It’s Election Week. Hopefully you did your homework and pounded the ballot box.
I know the locals rallying with signs like “Voting Is Your Superpower” along Ocean Street on Monday would be stoked you did.
Here are some endorsements for things you can vote for going forward, dollar by well-earned dollar.
THE BIG SKY SMASH BURGER
Santa Cruz Burger Week is months off. But every week qualifies at The Hotel Bar (200 Locust St., second floor, Santa Cruz) thanks to Chef Kelly Scherfig.
He gives easygoing Big Sky vibes—which is on brand for a Montana transplant with Santa Cruz roots who started in restaurants at 14—but is exacting about the burger.
I could recite my sea poem about its crisp edges, spot-on housemade pickles and garlic aioli, and buttery blend of brisket-chuck and bacon—and even the angled technique with which he melts the two patties and two cheeses to create a better build—but Jeanne Howard came with the wisdom first.
In a past life, before she helped lead Good Times as publisher and started spearheading Santa Cruz Gives! (talk about endorsement worthy!), Howard was part of our food review crew across the bay at Monterey County Weekly.
“I know I’m not alone in my continual prowling about the county in search of the best burgers and the newest ones to try,” she testifies. “My ears prick when I hear a stranger say ‘burger.’ I ask everyone who I believe will provide insider knowledge of value.”
She calls Scherfig “a kitchen wizard,” and describes his creation as a resident of “the stratosphere where it now ranks with a very few other favorites.”
“That so much goes into this half-pound fatty is impressive enough,” Howard adds, “but its low cost of $17 including fries makes me hesitate to tell anyone about it, or I may have to compete with a crowd to get one.”
PS The Hotel is now open seven days a week, with an uncommon bonus to boot: The kitchen is open until 10pm.
GROOVY GROVES
Felton serves up two kinds of giants: The ancient redwood fairy ring reached by Roaring Camp Railroad’s epic steam train (5401 Graham Hill Road) and the towering flavors at Jessica Yarr’s Grove Cafe and Bakery (6249 Highway 9).
The hometown chef’s smoked beet Reuben, daily grilled cheeses, earthy espressos, vibrant salads (like the ++ California Goddess) and gooey chocolate-loaded oatmeal-molasses cookies (try to find a better one) turn a mountain outing into a full-fledged pilgrimage.
SEAWEED JUICE
The California Seaweed Festival came swimming with enlightening stimuli a weekend ago in Monterey. Give me all the seaweed tastings, underwater robotics, kelp jewelry, underwater photography and a recycled wearable-art.
One revelation among many was Oomee (pronounced “umi,” like the Japanese word for ocean), a habit-forming and life-affirming seaweed-derived drink by Japanese California transplant Alissa Miky, now available in cans.
Flavors like my favorite, matcha-passionfruit-yuzu, are built on agar-agar from red algae, used widely in Japan for weight loss, digestive health, bone health, brain health, glucose and cholesterol regulation, and as a source of manganese, magnesium, folate, and iron.
GLORIOUS GLASSES
When the Woodstock of Cycling rolled into the area for the 36th Annual Sea Otter Classic this spring, there was a predictable overwhelm of racing, aerial stunts, NA beer and dope MTB gear.
What wow’d me most: The new series of Tifosi Moab performance glasses. Their reps invited me to choose a frame, select a lens, and upload a prescription, for a reasonable $99 to start.
I promised no promotion, merely an honest evaluation.
Here it is: These light-as-air beauties adapt to every moment’s ambient light, and have me thinking all the adventure heads out there barreling down redwood flow trails might have a perfect candidate for a running mate.
