January 3, 2023 – There are logical combinations. Then there are uncanny ones.
Both exist with brand new Mad Yolks, now dishing over-the-top breakfast sandwiches and life-affirming teas in the heart of downtown Santa Cruz, in the space formerly occupied by Buttercup Cakes and Noah’s Bagels.
In this case, the logical pairing would be the two brothers driving the project.
Thirty-four-year-old twins Peter and Henry Wong grew up familiar with food service watching their dad run a robust banquet business, and helped start Poke House branches in Santa Cruz and Monterey.
Eventually they saw the opportunity to act on an abiding dream: Launching their own independent spot based on a pair of burgeoning passions.
“We love to eat, and definitely love breakfast,” Peter says. “We also have a love for tea—not boba tea, but matcha drinks and fruit-driven drinks—and we were thinking, ‘Matcha is great; why don’t people drink more of it?’”
There’s where the uncanny combination comes in: rich breakfast sandwiches and energizing Eastern-leaning teas—sinful and saintly, naughty and nice, fire and ice.
“We have the indulgent side of things but also an alternative to coffee that’s more refreshing and complements the eggs,” Peter says.
The sandwiches and teas, in turn, wield their own compelling combos.
Note the three best-selling sandwiches: 1) the B.A.E. with soft scrambled egg, avocado, extra sharp cheddar, thick bacon, caramelized onion and Sriracha aioli; 2) the Shrooms with soft egg, a medley of sautéed mushrooms, fontina cheese and caramelized onions; and 3) the Mad Chick with crispy chicken, an over-easy egg, pickled cabbage, baby arugula and garlic aioli.
All sandwiches, which run $10-$13.50, come with fresh chives on a house brioche bun, the pride of the place.
The Wongs worked on the brioche (and the menu) for a year with help from Palo Alto-based, family-owned Prolific Oven Bakery. The brioche is good enough that customers quickly started asking if they could buy some a la carte to take home.
After a stint learning the ropes at a local bakery, Peter handles the brioche baking. Henry runs the wider kitchen operation, drawing inspiration for things like the fried chicken’s overnight brine—with Taiwanese cooking wine and five spice and white pepper seasoning—from their home country of Taiwan.
“It’s not a complex menu, but I love eggs, and find them very comforting,” Henry says. “I like to create nice food that satisfies people. That just makes me happy.”
It all comes with the requisite synergy and dissension siblings in general and twins in particular can identify with.
“We work together well,” Peter says. “But we definitely butt heads too.”
Henry elaborates. “Of course we have a lot of chemistry, but we’re very straightforward and speak our minds, which creates friction all the time,” he says. “But it’s not like we hold anything against each other. We fight and then move on.”
On the tea side of the menu, Japanese grade-A matcha comes combined with everything from sparkling water to orange juice, with strawberry matcha selling the most since Mad Yolks soft-opened a week ago.
Various green teas like the passionfruit or the jasmine-lemonade are also proving popular.
A final corner of the menu rocks some intriguing specialty plates like “dirty” tots, a curry moco, and the namesake Mad Yolk with coddled egg and whipped potatoes in a jar with bacon, chives and toasted crostini.
Hours run 8am-3pm daily, and a grand opening is in the planning stages.
“People have been telling me they’ve been waiting on a place like this in Santa Cruz,” Peter says, “a different take on breakfast food, a different type of caffeine.”
More at madyolks.com.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
