2011 Bay Area Michelin Guide published for San Francisco, the Peninsula, and the Wine Country

Posted on October 30, 2010 by admin

The 2011 Michelin Guide was released this week, much to the relief of many restaurants in the Bay Area – including San Francisco, Santa Clara, Berkeley, the Wine Country, and Los Gatos – that had been holding their collective breath to see what their star status would be.

Michelin Guides began in Europe in the first part of the 20th century. The first US guide was published in 2005, for New York restaurants. The first San Francisco and Bay Area version was published in 2006. Restaurants that make it to the guide either get one star (“A very good restaurant in its category”), two stars (“Excellent cuisine, worth a detour”) or three stars (“Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey”).

Michelin director Jean-Luc Naret commented on this year’s guide: “The Bay Area is a particularly fertile farming region. There is so much to choose from – we spend a full year studying this region to produce our guide and the effort is immensely satisfying. This is quite simply one of the finest culinary regions in the world.”

One of the biggest pieces of news? St. Helena’s The Restaurant at Meadowood, a first-timer to the guide, received three stars. Now The French Laundry and Meadowood are the only Bay Area three-star venues. Also, Berkeley’s Chez Panisse has lost its star (!) while San Francisco’s Spruce gained a star, appearing in the guide for the first time (I had the opportunity to taste Chef Sullivan’s cuisine at the 2009 SF Chefs Food Wine festival and it was definitely delicious).  Our local South Bay/Peninsula region made it with several newcomers. Besides Spruce, the 11 additions to the one-star section are, in alphabetical order: Alexander’s Steakhouse (Cupertino), Applewood (Guerneville), Baumé (Palo Alto), Campton Place (San Francisco), Dio Deka (Los Gatos), Frances (SF), Madera (Menlo Park), Mirepoix (Windsor), Saison (SF), and Wakuriya (San Mateo). Other one-star restaurants include Saratoga’s Plumed Horse and Oakland’s Commis which is run by James Syhabout, former Chef de Cuisine of Los Gatos restaurant Manresa.

Our local Manresa still has two stars, along with Coi (SF) and Cyrus (Healdsburg). The heads of Manresa and Coi, extraordinary chefs David Kinch and Daniel Patterson, actually joined forces in February at Coi for a special benefit dinner for Bocuse d’Or.  Read my interview with David Kinch. Chef Kinch, as you may recall, won a James Beard Award earlier this year.

Here is the full list of Michelin star-winners:

Three stars:

French Laundry (The)

Restaurant at Meadowood (The) (New)

Two stars:

Coi

Cyrus

Manresa

One star:

Acquerello

Alexander’s Steakhouse (New)

Ame

Applewood (New)

Auberge de Soleil

Aziza

Baumé (New)

Bouchon

Boulevard

Campton Place (New)

Chez TJ

Commis

Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton (The)

Dio Deka (New)

étoile

Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant

Fleur de Lys

Frances (New)

Gary Danko

La Folie

La Toque

Luce

Madera (New)

Madrona Manor

Masa’s

Mirepoix (New)

Murray Circle

One Market

Plumed Horse

Quince

Redd

Saison (New)

Santé

Solbar

Spruce (New)

Terra

Ubuntu

Village Pub (The)

Wakuriya (New)

If you’re on Twitter please follow me @santacruzfoodie.

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Indian Cookbook Author Madhur Jaffrey: Bookshop Santa Cruz appearance and recipe review

Posted on October 25, 2010 by admin

Indian cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey appears at Bookshop Santa Cruz on October 25 to promote her newest cookbook, and I can personally vouch for two of the recipes.

“At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka” is a terrific cookbook with 190 recipes including Red Lentil Curry Soup and Salmon in a Bengali Mustard Sauce. Last night I used it to make two dishes, Stir-Fried Chettinad Chicken (a spicy entrée that requires 30-minute marinating but only 7 minutes of cooking) and Swiss Chard with Ginger and Garlic (I used chard purchased from the Aptos Farmers Market the day before, and the freshness really made the flavors come alive). They were simple recipes that produced delectable results, and the recipe ingredients are all easy to find. The ones that weren’t as common, urad dal and curry leaves, included an author’s note that yellow split peas and basil leaves could be substituted – which is what I used. I ate the two savory dishes with Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains because that’s my go-to healthy, easy couscous-orzo-quinoa side and goes well with a lot of entrees, but the chicken and chard would be well complemented by basmati or brown rice, with perhaps a little Greek-style yogurt to provide some cooling.

The author is known for making Indian cuisine very accessible to the novice home chef, and she once again delivers with this book. As Jaffrey writes in the introduction, the recipes “…are simple to being with…very often all you require is a little oil, a few whole spices, and the vegetable or fish. Saute and it is done.” Also, Jaffrey uses “…a smaller palette of spices” which makes the recipes even easier while not sacrificing any flavor. She has said of this book: “Whether you are cooking Indian Food for the first time or just looking for new ideas, this is the book that will show you how to do it with ease.” Jaffrey has written several cookbooks; six have won the James Beard Award – including her first book, “An Invitation to Indian Cooking” (1973), and “Madhur Jaffrey’s Taste of the Far East” (1993), voted Best International Cookbook and Book of the Year. She is a legendary chef, not to mention an award-winning actress with a new film coming out in November (“Today’s Special”). Her memoir, “Climbing the Mango Trees,” was published in 2006. Learn more about Jaffrey at her web site.

The Bookshop Santa Cruz event, at 7:30pm, includes samples of Jaffrey’s recipes prepared by store staff. I’ve gone to a few readings at Bookshop where staff members make food from author cookbooks, and they always do a terrific job. I recommend showing up quite early for this reading: Jaffrey is known for being a great storyteller and she has a huge following. The event is bound to be extremely crowded.

The Details

Monday, October 25, 2010

7:30pm

Cookbook Author Madhur Jaffrey

Bookshop Santa Cruz

1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz

831-423-0900

Please follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie.

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Half price tickets for San Francisco cupcake wars and wine tasting event

Posted on September 19, 2010 by admin

Cake Moda Cupcake Wars: a tasty battle

Half price tickets are available for a unique cupcake war and wine tasting event in San Francisco on Saturday, September 25.

The event is “Cake Moda Cupcake Wars at Crush Barrel Wine Market 4.” Top Bay Area cupcake bakers compete in three elimination challenges. There will be two competition categories: Professional and Amateur. Five judges will review the cupcakes, and audience members like you can vote for their favorite.

The Crush Barrel Wine Market has occurred before, but never with this fun “cupcake war” feature. The market bills itself as a premier wine-tasting and wine-purchasing event with more than 20 vintners, local food vendors (at an additional cost), and a grape-stomping contest to benefit the Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Cupcakes will be judged on:

  • Best Overall Cupcake Design
  • Most Creative Use of ingredients
  • Most Likely to Be Eaten
  • Best Use of Theme
  • Best Overall Taste

The event is Saturday September 25 from 4-9pm at Fort Mason Center’s indoor Herbst Pavilion. Your ticket includes the Cupcake Wars competition, unlimited wine tasting, Smart Energy Cocktail shots, gourmet coffee sampling, live music by funk band Pocket Change, and a $10 credit towards a wine purchase. Through Goldstar, you can get half-price tickets – only $22 instead of $45 for general admission, and $5 instead of $10 for “designated driver” passes (doesn’t include wine credit or wine tasting). Buy tickets through Goldstar. If these half-price tickets run out before you get one, buy tickets through event site which includes the opportunity to buy a limited-hours ticket (7-9pm) for $25. Also see this site for more details on the event itself.

Competing professional bakeries include Baker Girl, Kingdom Cake, From Scratch SF, Mission Minis, James and the Giant Cupcake, and That Takes the Cake.

Participating wineries include Damian Rae Winery, Tudoe Wines, Tallulah Wines, Inspiration Vineyards, Reynoso Family Vineyards, Long Gamma Cellars, Berryessa Gap Vineyards, Rielle Wines, Simple Math Cellars, Bedarra Vineyards,R&B Cellars, Kendric Vineyards, Albertina Wine Cellars, Aveleda Wines,Stein Wines, Domenico Wines, Jazz Cellars, De Novo Wines, Bliss, and Rosa D’Oro Vineyards.

The Details

Cupcake Wars & Wine Tasting

Sat Sept 25, 4-9pm, Fort Mason Center – Herbst Pavilion

Fort Mason Center – Herbst Pavilion

Marina Blvd. and Buchanan Street, 99 Marina Blvd

San Francisco CA 94123

Please follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie

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Watsonville reading and reception celebrate oral history series on California’s organic farming

Posted on September 10, 2010 by admin

Juan Pablo "JP" Perez, founder of J & P Organics, and his dad

A Watsonville reading and reception on Sunday September 12 celebrate the 2010 publication of a fabulous oral history series on California’s organic farming. The event will be from 2-4pm at the Watsonville Public Library, which is opening on Sunday just for this occasion.

I urge anyone interested in the history of California Central Coast’s organic farming and sustainable agriculture to attend this free event – I know I’ll be there! Attendees will also get to enjoy local treats.

The oral history series, entitled “Cultivating a Movement,” includes interviews with 58 large- and small-scale farmers, activists, farmers’ market managers, and educators. Read this May article for many more details on the series.

Sunday’s reading will highlight oral histories from the Pajaro Valley and Northern Monterey County. These interviews include: Dick Peixoto from Lakeside Organics, Dale Coke from Coke Farm, Andy Griffin from Mariquita Farm, Ken Kimes and Sandra Ward from New Natives Farm (read about Ken’s recent accident and how the local community has rallied to help with staggering medical bills – and how you can help), JP Perez of J & P Organics, and Nancy Gammons of Four Sisters Farm and the Watsonville Farmers’ Market.

Some of the farmers will be in attendance at the reading, and there will be a question and answer period. Also of note: The Watsonville Library has an excellent, museum-quality exhibit about the agricultural history of the Pajaro Valley plus a special local history room.

Both the Watsonville Public Library and the Agricultural History Project will soon house the complete set of ten printed volumes of interview transcripts and narrator photographs. If you’d like to view transcripts and photos online, they are available – along with audio clips and other resources – at this UC Santa Cruz Library web site.

Cultivating a Movement was created and produced by the UCSC Library’s Regional History Project including director Irene Reti.

Please follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie.

The Details

Reading & Reception for Cultivating A Movement

Sun Sept 12, 2010, 2-4pm

Free

Watsonville Public Library

275 Main St., Suite 100, Watsonville 95076

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Life Lab’s annual benefit at UCSC Farm with chef-prepared organic farm food, local wine and beer

Posted on August 31, 2010 by admin

Several scenes from Life Lab

You can support a great cause and have great organic chef-prepared farm food, local wine, and beer: attend Life Lab’s annual benefit at the UCSC Farm on Saturday, September 11. The 4-7pm event, A Taste of the Harvest, is located at the Farm’s Garden Classroom.

Chef Jon Dickinson of Café Cruz is preparing a seasonal tasting, and it will be served on tables in the garden overlooking the Monterey Bay. A Taste of the Harvest features produce from local farms including Life Lab’s “Food, What?!” Youth Farm and Pinnacle Organic. Also included are local wine and beer selections. Plus, there is a silent auction with products and services from local businesses. Tickets cost $50 per person, but if you buy your tickets early you can save: Early Bird Special is 4 tickets for the price of 3 – that’s $150 for four, so only $37.50 each – if you purchase tickets by September 3.

For more information or to donate an auction item, please view this site or contact Life Lab at (831) 459-4074 or development@lifelab.org.

Life Lab Science Program is a nonprofit organization that has been working in the field of science and environmental education since 1979. The organization helps schools develop gardens where children can create “living laboratories” for the study of the natural world. Since developing the first Life Lab school garden in Santa Cruz in 1978, Life Lab has worked with over 1,400 schools across the US training tens of thousands of educators. In 2001, Life Lab completed The Garden Classroom, a two-acre model school garden learning center (and the site of the September 11 benefit) located at the UCSC Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS). The Garden Classroom is used to train teachers in science education and serves thousands of children through various field trips and events.

Live near the Westside and want to buy organic produce regularly?  Remember that you can buy organic produce and fresh flowers from the UCSC Farm & Garden Market Cart every Tuesday and Friday through October – click here for details (all proceeds benefit the CASFS Apprenticeship Program).

If you’re on Twitter please follow me @santacruzfoodie.

The Details

A Taste of the Harvest: Life Lab’s Annual Benefit

Sat Sept 11, 2010 4-7pm

Garden Classroom, UCSC Farm, Santa Cruz

Click here for directions

Tickets: $50 each or Early Bird Special 4-for-$150 until Sept 3

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Santa Cruz barbecue festival with free admission, music, guests including MasterChef Jake Gandolfo

Posted on August 28, 2010 by admin

This weekend in Santa Cruz, there is an outdoor barbecue festival with free admission, free music, and guests including MasterChef finalist Jake Gandolfo.

The 1st annual Backyard BBQ Festival takes place on Saturday, August 28 and Sunday August 29 from 11am-6pm in San Lorenzo Park. The festival is presented by Bobby’s Can Cookin’ Smoked Barbecue. Available at the event: beer and wine, arts and crafts, and plenty of barbecue – plus children’s games on Saturday. Bobby’s makes all kinds of meats, including chicken, tri-tip, and hot links. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz.

At Backyard BBQ, there will be ribs cook-off competitions in professional and individual categories. Contestants include Live Oak Smokers, Carmen’s Taqueria, and Jake Gandolfo, currently a finalist on Gordon Ramsay’s newest TV hit, MasterChef. During the latest MasterChef episode (aired Wednesday, August 25), local Santa Cruz chef Jake made it into the top 10 after winning the Cat Cora challenge: Iron Chef Cat Cora demonstrated how to cook a particular halibut dish, then 11 finalists replicated the entree without using a recipe. Jake’s version was deemed best by judges. Read more about Jake and MasterChef.

The Backyard BBQ festival promises lots of great music emceed by two KUSP DJs: Johnny Simmons and Brett Taylor. Saturday’s line-up includes Wild Rovers from 1:30-2:30pm and the Mike Renwick Horn Band from 3-4pm. Sunday’s music is a concert put on by Kuumbwa for its 35th Anniversary. It includes performances by Real Time, a band led by Kuumbwa’s artistic director Tim Jackson (Real Time performs “Latin- and groove-oriented material”), and Frequency Jones (“old-school funk”).

No smoking or dogs are allowed at this festival. Also, Backyard BBQ is a green, “zero waste” event.

Please follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie.

The Details

Backyard BBQ Festival

Sat Aug 28 & Sun Aug 29 11am-6pm

San Lorenzo Park, Santa Cruz

Free admission

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New Santa Cruz ice cream shop The Penny Ice Creamery from former Manresa pastry chef & UC Santa Cruz alum

Posted on August 25, 2010 by admin

Delectable, organic ice cream sundae at The Penny Ice Creamery in Santa Cruz

Former Manresa pastry chef Kendra Baker has opened a new downtown Santa Cruz ice cream shop at 913 Cedar Street, The Penny Ice Creamery. The doors opened yesterday, Tuesday, August 24, 2010, at noon. Warning: continued reading might result in stomach growling…

Baker, a UC Santa Cruz alum and California native, and co-owner Zachary Davis say that The Penny Ice Creamery is the only artisanal ice cream shop in Santa Cruz making ice cream and sorbet completely from scratch in-house. “Being licensed by the California Food and Agriculture Department to pasteurize gives us a tremendous amount of freedom to craft our ice cream from scratch,” says owner/chef Baker.  And with an open kitchen and production room, you can see it all for yourself!

There will be nine rotating flavors each day featuring local, seasonal, and organic ingredients including wild fruits, flowers and herbs – plus organic dairy, eggs, and sugar. Davis and Baker both became parents in the last six months. “When we choose to use all organic cream, cane sugar, and eggs in our ice cream, we’re thinking about what’s best for our children,” Davis says. Then laughing he adds, “We’re also thinking about what’s best for our taste buds!”

The current flavor list:

1. Tahitian vanilla

2. Dark chocolate sorbet

3. Fresh mint and cocoa nib

4. Coffee toffee

5. Blackberry corn, made with corn grown at Baker’s three-acre farm

6. Caramel

7. Bourbon bacon chocolate

8. Brown butter-spiced pecan with chili spice

9. Raspberry rose sorbet

I can’t wait to try all of these amazing-sounding flavors, especially in treats made with local ingredients. I didn’t make it there yesterday, but I know two people who did, and they enjoyed a refreshing mint-cucumber soda float with melon sorbet and a decadent sundae with caramel ice cream, strawberries, almonds, and puff profiteroles. Other notes of interest: The coffee toffee ice cream includes Santa Cruz’s own Verve Coffee (site of a recent Slow Food Santa Cruz event – read details). Verve will also be used in “affogatos” and other coffee-related items, and Verve coffee drinks will be available for purchase in the future at Penny. Affogato, which means “drowned” in Italian, is a dessert that often consists of vanilla gelato or ice cream topped with espresso.

Other local purveyors that Penny Creamery is using include Rebecca King at Garden Variety Cheese, Dirty Girl Farms, Tomatero Farms, Frog Hollow, Arthur’s Figs, and Route One Farms. Current and future rotating menu items include popsicles, bon bons, ice cream sandwiches, and toasted cinnamon meringues. All Penny Creamery paper products are 100% recycled and biocompostable, and the business is a member of Think Local First and Slow Food.

Baker’s first professional cooking gig was at Santa Cruz’s Gabriella Café, and she says “I’m excited to be back in Santa Cruz focusing on something I’m really passionate about.” Baker has top credentials including a degree from Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts in Rhode Island. As the opening pastry chef, she helped launch renowned San Francisco restaurant Bar Tartine, where she received acclaim from critics like esteemed San Francisco Chronicle writer Michael Bauer. She then worked with fellow Santa Cruzan David Kinch as executive pastry chef at Kinch’s two-Michelin-starred Manresa in Los Gatos. Read my interview with David Kinch.  Baker has also worked with other world-famous chefs like Rene Redzepi of Copenhagen’s Noma (a distinction shared by another Manresa alum now at the helm of his own kitchen in Santa Cruz, Cellar Door chef Charlie Parker). Unfamiliar with Redzepi? He’s a giant in the international food world; he’s visiting San Francisco’s Omnivore Books in October and the coinciding event – moved from the bookstore to a larger location due to demand – is already sold out. Noma was named the world’s best restaurant earlier this year.

Curious about the ice cream shop’s name? The owners were inspired by a story that in 1847 in London, Carlo Gatti was the first person to sell “penny ice” on the streets, making ice cream available to the everyday person whereas it was previously a luxury. Gatti did not use any preservatives or artificial flavors, a tradition that Penny Ice Creamery continues – along with presenting “luxurious” desserts to everyone. I’ll see you at Penny! If you’re on Twitter, please follow me @santacruzfoodie.

The Details:

The Penny Ice Creamery

913 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz 95060

(831) 204-2523

Hours: Tues-Wed and Sun 12-9pm, Thu-Sat 12-11pm

http://www.thepennyicecreamery.com

Credit cards accepted: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

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Downtown Santa Cruz Tuesday Food and Wine Specials include Pacific Thai, Vinocruz, Hula’s

Posted on August 24, 2010 by admin

Restaurant Hula's in Downtown Santa Cruz

The Downtown Association of Santa Cruz has been coordinating a “Tuesday specials” promotion for some time now with many restaurants and food and wine vendors participating.

Selected Tuesday specials each week:

Pacific Thai offers $1 off Thai teas and $1-2 off entrees that are “Thai-titled” (dine in only). If you haven’t tried this restaurant, I highly recommend it – Pacific Thai offers friendly service plus fresh, delicious food including first-rate Tom Kah (Coconut Milk) soup available with your choice of tofu, chicken, prawns, or mixed seafood. Note: the soup doesn’t have “Thai” in its title so it’s not discounted on Tuesdays, but it’s well worth the investment (and reasonably priced). Another bonus of this restaurant:  you can see beautiful fruit carvings by employee Petcharee Tamawong; read about her carvings.

Location: 1319 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, (831) 420-1700

If you’re a wine lover, you’re in luck: On Tuesdays, the popular, well-stocked wine shop and wine bar Vinocruz offers two wines for $5 per glass from 4-6:30pm. Since 2005, Vinocruz has showcased wine from the Santa Cruz Mountains. It offers more than 200 wines from 70 local wineries. Daily tasting flights are available and the selections change weekly. Vinocruz is also right next to the Museum of Art and History www.santacruzmah.org., which offers 2-for-1 admission on Tuesdays.

Location: Vinocruz —Abbott Square off of Cooper Street between Pacific and Front, (831) 426-VINO (8466)

Museum of Art and History—705 Front Street, (831) 429-1964

In a tropical mood? Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room has two Tuesday specials: kids eat free all night long, and adults can purchase $3 Longboard beers. I have enjoyed Hula’s several times; the food is flavorful, and hearty and refreshing at the same time.

Location: 221 Cathcart Street, (831) 426-4852 (HULA)

For those with a sweet tooth, the family-owned Pacific Cookie Company offers $1 off every 1/2 dozen cookies purchased after 5pm.

Location: 1203 Pacific Avenue, (831) 429-6905

See full list of Downtown Santa Cruz Tuesday specials – find discounts on other food and drinks plus books, toys, and more.

Please follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie.

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Santa Cruz chef is finalist on hit TV series MasterChef, created by Gordon Ramsay of Hell’s Kitchen

Posted on August 14, 2010 by admin

Chef Jake Gandolfo, a Santa Cruz native, is one of the top 14 finalists on Gordon Ramsay’s hit TV series MasterChef.

Some background on the show: Gordon Ramsay, renowned for Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares among other popular series, has already produced several MasterChef competitions in countries including England and Australia. The show’s premise is to find the most talented amateur or home chef (not a professional). But he has never brought MasterChef to the US – until now. And with the recent popularity of the new US TV show, MasterChef is expanding to Belgium, India, Iceland, Israel, Ukraine and the Netherlands. The winner of America’s MasterChef competition will receive $250,000 and publication of a MasterChef cookbook.

After thousands auditioned for MasterChef, the top 100 made it to the actual show, which had its TV debut in late July. During the first two episodes, in Week 1 and Week 2, the top 100 cooked their signature dishes for three judges: show creator Gordon Ramsay plus restaurateurs Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich. The judges narrowed the field from 100 to 30 eager chefs. During Week 3, two challenges winnowed the finalists to only 14. The first challenge tested onion-chopping skills, when 6 of the 30 were eliminated. The second challenge tested cooking skills through an egg contest – the remaining 24 had to create an egg dish in which one, single egg was the “star” or “hero” while other ingredients complemented the egg. Ten contestants were eliminated, but Santa Cruz chef Jake Gandolfo and 13 others survived and will go on to Week 4.

Gandolfo is an endearing individual, and a creative cook. When you first see him you don’t necessarily think “fine gourmet.” He appears onscreen as a fairly large man with tattoos and a cowboy hat, and you might think “construction worker,” which is what he does for a living. He calls himself a “closet cook” because he admits that when people look at him they probably envision a guy who rides Harleys (which he does) and not a guy who is a dedicated chef. But as he tells the camera, he’s “super passionate” about his cooking and wants to grow his craft as much as possible.

Gandolfo’s physical frame is similar to celebrity chef/judge Graham Elliot (who at 27 was the youngest chef to ever be awarded four Michelin stars). In fact, when Jake walked in to the room for his first competition, Elliot joked “I thought it was me coming through that door.”

The signature dish that Gandolfo created was “Eclectic Surf And Turf” which included a successful grilled asparagus bundle tied with a grilled scallion that judge Elliot praised. Unfortunately, it also featured Italian spiedini (to showcase his own Italian heritage, Gandolfo stated) and scallops with gremolata that judge Ramsay was not impressed with. So it was up to the third judge, Bastianich – also of Italian heritage himself – to decide whether Gandolfo would make it to the next stage. Although he originally said that Gandolfo’s dish was “almost insulting” to Italian food, Elliot promised Bastianich that he would make Gandolfo better. He actually personally vouched for him, which was quite impressive. And on Week 3, Gandolfo passed the onion challenge, and followed that by creating Rustic Bacon and Eggs for the egg challenge and earning his place in the next round. The dish included smashed, infused red potatoes with a poached egg stacked on top, and looked delicious; I definitely wanted to reach through my TV screen with a fork. Elliot commented that the egg was “…poached perfectly, something very hard to do.”

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching home cooks like Gandolfo get a chance to make it big on MasterChef, and I look forward to cheering on our local favorite in the weeks to come. I hope that now that we’re moving to Week 4, the producers let the remaining 14 contestants really practice and grow, and only eliminate one chef per week. I understand the need to eliminate a bunch in the first couple weeks and weed out the not-as-talented (or perhaps talented ones that just had a bad day), but let’s now see some great contests with lots of chances for these amateurs!

Email me at tara@santacruzfoodie.com and please follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie.

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Santa Cruz Restaurant Opening: burger features lots of sandwiches plus pizza, 100 beers, and more

Posted on August 11, 2010 by admin

The Santa Cruz restaurant scene is constantly changing, with new places opening, others closing, and chefs coming or going all over town-so you may have missed the opening of a popular new spot: burger.

The restaurant “burger” (yes, that’s lower case with a “b”) first opened in May with a limited menu, and it’s been increasing its offerings ever since, with more expansion plans in the works.

A large variety of burgers are available, and each comes with french fries – your choice of plain or sweet potato (I’ve enjoyed the sweet potato ones twice in the last month – yum!). You can get beef or vegetarian patties with your burgers. The beef is organic, hormone-free, and grass-fed; it’s from Humboldt Grassfed Beef.

The restaurant’s jalapeno burger is called the Chuck Norris (because it ‘kicks’). For those who prefer dessert as part of their burger, there is the Luther-a burger with two glazed Ferrell’s donuts as the bun! burger has daily specials; so far these have included Kobe beef sliders served on Hawaiian sweet rolls, lobster roll sliders, and Sloppy Joes.

Other food items available include salads (such as The Wedge with iceberg, blue cheese and bacon) and pizza. Hand-tossed pizzas are currently offered on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Pizza ingredients are bought weekly from local farmers markets, so selections rotate.

burger takes pride in its beer selection, focusing on craft beer, local and regional breweries as well as a large Belgium selection and seasonal favorites. It currently offers 37 beers on tap as well as 75 different bottle choices. By Fall 2010 the restaurant plans to offer 50 tap beers. Other yummy beverages include milkshakes made with Marianne’s ice cream.

The restaurant has an unusual numbering system – when you order, instead of getting a number to put on your table so the server knows how to find you, you get a celebrity mug shot (like Axl Rose, O.J. Simpson, or Mel Gibson).

burger is located at the corner of Mission & Bay, in a building that has seen its share of short-term restaurant tenants (the last two were sushi bars whose names escape me, and seemed to escape many in Santa Cruz…). But burger seems destined to last: the crowds have been coming, enjoying, and returning.

Location: 1520 Mission St, Santa Cruz 95060, (831) 425-5300

Hours:  Mon-Sun 11am-10pm

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