Scallops @ Soif
My new favorite light dinner - three fat, perfectly cooked scallops sitting on a bed of crunchy, roasted cauliflower. The sauce? A dazzling sweet-&-salty puree of raisins and capers. For $13, it's an affordable luxury. Add a Gruner Veltliner and find yourself smiling...
Joker’s Wild
Too long, too cluttered, too disconnected — The Dark Knight contains one artistic masterpiece. The uncanny, ultra-vibrant performance by Heath Ledger. In his feverish hands, the Joker is one of the genuinely original creations of cinema history – and yes, I have...
Killer Apps
At Hollins House. Last Monday. Monterey Bay Wine Company trade tasting. I expected a full dance card of amazing wines, but I wasn't fully prepared for the spectacular appetizer display thrown by the chefs of Hollins House — which has got to own the finest view of...
Cocktails @ Clouds
Moss doesn't grow on Lou Caviglia, who lies awake at night dreaming up ever more tantalizing deals-of-the-century. My friend Susan adores the Martini Dinner specials at Clouds, and she showed me why last week when four of us lived large for very little $$$ at the...
A Small Observation
If Obama's name was "Lester," none of this would be happening.
Last Tango?
Since the "peace candidate" has announced that we should be sending more troops to Afghanistan, I figure it's time to party like there's no tomorrow. And to help, here's a new organic, luxurious butter from the nice folks of Clover. Ultra-creamy European-style,...
Fresh Mint Gelato: the Sequel
Yes, I know. Many of you ran out to Shoppers to find this extraordinary frozen sin and it was all gone. Here's why. My original source, gourmet realtor Dee Vogel, confessed. She kept buying tub after tub of this Ciao Bella gelato, and has by her own admission taken on...
Plein Air Prize
Last weekend's Plein Air Affaire event at Santa Cruz' Museum of Art and History attracted thousands of visitors, and made even more thousands of dollars for the downtown arts venue. The invited artists included some of the Bay Area's leading outdoor and...
Farm-fresh Produce
By now you've already finished up your romance with English peas and have moved on to peaches and chiogga beets. We've been enjoying the strawberries and tender baby greens — both wild and cultivated — offered by the Farm Cart at UCSC. Tuesdays and Fridays, the...
Fresh Mint – Frozen Sin
Thanks to gourmet realtor Dee Vogel — a woman tireless in her quest for a better mouthfull — I discovered a wicked new way to give my mouth a treat. And thanks to those merciless Ciao Bella gelatistas, I now know about Fresh Mint. Forget about that goopey, green,...
Rose Jelly & auld lang syne
A small plate of cheese. And figs, and quince paste. And especially rose jelly. Jelly that tastes and smells like roses in some English garden. This was 'dessert' at Soif last week, where I toasted the passing of a long-lost friend.
Gourmet Gluttony at G8 Gathering
Here's the dinner menu for the recent G8 summit on the Global Food Crisis: Corn and caviar Smoked salmon and sea urchin Winter lily bulb Hot onion tart Kelp-flavored beef and asparagus Diced tuna, avocado and soy sauce aspic Boiled clam, tomato and shiso in jellied...
Manny Santana – Larger than Life
Manny Santana, who died this week at 81, was large in every way. He was generous to any who needed a lift, a good meal, an extra drink, or a reason to get through the day. An exuberant artist and bon vivant, Manny gave incalculable gifts to our community — the...
Realist Master: Jeffrey Ripple @ Hackett-Freedman
San Francisco's Hackett-Freedman Gallery always offers an eyeful of the best contemporary realism. Opening July 10 is a show of new paintings by Jeffrey Ripple, whose elegant still life studies are the equal to works by the 17th century Spanish masters. The serene...
Food of the Gods
Here's our new favorite breakfast treat — something as old as the gods of Olympus. Greek-style yogurt from the clever marketing minds of Greek Gods Yogurt. Greek yogurt is yogurt the way the gods intended it - full fat and ultra creamy. So yes, there are a few more...
Cumbre Lives Up to Its Name
Four years ago legendary wine pioneer Ken Burnap sold his Jarvis Road estate - site of the oldest wine grapes planted in the Santa Cruz Mountains - to a group of wine entrepreneurs led by Nick Guerrero. Under the Wines of Vine Hill mantle, Guerrero's group has been...
Lunch @ Soif: Week One
Smart plates in a sleek, sophisticated setting. (Nothing beats alliteration - nothing.) Anya and I checked out the brand-new lunch menu at Soif last Friday and were treated to some lovely stuff in the way of a chopped salad of romaine entangled with crisp red cabbage,...
The Word
The word is that Oswald is definitely still in the pipeline. Yesterday there were two trucks out front, at the corner of Soquel and Front Sts., plumbing guys doing something to the interior. So that looks promising. When? Well, you might think about Thanksgiving in a...
Soif’s Up for Lunch
Starting Wednesday, June 25, Soif is open for lunch. See my post at the top of the page. That's right, wine fans. Now you can enjoy chef Chris Avila's lunches, Wed - Sat, from noon to 2, at Soif, located at 105 Walnut Avenue, in downtown Santa Cruz (831-423-2020) Be...
Not All That Glitters. . .
The San Francisco Opera's new production of Das Rheingold — the first of Richard Wagner's four "Ring" cycle masterworks — is musically mighty, but dramatically thin. Woeful set design — presumably by a last-minute committee of amateurs — caused almost fatal...
Volcanic Action
From the volcanic soils of Tenerife - largest of the Canary Islands - comes this seductive white wine. 2006 Tajinaste Valle de la Orotava Blanco, Spain, is the official label - but actually it's magic realism in a bottle. The grape is Listan blanco, the flavor is...
Never Better
Avanti that is. A few very hot nights ago we gave up on the whole idea of cooking and headed over to Ristorante Avanti where the evening specials dazzled. Under the expertise of lead sauté cook Roberto Serna, two entrees and one shared salad said everything about the...
Condiment Queen
Cholula - yes, the deliciously picante Mexican chile sauce that offers flavor interest as well as kick. Thanks to the piquin and arbol chiles it contains, this eye-opener bursts into full flower powered by an under-current of vinegar. Watch scrambled eggs take on new...
Cooking with Diana Kennedy
If you adore great food, and the chance to get into the kitchen with a true culinary master, you might consider taking the Kitchen Classics Cooking Tour with Diana Kennedy – August 15 – 25. The My Mexico Tours junket, run by the highly experienced and vivacious...