Some reactions to the new Mad Yolks on Pacific Avenue have started to become consistent.
Thirty-four-year-old twins Henry and Peter Wong—the pair behind the project—have taken note.
Number one might be gratitude.
“People have been telling me they’ve been waiting on a place like this in Santa Cruz,” Peter says.
Reaction two: wide eyes laid on the egg sandwiches, like the three best sellers.
Those would be the Shrooms (soft egg, sautéed mushrooms, fontina cheese and caramelized onions; the B.A.E. ([B[acon, [A]vocado, soft scrambled [E]gg, sharp cheddar, caramelized onion and Sriracha aioli); and the Mad Chick (crispy chicken, over-easy egg, pickled cabbage, baby arugula and garlic aioli).
Reaction three: Can I take some of these brioche buns home with me?
That last thought makes the Wongs smile (even as they’re too overworked to scale enough to do it) because they workshopped the brioche (and the menu) for a year with an assist from community-favorite Prolific Oven Bakery based out of Palo Alto.
“The brioche is a great vehicle for what we want to cook,” Peter says. “We make [them] fresh every day, no shortcuts.”
A counterpoint to the decadent sandwiches ($10-$13.50) appears in the clean-living teas ($5-$6).
Mad Yolks’ atypical fresh brews range from jasmine-lemonade green tea to grade-A Japanese matcha splashed with strawberry.
“Indulgent and healthy seems like a conflict,” Peter says. “But it’s also about the joy of a nice breakfast with a refreshment that picks you back up.”
Which gives downtown Santa Cruz a boost at the same time.
Mad Yolks, 1411 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Monday-Sunday, 8am-3pm. madyolks.com
PIZZA YES PLEASE
After a relatively quiet 2022 for local restaurant debuts locally (we do see you, Venus Spirits Beachside), 2023 promises a surge. Some of the first to arrive are also among the most anticipated. The Pizza Series pop-up from champion dough-spinning pizzaiolo Matt Driscoll has found a permanent home at 226 Mt. Hermon Road in Scotts Valley, with a soft opening coming at the end of January. Also coming soon: Buzzo Pizza, next to Beer Thirty Bottle Shop & Pour House in Soquel, dishing blistered wood-fired pies like the potato-bacon-egg-roasted onion pizza on white sauce.
BACK TO BEER THIRTY
The family of craft cerveza spots will have a busy new year. Beer Run in the long-dark Wienerschnitzel A-frame on Soquel Avenue represents a nice Santa Cruz stoke that might open any week now. At the Trout Farm Inn in Felton, they co-direct with owners Jessyka and Tachu Soto; the restaurant-bar is nearing completion. Meanwhile, the original bottle shop and pour house in Soquel is expanding too.
MORE ‘WOOD IN THE HOOD
A second Alderwood spot, Alderwood Pacific, could open on the street of the same name by the end of the month, doing bread in-house, along with burgers, sandwiches, salads, cocktails and a raw bar. “Definitely more mass appeal and casual,” Chef Jeffrey Wall says. “I just want it to be really yummy, everything from scratch.” Sibling spot Flashbird also has two more outposts of its own coming to Scotts Valley and Pleasure Point in mid-February and late spring, respectively. #stayhungrymyfriends
Very nice, EXACTLY the same including Name and menu from the person they stole this from in Dublin, Ireland! This is so blatant it’s absurd.