Edible Monterey Bay

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Kathryn McKenzieKathryn McKenzie

Kathryn McKenzie, who grew up in Santa Cruz and now lives on a Christmas tree farm in north Monterey County, writes about sustainable living, home design and health for numerous publications and websites.

PG’s Mezzaluna Brings Fresh, Seasonal Approach to Italian Cuisine

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Since opening this past April, Mezzaluna Pasteria & Mozzarella Bar has become the new favorite restaurant for many Pacific Grove residents as well as diners all over the Monterey Peninsula and beyond. Now, in keeping with chef Soerke Peters’ philosophy of eating with the seasons, the Mezzaluna menus have been updated to reflect the winter bounty of the Central Coast.

But that isn’t the only change at the restaurant. Mezzaluna has also added a special Sunday brunch menu that’s creative and playful, paired with bubbly Italian spritz cocktails, and a new to-go menu offering housemade pasta, sauces and gelato, as well as wine to take home.

Tater Tot Waffles at Mezzaluna’s new Sunday Brunch (photo: Manny Espinoza)

Peters was already an energetic force in the Carmel restaurant community, first as … Read More

EDIBLE NOTABLES

Sea Jewels

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK TREGENZA

Seawater, sunshine and big tanks are all that Dr. Michael Graham needs to cultivate culinary seaweeds.

Chefs are swooning over the savory seaweeds cultivated in Moss Landing

As The Beach Boys so aptly put it, “Catch a wave, and you’re sittin’ on top of the world.” For Dr. Michael Graham, surfing the edge of an unexpected explosion in the sea vegetable business has put his company front and center with high-end restaurants throughout the country.

Graham, a seaweed biologist and professor at California State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, founded Monterey Bay Seaweeds five years ago, when he had a mere handful of land-based saltwater tanks growing West Coast dulse. Now, his bayfront patio in Moss Landing is filled with round white containers in which several … Read More

EDIBLE NOTABLES

Sweet Dreams

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGAUX GIBBONS

Everything’s coming up aces as Salinas bakery turns five

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Baker Adrian Jimenez hopes to expand her popular Salinas shop in 2020.

Adrian Jimenez had faith that her dream of owning her own bakery would come to pass, even though she had never done anything like it before, had no experience managing an actual storefront and didn’t even have money for the first month’s rent on a tiny space in Oldtown Salinas.

But her friend Terri Madrid pushed her. And Jimenez jumped in. She launched a Kickstarter campaign to get her fledgling business off the ground in 2015, and miraculously, by the end of the campaign, she had raised $13,000—enough to cover rent plus equipment and remodeling.

That’s how Blue Aces Bake Shoppe … Read More

Bubbly Italian Brunch Debuts at PG’s Mezzaluna

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November 22, 2019 – Pacific Grove’s newest Italian restaurant launches a sparkling Sunday brunch this weekend, with creative menu items and aperitifs unlike anything else on the Central Coast.

Mezzaluna Pasteria & Mozzarella Bar—the latest restaurant to be helmed by chef Soerke Peters and partner Amy Stouffer—debuts a menu featuring dishes such as tater tot waffles, Italian eggs benedict and lobster mac and cheese on Sundays only from 10:30am to 2:30pm. 

Playing up the classic Italian tradition of gathering around food and drink on Sundays, Peters and Stouffer are creating a multicourse pranzo filled with food, family and laughter. Making this brunch even more distinctive are light, bubbly Italian spritz cocktails specially crafted for the meal.

Mezzaluna has been a hit since opening last spring—even more so than Peters and … Read More

Roxa Acai Café Offers Herbal Aid and Fellowship

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October 22, 2019 – Putting a restaurant together is a challenge under the best of circumstances. And when you’re talking about a completely new kind of hybrid café, it’s even tougher.

But to hear Michael Trainer and Jazmin Grant tell their story is to believe that improbable ideas are possible—and even necessary.

“We want to keep Santa Cruz weird,” says Grant, who with Trainer is creating the first “hammock café” in the United States, which includes a steampunk “sober bar” where exotic herbal drinks are served without alcohol or caffeine, but formulated to provide a boost of creativity, energy, lucid dreaming and other positive effects.

Grant and Trainer have been working on opening Roxa Café & Elixir Bar for close to two years, with a vision that includes setting pieces … Read More

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