July 25, 2023 – We’ve been waiting for months to spill the beans on an exciting new restaurant that’s about to open in Aptos. Cavalletta is the second restaurant for chef Nick Sherman, who also owns Trestles in Capitola.
It will serve California-style seasonal Italian cuisine and wood-fired pizzas in the building that used to be Malik Williams on Soquel Drive. Sherman previewed the food for his many fans and friends at a Cavaletta pop-up last night.
“I’ve never been to Italy, but I’ve been cooking Italian food my entire life,” he told us as we happily polished off almost every dish on the pop-up menu. “It’s my California take on Italian.”
Wood-fired pizzas were not on the menu last night, as the new restaurant is still awaiting final inspections and permits and the preview took place at Trestles. But Sherman said he hoped to be able to open in a matter of weeks.
Appetizers included sophisticated beef carpaccio with truffle aioli, garlic chips and pickled onions served alongside savory burrata toast with mushrooms on Companion Bakeshop bread.
We also sampled the arancini with cheesy fonduta, that somehow managed to be a crispy and light bite.
The Italian chop salad was a favorite at our table and perfect for a hot summer night, but the star of the evening was the rock shrimp and corn risotto with Calabrian chili oil, pea shoots and Parmesan—creamy and crunchy at the same time and full of flavor.
A more classic bucatini pasta with guanciale, pecorino cheese and a healthy dose of chili was also delicious.
Sherman is a Santa Cruz County local and graduate of Soquel High School. He trained and cooked in the Napa Valley for 15 years before returning home to open Trestles.
For Cavalletta he is partnering with longtime friend Shawn Ryberg, who worked for the past 20 years in Hawaii as head chef at Haleiwa Joe’s on Oahu.
The two chefs plan to make the most of local produce, foraged ingredients and Monterey Bay seafood at the new restaurant, in the pasta dishes and atop the pizzas. They’ve been experimenting with the dough for months.
By the way, cavalletta means grasshopper in Italian, but the original romance language is full of slang and innuendo. It can also mean a voracious and insatiable person—all of whom will be more than welcome at the new restaurant.
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
