Downtown Lowdown

Two pairs of eateries with varying backstories, timelines, business models and cuisines are materializing downtown, in two acts.

The first act has already leapt to life and gets worldly.

Luna’s Borikén Bites and India Gourmet—both known local favorites, as pop-up purveyors and farmers market vendors, respectively—are now dishing at Abbott Square Market (725 Front St., Santa Cruz).

Luna’s (lunasborikenbites.com) assembles a festive palette of Puerto Rican flavors for your palate, like slow-roasted pork shoulder sandwiches (or pernil), rotisserie chicken (pollo asado), plantain “lasagna” (piñon), various plantain-based classics (tostones, mofongo) and more.

India Gourmet (indiankitchenking.com) does curry plates, samosas, and wraps naan around—and fills bowls with—best-selling chicken tika masala, lamb vindaloo and the tasty spinach saag-garbanzo bean combo wrap I tried (make sure to get a side of mint chutney).

Act two unfolds over in the former Alderwood Pacific (1108 Pacific Ave.), and leans more Americana microchain, as two greater S.F. Bay Area franchises look to break into the best Bay Area.

I’ve covered the arrival of party brunch favorite The Breakfast Club at Midtown (bcmidtown.com). Though the Alderwood space was looking good last I checked, Breakfast-Club-not-at-Midtown still seems a ways from opening.

The surprise there is that Campus Burgers has slapped up its own “Coming Soon” signage next door, with the subtitle “Home of the $1.99 Smashburger.”

The menu has five items besides that: cheeseburger ($2.99), double burger ($3.99), double cheeseburger ($4.99), fries ($5.99), soda ($2.99).

The bonus motto there: “Simple. Affordable. Delicious. Burgers and Fries. That’s it. You are going to love it.” campusburgers.com

Net gain

California’s first commercial salmon season in three years commenced on May 1 and the fishermen I spoke with report—unsurprisingly—that the early catch was sparse, but being back on the water was glorius. The season-long harvest limits are tiny compared to historic levels (100,000 versus multiples more), but that’s by design. The cap helps a suffering fishery recover on behalf of the fish (facing low—and warm—river flows, ocean temps and habitat loss) and hopefully a small boat fishing community on life support (thanks to lost seasons and high costs). Part of the joy emerged from a dock sale in Monterey where Joe Lucido sold whole salmon, and then cleaned and filleted them, for 32 lucky locals. For more on Santa Cruz dock sales, track Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust on Instagram (@mbfishtrust).

Slice and dice

Bay Area Pizza Week may have ended May 3 but standout spots keep proliferating all around Surf City (like two recent debuts spotlighted here, Sleight of Hand in The Cruz Room and Pogonip Pizza on the Westside), so it’s always lowercase pizza week, which Woodstock Pizza (710 Front St, Santa Cruz) honors with 11am-2pm Monday-Friday all-you-can-eat slices (usually with four choices) and unlimited sodas for less than $15, woodstockscruz.com…Be still my heart—Cabrillo Horticulture: Home Gardener Days Saturday Program sprouts 9:30-11:30am May 9, in Horticulture Room 5005, for 30 minutes of education followed by hands-on workshops in the department gardens, tools and gardening materials provided, with the stated goal “to provide the public a chance to experience the beauty of our campus and learn from our fabulous instructors” and topics like responsible, water-wise, sustainable and pollinator-friendly gardening, cabrillo.edu/events/volunteer-day-at-cabrillo-horticulture…Life hack: If you want to take water through TSA, you can (!), if it’s frozen…American writer/journalist/humorist Helen Rowland (1875-1950): “Love, like a chicken salad or restaurant hash, must be taken with blind faith or it loses its flavor.”