December 22, 2023 – Santa Cruz farm-to-table chef Katherine Stern has announced her long-awaited restaurant, The Midway, will open on Thursday, December 28 at 1209 Soquel Avenue.
“It’s a labor of love that I can’t wait to share,” Stern said in a news release.
The popular chef trained in Tuscany and upon her return helmed the kitchen at La Posta from 2009 to 2018, gaining a huge following with her rustic California-Italian cuisine.
During the pandemic Stern started The Midway as a farmers market stall, serving brunch dishes, homemade pastries and pantry items crafted with seasonal farmers market produce. She then settled down with a temporary residency at Bad Animal natural wine bar and bookshop.
“All along, my goal has been to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant of my own here in Santa Cruz. This region is an amazing source for local ingredients which inspire my menus,” she added.
A soft opening of The Midway begins December 28 to December 31 from 9am to 3pm. Daytime hours will continue Thursday to Monday in the new year, with regular dinner service planned to begin in mid January.
On the menu for The Midway’s soft opening expect to find favorites like savory scones, cakes with house-made yogurt, chicken and rice porridge, biscuits with Fogline Farm sausage gravy and Lemon-Ricotta pancakes. The Midway will continue to offer its pantry goods such as hot sauces, pickles and jams.
Stern’s cuisine showcases farmed and foraged ingredients hand-picked at local farmers markets and from other Santa Cruz-based vendors.
“Their passion and hard work in bringing the latest harvest to the community makes being a Santa Cruz chef an exciting and collaborative experience, which is the inspiration behind The Midway,” she said in the release.
The tiny restaurant—two doors down from the Rio Theater in the space which used to be Oyunaa’s—is planned as a bright and welcoming eatery that reflects its community roots.
“Opening The Midway has been a collaboration with my amazing staff, family, friends and the community of Santa Cruz,” says Stern.
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
