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...

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...

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...

Cynthia Sandberg, heirloom tomato queen and agri-artist, is the entrepreneuse of Love Apple Farm. You knew that. But what you didn’t know is that Love Apple has been chosen by David Kinch to be the exclusive kitchen garden for his two-Michelin starred Manresa...

Wally Goldfrank, sociologist and bon vivant, has returned from November in Madagascar raving about the local, regional spins on French cuisine — “profiteroles in the tropics.” Visualize mango tarte tatin! But more. Wally loves a good bowl of soup on a chilly...

"You guys – hey, you guys. Have a good one, guys." Language abuse in America is becoming more prominant than Nancy Pelosi's bosom. Either the revenge of machismo, or the triumph of feminism – it’s unclear which – the prevailing omni-use of “guys” to denote...

O'Mei Update: It's true - no more lunch at O'Mei. Roger Grigsby, that maverick political hothead and tireless culinary tinkerer emailed me (and believe me an email from Grigsby is a lengthy affair) to say that things are going well now that he has discontinued lunches...

So I took Jack, who lived in Rome for a few years and is very picky about his wood-fired pizzas, over to La Posta for a light meal this week. We sat in the front in one of the deep windows that make La Posta such an architectural treat. Service - right on. Wines —...

1) "No Problem." “No problem,” says your server, when you request more bread. Well, thanks for the reassurance – that really takes a load off my mind. I’ve been sitting here consumed with anxiety over whether my requesting bread, or a refill of water, might...