March 29, 2022 – The plan for this piece did not involve a life coach.
But sometimes things happen in the course of reporting about life-changing food.
Betsy Cañas Garmon of Intuitive Creativity Coaching works with individuals and corporate businesses to help them find focus, calm and overall identity, among other things.
She shares inspiring thoughts on her website and Twitter feed like this one from Richard Rohr: “When you get your ‘Who am I?’ question right, all the ‘What should I do?’ questions tend to take care of themselves.”
Or this one from Rabbi Abraham Heschel: “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…Get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
But it was a quote of her own that caught my attention.
At the moment I was pondering the much-awaited debut of Bookie’s Pizza in a freshly redone kitchen. It sits within the property where standout craft beermakers Sante Adairius Rustic Ales work their magic at 1315 Water St. in Santa Cruz.
That Cañas Garmon’s quote was: “Cold beer and pizza are spiritual.”
My foodie soul is moved by just a brief peek at Bookie’s Instagram of pizzas with edible flowers and green garlic white sauce.
But back to the Rohr quote on who we are and why we do what we do.
The who behind Bookie’s are its owner and chef Todd Parker—known for stints as chef at Santa Cruz’s Bad Animal and Manresa in Los Gatos—and its director of operations-GM-sous chef Meghan O’Connell.
The why speaks to a desire to do pizza on par with Sante Adairius’ crazy popular creations.
“We wanted to make a product that would stand up to a world-class beer,” Parker says.
Edible reported on new food offerings at the brewery late last summer in celebration of International Beer Day.
“Chef’s background is fine dining,” O’Connell says, “and our hope has been to take that and make something more approachable for Santa Cruz.”
The offerings ranged widely—note the spaghetti squash bolognese, chicken liver toast, ‘nudja deviled eggs and merguez hot dogs—but the pizza was most popular.
Weekly pizza “pop-ups” inspired Parker to experiment with the square and thick Detroit approach and local organic inputs.
The results and response were enough that he and O’Connell knew the dream for a pizzeria can and should be realized.
“We took the Detroit style and started playing around with dough and toppings, and that’s what makes our pizzas a little different,” she says.
Bookie’s pies ($21-$26) use organic flour, a 48-hour dough fermentation and sauces unique to each pie, all decorated with ingredients sourced almost entirely from nearby farmers’ markets.
Fogline poultry goes into the barbecue chicken pizza. Local black lime and artichoke appear on the vegan pie with carrot harissa and dairy-free feta. Tree oyster mushrooms and dandelion with porcini white sauce highlight a pizza that sounds like a hallelujah hymnal.
Starters ($10-$16) include a sourdough pretzel, chicken wings and maitake mushroom “wings.” Salads ($12) are limited but lush, with a kale and chicory and a green goddess to start.
A soft opening happened last weekend. The official grand opening arrives a week later, this Saturday, April 2, with a DJ, special beers on draft from Sante Adarius, and dialed-in service empowered by an enthusiastic and patient audience over the warm-up week.
“It will be a fun afternoon,” O’Connell says. “We’re ready to rock and roll.”
Unsurprisingly, the pizzas that will take center stage harmonize with beer that has earned Sante Adarius cult status locally, collaborations regionally and awards nationally.
Which gets back to the spiritual element.
“What better to go with Sante Adarius’ beer than pizza?” O’Connell asks. “It is a spiritual combination.”
No word if life coaches like Cañas Garmon will attend.
Meanwhile Parker says he doesn’t have the qualifications to provide any life coaching advice, so he’ll stick to “special pies with a focus on local farm seasonality.”
And those familiar with these pies know radical amazement will result.
Hours are noon-9pm daily, and until 10pm Friday and Saturday, inside of Sante Adairius Rustic Ales. More at Bookie’s Pizza’s website or Instagram page.
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.
