It can be easy to take for granted how much has to happen for the Santa Cruz region to enjoy the glorious local produce it does.
One took place last weekend, on the north side of the Westside Farmers Market (9am-1pm Saturdays), with the latest of the Santa Cruz Farmers Markets pop-up breakfast series to benefit SCFM’s many outreach efforts, including Market Match food access and the Foodshed Project.
While chef Diego Felix and his Colectivo Felix team distributed delicious empanadas, gazpacho, summer salads and aji de gallina, guests toasted Equinox sparkling and tuned into commentary from area growers and market staffers alike.
The more you learn about FoodWhat?!—which trains youngsters on growing, cooking and distributing fresh, healthy food—the more there is to like. Next month, it celebrates 18 years with a chef-driven benefit celebration dinner at Cowell Ranch Hay Barn.
More on the Sept. 29 event and the organization can be found at foodwhat.org.
An additional dose of helpful context arrives with the Center for Farmworker Families’ Farmworker Reality Tours, taking place 3-7pm Aug. 18, Sept. 8 and Sept. 22, which helps unseen, crucial workers.
“On this immersive tour, you’ll have the chance to meet and engage in meaningful conversations with farmworkers, listen to their powerful testimonials, and experience their daily lives firsthand,” the event’s release says. “You’ll share their food, visit their living quarters, and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges they face.”
More at farmworkerfamily.org/events.
WELL PLAYED
Bargetto Winery (3535 N. Main St., Soquel) has a nice little blend going: Admirable longevity (it’s the oldest winery in the area); a fun setting (the big windows and patio over the Soquel Creek river bed make for great summer sipping); and superb wines (the reserve Pinot Noir ranks right up among my Santa Cruz Mountains favorites).
It also has an ongoing Thursday Night Music with Taquizas Gabriel parking and slanging authentic Baja fish tacos, quesabirria and more from its taco truck. The music plays weekly through Oct. 3. The next four acts are the Do’h Bros (Aug. 15), Bootleg (Aug. 22), Joint Chiefs (Aug. 29) and Alex Lucero (Sept. 5). bargetto.com
KEEP CRUZIN
It was weird not having David Kinch and Manresa repping at the Michelin California award announcements last week, but at least Exec Chef Justin Cogley and Aubergine (7th and Monte Verde, Carmel) earned a Monterey Bay Area restaurant two stars for the first time ever…
Santa Cruz Permacuture’s course on “Food Forests: Planning, Growing and Enjoying Year Round Abundance,” starting Aug. 24, is open for sign up, santacruzpermaculture.com…Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden’s Aug. 16 Superfoods and Spice Blends Workshop sold out fast—stay on top of cool classes via agroecology.ucsc.edu…
Back Nine Bar & Grill (555 Highway 17 at Santa Cruz) offers free corkage on Sundays and Mondays…An assist from late great coach John Wooden at the buzzer: “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
