News

Revisiting the West End

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• May 21, 2013
Revisiting the West End

Gastropub Correx: An email from Quinn Cormier set the record straight. Cormier, a partner in the upcoming West End Taproom & Kitchen (in the former Bonny Doon Vineyard facility) corrected me: “We are a restaurant with good beer on tap” says the project partner and longtime Santa Cruz native, whose father was one of the pioneers of Tied House microbrewery in Mountain View. The phrase Quinn uses to describe the new Taproom & Kitchen is “gastropub”—with craft beer and wine on tap, plus local, fresh and seasonal food with “a pub flair.” Not a brewery. I stand corrected.  I'm still a bit unconvinced by the “West End” moniker (which to me smacks of the London theater district). Everybody knows this area as the Westside. Cormier revealed that the partners all wanted to use “Westside” in the name and were counseled not to because it “can hold gang tones.”  Hmmm, never heard about that before…

Much luck to these courageous entrepreneurs and I look forward to having even more dining and drinking options on the Westside very soon.

More New News: Nesh Dhillon, Santa Cruz Community Farmers' Market director, is excited about some changes in the popular marketplace phenomenon. Coming soon, the downtown market's artisan food section will be redesigned so that all the seating is in the middle, and there are plans to design a “staged area for local musicians to come and play,” he adds. Truck Stop SC is working on a new pan-fusion Asian menu for the downtown Wednesday market. Little Bee Pops will be contributing artisan pop-sicles using seasonal ingredients. Always finetuning a great idea into an even greater one. To get a sense of how this will feel, visit the Westside Saturday market and check out the action. You can find out all the delicious details about this season's six Pop-up Brunches—and make plans in advance—by checking the very informational website. The gala marketplace pop-up brunches start June 1—so get your reservations pronto!

Ridge @ Soif: That's right, an epic tasting of wines from an epic winery—Ridge Vineyards—happens this Saturday, May 22, 2pm @ Soif. Winemaking on this property high in the Santa Cruz Mountains dates back to the late 1800s, and the consistently outstanding wines from this estate are literally, figuratively, and metaphorically world-renowned. In other words, this $20 per person tasting is one of the bargains of the year—it will include generous tasting, highly engaging remarks from one a Ridge representative, cheese, bread, and all the ambience Walnut Avenue can muster. Don't even think about it—grab your cell and call 831-423-2020 to purchase a ticket.  

Outstanding in Soquel: Speaking of Soif, chef Santos Majano will be the guest cuisinartist—joining the folks from Alfaro Family Vineyards & Winery—at the Sunday, June 16 Outstanding in the Field event at fabled Everett Family Farm in Soquel. Yes, there are still some seats left at the long, deliciously set, al fresco table, where a farm tour, winemaker comments, multiple courses, multiple wines and matchless sunset atmosphere is yours for $200 per person. The experience begins at 4pm, and if you've never been to one of these completely pampering events, you're way overdue. This is the 8th OITF dinner with farmers Rich and Laura Everett and their lovely property, where fruits, vegetables, chickens, pigs, and goats are raised with love, care, and expertise.  You really need to savor the true California pastoral outdoors, and this is one of the tastiest ways to do it.

  • https://www.santacruz.com/articles/revisiting_the_west_end.html Robert Marsh

    I have done business in Santa Cruz for 30 years and have lived in the area being recast as the West End. I have never ever heard any business I deal with call their business location the “West End”. More tellingly, the New Leaf in the “West End” goes by two names: New Leaf Westside and New Leaf Fair Ave, I cannot recall any of the wine buyers or owners of that business referring to the it as New Leaf “West End”. Moreover, ask a realtor if a house listed in their portfolio on what is called the “Westside” is referred to as “West End”. I doubt it, because “Westside” probably means an extra 1 or 2 hundred thousand in valuation for the house than a “West End” listing would garner. I would counsel the new restaurant, which was talked out of using “Westside” as their locator, to use either the Westside or Swift Street designation. It is hard enough for people to find businesses even with GPS and Yelp, why add an extra unnecessary impediment because a few feel a need to rename an area for their own unstated purposes.

  • https://www.santacruz.com/restaurants/articles/2013/05/21/revisiting_the_west_end Robert Marsh

    I have done business in Santa Cruz for 30 years and have lived in the area being recast as the West End. I have never ever heard any business I deal with call their business location the “West End”. More tellingly, the New Leaf in the “West End” goes by two names: New Leaf Westside and New Leaf Fair Ave, I cannot recall any of the wine buyers or owners of that business referring to the it as New Leaf “West End”. Moreover, ask a realtor if a house listed in their portfolio on what is called the “Westside” is referred to as “West End”. I doubt it, because “Westside” probably means an extra 1 or 2 hundred thousand in valuation for the house than a “West End” listing would garner. I would counsel the new restaurant, which was talked out of using “Westside” as their locator, to use either the Westside or Swift Street designation. It is hard enough for people to find businesses even with GPS and Yelp, why add an extra unnecessary impediment because a few feel a need to rename an area for their own unstated purposes.