to everything else.
Six years later, I’ve been to at least two dozen burrito places around the county, taking pointers from friends and Internet clues. Finally, I’m ready to name my favorites.
Oktoberfest at Davenport Roadhouse
Bring a major thirst and a sense of fun to the Davenport Roadhouse Restaurant and Inn on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 29 and 30, for an outdoor spectacle of great food, beer, live music and lots of stuff to make the kids happy. The event, by the way, helps to raise funds for beach clean-up efforts in Santa Cruz, called Tip the Ocean—developed by LiVBLUE in partnership with the Davenport Roadhouse and Save Our Shores.
New Capitola Eatery Offers Eceltic Options
Restaurateurs Daniel Voskoboynikov of the Harbor Cafe and Mike Pitt of Motiv and Castaways have melded their minds and aesthetics and opened Süda, the new Pleasure Point hot spot. Locals will hardly recognize the old Rock of the Sea, which has had a major face lift (and for once the procedure really has left her looking younger and healthier). The open, light-filled restaurant incorporates recovered wood, stone and living plants into the design. Picnic tables serve as outdoor seating where neighbors in the know can be seen lounging over a pitcher of beer with their two- and four-legged friends.
Louie’s Cajun Kitchen Is Hot
Some of us will admit to fretting over the closing of Clouds Downtown. For one thing, I thought, how will any city business get done? It was the power lunch place in town. But after our meal last week at Louie’s Cajun Kitchen and Bourbon Bar, the new venture by Cloud owners Lou and Kristi Caviglia, I don’t care. The suits at City Hall can woo Apple Store execs over peanut butter sandwiches for all I care.
Santa Cruz County’s Best Microbrews
As the mercury rises, so do our cravings for a cool, refreshing beverage. But which one? It would be a mighty undertaking to channel your inner beer geek on your own and find the best local beer. So we, ever community-minded, did the homework ourselves with a blind taste test, scientifically weighing the pros and cons of each and searching for strengths and weaknesses.
Odonata Wines Makes Itself at Home
New Odonata Tasting Room Cozily located right next door to Companion Bakers, in the former New Leaf/Beckmann’s strip, Denis Hoey’s spiffy new Odonata Tasting Room offers plenty of tasting, fun food ops and sleek vintage woodwork. Hoey, who still makes his wines in the Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard space near Kelly’s, is still finetuning his new tasting space.
