Summer 2018

Three Santa Cruz County winemakers bring youthful energy to the natural wine movement

Brave new winemakers: from left, Brad Friedman, Ryan Stirm and Megan Bell

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIE CAHILL

They’re young and enthusiastic, with around-the-world experience that has taught them both historic and modern methods of winemaking. But they’ve chosen a different path. Call it natural, minimalist, real or low-intervention winemaking, this is a path that has been well trodden in other countries for centuries. Yet here in California, there’s a revival underway and it’s all the rage. Like teenagers today discovering bell bottoms, hot pants and disco, the natural wine movement is the trendy darling of sommeliers eager for something that departs significantly from the mainstream offerings on most wine lists. In reality, it’s pretty much another word for … Read More

Monterey’s new café Captain + Stoker combines coffee, cycling and conversation

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGAUX GIBBONS

Not long after opening Captain + Stoker in March, owners Wendy and Peterson Conway were pleasantly surprised to see a pack of about 20 cyclists stop in for an espresso or two at the newly launched café in downtown Monterey.

Despite the Conways’ own passion for cycling, these kindred spirits were not people whom they’d previously met. And that’s just what the Conways were hoping for.

“This is exactly what we saw in Italy,” says Wendy, who, along with her husband, has fond memories of biking to little coffeehouses there and communing with other two-wheeled adventurers. In Italy, coffee and cycling just naturally seem to go together.

“We’ve had a lot of support from the … Read More

“Love without action is irrelevant, while action without love is meaningless.” —Deepak Chopra

Did you know what you were in for when you opened your first copy of Edible Monterey Bay? Honestly, we didn’t entirely know ourselves when we started the magazine seven years ago.

We had fallen in love with the Edible magazines that we’d read in Brooklyn, Ojai, Santa Barbara and elsewhere. And after Sarah had logged several interesting but soul-wearying years editing a magazine covering money-obsessed titans of high finance, she yearned to write about some of her own passions—especially food issues and the chefs, farmers and other local food world denizens who help make our region such a special place.

The opportunity to create a whole new publication aimed at nurturing and celebrating a community that … Read More

Bruxo conjures up shapeshifting cuisine for Santa Cruz

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRYSTAL BIRNS

It’s ten o’clock on a Monday night and Brooks Schmitt—the 29-yearold chef/owner of Bruxo Food Truck—stands in his 20-foot industrial kitchen trailer working his way through the prep list for the next day. He has just wrapped up two weeks of serving vibrant Burmese-inspired fare and tomorrow he will launch a rustic Japanese-style menu. In two weeks, Schmitt will spend another late night in the kitchen working on a new menu with new flavors that will transport his customers to an entirely different corner of the world.

This is the mad method behind the shapeshifting cuisine that has earned Schmitt a loyal following since landing in Santa Cruz last December. His food represents a fierce commitment to marrying … Read More