February 17, 2022 – The sign out front said “Coming Soon! 4 to 6 weeks.” And all of us up here in the San Lorenzo Valley have been holding our breaths for “soon” to come. The opening of the Humble Sea Tavern, known to everyone as the former Cremer House, is the most highly anticipated event to happen in the valley in a long time, maybe since Emily Thomas opened Cremer in the first place back in 2014. We mourned the closure of Cremer House at the beginning of the pandemic, marking it as one of those sad losses these last two years have resulted in. And when the Humble Sea team (who happen to be three San Lorenzo Valley boys) announced that they would be including Felton as one of their locations included in the craft beer label’s expansion project, it was good news all around.
And now, the wait is over!
A “suuuuper soft” opening was announced via Instagram a little bit after 5pm Thursday evening, and the place, glowing like a beacon in the dark night, was bustling shortly after.
General manager Danielle Byers, who moved to Ben Lomond a few months ago just to open the Tavern following a long career in the beverage industry—most recently at Rare Barrel in Berkeley—told me back in January that they were hoping to open “sometime in February”, which proved correct. She said that the biggest hold up was finding staff for the kitchen, explaining that the front-of-house staff was in place and undergoing training, but the back-of-house was sparse.
The food menu, created by chef Ben Hillan—a Scotts Valley native most recently part of the team at Roy’s in Pebble Beach—is going for an elevated comfort food concept.
“It kind of sounds oxymoronic, but ‘refined rustic’ is the premise,” explained Byers. The dinner menu equates that as appetizers like the Calamari Fritto ($11), a Bigfoot Burger ($16) with onion jam and “Kook” sauce, and a few hearty entrees like a Half Chicken ($25) with duck fat fingerling potatoes and the Braised Short Ribs ($28) with carrot parsnip puree. There are a couple of salads and Gnocchi ($19) with mustard green pesto as the main vegetarian options.
The small side space that was once considered Cremer’s “pantry” has been converted to the Humble Sea take-out and beer-to-go pick up area, complete with a dutch door opening up to sell merchandise and soft serve ice cream come summertime. Weekend brunch is also on the horizon, with plenty of cocktails featured, since the space comes with a full liquor license (see our writeup when Cremer finally secured this long-awaited status).
Byers, who is behind the bar program, is obviously excited about the cocktail menu, considering it a “cool creative outlet that I’ve been able to work on.” She has most recently been in the beer world, but has worked in hospitality since she was 16 years old, bartending in her early 20’s, and has found it fun to get back into. She says that their aim in creating the cocktail menu was for it to be approachable to all folks, but under the unmistakable Humble Sea brand, which means “incorporating and highlighting spirits that are local or small batch or BIPOC owned or operated, and trying to bring those brands to the forefront a little bit more”. Out of the eight cocktails featured, there are some classic drinks, like a Negroni ($14) with Venus no. 1, but also “some fun, kooky drinks as well,” she explains. Like the Humble Gimlet ($9) with Butterfly pea flower-infused gin, turning it bright purple in color with the addition of lime juice, and garnished with Swedish fish gummies, or their version of a hot toddy called “It’s a Sage Thing” ($9) with an option of bourbon or the aged Venus gin no. 2. (+$3)
As for the beer, anyone who knows Cremer House has seen its beautiful copper tap system. The intention is to showcase all Humble Sea beers here, with maybe an outside guest brew during special events or collaborations. They also have a couple of mocktails, kombucha and seven different wines, some local, mostly focusing on Northern California wineries as well as a bunch of bubbly options (hence plans for brunch!). Chef Hillan has been playing around with incorporating beer, or hops, into some of the dishes, like the Hop Aioli Ranch served with the Chicken Wings ($15) appetizer.
In terms of the space, being a historic building and so recently vacated by a fully operational restaurant, the Humble Sea crew was able to walk in to a mostly functional, turn-key establishment last October. They haven’t really changed the aesthetic much, mostly just clearing out stuff that was left behind and adding a bit of that nautical Humble Sea magic.
“We do want to keep a lot of the charm of the building, being historical, and acknowledge where our co-founders came from and a lot of the community here. We are looking at putting up some historical photos of the area and some photos of Humble Sea’s beginning in Ben Lomond…and making sure our staff is aware of all that and we are communicating that to folks,” says Byers.
The glassware and servingware has undergone a refresh, as well as upgrades to the outside waiting areas. Byers explains that the “biggest change we have done is this front fence line, with cedar planks, extending the bar outside, with a waiting area where folks can order a beer or cocktail before being seated.” Placards with a QR code linking to the menu are readily located all over the place, and you are encouraged to use it to order drinks as you wait for a table.
So a big question is, what about the crowds that will surely be descending upon this somewhat petite place? Byers says that, compared to the other Humble Sea locations, she feels a bit more comfortable here in terms of crowds, because this is a seated venue. The other spots are more standing beer garden atmospheres. “It will be a balance of really managing local communities and visiting communities. We want to create a space that is open to everyone, but we want to cater to the local community as much as possible,” she says.
While they won’t be taking reservations at first, they will be opening up with a waitlist system, and getting that up on the website, so you can anticipate your wait time before even leaving home. That is a nice touch for those of us with hungry kids.
Speaking of which, Byers knows that there are a lot of families in the area, so along with that soft serve window, they have a short kids menu, including a fun play on a Shirley Temple called the “Shell-ee Temple” ($5) that is bright blue and garnished with that favorite Swedish Fish (basically the mock version of that kooky gimlet), and also “a really large dessert, probably too big for kids eyes, but shareable for the whole family”. This ends up being the “Kookie Skillet” ($14), a giant chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream. That sounds like something that would pair wonderfully with the Tiny House Big Mood ($8) vegan white chocolate milkshake DIPA…for us grown-ups, obviously.
Let this mountain tavern fun begin!
Humble Sea Tavern, 6256 CA-9, Felton. humblesea.com Hours: Wed-Fri 11am-9pm (lunch served 11am-2pm), Sat-Sun 9am-9pm (brunch served 9am-2pm), closed Mon-Tue.
About the author
Amber Turpin is a freelance food and travel writer based in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
