The Garden

The Garden documents the rise of a lush 14-acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles from the ashes of the 1992 riots. It grew to become the largest of its kind in the United States only to be threatened with destruction when the property was sold under questionable circumstances.

The ensuing controversy attracted worldwide attention, including such notable politicians and celebrities as Antonio Villaraigosa, Maxine Waters, John Quigley, Daryl Hannah, Danny Glover, Joan Baez, Zak de la Rocha, and Willie Nelson, who fought to save the garden.

A panel discussion will follow the screening with:

• Rufina Juárez, of the South Central Farmers, who will talk about the personal experience of eviction from the garden and what the farmers are doing now.

• Shereen D’Souza, of the California Food & Justice Coalition, talking about model policies and actions that communities are taking to protect land for food production.

• Terry Corwin, Executive Director of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, talking about what is happening in Santa Cruz County to protect farm and garden space as well as natural habitat.

Doors open at 6:30.

Tickets are $10 purchased online or $15 at the door. No charge for children under 16.

The California Food & Justice Coalition promotes the basic human right to healthy food while advancing social, agricultural, environmental and economic justice.

The evening is organized by the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz and the California Food and Justice Coalition.

The labels haven’t yet been attached to this latest installment of Emery’s highly drinkable white varietal. Fast-moving on the palate, graced with a slight spritz, this Italian grape is quite distinctive, offering a quick floral nose before settling into citrus, wintergreen and a tropical fruit center.

The finish is woody, haunted by a hit of bubblegum. Terrific stuff.

Stop by the Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard tasting room and give it a whirl. $22 a bottle is a bargain for a wine that is immediate, polymorphous and exotic.

I picked some up yesterday, along with a half freshly-baked loaf of traditional Irish soda bread.

And for a side dish, a substantial square of feather-light, fresh corn frittata. Dinner for roughly $11 - plus extra for lunch the next day.

Chase the last gloomy nights of winter with a Sacred Hearth.

1 part Cynar

1 part Campari

2 parts gin

a squeeze of lemon

no ice

If you haven’t tried Cynar — a high-octane distillation of artichoke — you haven’t lived.

From the small Glen Haven estate of Hunter Hill comes this new pinot noir release by winemaker Vann Slatter. And it’s a big bold creation powered by dry-farmed grapes grown high above Soquel.

Hence the intensity of this 13.5 % alcohol wine.

The 2007 Estate Pinot Noir can do anything a syrah can do — it loves lamb. But it also shows its complexity alongside salmon and pasta.

This spicy pinot starts out cleanly with plenty of black cherry and finishes with a long, slow meditation on licorice and sassafras. Along the way we noticed a rhythmic unveiling of fruit and tannins (yes, just like the dance of the seven veils). Two hours after opening, the unmistakable earth flavors of rootbeer chimed in with the licorice.

Wine worth thinking about as you taste. We found it for $24.95 at Shoppers.

I can’t believe this wine doesn’t cost twice the price!
We liked this smartly-constructed, lightly-oaked wine for its balanced 13.5% alcohol and its lovely blend of peaches, melons and hazelnuts. Rounded with a crisp, if brief, finish, it is a wonderful wine. But more than that, it is a very, very inexpensive, well-made California chardonnay for under $10.

It will run you a mere $9.99.

Especially nice with steelhead and braised bitter greens.

Oyster bar Mondays coming any minute now to Soif.  Stay tuned closely.

No more Black China retail/cafe - instead there’s now Caffe Tazzina, with an all-new, not entirely vegetarian menu. Continue to stay tuned. …

Is Tacos Morenos under new management? Get back to me on that one. Thanks.

(”New” is definitely the word du jour, no?)

We all knew that mountain climbers were

Never before have adventure junkies gotten so close to the testosterone-drenched thrills of alpine climbing. And the Eiger, so beautiful, breathtaking. The film is a jaw-dropping recreation of a tragic assault on the Eiger’s north face. So help me I can’t understand how they got this footage. Even if most of it was somehow staged for the camera, it is still rife with the sorts of punishing handholds, rappels and traverses that jumpstart the adrenaline of extreme climbers and masochists.

At this point I have to stop. One of the most startling things about this scenery-driven film was my physical response to it. I was bored and impatient. What a silly story, what stiff acting. And yet as the climbing began, I found myself physically engrossed and unsettled. I flinched at each failed attempt to find a handhold, I had to close my eyes as rocks gave way under their feet. It was literally painful to watch.

And then there was the agonizing suspense. Would Toni be able to save the bleeding Austrian? Would Toni’s partner ever regain the feeling in his right arm? (This sounds like a SNL skit, but it was riveting, riveting, riveting.)

The story is thin—a limp love story between a reporter covering the attempt to climb the Eiger, and her former sweetie, Toni (who happens to be the finest climber in Germany), this story is draped over the brewing world war and quest for domination by the nascent Third Reich on the eve of the 1936 Olympics. (Now that I think of it, of course the love story is limp. Toni’s saving all of his precious bodily fluids — remember Dr. Strangelove? — for the mountain.)

More backstory: Hitler has promised a gold medal to the first climbers to successfully scale the north face of the Eiger. Okay, so we get that this is high-stakes cojones time. And while the wealthy gawkers gather to drink champagne and load up on schnitzel from the comfort of the hotel at the foot of the mountain, teams of climbers from several countries begin their ascents.

You know things aren’t going too well when halfway up, a member of the Austrian team suffers major head injuries and a broken leg. Our heroes, the lads from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, offer to help out and bring the wounded climber back down the mountain. Bad idea.
The weather deteriorates — and things get brutal as the three remaining climbers try to rest on jagged cliffs while avalanches rain down boulders the size of Bayreuth. Internal bleeding, frostbite, bad luck, bad decisions, worse weather—it is excruciating to watch, and yet — like all disasters — utterly mesmerizing.

Forget the “plot” - North Face is aerobic viewing — a dramatic visual lesson in courage, arrogance, and the amount of punishment the human body can endure.

The most widely-planted grape of Austria, GV famously goes with everything, including Brussels sprouts. We climbed down into the glass full of salted nectarines, straw and jasmine - at first sip. Then this creation of organic grapes morphed into pink grapefruit and a bouquet of quartrz. Ultra clean finish.
What’s not to like?

You can also sample this wine by the glass at Oswald, corner of Soquel and Front streets in downtown Santa Cruz.

The UCSC Concert Choir, conducted by Nathaniel Berman, will perform two musical masterworks by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Friday and Saturday March 12 & 13, @ 8pm.

Friday, March 12, the choir performs Dona Nobis Pacem and Five Mystical Songs at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street, in Santa Cruz, and again the following evening at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in San Mateo.

British modernist composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (shown here in his composing prime) and American poet Walt Whitman shared a sensitivity to the dark allure of warfare. Both saw the full range of battlefield suffering. Neither forgot what they saw.

Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece Dona Nobis Pacem sets Whitman’s battlefield visions to music for full chorus, punctuated by haunting solo work for soprano and baritone.
Full of tears and thunder — often breaking into shimmering eight-part chords — the music is ravishing.

Tickets available at the door, or at 831/459-2159 & at santacruztickets.com — $10 general/$8/senior/$6 students & UCSC staff.

Double OMG.

The informal tasting workshop takes place at Soif, from 2-4 pm, for a $15 per person fee, which includes bread and cheese to accompany the various cuvees.

If you haven’t sampled Windy Oaks wines, or yet had the pleasure of hearing this consummate winemaker talk you through his award-winning vintages — you’re in for a memorable treat.
By reservations only, call wineshop at 423-2020, or email: luke@soifwine.com.