Quick Bites

Aug 24, 2023

The 2023 Japanese Cultural Fair is 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Mission Plaza (103 Emmett St.). There is free admission. Attendees can enjoy Japanese food, crafts, culture (including folk dancing and martial arts demos) and music (including Taiko drumming). Food vendors include Hakouya, which will sell dishes featuring their sauces and dressings: cold ramen bowl with signature probiotic miso dressing, egg, tomato, cucumber, and choice of chicken or ham; and bento boxes with umami-salt-sauce-marinated chicken, umami-hot-sauce-marinated shrimp, salad and rice. Other vendors include Kaito, Full Steam Dumpling, Miyuki, and Sushi Market Sprouts. Learn more at https://www.jcfsantacruz.org/.

Steamer Lane Supply (698 West Cliff Drive in Lighthouse Field State Park, steamerlanesc.com) has a couple new breakfast items: Local Moco (an occasional special with organic brown rice, fried egg, soy gravy with optional add-on of El Salchichero breakfast sausage patty or soy chorizo) and Breakfast Sandwich (fried egg, cheddar, herb mayo on a bun with optional add-on of sausage, bacon, or soy chorizo). Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Other selections include locally roasted organic coffee, housemade muffins, sandwiches (seafood, pork, and more), and a huge variety of quesadillas — from traditional to kale-dilla (ingredients include kale and cabbage chermoula), vegan-dilla (includes curry tofu salad), kimchi-dilla and Nutella-dilla. To order, visit in person or call 831-316-5240.

The Grove Café and Bakery (6249 Highway 9, 831-704-7483, IG @thegrovefelton), which opened in March, has new hours. It's currently open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and closed Mondays. The menu features locally sourced ingredients. There are breakfast items like housemade granola bowls, avocado toast (two variations, one with Japanese milk bread), frittata panini, and smoked salmon bagel. Lunch selections include salads plus sandwiches like Meyer lemon tarragon chickpea salad or caramelized onion grilled cheese.

Limited tickets remain for the next event in the "Taste of Terroir" wine dinner series: June 25 at Regan Vineyards Winery. Presented by Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Distinct Pinot Noirs of the Santa Cruz Mountains begins at 3 p.m. with a wine reception featuring a silent auction and tastings from several wineries including Aptos Vineyards, Armitage Wines and Storrs Winery. A multi-course seated winemaker dinner follows at 4:30, prepared by chef Brad Briske (HOME Restaurant). Tickets are $175 for the public, with a discount for Wines of SCM wine club members. For tickets to this and all other series events, visit winesofthesantacruzmountains.com/events.

The Scotts Valley (Saturday morning) and Felton (Tuesday afternoon) farmers markets, operated by Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets, have new Double Market Match programs available to CalFresh customers. Due to a recent grant from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit Program, CalFresh recipients can receive extra matching funds from June through the end of each market's season (Scotts Valley ends in November, Felton ends in October). When they swipe their EBT/card for $10 worth of tokens, $10 becomes $30. The extra $20 is specifically for fruit and vegetables, to encourage healthy eating. Learn more about these two markets plus the other three (downtown and Westside Santa Cruz plus Live Oak) at santacruzfarmersmarket.org.

The annual Castroville Artichoke Food and Wine Festival is Saturday and Sunday at the Monterey County Fair & Event Center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission starts at $10 for kids. The theme is "Thistle Be Fun!" Artichoke dishes will be available, including fried baby artichokes, steamed or grilled artichokes, and artichokes featured in a range of dishes including burritos, soup, and even ice cream. There will be daily cooking demos with local chefs such as Brandon Miller (owner/chef at Paella LLC) and Sarah Cook (owner/chef at Café Carmel). Also, there is wine tasting, arts and craft vendors, and a new event — a comedy show on Saturday night (additional fee required). Visit artichokefestival.org for details or to buy tickets.

Event Santa Cruz recently launched the third annual weekly Midtown Summer Block Party series with local music, food, artists, and vendors. The next installment is 5-8:30 p.m. Friday at 1111 Soquel Ave. This week, vendors selling food are Pana Food Truck, Epoch Eats, and La Bobay El Granode Café (with boba). Local artists include Terra & Self. The following week, on June 16, James Durbin & The Lost Boys are headlining, and Coffee Zombie Collective is the opening band. Pana returns and is joined by Watsonville Munchiess and Cracked Cookies; the latter is bringing special cookie "The Midtown." Other vendors include Living Swell Kombucha and Luna Designs. For details, visit eventsantacruz.com.

The Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce is hosting a kick-off party to the 2023 Capitola Art & Wine Festival (which takes place Sept. 9-10). The event, from 6-9 p.m. June 16 at Bargetto Winery — 3535 N. Main St. — costs $50 in advance and $50 at the door if not sold out. Buy tickets at capitolachamber.com. Attendees, who must be at least 21 years old, will receive food from Taquizas Gabriel and wine tasting from festival wineries. There will also be a silent auction and live music by Ryan Price.

Tickets are available for the next installment of Chaminade Resort & Spa's Vine to View Farm to Table dinner series, which is at 6 p.m. June 16. The five-course feast features beverages from Equinox Winery. Courses include New Bedford Scallops with pea puree, pea greens, blood orange and gremolata paired with Santa Cruz Mountains Blanc de Noir; and Prime Filet of Beef with oxtail ragout, pommes Anna, and grilled spring onions paired with Bartolo Petit Verdot. Tickets are $147 per person. Call 831-465-3452 or visit chaminade.com/santa-cruz-restaurants/farm-to-table-wine-dinner for details and tickets.

Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains is presenting the Aptos Wine Wander from 1-4 p.m. July 1. Limited tickets are on sale. The cost is $45 before June 15, and $50 after that. Tastings from 14 wineries (such as Aptos Vineyard, Doon to Earth, and Silver Mountain Vineyards) will be offered inside several Aptos Village businesses including Caroline's Non-profit Thrift Shop, New Leaf Community Market, and Cantine Winepub. Visit winesofthesantacruzmountains.com/events/2023aptosww for tickets and participant list.

Father's Day pre-orders are open at Manresa Bread (330 Ingalls St.). Order items including bourbon chocolate toffee cheesecake, giant sourdough pretzels with beer cheese, and the new tomato and mozzarella quiche by June 13 at exploretock.com/manresa-bread-santa-cruz. Pickup is June 16-18.

Also, Manresa Bread recently launched new seasonal pastries: chocolate hazelnut croissants (weekends only) plus coffee glazed croissants and a tart flambé Danish with bacon. Order online for same-day pickup to ensure items don't sell out. Hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

The Slough Brewing Collective (65 Hangar Way) is hosting Jitter Fest 2023 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. The event takes place at Slough and at neighboring Santa Cruz Cider Co. Slough will offer six coffee-infused beers with coffee from Vertigo Coffee Roasters. Hapa Bros. will be selling savory food, and Calavera Coffee will sell coffee. Hole Foods Vegan Donuts will be selling treats starting at 2 p.m. In addition, there will be an art market with local vendors. Read details on IG @thesloughbeer.

Quick Bites, compiled by Tara Fatemi Walker, is your weekly helping of Santa Cruz County restaurant, food, and drink news. Send items to [email protected] (Sunday 7 p.m. deadline for that week's column). Want local food & drink news as it happens? Follow the Sentinel's food crew on Twitter @santacruzfood.

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