Is Fred Eaglesmith the man? There’s no sabermetrics for this kind of thing, but let’s take a look at the way the Canadian singer-songwriter, who comes to the Kuumbwa for two shows on Friday, Feb. 21, has subverted expectations, convention and straight-up common sense at every turn.
Surfing the Westside’s Wine Wave
The name Surf City Vintners is the branding umbrella for a dozen limited-production wineries clustered at the industrial edge of town. Neither surfers nor city dwellers, these folks are all vintners all the time.
Burrito Power Rankings:2014 Edition
What makes a great burrito?
A good tortilla is important, as is the quality of everything wrapped inside. But there’s really no template or scorecard for this stuff.
Foodie File: Café Gratitude
When the 36-year-old chef at the all-vegan, all-organic Café Gratitude chows down on a greasy, meaty dish he really likes, he stops and says to himself, “Yeah, I can do that.”
Can Venus Spirits Put Local Whiskey on the Map?
Whiskey. From the Gaelic, meaning “water of life.” And even though technically whiskey is simply an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain, connoisseurs and tipplers the world over know it as a magical liquor with a life of its own.
Foodie File: Rocky’s Café
Amanda Franks started at Rocky’s Café on Highway 9 as a server at age 15. Seven years later, she’s managing the Felton restaurant in the mornings before going to class at Cabrillo College, where she studies business.
Foodies Assemble at Del Mar
In a scene straight from the heyday of Studio 54 openings, what looked like half of Santa Cruz waited patiently in front of the Del Mar for a turn at sampling the handiwork of Carlo Espinas, chef of the restaurant-in-progress Assembly. I took advantage of my press status to pop in for an advance look-see, grabbing a glass of excellent River Run Zinfandel from the VinoCruztable before heading up to the movie palace mezzanine for some appetizers.
What’s Wrong With the City’s Bike Program?
Casey Monahan, last year’s Santa Cruz youth mayor, owes his job in part to the Bike Church and the free bicycle distribution program, which the nonprofit operated though the spring of 2012.
“Every day I got to work and school and here on a bike that I got through the bicycle distribution program for youth,” Monahan said in the Santa Cruz City Council chambers last month, as councilmembers weighed the future of the program.
Meet the Couple Behind Seabright’s Window Displays
While sitting on a couch in Richard and Nanette Stauff’s living room, next to a plush red heart pillow, an unidentified pink light bounces across the pages of my notebook. Is it a droplet of the Barefoot Summer red wine Nanette served me upon arrival, in a flute painted with pink and red hearts?
Liza Monroy Raises Questions About Marriage
When Santa Cruz author Liza Monroy heard that then-Mayor Gavin Newsom had ordered his city clerk to issue same-sex marriage licenses in San Francisco, she was so moved that she poured her heart into an op-ed celebrating a new era of gender-neutral marriage in the mainstream. But when she showed it to a friend, the feedback was a buzzkill: scrap it.
