Tacos and cactus/kale salad from My Mom’s Mole
There are many food events occurring this weekend in the Santa Cruz area—here are details for three events Friday, April 15: two in Santa Cruz and one in Scotts Valley.
Tacos & Waffles at POPUP
My Mom’s Mole and The Green Waffle are partnering for dinner at POPUP from 5-9:30 p.m. (or earlier if the food sells out). Customers get their choice of waffle (cauliflower, blueberry or yam) and their choice of mole tacos: My Mom’s Mole traditional sauce with pork and garnished with persimmon; My Mom’s Mole with roasted vegetables (brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and green beans) and garnished with persimmon, or mole verde with chicken and garnished with cranberry. You can also add cactus/kale salad as a side. I went to last month’s My Mom’s Mole popup and tasted this salad—plus roasted vegetable mole and chicken mole verde—and highly recommend all. Cesario Ruiz, founder of My Mom’s Mole, describes the salad–with nopales, kale, red onion, tomato, jalapeño & cilantro in a citrus dressing—as having “an acidity and tartness that balances well with the flavorful moles…this is a must-try that we often sell out of first!” Ruiz recently won a 2016 NEXTies award for “Entrepreneur of the Year.”
Unfamiliar with The Green Waffle? Like My Mom’s Mole, they are a small local food business that does their production at Watsonville’s El Pajaro Commercial Kitchen Incubator. All waffles are made with oats, egg whites, spinach, and banana. You can also find the waffles at Staff of Life in Santa Cruz, Deluxe Foods in Aptos, and GNC and Second street cafe in Watsonville.
Location: POPUP, 1108 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz
Indian cuisine at Food Lounge
Karma Khana will be hosting a dinner pop-up at the Santa Cruz Food Lounge from 5 to 9 p.m. Dishes available—with prices from $4.50 to $7—will include chundal chaat, paneer-stuffed peppers, rockfish biriyani, turkey and lamb kebabs, and Gobi Manchurian. I had the opportunity to taste founding chef Varun Raghavan’s delicious food when he collaborated with LionFish Supper Club for their popup series “A Taste of India” last November at the Food Lounge.
Location: 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz
Food Trucks a Go Go And Beer & Wine Garden
Food Trucks A Go Go, a food truck event company, is hosting its next food truck event at Skypark in Scotts Valley, with dinner and drinks being served from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Attendees can choose from seven local trucks, and there are picnic tables at the park. Participating food trucks are Ate3One, Zameen Mediterranean, The Choke Coach, Aunt LaLi’s Mobile Café, Carmona’s BBQ, Zocalo Tamales and G’s Tacos #2. Profits from a beer and wine garden, sponsored by the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation and the Mountain Charlie Challenge (the latter is happening the following weekend), will benefit the four Scotts Valley public schools.
Location: Skypark, 361 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley
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