Aug. 19, 2025—If you’re into buddy movies set in a Santa Cruz kitchen, this one’s for you.
Come to think of it, if punk rock pop-ups are your jam, you’ve come to right place.
And, while we’re at it, if you’re down with tattooed chefs obsessed with clever comfort food, that helps as well.
Or maybe you just like to eat fun stuff, with a quality cocktail to buzz up the experience.
That’s a long way of saying one of the more intriguing new things to spike Santa Cruz’s foodscape starts this week—and ramps up Tuesday, Aug. 27—featuring all of the above.
The dynamic chef duo driving it is Mikey Adams and Lance Ebert, in no particular order.
These two share the wheel, as they do at Emerald Mallard in Felton, with clear camaraderie.
The idea revving the residency’s engine: Take advantage of the unoccupied Alderwood space at Walnut and Cedar to workshop what the new team is good at, and stoke locals.
Noon-5pm Wednesdays (to sync with Downtown Santa Cruz’s Farmers Market) the spot will star carryout options—and Ebert specialties—cannoli and sourdough.
Those will pair with one-offs like opening week’s short rib melt with gooey smoked Fiscalini cheddar fondue and fig jam on country loaf sourdough.
Sundays from 10am-2pm translates to more cannoli and day-fresh bread, with coffee from a to-be-determined local partner.
Tuesday evenings 6-9pm (starting next week) bring on a sit-down ticketed supper club centering around a featured item. The first month (or so), it’s ramen.
“[Lance and I] show each other little things, and just riff off one another,” Adams says. “We are gonna have a ramen baby. The umami is going to be real.”
That will be served with a large side of uncommon ambiance. Ebert describes the anticipated energy with a grin.
“Full-barge, pop-up-style mayhem,” he says. “Lights down low, music up loud.”
The working name for the punk-rock pop-up series matches that: Death Box.
The residency will apply lessons learned by Ebert as he conducted similar events at Avanti—spotlighting things like smash burgers and ramen—including batch-making drinks and counterside ordering to streamline things.
“It won’t be chaos from the operations side,” says Ebert noting a bunch of back-loaded prep helps, “but with our following there’s going to be a lot of people.”
For ramen month, they’re tinkering with accompaniments like kimchi gyoza, crudo dishes and hand rolls.
“A simple executable menu, that we can do fast,” Adams adds.
The series will also serve as a peek at what could come with more regular hours at the old Alderwood.
Adams envisions, “lot of stuff touching the fire.”
Emerald Mallard/Death Box operations and marketing lead Daniel Schmidt emphasizes the partnership’s unique flavor.
“It’s two chefs coming together in preparation for something Santa Cruz has never seen,” he says. “And giving people a taste of what we’re going to do.”
The pair’s ongoing collaboration at Emerald Mallard in the historic Cremer House it shares with Humble Sea, meanwhile, bodes well for the downtown experience.
Even at off-peak hours on last Wednesday afternoon, the place was pumping out signature smash burgers and fried chicken sandwiches at deep discounts for 4-5pm Wednesday-Friday happy hour.
Collectively, the ingredients are enough to ramp up palpable anticipation already audible from Ebert, Adams and Schmidt, and the enthusiastic kitchen team in Felton.
“It’s a punk show—controlled chaos—we’ll be in the s***s but putting stuff out boom boom boom,” Ebert says, emphasizing the fun of the open kitchen layout. “There’ll be the opportunity for people to get in our face—and the more fun they’re having the better.”
More at @deathbox_sc.
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.
