Tag Archives: Santa Cruz Restaurant Week
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week continues: highlights from Hula’s and Chaminade
Baby Beet Salad with pomegranate seeds and goat feta crumbles is one of Chaminade’s appetizers for Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2016
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week, which continues through Wednesday, Oct. 19, includes nearly 40 restaurants such as Hula’s and Linwood’s at Chaminade Resort and Spa.
Restaurants offer three-course prix fixe dinners for $25 or $35 during Restaurant Week, and also continue to serve regular menus during this time. Read details about Assembly’s menu selections and inspiration in my article from yesterday.
Hula’s Island Grill (221 Cathcart St., 831-426-HULA) is serving a three-course $25 menu. Appetizer choices include crispy coconut shrimp rolls with pineapple and horseradish dipping sauce; and Hawaiian ceviche with whitefish, coconut milk, chili, cilantro and garlic. Desserts include Hula pie with macadamia nut ice cream, Oreo crust, hot fudge and house-made whipped cream.
Hollis Ferguson, general manager of Hula’s in Santa Cruz, commented on why Hula’s is a longtime Santa Cruz Restaurant Week participant: “It’s fun to be part of a community wide event that encourages people to take a night off and go out to eat, try new restaurants they haven’t before and/or a dish they might not have tried before.”
Ferguson says that the Kalbi Ribs, an entrée on the Restaurant Week menu this year, are a good classic Hawaiian dish, plate lunch style (they’re served with macaroni salad and rice). “Our Lemongrass Hapu is more exotic and showcases flavors of Thailand and Polynesia,” she adds. Customers can also substitute tofu for the Hapu (which is Hawaiian sea bass); both versions include lime-ginger-cream sauce, rice and slaw.
Executive chef Nick Church, from Linwood’s at the Chaminade (One Chaminade Lane, 831-475-5600), has created a $35 menu that includes seasonal ingredients such as squash, apples and sweet potatoes. Appetizers include roasted butternut soup with spicy apple relish and toasted pumpkin seeds; and baby beet salad with frisee and escarole, vanilla vinaigrette, pomegranate seeds and goat feta crumbles. Entrée choices are grass-fed grilled NY steak with wild mushroom ragout, sweet potato gratin, grilled asparagus and roasted baby carrots; grilled pork chop with Calvados demi, apple puree, smashed fingerling potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts; and pan-seared local halibut with heirloom tomato relish, farro and Dungeness crab risotto plus wilted greens and sauteed baby vegetables. Desserts include persimmon crisp with lavender ice cream.
Even though it just started two days ago, Church is already enjoying Restaurant Week. “We love seeing all of the locals come up to the property while experiencing Linwood’s and hearing all of the their favorite Chaminade stories,” Church said. “There is so much history and so many fun and personal memories people have, it’s refreshing to hear the positive feedback during Restaurant Week.”
Restaurants participating in SCRW, in alphabetical order:
- 515 Kitchen & Cocktails
- Aquarius at the Dream Inn
- Assembly
- Back Nine Grill & Bar
- Café Mare
- Chocolate
- Crow’s Nest
- El Jardin
- Gabriella Café
- Hindquarter Bar & Grill
- Hoffman’s Bistro & Patisserie
- Hollins House at Pasatiempo
- Hula’s Island Grill
- Ideal Bar & Grill
- Johnny’s Harborside
- Kianti’s Pizza & Pasta Bar
- Laili
- Linwood’s at Chaminade Resort
- Margaritaville
- Michael’s on Main
- Mozaic
- Pearl of the Ocean
- Red Restaurant & Bar
- Ristorante Italiano
- Rosie McCann’s
- Sanderlings at Seascape Resort
- Severino’s Bar & Grill
- Soif
- Solaire
- Splash!
- Stonehouse Bar & Grill at the Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley
- Süda
- The Cremer House
- The Point Chophouse & Lounge
- The Water St. Grill
- Tyrolean Inn
- Your Place
- Zelda’s On The Beach
For more information and full menus, visit the event web site at santacruzrestaurantweek.com.
****
Follow me on:
Twitter @santacruzfoodie
Instagram @tarafatemiwalker
Facebook @santacruzfoodieexaminer
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week started yesterday and includes restaurant Assembly
“Fresh off the boat” seafood stew is one of Assembly’s prix fixe entrée choices for Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2016
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week started yesterday, and continues through Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016. Downtown Santa Cruz restaurant Assembly (1108 Pacific Ave., 831-824-6100) is one of the nearly 40 participants from across the county that have created special three-course prix fixe dinners that cost $25 or $35 depending on the venue. These SCRW menus typically include three options for each course: appetizer, entrée, and dessert. Customers choose one selection from each course.
For its $35 special menu, one of Assembly’s “starter” selection choices is Kabocha squash soup with brown butter sautéed apples, crème fraiche and fried sage. When chef/owner Kendra Baker owner Zach Davis were planning the menu, Baker was thrilled to see that Route One Farms’ Kabocha squash would be here in time for Restaurant Week. “I love sharing my favorites of the season,” said Baker. “These Japanese Pumpkins have a lovely chestnut-like sweetness and make the most velvety soup.”
Two of Assembly’s SCRW entrée selections are seafood stew and braised chicken leg. The stew, described as “fresh off the boat,” is served with potatoes, chard, zucchini, creamy polenta and a tomato-saffron broth. “As the seasons are changing my taste buds were longing for a soul-satisfying brothy seafood dish,” said Baker. “Working on developing this stew I envisioned the earthy notes of tomatoes with the saffron, oils of lemon zest, fennel and white wine being the perfect partners for the bounty of seafood we have available to us.”
The chicken entrée includes caramelized leeks, brussel sprouts, gigante beans and fried bread with a lemon butter caper sauce. There’s also a vegetarian option available. “Developing the braised chicken recipe for restaurant week, I had my father’s newfound love for capers at the age of 63 in mind,” said Baker. “He never ceases to surprise me. For the better part of my life I have known him as the iceberg lettuce and garbanzo bean salad with blue cheese dressing kind of guy.”
Baker’s partner Davis also has a new caper fan in his family. “My daughter discovered capers a couple days ago at the age of two and loves them,” said Davis. “I’m very excited to have her try this dish!”
Dessert choices for the SCRW menu include caramelized apple pie with brown sugar oat streusel and whiskey custard ice cream, and Penny Ice Creamery sorbet trio. Baker and Davis operate The Penny Ice Creamery, Picnic Basket and POPUP in addition to Assembly. In fact, a couple weeks ago they started offering some of their Picnic Basket selections at POPUP (a small storefront connected to Assembly at 1108 Pacific). These include sandwiches and cookies and are available Monday-Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
I will post a few more SCRW highlights in the next couple days.
Restaurants that are participating in SCRW, in alphabetical order:
- 515 Kitchen & Cocktails
- Aquarius at the Dream Inn
- Assembly
- Back Nine Grill & Bar
- Café Mare
- Chocolate
- Crow’s Nest
- El Jardin
- Gabriella Café
- Hindquarter Bar & Grill
- Hoffman’s Bistro & Patisserie
- Hollins House at Pasatiempo
- Hula’s Island Grill
- Ideal Bar & Grill
- Johnny’s Harborside
- Kianti’s Pizza & Pasta Bar
- Laili
- Linwood’s at Chaminade Resort
- Margaritaville
- Michael’s on Main
- Mozaic
- Pearl of the Ocean
- Red Restaurant & Bar
- Ristorante Italiano
- Rosie McCann’s
- Sanderlings at Seascape Resort
- Severino’s Bar & Grill
- Soif
- Solaire
- Splash!
- Stonehouse Bar & Grill at the Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley
- Süda
- The Cremer House
- The Point Chophouse & Lounge
- The Water St. Grill
- Tyrolean Inn
- Your Place
- Zelda’s On The Beach
For more information and menus, visit the event web site at santacruzrestaurantweek.com.
Follow me on:
Twitter @santacruzfoodie
Instagram @tarafatemiwalker
Facebook @santacruzfoodieexaminer
Two nights left for Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2013
Food and drinks at La Posta, a participant in Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2013
The fifth annual Santa Cruz Restaurant Week ends on Oct. 9; you have two more nights to dine at more than 30 local restaurants offering three-course dinners for $25. Read details in my event preview and recap of my 2013 Restaurant Week dinner at Hula’s.
Haven’t decided which restaurant(s) to visit? Some highlights: Pearl of the Ocean is participating for the first time, and this Sri Lankan venue is reportedly gaining lots of new fans with its delicious vegan and vegetarian cuisine. The Restaurant Week menu at Red Restaurant and Bar includes food PLUS a 3 oz. glass of wine with each of its three courses. Café Rio’s offerings include appetizer choices such as Rio Prawn Spring Roll featuring carrots, green onion, basil, mint, and hoisin dipping sauce (I enjoyed this tremendously at the recent Gourmet Grazing on the Green) and Caprese Salad. The restaurant Chocolate’s choices include Artichoke Shrimp Salad, Spumante Lemon Swordfish, and Gelato alla Crema with bittersweet chocolate sauce. La Posta is offering entrees such as Corn Tagliatelle with peppers, escarole, capers and parmigiana and Quail al mattone with potato-chard gratinata and green olive salsa.
Check out more menus and information at the Santa Cruz Restaurant Week web site.
On Twitter? Follow me @santacruzfoodie.
Pay $25 for 3 courses during Santa Cruz Restaurant Week at Hula’s
Scrumptious and whimsical Pot Brownie dessert at Santa Cruz restaurant Hula’s
Santa Cruz restaurant Hula’s Island Grill & Tiki Room is participating in Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2013, offering many tasty choices in its prix fixe $25 three-course menu. My family and I had a very good meal there earlier this week.
It’s the fifth annual Santa Cruz Restaurant Week, which began Wednesday and lasts until Oct 9. More than 30 local restaurants are offering special menus for eight nights. For more details, read my SC Restaurant Week event preview (includes restaurant list). This is the first year that Hula’s is participating. “We are incredibly excited to be a part of Restaurant Week,” said Hula’s General Manager Rita Price. “We love helping and being a big part of our Santa Cruz community and especially to be amongst such a great group of restaurants.”
My dinner at Hula’s included attentive service from a gracious waitress; it was pleasant to eat in one of the several family-friendly dining areas. There’s also a bar area for those who prefer that type of environment. For the first course I chose Vietnamese Spring Rolls, which I’ve had several times at Hula’s; it’s consistently good with ingredients such as organic tofu, apples, lemongrass, basil and carrots. I had a few bites of my husband’s sweet Tiki Torch Chicken Wings; I don’t always enjoy sweet sauces but this worked well with the meat. For a second course I selected Lemongrass Encrusted Hapu, a Hawaiian seabass. The lime-ginger-cream sauce was absolutely delectable, and those who don’t eat seafood can substitute tofu. It was a hearty serving accompanied by white rice and Hula’s popular and refreshing slaw.
I sampled my husband’s pulled pork entrée and enjoyed that as well. Ingredients included pineapple and soy. Because it had sweet seasonings like the chicken wings, I wouldn’t recommend choosing the wing app and pork entree as a combination unless you’re in a really sweet mood. Or, if you’re like us and you and your dining companions enjoy sharing food, this plan works fine because you get to try lots of different items and flavors!
For dessert we shared Pot Brownie and Hula Pie. I appreciated the whimsical title, and presentation, of the pot brownie, which was served in a terra cotta-looking pot (see photo above). It was a rich treat chock full of brownies, hot fudge, and whipped cream. Onto the pie, where the nutty flavor of macadamia nut ice cream provided balance for the sweet Oreo crust. A small dish of hot fudge plus whipped cream completed the dessert perfectly.
All in all, Hula’s Restaurant Week menu provided a great dinner, and an opportunity to try out some new dishes. Even though everything I chose for Restaurant Week is part of the restaurant’s regular menu, the only selection I’d tried before was the spring rolls. Price said that I am one of many regular customers that have been coming in and trying new things. “I love having a fun showcase of some of our different foods,” she added. “So many people assume we are strictly Hawaiian food, which just isn’t the case. We offer many varieties of food, from sustainable fresh seafood to vegetarian options or even to our gluten-friendly menu.” Do yourself a favor and take advantage of the showcase at Hula’s, and at many other restaurants over the next few days!
Visit the SC Restaurant Week web site.
Hula’s: 221 Cathcart Street, Santa Cruz 95060, (831) 426-4852.
On Twitter? Follow me @santacruzfoodie.
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week Oct. 2-9 offers $25 3-course dinners
Food at Severino’s in Aptos, one of more than 30 participants in Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2013. Photo courtesy of SCRW Facebook page
Foodie alert: it’s time for the fifth annual Santa Cruz Restaurant Week where more than 30 local restaurants – from Aptos, Soquel and Capitola to Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Ben Lomond, and Felton – serve three-course gourmet dinners for only $25. And you can win a free Santa Cruz Restaurant Week dinner through my web site! Read end of article for details.
Special menus are offered Oct. 2-9, 2013, and typically include three options for each course: appetizer, entrée, and dessert. Customers choose one selection from each course.
The 2012 Restaurant Week was very popular and a lot of fun for those of us who participated as customers! Restaurant reservations are recommended but not required.
I will post a few menus and at least one review in the next few days.
Restaurants that are participating, in alphabetical order:
• Aquarius at the Dream Inn
• Booka
• Café Rio
• Center Street Grill
• Chocolate
• The Crow’s Nest
• El Palomar
• Gabriella Café
• Hindquarter Bar & Grill
• Hoffman’s Bistro & Patisserie
• Hula’s Island Grill
• Ideal Bar & Grill
• Johnny’s Harborside
• La Posta
• Laili
• Linwood’s at Chaminade Resort
• Louie’s Cajun Kitchen & Bourbon Bar
• Main Street Garden & Café
• Michael’s on Main
• Oak Tree Ristorante
• Oswald
• Pearl of the Ocean
• Red Restaurant & Bar
• Ristorante Italiano
• Sanderlings at Seascape Resort
• Severino’s Bar & Grill
• Soif
• Stonehouse Bar & Grill at the Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley
• Süda
• The Point Chophouse & Lounge
• Tyrolean Inn & Restaurant
• Zelda’s On The Beach
• 515 Kitchen & Cocktails
For more information, visit the event web site.
****
THE CONTEST:
This contest is open to readers of examiner.com and santacruzfoodie.com, but employees of Examiner.com are not eligible to enter.
PRIZE – One winner receives two $25 gift certificates for dinner at Center Street Grill during Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2013. To enter, email your name to tfatemiwalker@yahoo.com and include the words “Santa Cruz Restaurant Week.”
Or post a comment to this article on my Facebook page and include “Santa Cruz Restaurant Week.”
Either way, the entry deadline is Thurs. Oct. 3 at 9 a.m. I will pull a name from all entries and notify the winner by email.
Center Street Grill’s 2013 Restaurant Week menu includes entrée choices of Grilled Salmon Puttanesca with capers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, mashed potatoes, and green beans, Seafood Fettucine with crab, shrimp, smoked salmon, mushrooms, and lemon cream sauce, and Grilled Pork Loin Chop with blue cheese & peaches, mashed potatoes, and asparagus.
On Twitter? Follow me @santacruzfoodie.
It’s the last night of Santa Cruz Restaurant Week; here are some recommendations
Goodies at Laili during last year’s Santa Cruz Restaurant Week
Two “late joiners” to Santa Cruz Restaurant Week were Oswald and Main Street Garden & Café, but rest assured—their hesitation means nothing as far as delivering a great meal. In fact, looks like they tried extra hard as newcomers!
One of my acquaintances and her friends greatly enjoyed dinner the other night at Main Street, proclaiming the butternut squash and apple soup delicious and highly recommending two entrees in particular: the heirloom and burrata pizza, and the ricotta gnocchi. Apparently, the wild honey panna cotta with almonds and sea salt was a divine dessert (what is with all the great panna cotta this week? Remember, I had a similarly wonderful one, but it was vanilla bean panna cotta at Gabriella Café, which I mentioned – and included a photo of – in my recap of that Restaurant Week visit). Oswald’s menu sounds positively delightful, with appetizers such as mushroom soup with crème fraiche and entrees like skirt steak with fries and blue cheese butter or corn and tomato pudding with sauteed spinach.
A friend of mine dined at Casablanca Friday night, and raved about the meal–especially certain parts. She “loved, loved, loved” the brussels sprouts (Crispy Brussels Sprouts, smoked chevre, apple gastrique) and her companion really liked his entrée of Organic Roasted Chicken with squash, olive, arugula, panisse, and piri piri sauce. She wasn’t crazy about the fish tagine entrée, but they both loved the Crème Catalan dessert. And the ocean view from the restaurant is absolutely beautiful.
Can’t decide where to dine or want to see some specific menus? Read more at the Santa Cruz Restaurant Week web site.
On Twitter? Follow me @santacruzfoodie
Pay $25 for 3 courses during Santa Cruz Restaurant Week at Gabriella Cafe
Vanilla bean panna cotta at Gabriella Cafe during 2012 Santa Cruz Restaurant Week
It’s the fourth annual Santa Cruz Restaurant Week, which began Wednesday and lasts until Oct 10. Local restaurants including downtown Santa Cruz’s Gabriella Café, with first-rate cuisine created by Adrian Cruz, are offering special menus for eight nights. For more details, read my SC Restaurant Week event preview (includes list of participating restaurants).
I dined at Gabriella on Thursday night, and enjoyed it tremendously. For the first course I recommend the salad with roasted beets, chèvre, toasted pistachios, and vinaigrette. The creaminess of the delicious cheese juxtaposed perfectly with the crunchy nuts and beautiful beets. For a second course I selected beef tenders with dry farm tomato emulsion and roast fingerling potatoes. This dish was definitely satisfying, but when I had a bite of my dining companion’s tagliatelle—with vegetables including eggplant plus fresh mozzarella—I wanted to steal her bowl of food; it was that good. For dessert we shared the two available selections, chocolate espresso torte and vanilla bean panna cotta. Both were wonderful, the torte offering richness and decadence and the panna cotta, with specks of real vanilla beans, bringing a refreshing ending including a delicate balance of flavors.
Click here for SC Restaurant Week web site.
Note that menus on the site are not necessarily exactly what you’ll find when you get to the restaurant. For example, Gabriella’s Restaurant Week online menu mentions certain vegetables and cheese in the pasta sauce but upon arrival at the restaurant, there were a few changes (understandable for restaurants like Gabriella that seek out the freshest produce from farms and farmers markets).
Gabriella Cafe: 910 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz 95060, make reservations at (831) 457-1677.
On Twitter? Follow me @santacruzfoodie
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week Oct. 3-10 offers $25 3-course dinners
Delicious homemade bread at La Posta during Santa Cruz Restaurant Week 2011.
Last year’s Restaurant Week was more popular than ever, with two dozen participating restaurants and an eight-day span (increasing from less restaurants and a seven-day span the year before). This year, with the restaurants Main Street Garden Café and Oswald coming on board in the last week, the number of restaurants for customers to choose from is 32! Restaurant reservations are recommended.
As Santa Cruz Restaurant Week’s event coordinator Lily Stoicheff says, “There are so many restaurant owners and chefs doing truly unique things with an astounding amount of creativity with delicious results. More and more restaurants are partnering with local farms to bring the freshest and tastiest ingredients to the table.” This event is a great way to discover new restaurants or revisit ones you already know and love.
I will post a few menus and at least one review in the next few days.
Restaurants that are participating, in alphabetical order:
• Aquarius
• Casablanca
• Café Mare (new this year)
• Center Street Grill (new this year)
• Chocolate (new this year)
• Cilantro’s (new this year)
• The Crow’s Nest
• Davenport Roadhouse
• El Palomar (new this year)
• Gabriella Café
• Heavenly Café (new this year)
• Hoffman’s Bistro & Patisserie
• Hollins House at Pasatiempo (new this year)
• Johnny’s Harborside
• La Posta
• Laili
• Linwood’s at Chaminade
• Main Street Garden & Café (new this year)
• MexItalian (new this year)
• Michael’s on Main
• Oak Tree Ristorante
• Olitas (new this year)
• Oswald (new this year)
• Red Restaurant & Bar
• Ristorante Italiano (new this year)
• Sanderlings at Seascape Resort
• Soif
• Solaire at Hotel Paradox (new this year)
• Süda (new this year)
• The Point Chophouse & Lounge
• Tyrolean Inn & Restaurant
• 515 Kitchen & Cocktails
For more information, visit the event web site.
On Twitter? Follow me @santacruzfoodie
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week at Clouds & Laili: $25 for 3 courses
Clouds puff pastry and mixed berry cobbler desserts from a previous Santa Cruz Restaurant Week
Attention those seeking bargain gourmet meals: Santa Cruz Restaurant Week is currently running, with 3-course $25 meals at local restaurants including downtown Santa Cruz’s Clouds www.cloudsdowntown.com — which is serving up New Orleans-themed food — and Laili, which offers scrumptious Middle Eastern food. Menus are below. For more details, read my SC Restaurant Week event preview (includes list of participating restaurants) and my article on Aquarius (with special restaurant week menu).
Click here for SC Restaurant Week web site.
Special $25 three-course menu for Clouds from Oct 5-12, beverage, tax, tip not included:
First course
(Choose one)
Cheddar hushpuppies tomato salad with ricotta salata
Louisiana sunburst salad with dried cranberries, almonds, Stilton
Barbecue shrimp salad
Second course
(Choose one)
New Orleans style gumbo
Blackened red fish
Steak Diane
Dessert course
(Choose one)
Bread pudding with bourbon sauce
Chocolate dipped beignets
Clouds: 110 Church Street, Santa Cruz 95060, make reservations at (831) 429-2000.
Special $25 three-course menu for Laili from Oct 5-12, beverage, tax, tip not included:
First course
(Choose one)
Naan with tabouleh
Organic greens with pomegranate seeds and cardamom dressing
Pumpkin boranee
Second course
(Choose one)
Chicken kabob with saffron basmati rice, roasted vegetables
Pomegranate eggplant with saffron basmati rice, chard, caramelized onion
Beef filet kabob with kabuli rice, roasted vegetables
Dessert course
(Choose one)
Baklava
Cardamom rice pudding
Chocolate mousse
Laili: 101B Cooper Street, Santa Cruz 95060, make reservations at (831) 423-4545.
Follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie.
Santa Cruz Restaurant Week at Aquarius: $25 for 3 courses
Nicoise salad at Aquarius during a past Santa Cruz Restaurant Week
It’s the countdown to Santa Cruz Restaurant Week running Oct 5-12, with 3-course $25 meals from local restaurants including oceanfront Aquarius at the Dream Inn – menu below. Aquarius boasts fine cuisine by Chef Ross McKee; the restaurant promotes sustainable seafood via Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
Read my SC Restaurant Week event preview which includes a list of participating restaurants.
I will post several more menus and highlights in the next few days. Click here for SC Restaurant Week web site.
Special $25 three-course menu (beverage, tax, tip not included) for Aquarius from Oct 5-12:
First course
(Choose one)
Heirloom tomato salad with ricotta salata
Arancini di Riso with risotto, gruyere, prosciutto
Daily Inspired Soup (always vegetarian)
Second course
(Choose one)
Mostaccioli featuring olives, basil, tomato, grana padano
Wild Gulf Prawns with gnocchi, maitake mushrooms
Bistro Filet with red wine jus, roasted root vegetables, duck fat fries
Dessert course
(Choose one)
Artisanal Cheese with marcona almonds
Crème Caramel with heavy cream, caramelized sugar
Aquarius at Dream Inn: 175 W Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, make reservations at (831) 460-5012
Please follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie.