Seabreeze Cafe Introduces a New Era with a Holiday Market

December 3, 2024 – A legend can be a lot to live up to. 

But that’s precisely what Seabreeze Cafe, aka Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe to locals, did on my last visit. 

And that’s also what its new owner aims to do as she takes the reins, knowing the place’s strengths too well to tinker with them. 

Taking those in order, my visit came after hearing sea poems about Seabreeze from Seabright souls for several years.

High expectations can be a mofo. In this case, they were a threshold our brunch surpassed.

And that’s despite a surprise setback. One of those souls singing sea poems had been talking about the Seabreeze eggs Benedict all morning, only to discover it was sold out by noon. 

Our server, who seemed to be enjoying her job as much as we would enjoy breakfast, peeled off to see if she could score a side of house-recipe Hollandaise sauce. (Turns out that was at least 51 percent of the fun of the Benedict for my friend.)

Victory. The side of sauce turned out to be sizable, enough to layer the broad Florentine omelet with fresh spinach, bacon, sour cream, and cheese, a house favorite. (I went with excellent orange poppyseed pancakes, bacon, eggs and a house muffin.)

The enthusiastic Hollandaise retrieval plays into what struck me most about the visit, and launched me into an interesting wormhole.

That in turn led to the discovery that far more than lanternfish and fireflies can boast bioluminescence. 

A paper in the journal Royal Society Open Science finds that polar bears, scaly-tailed possums, flying squirrels and platypuses also give off light. 

To illuminate the greater point clearly: The joy our server found in her hospitality craft gave off a glow. 

That said, it wouldn’t matter as much if the food wasn’t full-figured, habit-forming and as old-school as the cash-only policy.

Seabreeze standbys—beyond the storied cinnamon rolls—include massive omelets, a tofu curry, a Greek scramble, loaded “Seabreeze spuds” and house-made corned beef hash, and (come lunch at 11am) bacon cheeseburgers, chef salads and “Turkey in the Garden” sandwiches. 

Then there are specials like pineapple-sausage scrambles, huevos Yucatán, kiwi-topped waffles and grilled mahi mahi and eggs.

In other words, a lot to love, which accounts for frequent lines out the door. 

Seabreeze’s new owner enjoys old ties to the restaurant, the industry and the neighborhood, where she still lives—next door to her folks.

Marcie Bei Magdaleno’s dad would take the family there every Monday. 

“I knew the original Linda growing up, which was pretty cool,” she says. “Then I raised my three boys there, visiting for lots of birthdays, while my dad did stuff with Linda in the community.”

Dad ran The Grille at DeLaveaga for decades, which led to Marcie working as a busser at 11, later getting a culinary degree and graduating to directing traffic in the kitchen. 

As her longtime friend, fan and Seabright neighbor Rina Natkin says, “You want someone to take it over with the same spirit, and she was raised in a restaurant family—and in the neighborhood—so she has that.”

Marcie’s primary focus: Maintain the vibe that makes the café more than a restaurant.

“I want to keep it like it is: a very community-focused, family-friendly place,” she says.

To that end, Marcie and her husband Mark Magdaleno have retained the entire staff. 

Just as importantly, the entire team wanted to stay. 

Matt Hintze—who grew up at Seabreeze doing homework while his parents/previous owners Claire and Tex Hintze worked overtime—is among them, which feels telling. 

“A really big part of the restaurant and its longevity is the community it has created,” he says. “Even as we started getting more and more popular, even [earning] national recognition, it’s still very neighborhood oriented and very personal. We try to remember everybody’s name, and they know ours.”

He acknowledges it could be awkward going from working for family to someone else, but that’s not happening here.

“Marcie is very local ,” he says. “She’s not really changing anything. That’s been a big plus.”

She is, however, doing what she can to upgrade things around the edges, including catering and special events. 

That finds early expression as the Seabreeze team celebrates the new era with a holiday market Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 3 to 6pm on what’s normally the eatery’s lone day off.

The featured Santa Cruz artisans will include several Seabreeze staffers, laying out photography, jewelry, ceramics, baked goods and more. (That will come complemented by the restaurant’s cinnamon rolls, and deals on restaurant gear and cookie boxes.)

“A marketplace for employees and people in the community who have talent and want to express talent!” Marcie says.

Hintze will be one of the vendors. When he’s not attending tables at Seabreeze, Hintze composes children’s books, like the Christmas tale Santa Stole My Cookies that he’ll have on hand for the holiday market. (More on his books via the Tandemhat Publishing Instagram feed.)

Talking with him about it, I can almost hear the glow through the phone.

More at seabreezecafe.com and Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe on Facebook.