The revolution will indeed not be telecast. It’s being broadcast—on local FM.
“Edible on the Air” made its debut appearance on KSQD Community Radio last week.
I’ll let KSQD hostess Christine Barrington—a gifted interlocutor, producer and all-around great hang—take it from there: “We all have to eat, and we all love to eat good food, so KSQD is thrilled to bring you our first foodie program featuring the brilliance and deep epicurean knowledge of our region.”
Spoiler alert: That means me (!!) doing a lot of the reporting, tasting and talking. It also means high-calorie discussion of great restaurants, great recipes, and the compelling people and places that make it all happen, across the Monterey Bay Area.
For our first monthly installment—episodes beam out the final Friday of every month via 90.7 FM (that’s the main signal in Santa Cruz), 89.7 FM (Fremont Peak/Salinas), and 89.5 FM (Carmel/Monterey)—we swooped through the best new restaurants of 2025, fun eateries ahead in 2026, the most important (and ongoing) story of the moment (farmworker justice) and welcomed in a call from local travel author and flavor bloodhound Stuart Thornton.
io tasting of a sublime local spirit in apple-based Corralitos Vodka.
The next “Edible on the Air” sizzles 5pm Feb. 27; visit ksqd.org to listen in on the first recording and for more savory programming from the hardworking not-for-profit heroes over at KSQD.
BREAK NEWS
One of Santa Cruz’s great gastronomic breakthroughs of 2025 appeared in this space two weeks ago: The Cliffside Coffee cart—hand-built and adorable—started pouring Verve Coffee Roaster’s best-selling Aster roast in espresso and latte preparations 9am-1pm Wednesday-Friday and 8am-1pm Saturday-Sunday late last summer. A shining key to his success: securing a permit to park in Pleasure Point Park next to legendary Pleasure Point and The Point Market (23040 E. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz). Only now he’s relocated to another dope surf spot, namely The Hook (511 41st Ave., Santa Cruz), while he awaits word on why the status of his park permit at Paradise Point is in flux, @cliffsidecoffee on Instagram.
GAME TIME
I can’t root for either the Seattle Seahawks or the New England Patriots on Sunday, so I’m pulling for epic food and drink. Hence I’m eyeing taking the Capitol Corridor train to an over-the-top affair called Players Tailgate, taking place at Mission College (3000 Mission College Blvd, Lot D, Santa Clara), a short run from Levi’s Stadium. From 11am–4pm it’s an all out tastebud blitz (had to do it) with a dozen plus chefs like Chris Cosentino, MasterChef champ Kelsey Murphy, Chopped judge Aarón Sanchez, Top Chef winner and James Beard semifinalist Tristen Epps, three-time James Beard Shota Nakajima and more. It’s not cheap, but it will be rich, search “Players Tailgate Santa Clara” for more.
SCREAM TEAM
The Penny Ice Creamery is all amped for National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day on Saturday, Feb. 7, and opening all of our stores early at 9am and serving up breakfast sundaes, Goldilocks porridge with scoops of ice cream, strips of bacon, pastries, and good old fashioned ice cream, and also whipping up Valentine’s Day heart-shaped ice cream pies Feb. 10-14, thepennyicecreamery.com…Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust’s next Get Hooked! dinner series installment is on the horizontal it happens at Hook + Line (105 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz) on Feb. 24, to benefit the Community Seafood Program, eathookandline.com, montereybayfisheriestrust.org…Simple hack from a EnoBytes.com’s “The Simple Ritual That Saves a [Wine] Bottle”: re-cork immediately; store upright; refrigerate everything (even reds); keep it away from light and heat”…Alistair Cooke, dial us out: “I prefer radio to TV because the pictures are better.”
