January 25, 2022 – A favorite with farm-to-table food and wine lovers for two decades, Soif restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz will serve its final meal on Saturday night.
Owner Patrice Boyle, who also owns La Posta restaurant, says the closure is not entirely pandemic related, but also personal. “I’ve been hanging in there, but it’s been hard,” she says. “I’m moving to a more manageable workload.”
Boyle says Soif Wine Bar and bottle shop will remain open and she has lined up a new chef/operator to take over the restaurant space, although she declined to say who it will be, pending completion of the transfer.
“It costs about a million dollars to open a restaurant in Santa Cruz and takes at least 18 months,” she said, citing build out costs, permitting and delays. “By handing over a building that’s ready to go, I can help someone else get a foothold and a start in this business.”
“It is bittersweet to close this chapter of my life however, it is the right time to step back from Soif and give another restaurant an opportunity to thrive and become part of the fabric of downtown,” she adds
Soif has always been a community-minded gathering place. It opened in 2002 with a fundraiser for the Cabrillo Music Festival and over the years has hosted a variety of local groups including the Homeless Garden Project, Music in May, Santa Cruz Sister Cities, KSQD and EMB’s own launch parties. Most recently it organized a series of dinner seminars on sustainable seafood.
Executive chef Tom McNary—an alum of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse—is known for making the most of seasonal, local ingredients often picked up at the farmers’ market, which takes place practically next door to the restaurant on Wednesday afternoons.
La Posta, located in a former post office in the Seabright neighborhood of Santa Cruz, is known for its farm-to-table Italian fare and Italian wines. “I love both places but didn’t love having to make a choice where to be every night. I’m a hands-on operator and this will give me more time to micromanage over there,” jokes Boyle.
Soif Wine Bar & Merchants retail shop will continue to be managed by Alexis Carr and Dede Eckhardt, who will host tastings, winemaker takeovers and the Terroiriste Wine Club. The shop stocks some 400 different hard-to-find European and local wines. In addition, wine-friendly small bites will be served.
“I really do want the brand to continue, just on a much smaller scale,” says Boyle. “My goal is to be able to come into the wine bar on a Thursday or Friday night and get a glass of champagne and maybe some outrageous potato chips with caviar and a side of sour cream.”
Stop in this week for a final dinner at Soif or a cocktail at the bar, and thank Patrice Boyle for bringing a fabulous dining spot to life for the past 20 years. You can also engage in the city’s new favorite guessing game…who will be taking over the Soif restaurant space?
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.
