The daughter of organic garden guru Orin Martin and his printmaker wife Stephanie, Caroline Martin is offering a Flower Popup at Companion Bakeshop just in time for Mother’s Day.
Farmer-florist Martin of Wild Moon Flowers will be selling some of her exquisite bouquets featuring locally and organically grown flowers. Martin is a recent UCSC Farm & Garden apprentice program alumna, and has worked growing, arranging and selling (Saturday Farmers Market) flowers for several years now. “I have been working on local farms and for a local florist for the past few years,” Martin says, “but am now starting my own business growing and arranging flowers. Erin [Lampel, owner of Companion] is a fellow UCSC farm and garden alum and I knew she has been supportive of local, organic flowers—so I approached Erin with the idea for the pop-up.”
Martin says she will be offering two different sizes of bouquets, very likely priced between $15 and $30. The best news of all is the timing! Come by Companion this Saturday, May 12, or on Mother’s Day itself—Sunday, May 13, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. 2341 Mission St., Santa Cruz. wildmoonflowerssantacruz.com.
Summer Beer Barbecue
Make plans now for the May 23, 7-10 p.m. first installment of the Summer Supper Series at the Ingalls Street Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. The delicious concept involves a four-course dinner ($50) designed for pairing with four different Flanders-style beers made according to a day-long collaboration by Emily Thomas and Chad Brill of SCMB and Sean and Fran Fitzharris of Brewery Twenty Five. Celebrating the wildly popular brewery’s 13-year anniversary, Thomas and Brill are launching this outdoor, family-style serving event that will include a bottle of each guest’s favorite Flanders brew and a souvenir glass. The California barbecue (subject to change according to seasonal produce availability) includes a first course of grilled Rodoni baby artichokes and Flanders hot artichoke dip, followed by a second course Mediterranean salad with roasted plums and Garden Variety feta. The entree of Flanders brined Fogline chickens, roasted baby carrots and fennel leads to a finale of tart berry crumble with crème Anglaise. Throughout the summer, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing will host a beer-pairing event with local chefs and food artisans. All meals, served on selected Wednesdays, will be presented in the open-air beer garden. Check [email protected] for details and tickets.
Wines of the Week: Beauregard Vineyards
It’s always exciting when one of our local winemakers hits the trade news. Kudos to intrepid (he never sleeps) oenologist Ryan Beauregard, who blew away the editors of Wine Enthusiast with some new releases. “It took me 10 years to discover what terroir actually is, and it took me another 10 years to be able to effectively put that into a bottle,” says the winemaker, who says his “whole focus these days is on terroir-driven wines.”
I’m a big fan of light alcohol, unoaked Chardonnays, and Beauregard’s 2016 Bald Mountain Chardonnay rated a whopping 91 points. This beauty is part of an intriguing experiment—aging in concrete! (Specifically a concrete egg, or “oeuf en béton.”) What this does is release full minerality without the interference of oak flavors, and at a refreshing 12.5 percent alcohol. Maximum terroir shows itself in stone and shell flavor profiles, plus lemon zest and a hint of flowers. Look for it immediately—only 77 cases were produced. The perfect excuse to cruise on up to the tasting room in Bonny Doon for some in-depth tasting. Nice work, Ryan! beauregardvineyards.com.
