How unfair that we compare gluttonous humans to pigs! Pigs are absolutely sensational creatures — playful, intelligent and curly-tailed. I love pigs and I love pork. So that means I was curious to see TLC Ranch, home to a hundred free-spirited, free-range pigs. TLC...

If you've never indulged in the exquisite sensory array of one of the "Outstanding in the Field" farm dinners, you have missed something wonderful. Imagine dining at a long, linen-draped table, placed out in the open next to a swath of atmospheric fields. Now add a...

Downtown Santa Cruz' impossibly chic and appealing boite, Soif, continues to make us happy. Wine-wise, we've been having lots of fun with whites from Slovenia, and reds from Sicilia. Food-wise, the Soif kitchen — under the guidance of chef Chris Avila — references...

Steve Spill is an ace photographer, bon vivant and, as it turns out, can whip up some mean curries when he wants. And he wanted to last week, in the professionally equipped kitchen of the King Street bungalow he shares with his Sylvia. Munching pappodoms and an array...

Thank God! After years of waiting for something more like the Westside's old Aldo's Cafe (brainchild of the original Sestri chef), our waiting is over. Bistro Al Mar specializes in tapas so authentically Old World we thought we were in Madrid last week, sharing a...

Lunch at Gabriella with Gayle Ortiz — of Gayle's Bakery & Rosticceria — satisfied my on-going cravings for loads of local gossip, plus fresh, seasonal culinartistry by chef/earth goddess Rebecca King. How was I to know that I'd find the best burger I've had in a...

At the Shadowbrook - yes, that Shadowbrook - last week, I had pizza so amazing that I found myself comparing it with the thin-crusted, sophisticated, completely addictive varieties I tasted in Rome. (Or, for that matter, at La Posta.) Shadowbrook may not be known for...