Bantam captures summer with lemon zest, plus local organic strawberries now ready to eat
There’s no doubt about it. Bantam is the hot Westside destination for those who like to sample the best in seasonally inflected cuisine: a robust, mixed-demographic of couples, students, families, inquiring visitors and retired academics.
Chef and owner Ben Sims has nurtured a chic, stripped-down dinner-house ambiance wrapped around a wood-burning pizza oven. But our mission last week was to quench our culinary curiosity without surrendering to the mouth-watering Bantam pizza list, which ranges from spot-on simplicity (the Margherita) to a dreamy prosciutto pie loaded with mozzarella, rocket and cream.
The trick to a memorable dinner at Bantam is no trick at all—start with the avocado toast. Put another way: don’t even think about exiting this sleek industrial space without ordering one of the finest meal starters on the planet.
We began, as we begin all of our dinners, with glasses of wine. For Angie, a tart Verdejo from Rey Santo 2013 ($9), and for me a supple Damilano Barbera d’Asti 2012 ($11) with well-organized tannins. Along with sparkling water to ward off the heat of the day, we started in on the house special appetizer: Fat slabs of sourdough, toasted in the pizza oven and then topped with more fat slabs of ripe avocado, an emerald green drizzle of cilantro pesto, sesame seeds and tiny coriander blossoms—the mother of cilantro ($6). I thought I would collapse into a blob of stupid happiness, it was so delicious. Lemon zest sparked every bite with the bold scent of summer.
The beat continued in the dining room that feels like a Westside open house on any evening you visit. A few couples seated at the wine bar, large tables with extended families, happy kids playing with their toys and their pizza, and many, like us, grinning like idiots over our plates.
A shared Caesar salad showcased voluptuous leaves of escarole and a dressing intense with anchovy, garlic, grana, and those tiny jewel-like breadcrumbs done so well by Bantam’s kitchen team ($10). More lemon zest peeked through the other ingredients. We practically licked the plate clean. Shameless.
Our entrees arrived swiftly, mine a bowl of pale green and yellow veggies—corn, summer squash and diamond-cut Romano beans. In the center sat a large cube of moist McFarland Springs rainbow trout and a generous spoonful of aioli ($20). The fish was perfection. The season in a bowl. Our other entree was the evening’s ragu Bolognese, a tangle of sauce-infused egg noodles laced with grana and parsley ($19). The dice of meats and the delicately rich sauce gave every bite importance. Dispensing with the carbo-glut of bread baskets, Bantam honors its main dishes. Smart.
Believe it or not, we managed to decide on a dessert to split. The words “lemon verbena” always catch my attention, and on the dessert menu they were attached to the word “semifreddo.” Warm blueberry crumble joined the inviting plate of luscious ice cream ($8). It’s an unbeatable warm-weather classic: juicy ripe blueberries and chilled cream perfumed with the fairytale fragrance of lemon verbena ($8). The celebrated noise level was well-behaved—Bantam stays on our short list of top Santa Cruz restaurants. The entire Westside population can’t be wrong. And even if they are, I’m not.
Strawberry Fields Forever
If you still haven’t wrapped your mouth around one of this season’s incomparable organic strawberries—I’m especially liking Swanton Berry Farms and Dirty Girl Produce—then you haven’t fulfilled your summer potential. Quick! The season’s almost over.
PHOTO: McFarland rainbow trout served over summer veggies at Bantam. CHIP SCHEUER
