As an impressive swell pounds the shores of the Monterey Bay just before sunset, Enrico Zampieri is in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near the laboratory for Bent Dime Winery in Scotts Valley.
He sports baby blue Nikes, a watch with an orange face and a black Mizuono JPN zip-up with a vertical red stripe, as a chill descends on the land. It’s been a year since he teamed up with Les Wright, of 37th Parallel Wines, to create their “Lemoncello” product, a chardonnay-and-lemon-based drink.
“It tastes like real lemons, because we only use real lemons to make it,” says Zampieri, speaking less like a salesman and more like a true aficionado. “It tastes natural. It’s very smooth. It’s very enjoyable.”
Zampieri, 41, grew up in Padua, Italy, and studied political science in Bologna. In 2016, Zampieri took a sommelier course from the Associazione Italiana Sommelier. But his love of fermented grapes and music stretched back much further.
“I always liked wine. It’s a big part of the culture in Italy, especially in Padova,” he says, using the Italian name for Padua, a locale in the Veneto region.
He’s done many things over the years, from studying acupuncture to shuttle driving, but the one constant has been his attachment to the beverage landscape. The seeds of Lemoncello sprouted while he was working as a waiter at an Italian restaurant in midtown Santa Cruz.
“When I was working there, I had the idea to create a line of products for mixers, for alcoholic products to create cocktails for restaurants without a liquor license,” he says, referring to how the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has separate permits for distilled spirits versus for beer and wine sales. “But then I never did anything. I didn’t follow up on the idea.”
But he couldn’t shake the idea.
It was when he shifted to a job at Lago di Como, on East Cliff Drive, that the concept began to blossom.
“It came out pretty good,” he says, “—well, really good actually.”
He found the wine provided a rich flavor profile. “I realized it could have a bright future on the market,” he says. “And so, I proposed this idea to Les Wright.”
Wright, who’s been making wines here since 2009, just happened to be a Lago di Como customer. “I served him a few times in the restaurant,” Zampieri says. “Incidentally, he invited me to his place to taste some wine, not long before I decided to present the idea to him.”
And, when he returned to pitch him on the business idea, he had Wright do a blind tasting.
“We liked the results,” Zampieri says.
By January, production had begun.
Traditional limoncello is a liqueur with an ABV around 28-32%. Bent Dime’s wine-based product comes in at 23.5%.
“For the restaurant, it gives the opportunity to sell limoncello—which they couldn’t before,” Zampieri says, describing how he shifted into sales mode at that point. “For me it was a new job. I’ve never done that kind of job.”
He estimates he’d visit around 10-15 restaurants a week.
“We had a very positive response from the first day,” he says. “In July, I had over 50 restaurants—56 restaurants—that bought at least once from us.”
And now, one year on, what better way to mark the milestone than with a musical evening.
On March 15, at Woodhouse Brewery, Bent Dime will host a free “Disco Limone” party, from 3pm until close.
Zampieri has been arranging for DJs to play modern Italo disco, Afro-Caribbean funk and house music “inspired by the golden era of the ’70s and ’80s.”
The Disco Limone event, at 119 Madrone St., in Santa Cruz, will feature DJ Jimmy Jagua, live art by Kays & Polpok, a reptile show from Pet Shop Santa Cruz, Izzy’s Ice Cream Cart, DJ David (LaLoveItalo) and DJ Franky Scrumble.
“If you love American funk, you’re going to love Italian funk, Italian disco,” says Zampieri, adding, “It has been an incredible year of personal growth and challenges. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m just very grateful to be on this path and to have this opportunity.”
The world’s darkest material is Vantablack. This super-black coating absorbs 99.96% of visible light, creating a visual void. It has many practical applications, like improving the operation of telescopes, infrared cameras and solar panels. I propose we make Vantablack your symbol of power in the coming weeks. It will signify that an apparent void or absence in your life might actually be a fertile opportunity. An ostensible emptiness may be full of potential.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
Among their many sensational qualities, rivers have the power to create through demolition and revision. Over the centuries, they erode rock and earth, making canyons and valleys. Their slow and steady transformative energy can be an inspiration to you in the coming months, Taurus. You, too, will be able to accomplish wonders through the strength of your relentless persistence—and through your resolute insistence that some old approaches will need to be eliminated to make way for new dispensations.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
Centuries before European sailors ventured across the seas, Polynesians were making wide-ranging voyages around the South Pacific. Their navigations didn’t use compasses or sextants, but relied on analyzing ocean swells, star configurations, cloud formations, bird movements and wind patterns. I bring their genius to your attention, Gemini, because I believe you are gaining access to new ways to read and understand your environment. Subtleties that weren’t previously clear to you are becoming so. Your perceptual powers seem to be growing, and so is your sensitivity to clues from below the visible surface of things. Your intuition is synergizing with your logical mind.
CANCER June 21-July 22
The Maeslant Barrier is a gigantic, movable barricade designed to prevent the flooding of the Dutch port of Rotterdam. It’s deployed when storms generate surges that need to be repelled. I think we all need metaphorical versions of this protective fortification, with its balance of unstinting vigilance and timely flexibility. Do you have such psychic structures in place, Cancerian? Now would be a good time to ensure that you have them and they’re working properly. A key factor, as you mull over the prospect I’m suggesting, is knowing that you don’t need to keep all your defenses raised to the max at all times. Rather, you need to sense when it’s crucial to assert limits and boundaries—and when it’s safe and right to allow the flow of connection and opportunity.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
The authentic alchemists of medieval times were not foolishly hoping to transmute literal lead and other cheap metals into literal gold. In fact, their goal was to change the wounded, ignorant, unripe qualities of their psyches into beautiful, radiant aspects. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to do such magic. Life will provide you with help and inspiration as you try to brighten your shadows. We all need to do this challenging work, Leo! Now is one of your periodic chances to do it really well.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Cosmic rhythms are authorizing you to be extra demanding in the coming days—as long as you are not frivolous, rude or unreasonable. You have permission to ask for bigger and better privileges that you have previously felt were beyond your grasp. You should assume you have finally earned rights you had not fully earned before now. My advice is to be discerning about how you wield this extra power. Don’t waste it on trivial or petty matters. Use it to generate significant adjustments that will change your life for the better.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
In North America, starlings are an invasive species introduced from Europe in the 19th century. They are problematic, competing with native species for resources. They can damage crops and spread diseases that affect livestock. Yet starlings also create the breathtakingly beautiful marvel known as a murmuration. They make mesmerizing, ever-shifting patterns in the sky while moving as one cohesive unit. We all have starling-like phenomena in our lives—people, situations and experiences that arouse deeply paradoxical responses, that we both enjoy and disapprove of. According to my analysis, the coming weeks will be prime time to transform and evolve your relationships with these things. It’s unwise to sustain the status quo. I’m not necessarily advising you to banish them—simply to change your connection.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Buildings and walls in the old Incan city of Machu Picchu feature monumental stone blocks that fit together precisely. You can’t slip a piece of paper between them. Most are irregularly shaped and weigh many tons. Whoever constructed these prodigious structures benefited from massive amounts of ingenuity and patience. I invite you to summon some of the same blend of diligence and brilliance as you work on your growing masterpiece in the coming weeks and months. My prediction: What you create in 2025 will last a very long time.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Bioluminescence is light emitted from living creatures. They don’t reflect the light of the sun or moon, but produce it themselves. Fireflies do it, and so do glow-worms and certain fungi. If you go to Puerto Rico’s Mosquito Bay, you may also spy the glimmer of marine plankton known as dinoflagellates. The best time to see them show what they can do is on a cloudy night during a new moon, when the deep murk reveals their full power. I believe their glory is a good metaphor for you in the coming days. Your beauty will be most visible and your illumination most valuable when the darkness is at a peak.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
Capricorn-born Shah Jahan I was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 to 1658. During his reign, he commissioned the Taj Mahal, a magnificent garden and building complex to honor his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. This spectacular “jewel of Islamic art” is still a major tourist attraction. In the spirit of Shah Jahan’s adoration, I invite you to dream and scheme about expressing your devotion to what you love. What stirs your heart and nourishes your soul? Find tangible ways to celebrate and fortify your deepest passions.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Over 2,100 years ago, Greek scientists created an analog computer that could track astronomical movements and events decades in advance. Referred to now as the Antikythera mechanism, it was a unique, groundbreaking invention. Similar machines didn’t appear again until Europe in the 14th century. If it’s OK with you, I will compare you with the Antikythera mechanism. Why? You are often ahead of your time with your innovative approaches. People may regard you as complex, inscrutable or unusual, when in fact you are simply alert for and homing in on future developments. These qualities of yours will be especially needed in the coming weeks and months.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
No cars drove through London’s streets in 1868. That invention was still years away. But the roads were crammed with pedestrians and horses. To improve safety amidst the heavy traffic, a mechanical traffic light was installed—the first in the world. But it had a breakdown a month later, injured a police officer and was discontinued. Traffic lights didn’t become common for 50 years after that. I believe your imminent innovations will have better luck and good timing, Pisces. Unlike the premature traffic signal, your creations and improvements will have the right context to succeed. Don’t be shy about pushing your good ideas! They could revamp the daily routine.
Hard rock and heavy metal has gone through many phases. It has gone in and out of fashion, and endured the so-called “hair metal” era of the ’80s. But for true believers, the style has never lost its appeal. Launched in Oakland in 1974 and still going strong more than a half century later, Y&T carried the banner of hard rock and heavy metal. Lead guitarist and vocalist Dave Meniketti has been with Y&T since its start, and today he leads a lineup that has been together for nearly a decade. Just ahead of a tour that takes the band to Germany and Austria, Y&T comes to the Catalyst on March 8.
When Y&T first got together, Meniketti and his band mates already had a sense of the collective musical character upon which they wanted to build. The group quickly landed high-profile gigs opening for major acts like Queen. “All four of us had different musical backgrounds,” Meniketti says, “but we had a similar feeling of what we wanted to do, the kind of material we wanted to write.” He says that even then, Y&T’s style was varied: “very fast and heavy rock to mid-tempo to ballads, and everything in between.”
The band signed with London Records, but its executives didn’t seem to know what to do with a hard rock band like Y&T (then known as Yesterday & Today). As a result, the group’s first two albums weren’t promoted effectively; despite good reviews, they didn’t sell. London soon made the decision to get out of the rock business, leaving the band without a label.
But on the strength of Y&T’s heavy touring and growing fan base, the band soon landed at A&M Records. During an era when record labels allowed artists time to cultivate a following, the group continued to release well-regarded albums. Things truly took off with the success of 1984’s In Rock We Trust; the record reached a respectable #45 on the U.S. album chart, leading to touring spots in support of Rush and Dio.
Yet due in part to the success of MTV, rock tastes had changed. So as creatively successful as Y&T’s mid ’80s output was, compromises were made. The group included a studio track on its 1985 live album Open Fire; “Summertime Girls” was a Top 40 hit. But the sound might have confused fans of the band’s earlier sound: uncharacteristically, keyboards would be very prominent in the mix. “That was a ‘producer thing,’” Meniketti says. “I can guarantee you that the band wasn’t interested in putting keyboards [on our recordings].”
But Meniketti was (and remains) good-natured and philosophical about the decision. “For what it’s worth, our producer did a really good job; it worked out well.” Still, Meniketti emphasizes that when listeners hear “Summertime Girls” in the band’s set—“every freaking time we play a show for the last 40-plus years”—they’ll hear it the way the band originally played it: heavy guitars, bass, drums, vocals … but no keyboards.
Another ’80s trend was the widespread use of “song doctors.” Always in search of the next mega-hit, record companies foisted collaborative writers upon established acts. Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and many others were forced to co-write with pop songwriters. The same thing happened to Y&T.
Meniketti says that when A&M brought in an outside co-writer, the band was wary. “As far as we were concerned, we were an all-encompassing band; we could write good—and great—songs.” But the writer assigned to the band proved his worth, and won over the trust of Y&T. “It was weird at first, having this fifth guy,” Meniketti recalls. “But it was a good thing for us.”
Meniketti says that he learned a lot about songwriting thanks to that experience. One important thing he learned was how to write songs that made the best use of his voice. “On previous records, I was just a singer,” he says. “In Rock We Trust is when I started to become a really good singer.”
In those days, Y&T was swept up in the hair-metal movement as well. Meniketti says that from the beginning, he and his band mates had taken a casual approach to how they dressed onstage. “We would just buy our clothes locally and then just figure something out,” he says. “But then when MTV came along, the record company was onto us, saying, ‘Hey, we need to get you a stylist and wardrobe person.’” And, he admits, “even bigger hair came out of all that.” Meniketti looks back on that era as a time when everybody had to do it. “But we were still a band that really only cared about having [musical] chops and kicking ass live,” he says.
Along the way, the band has placed six of its singles on the charts, selling in excess of 4 million records. And in the years since their A&M era, Y&T got back to their core values: the glam hairdos, the flashy outfits and the co-writers have all faded away into the mists of time. What remains is what was there from the start: a hard-rocking foursome cranking out dazzling lead guitar fireworks and memorable songs in a powerful, no-frills heavy metal style.
Y&T’s last studio release of new material was 2010’s aptly named Facemelter. In acknowledgment of industry trends, these days the band focuses more on live shows than record releases. Meniketti says that he and his band mates know what their live audiences want. “No matter how many new records we might come up with, they’re still going to want to hear the classics,” he says. “There are only so many minutes in a set… and we have a lot of classics.”
‘All four of us had different musical backgrounds, but we had a similar feeling of what we wanted to do, the kind of material we wanted to write.’
Victoria Bañales was the first in her family to attend college, but like many young people she was unsure where her path would take her.
She changed her major several times before settling on a path. That was after she made a discovery about her life’s passion.
“The only assignment that made me happy was when teachers said, ‘go off and read a novel,’ or ‘go off and read poetry,’” she said. “That was when I was most alive. So I went with that.”
For the next two years, Bañales will serve as Watsonville’s new poet laureate, replacing Bob Gomez in the role.
In his outgoing speech at a ceremony at the Watsonville Pubic Library on Feb. 15, Gomez praised Bañales’s work and the value of poetry.
“A poet is just a conduit for feelings, for ideas, concepts, for principals and values,” Gomez said. “Poetry and song is the way of uniting people.”
He emphasized that poetry and song have been used throughout the ages to convey messages of power and urgency.
Also at the ceremony, two new Youth Poet Laureates were introduced, Rachel Huerta and Eva Sophia Martinez-Rodriguez, whom Bañales will mentor.
Over the next two years, Bañales will participate in and host public poetry reading events to advance the literary arts in Watsonville.
Bañales said she did not plan on applying, but said that many people in the community encouraged her, and Cabrillo College President Matt Wetstein sent a nomination letter to the committee.
Bañales, who holds a master’s degree from San Francisco State University and a joint master’s and Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz, teaches Chicanx/Latinx literature, fiction writing and English composition at Cabrillo College’s Watsonville campus, which she calls her “dream job.”
CHOSEN WORDS Watsonville Poet Laureate Victoria Bañales spoke Feb. 15 at the Watsonville Public Library. PHOTO: Tarmo Hannula
“You follow your dreams, you follow your passion and things work out in the long run, and I’m glad I did, because that’s what makes me happy.”
She also coordinates Cabrillo’s Puente program, a statewide program that helps “educationally underrepresented” students obtain four-year college educations. She also serves as the college’s faculty senate president.
“As poet laureate, my vision is to bring poetry to the people,” she said. “Although no one would deny that Santa Cruz County has a thriving poetry culture, the scene continues to be an insular ‘thing’ that ‘those people’ (in Santa Cruz) do.”
Bañales is a member of the Writers of Color–Santa Cruz County, Círculo de Poetas & Writers and founder and editor of Journal X, a social justice literary arts magazine based at Cabrillo’s Watsonville center.
She has a book of poetry waiting in the wings and is working on a novel called Candelaria, which is a blend of memoir, magic realism, and speculative fiction. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she lives in Watsonville.
County’s Poet Laureate
Santa Cruz County also has a new poet laureate, Nancy Miller Gomez, who took over her duties at the end of January and will serve through 2026.
Gomez is a distinguished poet and writer whose work explores themes of social justice, human connection and the transformative power of poetry. She is the author of Inconsolable Objects and Punishment, and her poetry and essays have been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies.
Gomez has also been actively engaged in community outreach, using poetry as a tool for education and empowerment. She has worked extensively in correctional facilities and co-founded the Poetry in the Jails program to bring poetry workshops to incarcerated women and men in Santa Cruz County.
“Poetry can bring connection to the community even for those who have little experience with poetry,” Gomez said. “If you take it out of the ivory towers and off the academic pedestals, it has the power to unify people and deliver hope, especially for those who have been marginalized. We need poetry now more than ever, and I will use this role to spread poetry throughout the county and into all the places where it is needed most.”
Gomez will appear at Bookshop Santa Cruz on April 14 to share poems and conversation with Farnaz Fatemi, her poet laureate predecessor. She encourages community members to share their ideas and sign up for her newsletter for updates and future poetry events at nancymillergomez.com.
The hamburger wasn’t invented in California, but one can argue that the modern, everyday burger has deep roots here, with the state being the birthplace of A&W, In-N-Out, Carl’s Jr. and Jack-in-the-Box, among other takeout pioneers.
But in Santa Cruz, it’s not the fast-food burger that reigns supreme. Here, chefs lavish love on the humble burger, elevating it with fresh produce, house-made condiments and culinary twists culled from around the globe.
And this month, the hamburger is front of mind for many local chefs, as they prepare to kick off the annual Santa Cruz Burger Week on Feb. 26. Participating restaurants include burger specialists as well as eateries that are better known for other epicurean achievements. But they all share some things in common: They use Burger Week to try out new recipes, attract new customers, and make their mark on a classic dish.
In talking with these chefs about the specials they’ve planned for Burger Week, they also shared their thoughts on what makes a great burger, how it should be prepared, and what creative adjustments can be made to the stereotypical burger combo.
Meat of the Matter
It may seem obvious that the quality of the patty is key. But how to ensure that? “We grind our meat fresh every day. We only grind one piece of meat at a time,” says Ben Krajl, executive chef at Back Nine Grill and Bar. “It really makes a difference.”
Erik Granath of Parish Publick House says lower-quality beef is “too fatty. It’s not the same. If you start with the basics—build it around a nice foundation of quality beef—you can almost not go wrong.”
Erick Gonzalez of The Point uses “100 percent Angus beef patty, I think it makes a big difference.” But just as important, he says, is getting the right temperature: “For me it’s a medium cooked burger. … It’s nice and pink in the middle with the right amount of juiciness.”
Ken Drew of Sevy’s says the cardinal burger sin is “overcooking it. … If you order a well-done burger, to me it’s just a waste. It should have a little bit of juice in it, even if it’s cooked all the way. It shouldn’t be dry like a sausage.”
For Josh Parmalee of Ideal Bar & Grill, there’s got to be flame. “I prefer a burger that has a decent amount of fat mixed into it, flame broiled, with a brioche bun, cheese, raw white onion and lettuce. The pickle is also key—it has to be a dill sphere.”
Tad Moore of Chunk’s Sandwiches cites another factor: melting point. “I’m a cheeseburger guy, so I think a good melt is important,” he asserts. “You need that melt to drip down the burger and tie it all together.”
Burgers at Back Nine
Bun and Done
Geoff Hargrave of Izakaya West End and the East End Gastropub argues that “it’s bread and meat. The bread, the density, the saltiness…it’s the first thing that hits your palate. If you have a stale piece of bread, it’s just not right.” He muses, “The eating experience is more defined by the bread.”
Charlie Watson of Zachary’s says, “What sets us apart is we do homemade bread and homemade buns. That’s what separates a Zachary’s burger from other places. It’s a sour white bun, not a strict sourdough. It’s really good. It can absorb all kinds of juiciness.”
“Sometimes you have overload of meat and not enough bun. Or the other way around,” says Henry Wong, co-owner of Mad Yolks. “Finding the right balance is oh, so important to me. The buns cannot be too fluffy; otherwise it will be too soaked. We really focus on the bun. We continuously improve on the bun—changing and testing and doing trials in our kitchen.”
Structural Integrity
Several chefs like their buns toasted. Chelsea of Makai says it helps avoid “that soggy bottom bun. It’s so unappealing and it sticks to your fingers.”
Exec Chef Jeff Westbrook, who has been at the Crow’s Nest for almost 30 years and oversees several other restaurants, says, “I like something you can actually eat. So if I’m eating it and it’s falling apart or the bun doesn’t hold up well to the burger—it starts disintegrating when you get halfway through—that really kind of bums me out.”
Beyond the meat and bun, the sky’s the limit on how one can gussy up the basic burger. For Belly Goat Burgers co-owner Greg Crema, fresh ingredients are key. “If you don’t get that, you’re not gonna get a good burger. So it’s fresh produce, fresh ingredients, house-made sauces, house-made aiolis, house-made toppings.”
Parish’s Granath adds, “With Watsonville, Salinas Valley, our produce is fantastic. It’s a great area for a great burger.”
Henry Wong of Mad Yolks concurs. “People prefer local ingredients. We do fast casual, but we pay a lot of attention to the ingredients. In Aptos, we have Glaum Egg Ranch. They’ve been very good to us and to the community. … Even during this time they try to fulfill our demand.”
Pour Choices
In our unofficial polls with chefs about the best beverage to pair with a classic burger, most fell into one of two camps: beer or cola. Erick Gonzalez, general manager of the Point Kitchen & Bar, says, “You can’t go wrong with a beer, especially since we have only local draft beer. We carry Humble Sea, Santa Cruz Mountain, Discretion, St. Adarius, Corralitos.”
Parish Publick House’s Granath also favors burgers and brews, even offering his pick for a nonalcoholic option: Best Day Brewing’s kölsch.
For Westbrook of the Crow’s Nest, “It depends on the burger. … If it’s something that has a little spice to it, I would go with an ice-cold beer. If it’s something on the chi-chi end, maybe a glass of wine.”
Whether it’s a cold beer or a cold cola, Tad of Chunk’s says, “I like a can or a bottle. You get the satisfaction of opening it up and you get that fizz and pop … there’s something celebratory about that.”
Izakaya’s Geoff Hargrave weighs in: “Coca-Cola, in a can. It has to be ice-cold in a can because it’s about the aggressiveness of the carbonation to cut through all that fat.”
Ken Drew of Sevy’s says, “I don’t like the plastic bottles. … I don’t like ice with my soda. And I’ll be honest with you. My favorite is RC. But you can’t really find it.”
Francisco Cernatis of Hula’s Island Grill favors Coca-Cola because “with all of the saltiness of a burger it’s good to pair it with something sweet.” And for those looking to imbibe booze, he recommends Hula’s mai tai. “It’s a rum-forward drink but it has a lot of pineapple juice.”
Greg Crema of Belly Goat Burgers says, “We serve a lot of craft gin and tonics at Abbott Square. People love to pair them with the burgers.”
And for teetotallers? Mad Yolks’ Henry Wong likes “refreshing tea.” And Ben Kralj of Back Nine says, “If I’m feeling crazy, maybe an Arnold Palmer. When you have something that’s really savory, the Arnold Palmer has a little bit of tannins from the ice tea and a little sweetness from the lemonade.”
Side Issues
Granath of Parish Publick House put it succinctly: “You can’t substitute burgers and fries. That’s insane.”
Marty Soliz of Heavenly Roadside Cafe also thinks it’s a big mistake to not order the fries. “Ours are made from scratch,” she says. “They’re blanched and then we fry them to order.” And so are the onion rings, she adds. “They’re really big. A couple times I’ve walked by a table and people will ask if they’re donuts.”
But for those looking to avoid fried foods, there are other suggestions for a match made in burger heaven.
Executive chef Westbrook says, “At the Crow’s Nest we’re offering house-made potato chips that we serve with chipotle ranch. So it’s something a little bit different. For Santa Cruz Diner we’re actually doing tater tots—a little bit of cajun spice.”
Mad Yolks’ Wong also suggests tater tots, or another of their signature sides: “potato balls—crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.”
Back Nine’s Krajl has an open mind on the subject: “You can do a side salad, a side Caesar salad, you could do applesauce, apples, onion rings, sweet potato fries.” Plus, he says, “our scalloped potatoes are really yummy, made from scratch every day. Those have some onion and some thyme and lots of cheese and cream in them.”
At Hula, Francisco Cernatis recommends “cole slaw or macaroni salad. We use a vegan mayo—we try to have items that everyone can eat.”
Greg Crema of Belly Goat Burgers says, “We’re starting to introduce a side of chili. That’s a classic pairing.” And for those who don’t opt for his restaurant’s “killer potato salad,” Charlie Watson of Zachary’s agrees that “a cup of chili could be good alongside a burger.”
And for those who want to up the comfort-food quotient with their burger meal, Josh Parmalee of Ideal Bar & Grill suggests macaroni and cheese.
Burgers at Izakaya West
Meeting Meatless Needs
Though there’s no official city ordinance, it somehow feels mandatory to offer some sort of veggie burger, and there is plenty of variety here too.
Erick from the Point likes to offer Beyond Meat patties on a pretzel bun. “It makes a big difference, adds a lot of different flavors.” At the Crow’s Nest, Jeff Westbrook mentions “a Southwestern-style veggie burger with black beans and corn and some carrots. It’s an oat-based burger.”
Portobello mushrooms are a go-to for meatless meals. Back Nine’s Krajl says, “We do have a veggie burger. No frills, just the black bean garden burger.” But he says it’s the marinated portobello mushroom sandwich that is the real winner. “You need to have something that’s going to be easy for the kitchen to produce while at the same time fitting your identity as a restaurant if you will. I don’t want to do something completely out of left field.”
Ken Drew of Sevy’s agrees. Even in an area open to vegetarian options, it can be tough to predict how many dishes will be ordered, so to avoid wasting food, he prepares vegetarian options from ingredients on hand.
Greg Crema is all in on mushroom options, which offer “the same texture as a beef patty so you’re getting that ingredient without having the beef. And you can put your cheeses on there and your vegetables and make it a nice burger.” He adds, “I also love a tofu burger.”
Says Chelsea Holmes, chef at both Makai and Riva, “I think the garnishes and the sauce you put on the [veggie] burger will definitely help elevate the flavor. We have a spice at Riva that we use for our short ribs.” Francisco Cernatis of Hula offers the Impossible burger and finds that it needs different cooking techniques. “We broil the regular patty—they’re kissed by the fire,” he explains. With the Impossible burger, “frying it in its own pan gives it the best texture.”
For a full 12 days, starting Feb. 26, Santa Cruz Burger Week will be tempting diners across Santa Cruz County, with special deals at more than 30 local restaurants at any of three price points: $12, $15 and $18. Below, here’s all we know by the Good Times print deadline about who’s serving what, and where. For more up-to-the-minute details, visit santacruzburgerweek.com.
The AJ’s Classic burger features a hand-pressed ground beef patty cooked to order with cheddar, Swiss or American cheese. Served with ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, onion, lettuce, tomato and pickles on a locally made Aldo’s bun—plus fries.
Burgers at Back Nine
Back Nine Grill & Bar
Inside the Inn at Pasatiempo, 555 Highway 17, Santa Cruz, 831-226-2350, backninegrill.com
For one of his Burger Week specials, executive chef Ben Kralj drew inspiration from his mother, who always boosted the flavor of the ground meat she served. “At the minimum we would put a French onion soup packet into it. So I just did a play on that,” he said. For one Burger Week special, “the meat is mixed with cheddar cheese, bacon bits and serrano chiles. So all that flavor is cooked inside. From there we have a chipotle ranch sauce; I’ll throw another piece of cheddar cheese on top. It’s a really, really good burger.” He adds, “We’re also gonna be offering our Outlaw Burger, which has a ciabatta bun, a whiskey glaze, two pieces of bacon, pepper jack cheese and an onion ring.”
For Burger Week, there will be a French dip burger with a black Angus beef patty, Swiss cheese and caramelized onions, which is topped by thinly sliced, deep-fried onions—like miniature onion rings, says co-owner Greg Crema. “We’re going to serve it with our horseradish aioli on a brioche bun, and then we’re going to have a little au jus on the side to dip it in.”
Bruno’s embraces Burger Week with three punny, fully loaded specials. The Popperazzi has a one-third-pound burger with melted cheddar, bacon, beer- battered jalapeños, crunchy onions and jalapeno cilantro creamy ranch, topped with lettuce, tomato and pickles. The Smash Brothers boasts two juicy four-ounce patties, smashed and topped with bacon, sautéed red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and Thousand Island dressing. And the Fig Lebowski (“a laid-back, flavor-packed burger that abides”) pairs its patty with Calabrese peppers, brie, grilled onions, fig preserves, bacon, tomato, pickles and arugula. All come with fries.
Tad Moore of Chunk’s says, “We’re going to run two different specials. One is just our normal cheeseburger and we’re going to be pairing it with fries for just $15, on sale from what is normally charged. And we are also doing a special burger that we’re calling the Dynamic Duo Burger because we’ve teamed up with Cheese Shop 831, that’s right next door to us, to use a neat cheese called taleggio DOP, a really soft Italian melting cheese, and it’s going to have a crispy bacon on top of it—and a special bacon aioli that we’ve made for this burger.”
Churchill and Beers will be serving an Angus beef patty with jack cheese and grilled jalapeños on a brioche bun. The second special is the Western Bacon Burger, with cheddar cheese, bacon and barbecue sauce, topped with onion rings. Both are accompanied by fries.
The first special is a Salmon BLT Burger, with salmon, bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado on a toasted francese bun with garlic aioli, served with house-made chips.
The second is the Pastrami Melt Burger: a ground beef patty with shaved pastrami, melted swiss and Thousand Island on a pretzel bun, served with house-made chips.
East End Gastropub
1501 41st Ave., Suite I, Capitola, 831-475-8010, eastendpub.com
The Soft Shell Crab Burger puts Maryland soft shell crab in the spotlight, with lettuce, tomato, onion and house tartar sauce on a Martin’s sesame seed bun. The East End Double Cheeseburger augments its patties with shredded iceberg, onion, house sauce, homemade pickles and American cheese. Add Old Bay fries to either for $2.
The Surfer’s Paradise Burger features a beef patty with padrone jam, crispy onions and sharp cheddar on Gilda’s toasted homemade bun. The Luau Burger is a ground beef patty with pineapple, teriyaki, ham, Swiss cheese and coleslaw on a toasted bun. Both are served with French fries.
Joining the rotation—which includes the John Wayne, Rico Suave and Roger Federer burgers—is Bella’s Cali Burger, named for co-owner Marty Soliz’s daughter: a half-pound choice Angus patty, avocado, applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, American cheese and secret sauce. The second special, Ruby’s Devilish Delight—named for a friend—gets its spice from grilled jalapeño, pepper jack cheese, cilantro and chipotle mayo. Finally, Soliz says, there’s the never-before-served Torta Burger, loaded with a half-pound choice Angus patty, shaved ham, hot dog, chorizo sausage, queso Oaxaca, pickled jalapeños and Tapatio mayo. All three come with either house-made fries or a salad.
This fish-forward eatery has its Marin Sun Farms burger on the regular menu—or call about Burger Week specials.
Burger at Churchill and Beers
Hula’s Island Grill
221 Cathcart St., Santa Cruz, 831-426-4852, hulastiki.com
Francisco Cernatis says, “We’re going to have a Banh Mi Burger, that’s what we’re calling it. We’re still using our grass-fed patty. It’s going to be on a ciabatta roll. The spread is going to be a Madagascar aioli. … Just enough spice to make the burger pop. It’s going to be topped off by our taco slaw: cabbage, lime juice, tomato, onion and cilantro. So it’s basically like a pico de gallo but we add cabbage. … The habanero has a little sweetness to it; we’re going for a little sweet and spicy. We’re just serving it with classic fries.”
This seaside spot is serving two specials. The 1994’s half-pound Angus patty is flavored with garlic, black pepper, Parmesan and Worcestershire, then topped with pepper jack cheese, Dijon mustard aioli, caramelized onion, and arugula, and served on a pretzel bun. JR’s Revenge’s charbroiled half-pound Angus beef sports bacon blend, chipotle pepper, smoked paprika, cheddar cheese, a crispy fried onion ring and chipotle aioli, served on a brioche bun. Both come with thick-cut French fries.
Izakaya West End
334 D Ingalls St., Santa Cruz, 831-471-8115, westendtap.com
Co-owner Geoff Hargrave shares the lowdown on the Izakaya Burger, which will incorporate two 100% Wagyu beef patties, teriyaki pork belly, American cheese, caramelized onion, a pickle and spicy pink mayo.
On the menu here for Burger Week only is the Beef Koubideh Burger: ground beef seasoned with cumin, jalapeño, cilantro, garlic powder, turmeric, coriander and mint, then topped with mint aioli, caramelized onions, gorgonzola cheese and arugula. Also available is the Lamb Burger: ground lamb seasoned with white onion and garlic, then topped with mint aioli, butternut leaf lettuce, red onion, tomato and Swiss cheese. Both come with roasted paprika potatoes and mixed greens.
On tap here are three specials, all half-pound burgers.. The Shroomin’ Swiss is dressed up with sautéed mushrooms, stout caramelized onions and arugula. The Island Burger goes tropical with grilled pineapple and teriyaki aioli with cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles. And the Barnyard Burger is augmented with bacon, cheddar cheese, BBQ pulled pork, coleslaw and onion straws.
Burgers at Izakaya West
Mad Yolks
1411 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-291-3686, madyolks.com
Mad Yolks co-owner Henry Wong says, “I wanted to do something a little bit more bold … double meat, cheese, thicker bacon with jalapeno cilantro aioli and we’re going to have a fried egg as well. It’s gonna be stacked. But the aioli gives it a freshness…a smoky, crispy bite. It’s all fitting pretty well. It’s heavy for us, but given that it’s Burger Week, we want to give people a little something different.”
Chef Chelsea Holmes says of her Burger Week special, “We’re calling it the Makai Miso Burger. It’s like a lightly seared rare miso-marinated ahi steak and we’re crusting that with sesame seeds and serving it on a brioche bun with mixed greens, tomato, miso mayo, avocado with a side of sweet potato fries. I’m really excited about that one. It’s so good.”
Guests of Mozaic can truly have it their way with three different patties—and each can be served with Beyond Beef patties as well. The Mozaic Burger features an Angus beef patty, charbroiled with caramelized onions. The Wild Salmon Burger has a grilled salmon patty served with honey Dijon sauce and caramelized onions. And the Lamb Burger is grilled and served with fresh mint aioli, tomato and onions. All burgers come with fries.
Obló
740 Front St., Suite 100, Santa Cruz, 831-600-7770, oblosc.com
Obló steps up to the plate with three distinctly different options. The Obló Burger sports a ribeye meat patty with crispy onions, brie cheese, sautéed mushrooms and truffle aioli. The Ribeye Burger patty is decorated with white cheddar cheese, dill pickles, caramelized onions, lettuce and sesame aioli. And vegans can chow down on the Portobello Burger, with its marinated portobello mushroom topped with avocado aioli, tofu, arugula, crispy onions and red bell peppers.
The Pulled Pork Burger comes with a beef patty topped with pulled pork, pineapple barbecue sauce and coleslaw on a francese bun. To gild the lily, it’s served with French fries.
Erik Granath of Parish Publick House says both restaurants will serve a Hawaiian-themed burger. “We do a half-pound patty on a Hawaiian bun with some jalapeño pineapple slaw and a little teriyaki soy. The other one will be called Raising Arizona…a smoky roast pepper jack cheese on a burger. It’s got a sriracha-y dip on the side and some chips on the side,” he said. Made in house, the chips are “almost too good.”
“Every year we like to switch it up,” Erick Gonzalez says. “We came up with a classic, but kind of out there. We’re going to call it the Overload, and it’s basically a bacon mac and cheese burger. It’s going to be a half-pound Angus beef patty with creamy house-made mac and cheese, crispy applewood smoked bacon on a brioche bun with french fries. We’ve been sampling it with the staff and they love it. It sounds like a lot, but it’s great. You get a lot of textures.”
The downtown Santa Cruz spot puts out island vibes with the Flying Pig, a concoction of grilled spam, kalua pork, island coleslaw, grilled pineapple, pickled jalapeños and spicy aioli sauce on a Hawaiian sweet roll bun. Served with fries.
Chef Chelsea Holmes has given her Burger Week special the whimsical name of Salmon Patty Cake. “I actually took our crab cake recipe and adjusted it so we use lightly poached salmon to make essentially a crabcake. We’re putting that one on a toasted ciabatta roll with arugula, tomato, sweet pickled onions and then Riva’s remoulade sauce. And diners can choose from fries or slaw for a side.”
The Monte Cristo Burger will combine a burger patty with ham and Swiss cheese on grilled French toast, accompanied by strawberry jelly and a side of tater tots.
The Big Kahuna Burger rules this week, stacked sky-high with Kalua-style pulled pork shoulder, grilled pineapple, fermented chili, garlic aioli and cilantro-ginger slaw.
Ken Drew says Sevy’s is all about burgers: The “regular generic burger” is “pretty good to begin with” and there’s a special every Wednesday. For Burger Week he’s bringing back one of those specials—the Mediterranean Burger—which incorporates the ingredients from Sevy’s meze platter—tzatziki, hummus. feta cheese, cucumbers, radishes, red peppers, onions—to make “kind of like a salad in a bun with a piece of meat. People loved it when they had it,” he says.
For the second burger this year, “just because we can,” Sevy’s will do a Barbecue Pulled Pork Burger. “Nothing crazy fancy about it,” Drew says. “Just a burger, pulled pork, gouda cheese, cole slaw and a side of fries. I think it’s going to sell very well.”
On the menu at Vinocruz is Bistro’s Best Burger, equipped with mushrooms, bacon, arugula, smoked Swiss cheese, tomato truffle oil and red pepper aioli. The Vino Burger is draped with bacon, gem lettuce, griddled onion and white cheddar deluxe sauce on a brioche bun.
Charlie Watson of Zachary’s says, “This year we’re doing a California Melt: one-third-pound beef patty on our grilled sourdough bread, with bacon, avocado, grilled red onions and pepperjack cheese, served with home fries, fresh fruit or potato salad.”
On Oscar night, Santa Cruzans have a rare chance to root for a homegrown talent, as Arianne Phillips is announced at the Academy Awards as a nominee for her costume design on A Complete Unknown.
The movie, starring Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning, portrays the momentous first years of Bob Dylan’s rise from aspiring folk singer to chart-topping icon at the forefront of a counterculture.
Phillips’ story is filled with kismet and coincidence—a career that seems as inevitable as it is unlikely—with Santa Cruz serving as a thrilling launch pad and a happy splash-down.
“I did not become a costume designer in the traditional way,” Phillips says. “Most costume designers start with studying theater design or pattern making at college, and that would lead to summer-stock or theater, eventually leading to film as a production assistant and working up the ladder. I did none of that. I started as a stylist who is essentially a hunter-gatherer curator of things.”
This Academy Awards ceremony marks Phillips’ fourth nomination. The first was in 2006, for Walk the Line—which was also helmed by A Complete Unknown director James Mangold. “He’s the top, one of my favorite directors to work with,” Phillips says, who also worked on Mangold’s Identity, 3:10 to Yuma and Knight and Day.
Her other nominations were for W.E. (2011), Madonna’s directorial debut, and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019).
On A Complete Unknown, Phillips’ responsibilities included everything from the small details of dressing for a bedroom scene to costuming the sea of fans at the legendary Newport Folk Festival.
“Costumes are so great because they’re part of the storytelling process, developing characters, world-building and creating context to underscore tone and feeling,” says Phillips. “We create a physical experience for the actors.”
In A Complete Unknown, Phillips shows who Bob Dylan was when he arrived in New York as a humble fan of Woody Guthrie, and how he transformed into an electric guitar-brandishing iconoclast.
Her creative process involved studying photos from the ’60s, famous and obscure, and delving into the archives of the Levi Strauss Co, enlisting the help of creative connections made on movies past, like the Mod Squad movie in 1999.
“Denim is an important part of Bob Dylan’s story because of what it represents in the ’60s,” Phillips says. “It became a signaller for the youth movement. If you look at the Summer of Love, you think of jeans and going barefoot.”
Another constant for Dylan, Phillips discovered, was that he always wore boots. “In the early days it was a work boot, and then cowboy boots and then eventually that very mod Chelsea boot,” she explains.
“I have a vast network of vintage dealers and collectors who I always reach out to, as well as vintage shops across the country, Etsy, eBay, and flea markets,” she says. She and her costume team also rented from film industry costume houses, as well as making special costumes for some of the background actors.
Last-minute wardrobe decisions sometimes involved suggestions from the stars, like Timothée Chalamet’s idea to hurriedly don a “trendy-hip” polka-dot shirt in a scene they were shooting in the Viking Hotel bedroom.
Another on-set costume choice was Monica Barbaro’s Joan Baez covering up with a very well-worn and frayed men’s T-shirt, which was culled from Phillips’ own closet.
New York City looms large in Phillips’ past. Her parents, Judy and Dan, were never ones to gather moss—not even in the misty climes of Northern California, where she spent her childhood. In the early ’60s, they were newlyweds, adventuring in Europe. But when Judy learned that she was pregnant with their first child, they returned to the States to be closer to home.
The couple made it as far as New York before the money ran out, and Arianne was born there in 1963.
They found a cold-water flat on Cornelia Street in New York’s West Village, a traditional hub for creatives and artists, home to numerous iconic figures from the worlds of music, literature, and social movements.
Soon Arianne had a baby sister, Caitlin. Their parents moved to Sonoma County, where they were introduced to a world of creativity, which included trips to art-house movies.
“Now, people would think they were wildly inappropriate for little kids,” says Phillips, “but we would go to a double bill of Truffaut or Bergman or Fellini and my sister and I would sleep through half of it.”
Phillips says it got into her through osmosis, like being a little kid taken to museums.
“It was a wonderful childhood,” she says.
During her sophomore year in high school, when the Phillips family was living in rural Sonoma County, her parents—both writers and artists—decided they wanted more stimulating city living.
“Santa Cruz is a small town, but it was like a big city to me,” Phillips says. “It was exciting, with the input of the university and everything, but as a teenager, it was very different with the surf culture.”
She enrolled in drama classes and joined “all the nerds and art kids” in Independent Studies, a school with a school at Santa Cruz High School.
“It was a creative time, in 1978,” she says. “Santa Cruz was really great for me as a young person because I could be a weirdo.”
She volunteered at Wayne’s College of Beauty as a hair model and was the first person in Santa Cruz to have purple hair.
The family lived at Laurel and Myrtle streets, where you could sit on their backyard fence and see the high school football games.
Phillips remembers one weekend that made a lasting impression. B. Modern, a designer who costumed Shakespeare Santa Cruz, was doing a photo shoot on the football field with models.
“I remember watching for hours. As a teenager, that really was fascinating to me and informed me.”
A Simple Twist of Fate
After graduating from Santa Cruz High, Phillips left town to go to San Francisco State. Her life and career may have followed quite a different path, had she not been injured as a passenger in a car accident. At 19 she left college and came home to Santa Cruz for physical therapy.
It was then that she began to develop those hunter-gatherer skills.
She reconnected with some old friends and started doing DJ clubs at the Santa Cruz Civic with two friends from Santa Cruz High.
“They paid us to do these all-age events called Club Soda Pop,” Phillips says. “We were really into New Wave music at the time. We were like New Wave hipsters, and it was so much fun.”
Phillips fell in love with British pop culture, New Romantics, and the mixture of fashion and music.
“It was really fun and it was the beginning of something for me,” she says. “MTV had just come out and I really wanted to work in music videos. It triggered all these ideas.”
Phillips started doing photo shoots at the university with her younger sister and her friends as models. Teaming up with a friend, they made a short film without sound. Buying clothes for a dollar a pound at a thrift house[1][2] , they cobbled outfits together to dress her sister’s friends.
Blowin’ in the Wind
The years 1985 and 1986 created new possibilities for destiny to unfold when Phillips returned to New York, originally to finish her college education. She quickly ended up connecting to people in the fashion industry as a stylist and working on music videos.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” Phillips laughs, “I was figuring it out as I went, but it was the Santa Cruz connection—hanging out with high school friends and former UCSC students—that got me started in New York.”
The most ambitious was a feature-length film that some friends were making called Bail Jumper, starring Spike Lee’s sister, Joie, and Eszter Balint from Stranger Than Paradise.
Another pivotal moment came on a shoot with Lenny Kravitz, who she met through a mutual friend. “We were friends before he made his first record, and the videos I did with him were really seminal for me.”
She recalls, “We were making the video for ‘Mr. Cab Driver’ and the director said, ‘I need to dress that guy like a cab driver.’ It resonated that I could use costume to help tell a narrative story and create a character—and it ignited something in me.”
Phillips stayed in New York for seven years. The catalyst that got her to L.A. was a small film called Pyrates, with Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.
“It was a new adventure, but I never imagined I would stay here this long,” she says. “As a kid in Northern California, L.A. was only a place my parents were trying to escape from, since they were raised there.”
A series of wildly imaginative movies followed, including two based on graphic novels—The Crow and Tank Girl. The Crow was directed by Alex Proyas (Dark City), a former music video director, and referenced ’80s bands like Joy Division and the Cure that were hugely influential to Phillips.
But the unthinkable happened on the set of The Crow. Brandon Lee, 28, the son of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, died during filming when his co-star accidentally fired a prop gun at him.
“It was so traumatic,” Phillips recalls.
After that she wanted to work on character-driven films rather than action films, and she got her wish with The People vs. Larry Flynt.
“I was young and had nothing on my résumé that would warrant designing a film like that. I kinda got the job by working really hard on a presentation,” she says. “The director, the cinematographer and the production designer were all Oscar winners, so that was a big break for me.”
Two more momentous films followed: Girl, Interrupted (her first collaboration with Mangold) and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. “By then I was well on my way to being able to navigate the industry,” Phillips says.
Hedwig, a film that Phillips calls one of the most important films in her career, won the Sundance Audience Award. Fourteen years later, she designed the costumes for the Broadway stage production, earning a Tony nomination.
KINGSMAN: DOING IT ALL
Costume designers are work-for-hire and, as such, don’t own their ideas. Often their designs will be used to create Halloween costumes or bobbleheads, not only without compensation but also without credit.
And having worked on movies like The Replacement Killers with Chow Yun Fat, and Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, she was familiar with how artistic vision can lose out to the logistics of an action movie where costumes are built for stunts.
But when director Matthew Vaughn offered her the movie Kingsman, an action movie starring Colin Firth, she was enticed to accept because it offered a rare opportunity.
Vaughn gave Phillips free rein of her creativity and shared ownership of her work. She created a line of tailored Savile Row–inspired suits that were sold to the public, a “costume to collection” concept from the luxury e-commerce site MR PORTER.
“The heart of the story of Kingsman is about gentleman elite spies whose base of operation is a Savile Row tailor shop, so it was an exciting challenge to create authentic merchandise connected directly to a film,” says Phillips.
While researching A Complete Unknown, Phillips discovered a coincidence and an unlikely bond. In 1963, Dylan was living in the West Village near Cornelia Street.
“Bob Dylan basically lived around the corner from us in the West Village at the same time that I was a baby,” Phillips says. Dylan was playing his first gigs nearby at that time, in clubs like the Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street.
It was the first of other threads of Dylan’s legacy that interweave or parallel her life. In her days of styling music videos, she worked with Dylan’s son Jesse when he directed a Lenny Kravitz video.
Even their identical career paths are notable.
“I was 19 when I moved to New York—the same age as Bob,” she says, “and my experience of moving to New York to figure out who I was is remarkably similar to Bob,” she says. “It’s where I found the beginning of my creative identity. New York’s energy is undeniable and one of the most exciting cities in the world for artists and opportunity. For me, moving to New York was kind of a return to my birthright.”
She also found some shared history when she interviewed with Quentin Tarantino to design Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
As focused as she was about landing the job with a favorite filmmaker, her burning question for him was about John Travolta’s T-shirt in Pulp Fiction.
“How did you know about UCSC and the Banana Slugs?” she asked.
Tarantino explained that when he was writing Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction he was spending a lot of time in Santa Cruz, to be close to a girlfriend attending UCSC.
“That was so cool. He knew all the haunts, and he saw many movies at the Sash Mill,” Phillips says.
“We actually got into a debate where he was like, ‘Oh, Santa Cruz isn’t what it used to be,’ and I said ‘yes, it is, it’s still great!’ There are things that we’ve lost for sure, but it’s evolved and there are many wonderful things.”
Phillips did get the gig, and that first meeting with her movie hero remains a favorite memory.
“I loved to learn Quentin Tarantino’s connection to Santa Cruz. Everyone has a connection to Santa Cruz!”
Arianne’s parents have been Santa Cruz residents since 1978, and her whole family lives here now. Her memories of the early years will have old-timers nodding in agreement.“We hung out at Café Pergolesi, Bookshop Santa Cruz in the original location, and later on we would go to the Red Room. We hung out downtown at the Cooper House and the original Logos.”
She remembers Mud Pie at the Saturn Café and New Wave bands at Shellie’s Too, where Costco is now. She went to a lot of concerts and would sneak into the Catalyst with friends when they were underage to see bands.
“Gang of Four, Blondie, Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello, Laurie Anderson, Devo, all at the Civic,” she recalls. “I saw Talking Heads and the B-52’s at the Cocoanut Grove at the Boardwalk.”
Today, Arianne Phillips and her partner split their time between homes, one near work in her favorite L.A. neighborhood of Los Feliz, and one where her heart remains in Santa Cruz.
“You really have to love people to do my job, and I have my family to thank for that,” Phillips says. “Santa Cruz embodies a community that is unlike anywhere else, so I have a lot to owe to Santa Cruz and to my parents for making the move there.”
For three evenings this weekend, the screen at the Rio Theatre will be filled with breathtaking, gravity-denying, death-defying footage of skiers, climbers, cyclists, hikers and other outdoor adventurers captured in 21 award-winning examples of outdoor storytelling.
It’s all unspooling as part of the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour. Now in its 34th year, the festival started in Banff, Alberta, but now stops in 40 countries across the globe. Its stop in Santa Cruz is presented by UC Santa Cruz Adventure Rec, with funds going to make adventure sports more accessible to students.
And while the festival is known for “adrenaline-packed action sports”—and you will get your dose—there’s a gentle gem of a documentary being shown on Saturday night, March 1, that may not have “jaw-dropping” moments, but it provides just short of 17 minutes of smiles, tears, inspiration, hope and a truly incredible outdoorsman, Mikah Meyer.
Meyer is the star of Canyon Chorus (although the ensemble of this rollicking river trip is essential to the story), and he also played a big role behind the scenes. “So, Eddie Bauer came to me,” says Meyer, talking as he drives to yet another film festival, “and said they wanted to make a film about me, and asked me what ideas I had, and I suggested this one. I’m not officially the director, but I kind of directed the director.”
For three years, Meyer traveled to all of the more than 400 national parks in America. While others have come before him, Meyer was the first person to do it as a gay man.
It’s such a sweet film that spelling out the details seems like a disservice. Canyon Chorus recently won the Jury Award at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, held in Nevada County. “That was our 16th film festival for this film. And we’ve probably been in like 60 Banff World Tour stops so far, since it started in December,” Meyer says. (Those stops don’t include one in Santa Cruz.)
The film explores Meyer’s personal journey as an LGBTQ advocate, and the son of a famous pastor, but mostly focuses on his reunion with the other men whom he met while singing in a choir. The scenic journey takes place on a rafting trip through the extremely remote Desolation Canyon in Utah. A choir of gay friends, singing to the canyon, being genuinely authentic.
OTHER VOICES Mikah Meyer documents his outdoor adventures with members of his choir in ‘Canyon Chorus.’ PHOTO: Wondercamp Studios
“I was a professional singer and so I have two degrees in voice performance,” Meyer explains, “so I’m kind of used to being on stage. What I love the most about this is I think it’s really cool for audiences to get to see somebody on screen, and then see them in real life, and they’re not just like a pretend fictional character.”
Meyer understands that when a film is labeled “a gay film,” the people who don’t love and support gay people will not show up. “The whole motivation with Canyon Chorus was how do we make a film, and essentially trick the audience into watching a film, about people who are different than themselves? Because a lot of people think Banffwill be full of great dudes hitting powdery snow and shredding and sick trips, which it does. And then, in the middle of that, they are confronted with other people, and will hopefully have empathy for people who are different from them, which is the whole point of arts and film—to educate us and inspire us. So I really appreciate that the Banff tourallows us to get a gay story in front of an audience that would probably not seek it out.”
Meyer is working on a feature film that embraces all of the qualities of Canyon Chorus, with a more filled-out narrative. Not surprisingly, due to the political climate of today, where national parks are being gutted of employees and being teed up for exploitation, “it’s really hard right now to get funding,” Meyer says.
“Even with all my qualifications with the national parks, and an award-winning film about my national park journey, all the brands are afraid to touch it because they worry that they’ll be accused of being involved because I’m gay. They don’t want to be seen as companies that do DEI hires,” Meyer testifies.
The film explores, and lands, the themes of intergenerational friendships, different types of male bonding, and the struggle of coming out in America in 2025, which rivals any summit climbed in the Banffcollection. “There’s no experience like seeing it in a theater. Even if you watch it on YouTube (search Canyon Chorus to watch now), seeing it with the crowd, and hearing how they laugh and what they react to, is the best.
“I would really encourage your readers to go to all three nights because these really are the best outdoor films in the world. You’re not going to be disappointed,” Meyer says.
Chorus Canyon plays on Saturday night at the Rio Theatre as part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. Each night has different films; screenings begin at 7pm on Feb. 28, and March 1–2 at the Rio Theater. Tickets are available at riotheatre.com and are $22.50. To see a trailer of the festival, visit vimeo.com/1032546896.
So many brilliant ensembles packed with elite musicians—Santa Cruz is a full house of musical riches. The seasons are often short and sweet, but the programming is always ferocious. Often transformative.
It’s a scene that richly deserves attention, which is why Good Times is launching a monthly spotlight on music and theatrical events. My column will include a look ahead, so devotees can mark their calendars, but will also comment on past highlights.
To start things off, consider these three upcoming events: the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival (March 1), the Santa Cruz Chamber Players (March 15–16) and the Santa Cruz Chorale (May 17–18). Running through all three concerts is in-demand flutist Lars Johannesson, who also performs with New Music Works and Espressivo. Plus, he sings bass—and apparently he never sleeps.
Part of the Baroque Festival’s “house band” since he arrived in Santa Cruz 30 years ago, the Swedish-born flute virtuoso is committed to Baroque music and his two dozen private students. Uniquely placed to have his highly trained fingers on the pulse of small ensemble music in Santa Cruz, Johannesson is proof that there’s enough support from a passionate local audience for all these groups to exist.
People come to hear the programs, be it of rare and gorgeous classics by Bach and Palestrina, or the edgy creations of John Cage and Larry Polansky. And they come to savor the outstanding craftsmanship of music directors such as Ensemble Monterey’s John Anderson and the Baroque Festival’s Jörg Reddin. As well as outstanding performers like Johannesson.
Among the professionals weaving authentic culture into our community are the bohemians of New Music Works, those who gather to perform electrifying, often barely comprehensible new music under the direction of Philip Collins. Equally mesmerizing programming is the specialty of the Santa Cruz Chorale (Johannesson again), whose director, Christian Grube, crafts and refines memorable performances from Renaissance masterpieces and Icelandic folk carols to mystical gems from Estonian Arvo Pärt. santacruzchorale.org
Emerging composers of the 21st century are featured in the upcoming Ensemble Monterey concert. Soprano Lori Schulman (who also curates the Opera Project) solos in Pulitzer Prize-winning Christopher Cerrone’s The Pieces That Fall to Earth. Led by maestra Cheryl Anderson, Cantiamo performs The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, a new multimedia work by Jocelyn Hagen, 7pm March 22 (in Monterey) and March 23 (Peace United Church, Santa Cruz). ensemblemonterey.org
Mark those calendars for Santa Cruz Chamber Players’ “Among the Fuchsias” program, featuring a world premiere by concert director Chris Pratorius Gómez. Concerts begin at 7:30pm on March 15 and 3pm at Christ Lutheran Church in Aptos. scchamberplayers.org
This week the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival concludes its 2025 season with a 4pm concert on March 1 at Peace United Church, with new artistic director Jörg Reddin performing both as organist and bass baritone singer, accompanied by the UCSC Chamber Singers and the Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble. scbaroque.org
Reddin’s concerts this year have been boldly programmed and dazzling in presentation, from the playful opera setting of Bach’s Coffee Cantata (more Johannesson, this time on baroque flute) to last week’s rare and mesmerizing works for organ, violin and cello. Shannon D’Antonio went supernova with elegant legatos and pyrotechnic cadenzas on an amazing Bach Sonata No.1 in G minor for solo violin. Reddin has brought fierce energy and virtuosity to Santa Cruz’s already well-populated field of musical masterminds.
Johannesson, who plays all over the Bay Area and Central Coast throughout the year, admits that he puts in some practice time before each concert: “I need to keep my chops in shape! Basic maintenance of my technique of embouchure [the required lips, tongue, and mouth control for a wind instrument], technique for sound, and my finger technique for facility. And given all the various programs I tend to have a lot of new music to work on. I need to learn it and play it up to speed. That takes practicing.”
With so many tempting programs, is there enough audience to go around? Johannesson thinks so. “We do a little bit of cross pollination in terms of getting audiences, and having a publicity blast about a concert on somebody else’s program. We’re all friends, so we can do that.”
Making music is a passionate calling. Check out any of the upcoming small ensemble concerts and you’ll feel the heat. And follow my new column, Performance, for more reviews and updates.
A power duo might be a rare thing in the music world, but it’s more common in country, and there aren’t many duos touring today keeping the genre’s gritty roots alive quite like Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley. Drawing inspiration from bluegrass, folk and down-home country, Ickes and Hensley bring the masses a solid, electrified acoustic sound, evident not only in their music but who they’ve shared the stage with, including Taj Mahal, Jorma Kaukonen and David Grisman. Seeing them in an intimate setting such as the Kuumbwa is one of the truly special things about living in Santa Cruz. MAT WEIR
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Center St., Santa Cruz. $39. 427-2227.
FRIDAY 2/28
INDIE
IDAHO
Idaho invites listeners to dive into the dreamscape and immerse themselves in desert atmospherics and distant sonic textures. After a 13-year hiatus, the band made an expansive return with an album release in 2024, a vinyl box set released in December and now a West Coast tour. Frontperson Jeff Martin carries on the legacy he and the late John Berry began in 1992; a key player in ’90s slowcore remains 30 years later a beautiful, melancholic take on American post-grunge indie rock. SHELLY NOVO
Following the 8 Tens @ 8 Festival, Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre presents staged readings of the runners-up, including Why Women Live Longer Than Men by Marjorie Williamson and It’s Just a Paperweight by Jerry Metzker. Theater enthusiasts and casual inquirers alike are invited to enjoy immersive new works from emerging and established playwrights from all over the world. The Actors’ Theatre is celebrating its 29th anniversary as the world’s longest-running short play festival this year. SN
INFO: 8pm, Actors’ Theatre, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz. $15. 431-8666.
SATURDAY 3/1
ROOTS
PI JACOBS & ASHLEY E. NORTON
A double bill under the Cali RoundUp banner features two singer-songwriters. Pi Jacobs is an Americana artist originally from Haight-Ashbury but now based in LA. Her fifth and latest release is Soldier On, after releasing two singles in 2024: “Coyote” and “Hallelujah.” Ashley E. Norton is a Ramona resident and leader of the all-female American group Lady Psychiatrist’s Booth. That group released the playful Four Research Porpoises Only in 2023. Norton won the Western Regional Folk Alliance Presenters Choice Award in 2024. BILL KOPP
Pigeon Pit showcases the musical storytelling skills of frontperson Lomes Oleander. The group’s sound combines pop punk, folk and cosmic country wrapped up and delivered in a DIY style. The group has released several singles and EPs, with 2025’s Crazy Arms as the band’s first new recording since becoming a nationally touring six-piece group. Opening the show is Foot Ox, a folk band with experimental and psychedelic notes whose latest full-length release was 2023’s Judee & the Sun. BK
INFO: 8pm, Catalyst, 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $19. 713-5492.
BLUEGRASS
RACHEL SUMNER & TRAVELING LIGHT
An acoustic guitar or two, a stand-up bass, a nimbly played fiddle, a sweet and emotive voice dipping and spinning in all the right places and a band ready to harmonize beautifully—those are the deceptively simple ingredients that make up Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light. When Sumner adds her fantastic lyrics to the mix, things are really pushed over the top. It’s no surprise that they took home the first-place prize at the 2023 Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival Showcase Competition. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
A few names come to mind when it comes to one-person bands. One of them is the mighty Bob Log III. This crazed Delta bluesman started his music career with a Tucson-based band called Mondo Guano but gained notoriety as a solo musician opening for bands like Ween, the John Spencer Blues Explosion and Mississippi bluesman RL Burnside. Bob Log III’s slide guitar playing rains a spell of country blues with a punk twist, often incorporating everyday things as instruments like singing through a telephone microphone. Not only is his music filled with country grit, but so is his humor, as anyone who’s seen him sing his bawdy ballads and tell his whiskey-soaked jokes can attest. MW
Jenny Owen Youngs kept fans waiting ten years for a new album, but hey, it’s not like she was sitting around twiddling her thumbs. The singer-songwriter, in that one little decade, managed to tour the world, cowrite a #1 hit single for Panic! at The Disco, become a much-loved podcaster, score a book deal and write a book, contribute songs to movies and TV, marry twice, divorce once and move from Brooklyn to LA to coastal Maine—no doubt, all done to feed the muse that would help create a beautiful, full-of-life-and-its-messiness album. KLJ
Murder, sabotage, mysteries and wine. Corporate attorney Noli Cooper is visiting her godparents’ vineyard to plan her future but is disrupted when her childhood mentor is discovered dead. Now, Noli teams up with a local PI to figure out who murdered her mentor. A glass of wine is encouraged to enjoy the mystery unfolding within California’s rich vineyard history, rooted in author Diane Schaffer’s summer work at a local zinfandel winery. Mortal Zin is the first book in the page-turning mystery series, and she’ll be celebrating her launch with an author event at Bookshop Santa Cruz. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 7pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.
Watsonville Poet Laureate Victoria Bañales spoke Feb. 15 at the Watsonville library. And Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate Nancy Miller Gomez will appear April 14 at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
The hamburger wasn’t invented in California, but one can argue that the modern, everyday burger has deep roots here, with the state being the birthplace of A&W, In-N-Out, Carl’s Jr. and Jack-in-the-Box, among other takeout pioneers.
But in Santa Cruz, it’s not the fast-food burger that reigns supreme. Here, chefs lavish love on the humble burger, elevating it with fresh...
For a full 12 days, starting Feb. 26, Santa Cruz Burger Week will be tempting diners across Santa Cruz County, with special deals at more than 30 local restaurants at any of three price points: $12, $15 and $18. Below, here’s all we know by the Good Times print deadline about who’s serving what, and where. For more up-to-the-minute...
The amazing career of Oscar nominated Hollywood costume designer Arianne Phillips, ever a Santa Cruz girl at heart, told in a feature entertainment story.
the screen at the Rio Theatre will be filled with breathtaking, gravity-denying, death-defying footage of skiers, climbers, cyclists, hikers and other outdoor adventurers
