April 9, 2024 – Thursday marks a triumphant comeback for chef Santos Majano who opens an exciting new seafood restaurant and oyster bar called Hook & Line in downtown Santa Cruz in the same space where he used to helm the kitchen at Soif Wine Bar.
Majano and business partner Lejla Borovac have been working for the past two years to open the Walnut Avenue restaurant.
“I’m so happy to see this place come to life, full of people eating and drinking,” he beamed during a sneak peek for friends and family Monday night.
The space has been reimagined and opened up, by removing an interior wall and building a long rectangular bar with ample seating on both sides. Nautical décor with wavy turquoise tiles, sailor ropes on the walls and gorgeous hanging lights was selected with the assistance of Suna Lock of Stripe Design.
The chef himself designed a custom-built oyster shucking station, because oysters play a big role in his restaurant concept. “I’m the one who suggested that Soif start its Monday oyster nights and we could never order enough,” he recalls.
Hook & Line features three types of oysters—Miyagi from Tomales Bay, Kumamoto from Humboldt Bay and Hood Canal from Washington State—served with house fermented hot sauce, lemon and shallot Champagne mignonette. Once the restaurant is up and running, plans call for a nightly happy hour with oysters, wine and craft cocktails from 4 to 5pm.
There were plenty of familiar faces in the dining room, including Alexis Carr who is consulting on the wine list. She and Dede Eckhardt (also at the party) are opening a new Soif Wine Bar on Cedar Street, with work still in the planning stages. Patrick Ferraro—manager at Front & Cooper—is consulting on the menu of creative house cocktails.
“People have really stepped up to help, especially to be part of the front of the house,” Majano says. The immensely talented chef left Soif in 2014 to open his own business, The Kitchen at Discretion Brewing, where he continued to develop a loyal following.
One of those fans was Borovac, who emailed him about opening a restaurant together in a larger space.
“We were actually just about to sign papers on a different space when the pandemic happened,” he told us. “It would have been a disaster, I feel like someone is looking out for me.”
Majano was especially excited about an 80-pound halibut that was just brought in by Santa Cruz fisherman Griffin Guess, who is supplying fresh seafood and connecting the kitchen with other local fishermen. Ocean 2 Table is another local purveyor Majano is working with.
On the menu expect to find raw dishes, such as halibut ceviche and kampachi crudo, along with exquisite small bites like Manresa brioche topped with cured salmon and crème fraiche or deviled eggs with shallots, capers, green onion and tobiko.
Plates to share include Tomales Bay mussels with lemongrass fish broth and chili garlic fries, as well as fried calamari and uni toast with crème fraiche horseradish.
Entrées for opening week star that roasted halibut with braised greens and potato skordalia, Dungeness crab risotto and whole fried Monterey Bay rockfish. Bouillabaisse, slow cooked pork shoulder and a vegetarian dish with Japanese eggplant round out the main courses.
Hook & Line will be open Thursdays to Mondays from 5pm to 9pm to start and reservations go live today.
But the owners have big plans for the future, with happy hour to begin in a few weeks, followed by weekend brunches and Pop Up events on dark days.
They have also remodeled the adjoining space, where Soif’s bottle shop used to be, and installed a giant octopus on the wall. Eventually, plans call for using that space for counter service lunches.
Hook & Line | 105 Walnut Ave. Santa Cruz | eathookandline.com
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.
