Summer 2018

A relatively new crop for local farms, blueberries are a summertime treat

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK TREGENZA

At Serendipity Farms we have an acre of highbush organic blueberries tucked away in a warm microclimate of Watsonville. Eight delicious varieties ripen over a 12-week period, bringing a luxurious abundance of tasty, antioxidant-rich fruit that is one of the healthiest on the planet. It is my family’s favorite time of year, and mine, too, as it reminds me of one of the things I appreciate most about farming: Life is very rich when you have access to the freshest, best-tasting fruits and vegetables and the opportunity to share them with the community. And as a farmer, blueberry season also represents the end of winter and “lean” times, which is always worth celebrating!

Blueberries … Read More

An expert shares secrets to mastering the art of presentation

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN COX

When I first started cooking professionally at a small neighborhood bistro back in 1998, one of our signature dishes was Southwest Chicken—a butterflied chicken breast filled with Boursin cheese then wrapped in filo dough. The chicken was baked until the pastry was golden brown, then cut in half on the bias and set on top of a hearty pile of garlic mashed potatoes before being finished with a roasted bell pepper coulis and crowned with a spear of rosemary. Back then we aspired to be like Dean Fearing from the Mansion on Turtle Creek, with his colorful zigzags of sauces from a squeeze bottle and curls of shaved green onions and red bell pepper.

By the … Read More

Travel up a winding road and into the fogs of time to discover a colorful Santa Cruz Mountains watering hole

The Lost Weekend in its heyday. Image courtesy of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK TREGENZA

Bonny Doon is the kind of place where out-of-towners with a bad sense of direction could easily get lost—maybe for a whole weekend. But that’s not why the only commercial business in Bonny Doon for more than 30 years was a bar called the Lost Weekend.

The name was borrowed from Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning movie of 1945 starring Ray Milland as a writer in the throes of a particularly self-destructive drinking binge. These days, only those branding professionals with a savage sense of irony would suggest naming a bar … Read More

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