Christina Waters

(thoughts out of season)
I was sure I spotted Marie Antoinette next to the sliding glass entrance yesterday. She was tossing huge slices of creamy tiramisu out in the direction of the parking lot. Inside, guys in togas were serenading shoppers with violin music. Sorry, I meant fiddle.
The word “excess” took on new meaning for me, as I combed the brightly-lit mega-aisles packed, nay bulging with more inventory than can be found in any three Eastern European countries put together. Who did they expect was going to show up? I wondered. There aren’t enough well-heeled consumers in the entire county to keep this inventory moving (especially not, given the new New Leaf, the amplified Staff of Life, the impending Safeway-on-steroids, the venerable Shoppers Corner, and any number of other groceries each with its own loyal customer bases). Were the WF managers going to duplicate the entire population of Santa Cruz, and then send in the clones?
Whoa. Here was something I’ve been looking for forever. Organic ostrich eggs. What a relief! WF had them, high on the multi-tiered rack of duck, quail, and free-range, pastured local eggs displayed not in anything so confining and usual as an egg carton. Oh no. But loose, if you will, like so many little oval Anna Nicole Smiths on ludes lying seductively amidst the faux straw………. (to be continued)

One disgusted consumer suggested a catch phrase for “Whole Hog” could be: “Where the gluttons go to gobble!” He continued: “WH is over the top — there’s enough food in that store to feed Darfur for a year! Geez! Maybe a small % of their profits could go to Darfur?”

And another picky gourmet offered this confession:
“I made the pilgrimage to the WF grand opening day, out of curiosity (plus
they make a low-fat ginger cookie that I’m addicted to). It was a madhouse,
so got my cookie and left, but my impression was the same as yours: too too
much. There is something almost obscene (more…)

Back when it was the local hotspot of California Cuisine, Theo’s thrilled the entire central coast. Who could forget the irrepressible (!) Ethan Hamm?

Well now Theo’s is closed. Owner Roger Romano was unavailable for comment this morning, but the word is that the building is up for sale.

I had many wonderful meals at that little gem. Sic transit, etc.

Ciao Bella? “Ciao” indeed. The word is that those in charge of this once-popular Ben Lomond dining room and floorshow left shall we say, “abruptly.” Felton’s La Bruschetta is also gone. But not for long, hopefully. We hear that the original owner/chef — who was also much better than the last one — plans to re-open La Bruschetta, a place I had loved back in its infancy.
Now it turns out that Fiesta Tepa Sahuayo has suffered a similar fate. Closed, emptied, owners go bye-bye, (according to one source, the owner died) and a new taqueria is planned for the same space. But it would be hard to duplicate that rose petal Oaxacan sauce, don’t you think?

Where are those culinary bail-out funds when we need them?

A particularly juicy collection of eye candy loaded with intriguing psychological backstory - that’s the current Assemblage + Collage show filling the vintage digs of the Santa Cruz Art League, at 526 Broadway. The Art League’s installment of this multi-venue show — it’s pretty much all over town in selected galleries and museum spaces — was curated by Maureen Davidson and offers a sensory overload of professional artworks. Gorgeous stuff actually, utterly ingenious, some haunting, others displaying uncanny expertise with found and manipulated media.

We loved the work of laura laura - whose piquant mannikin “fountain” is shown here.

Strong and compelling, the show fills the Art League galleries through April 5. Don’t miss it!

Santa Cruz Art League: 831/426-5787 - Wed-Sat, noon-5; Sun, noon-4.

Pinot Paradise really IS paradise for lovers of the seductive grape of Burgundy. Especially as expressed by the singular viticultural landscape of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA.
Devoted entirely to the complex pinot noirs being made from Santa Cruz Mountains grapes, Pinot Paradise, an annual excuse to expand your palate — and your cellar — is worth clearing your calendar for. Seriously - all the pinots you’ve always wanted to taste.

The VIP Tasting - an exclusive action-packed tasting with interesting & knowledgeable winemakers, begins at 1pm. Pace yourself!

The Grand Cruz Tasting - wines paired with deluxe finger food from a dozen fine restaurants — is 2-5pm. Also - silent auction and raffle with some great prizes, and bidding on double magnums from each winery, plus a sensational one-of-a-kind Paradise Cuveé, a 5-liter blend of all the best Pinots being poured at the event.

Don’t dare call yourself a pinot noir lover if you don’t show up. For more info you can also go to the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association website.

Is it just me or are the wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains getting better? And better.

A few months ago, for example, the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, awarded 30 gold medals - including four “Best of Class” awards - to SCM wines. Thirteen of these golds went to local Pinot Noirs. Yes, it is a big deal. A record 4,736 wines were entered by wineries from all over the United States. (more…)

First day of spring - last day for lunch at downtown’s amazing Gabriella Cafe.
Owner Paul Cocking admitted that since not enough ladies were lunching, Gabriella’s mid-day menu is “going south with the American economy.” The restaurant will unleash chef Brad Briske’s full creative attention on dinners Tuesday through Sunday, and weekend brunches.

Probably a wise move, given the obvious. Thank God we still have some terrific downtown lunches options, including Oswald, Soif, Clouds, El Palomar and The Bagelry.

Sure, you could dumb down your choices - save pennies, clip coupons, consume something that makes you hate yourself in the morning. Or you could have a meal that stimulates all your senses. That makes you feel glad about spring, living at the ocean, being alive.

Dungeness crab with shaved fennel, baby cress and organic arugula, studded with a few Gigante beans, Meyer lemon aioli and a lavish, intense pool of squid ink vinaigrette.

I don’t know - it sells itself.

Gabriella.

Lofty ceilings, rivers of sunlight, polished earth-toned floors — New Leaf unveiled its newest store on the Westside this morning to the obvious delight of a full house of discerning consumers. Glittering displays of fruit, seafood, and pastries joined an entire alcove of wines, islands of nutriceuticals, cafe seating, a refrigerated flower chamber — and the sleek shelves were still being stocked on opening morning.

I was so happy to see my favorite deli gals — here’s sandwich princess Lauren Ward (r.) and colleague — that I ordered a mammoth tuna sandwich to go as I made my inaugural tour of the amazing and quite beautiful new store. If it feels a bit like one of the Whole Foods emporia, that’s because interior architect Steven Crocker, of C/D/M Construction, spent ten years designing for Whole Foods.

More to see, more to buy, and more to just plain be happy about — the Westside can be proud, and kudos to Scott Roseman and Rex Stewart. New Leaf actually lives up to the “bigger and better” hypola. The parking lot is not only huge, but it conveniently adjoins Bonny Doon Vineyard winery and its new gala tasting room. Go check out the very chic, industrial moderne structure at the corner of Ingalls & Fair.

What prompted winemaker Jeff Emery, award-winning winemaker for Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, to start up yet another line of varietals called Quinta Cruz?

“Two trips to Portugal,” Emery responds without missing a beat. “I fell in love with the wines, and by chance I saw a listing for these Iberian grapes,” grapes with melodious names like Touriga, Tinta Cão, and Tempranillo. A recent planting of these Portuguese varietals in Monterey’s San Antonio Valley now powers these intriguing, aromatic and immediately accessible new wines.

The distinctive label for the new Quinta Cruz line — which includes a 2005 Tempranillo, a 2006 blend of two Touriga varieties, and a voluptuous Douro-style blend called Concertina — shows a sepia-tinted drawing of a graceful rabelo sailing ship. Rabelo boats (more…)