Squeeze Box
Erin V. Sotak: Squeeze - A cunning and curious installation dealing with pomegranates — lots of them — fills the Sesnon Gallery up at Porter College, now through March 17, 2007. Open Tues - Sat, noon to 5pm, the Sesnon continues to offer sensory-cerebral treats...
To Eat or Not to Eat . . .
Quickies: Sitar, at 1133 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz, is flashy and it's open. Malabar ditto, fresh and sparkling in its new Front Street location. I'll let you know what I think in a week or two. . . Hula's is still a good place for high-performance theme...
Center Street Gives Good Grill
Looks like there is life after India Joze after all. The spacious Center Street Grill makes a terrific design statement. Already attracting a lunch and dinner following, this spot packs even bigger visual punch at night — when the glowing ochre and terra cotta walls...
Restaurateur Sounds Off!
Time for a little grousing about rude restaurant behavior — from the management's point of view. Ted Burke has been running a mighty successful establishment — Shadowbrook Restaurant — for decades. He's seen it all in the rude patron department. But here's...
Hearts & Amuse Bouches
Immodest Proposals: Where to go for romantic V-Day dining? Here's my answer. Gabriella Cafe chef Rebecca King and her sous-chef, Ben Howard (both veterans of Chez Panisse) offer lovers a four-course Valentine’s odyssey, accompanied by two glasses of Italian bubbly,...
Babes in the Arts: 5
Martha Mayer Erlebacher is a leading Philadelphia-based babe in the arts. Currently showing at New York's Forum Gallery, Erlebacher specializes in ultra-realistic nudes and still-life paintings. Monumental and mythic in mood, these are works by an astonishing artist,...
Wine of the Week: Hallcrest Pinot Noir
I remember over-hearing my uncles trying to outdo each other with the rallying cry: "I've got a bottle of Hallcrest in the closet." Uncle Harold always made points when he played the Hallcrest card. That was the first time I heard the name, which was the family code...
Museum Cafes: La Jolla
I’ve never met a museum cafe I didn’t like, and the Art Museum Cafe, run by Giuseppe Restaurants at La Jolla’s lustrous Museum of Contemporary Art, is no exception. Housed in a corner wing of the Robert Venturi-revamped, seaside mansion, the Cafe offers...
More Rude Restaurant Jargon
O'Mei entrepreneur, Roger Grigsby, shared this gem with me. He overhead a former waiter approach a table about a month ago and actually ask the patrons, "You guys hangin' in there OK?." A true indication of just how genericized ordinary language has become. I am about...
Sampling Sestri
Dining with two friends last week, I sampled the inviting Early Bird Prix Fixe menu at Sestri. On Tuesdays the $19.95, three-course special runs all evening, (usually it's a Mon-Fri deal, from 5-7pm). Also - head's up - there's no corkage fee at Sestri, which means...
Babes in the Arts: Part 4
Jenny Morten is an English beauty who now graces the central coast with her astonishing ceramic sculptures. But don't just take my word for it. (Or Bruce's either.) Check out her current show — opening tomorrow evening, February 2, 5-7 pm — at the County Building,...
Dude, Where’s My Downtown?
I struggle to stay optimistic, even though just trying to see a matinee at the Del Mar Theatre involves running a gauntlet of street maniacs who have decided they are entitled to all of the sidewalk, all of the street and all of the atmosphere. Yelling expletives,...
Talk to Me!
Can someone tell me what happened to Malabar? Vegan never looked so good, or tasted so intense. But suddenly, poof!, it's gone. Where? Would the addition of a fixed service charge to a restaurant dinner, for example, 10%, stop patrons from going out to eat? Would it...
All Wine All the Time
Discovering wonderful wines may not be the answer to world peace, but it helps vamp for time until that day arrives. My house red for the past year has been the sensuous 2001 Carignane from River Run Vintners. Made by the skillful, non-invasive hands of J.P. Pawloski,...
Oswald News Flash
It's official! Oswald owner Eric Lau called me yesterday to reveal that February 17 is the last day for the popular downtown Santa Cruz bistro in its current location. Negotiations are just about completed for a new location — and I'll let you know when and where,...
Tricks of the Masters
Restaurant reviewers over the ages have figured out a few tricks to make their jobs go smoother. Sometimes it happens during the actual review dinners – things like asking for copies of the menu, wearing wigs so that we won’t be recognized, making reservations...
Bad and Badder
Many of you instinctively realize that, yes, there is something uglier than even the River Street sign. And it is right here in downtown Santa Cruz, a mere two blocks down the street (from the much-loathed River Street sign), nestled beneath the also-ugly Town Clock....
Goya Meets Grimm in Pan’s Labyrinth
The dark Spanish melancholy that informs director Guillermo del Toro’s small masterpiece of magic realism, gives this film unforgettable power. As dark as any Zurbarán or Ribera, Pan’s Labyrinth interweaves two worlds and two realities — that of a child’s...
Brian Rounds at Eloise Smith
Linda Pope, curator at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, is a woman with an aesthetic mission, and a great eye. Witness her current choice of UCSC alum Brian Rounds, who has attracted a cult following for his haunting and authentic plein air paintings. Rounds'...
New Bites
The salsa stains had barely been cleaned up from the late, unlamented Baja Fresh, when the infrastructure for a new east Indian eatery called Sitar moved in. It's no mystery why a taco chain failed in a landscape blessed with a huge array of authentic Mexican...
Gourmet Quickie
I accidentally struck gold the other evening when I had no time to cook, but refused to jump in the car and head for KFC. So I picked up a package of Santa Cruz’ own Pasta Mike’s fresh Three Cheese and Spinach Raviolis ($4.89 for a two-meal package). How could I...
Split Decision
Last week I told you that the restless, talented chef Giovanni Di Maio (formerly of the splendid Bella Napoli) was now cooking at Il Pirata in Capitola. He is. I went there for my birthday dinner. Dean Martin crooning "Ritorn'a me" and a very amiable waitress greeting...
Cry Me a River Street
Is it just me, or is the River Street Sign still the ugliest thing in Christendom? (How’s that for a politically incorrect phrase?) – Nah, I know for sure that it ain’t just me. It’s been too long since we all collectively kvetched and vented concerning this...
Rude Behavior, Restaurant-style
Has this happened to you? We're sitting in the boisterous interior of Sushi Totoro, on the Westside of Santa Cruz, winding down a dinner of saba and hamachi, listening to Bob Marley. All was well. But just as I picked up my last piece of nigiri, chopsticks still in my...