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.
Aries author Anne Lamott articulated a thought that’s perfect for you to hear right now: “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” I might amend her wisdom a bit to say “for a few hours” or “a couple of days.” Now is a rare time when a purposeful disconnection can lead you to deeper synchronization. A project or relationship will improve after a gentle reset. Your power mantra: “Renew yourself with quiet inaction.”
TAURUS April 20-May 20
Beavers are the engineers of the natural world. The dams they fabricate not only create shelters for them, but also benefit their entire ecosystem. The ponds and marshes they help shape provide rich habitats for many other species. Boosting biodiversity is their specialty. Their constructions also serve as natural filters, enhancing water quality downstream. Let’s make beavers your inspirational symbol for the coming weeks, Taurus. In their spirit, build what’s good for you with the intention of making it good for everyone whose life you touch. Ensure that your efforts will generate ripples that nourish your tribe and community.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
I predict that you will soon have reason to celebrate a resounding success. You will claim a well-deserved reward. You may even shiver with amazement and gratification as you marvel at how many challenges you overcame to emerge triumphant. In my view, you will have every right to exude extra pride and radiance. I won’t complain if you flirt with a burst of egotism. In accordance with my spirituality, I will tell you, “Remember that this wonder you have spawned will live for a very long time.”
CANCER June 21-July 22
When you see the stars in the night sky, you’re looking at the ancient past. Light from those heavenly bodies may have taken as long as 4,000 years to reach us. So we are beholding them as they used to be, not as they are now. With that as your inspiration, I invite you to spend quality time gazing into your own personal past. Meditate on how your history is alive in you today, making its imprint on all you do and say. Say prayers and write messages to yourself in which you express your awe and appreciation for the epic myth that is your destiny.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
I mourn the growing climate calamity that is heating up our beloved planet. Among many other distortions, it has triggered yellow forsythias and blue gentians to blossom during winters in the Austrian Alps—an unprecedented event. At the same time, I am also able to marvel at the strange beauty of gorgeous flowers growing on the winter hills of ski resorts. So my feelings are mixed—paradoxical and confusing—and that’s fine with me. I regard it as a sign of soulfulness. May you be so blessed, Leo: full of appreciation for your capacity to hold conflicting ideas, perspectives and feelings.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
The quietest place on earth is a room at Microsoft’s headquarters near Seattle. It’s made of six layers of steel and concrete, and its foundation includes vibration-dampening springs. Within it, you can hear your heartbeat, the swishing of your clothes, and the hum of air molecules colliding. The silence is so eerily profound that many people become flummoxed while visiting. Here’s the moral of the story: While you Virgos are naturally inclined to favor order and precision, a modicum of noise and commotion in your life is often beneficial. Like background sounds that keep you oriented, minor wriggles and perturbations ensure you remain grounded. This will be extra important for you to acknowledge in the coming weeks.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
To make a Mobius strip, you give a half twist to a strip of paper and attach the ends. You have then created a surface with just one side and one edge. It’s a fun curiosity, but it also has practical applications. Using Mobius strips, engineers can design more efficient gears. Machinists make mechanical belts that are Mobius strips because they wear out less quickly. There are at least eight other concrete functions, as well. Let’s extrapolate from this to suggest that a similar theme might be arising in your life. What may seem like an interesting but impractical element could reveal its real-world value. You may find unexpected uses for playful features. One of your capacities has dimensions you have not yet explored, but are ready to.
SCORPIOOct. 23-Nov. 21
Sandra Cisneros is a visionary writer with Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius. She is always in quest of the next big lesson and the next exciting adventure. But she also has the Moon, Venus and Saturn in Scorpio. Her sensitive attunement to the hidden and secret aspects of reality is substantial. She thrives on cultivating a profound understanding of her inner world. It took her years to master the art of fully expressing both these sides of her character. I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because you’re primed to go in quest for experiences that will open your heart to novel amazements—even as you connect with previously unknown aspects of your deep self that resonate with those experiences.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
The Moeraki Boulders are spread along a beach in New Zealand. Many of the 50 big rocks are nearly perfect spheres and up to six feet in diameter, so they provide a stunning visual feast. Scientists know that they have steadily grown for the last 4 million years, accumulating ever-new layers of minerals. I propose we make them your symbols of power until July 1. In my astrological estimation, you are in a phase of laying long-term groundwork. What may seem to be a tedious accumulation of small, gradual victories is part of a grander undertaking. Like the Moeraki Boulders, your efforts will crystallize into an enduring foundation.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
A Japanese proverb says, “The bamboo that bends with the wind is stronger and more resilient than the oak tree that resists.” That’s true. When storms bluster, oak branches get broken and blown away. Bamboo may look delicate, but it is actually strong and capable of withstanding high winds. It flourishes by being flexible instead of rigid. That’s the approach I recommend to you, Capricorn. Challenges may emerge that inspire you to stay grounded by adapting. Your plans will become optimal as you adjust them. By trusting your natural resilience, you could find unexpected chances for interesting transformation. Your potency will lie in your ability to bend without breaking.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Seattle’s Space Needle serves as an observation tower. It’s 605 feet high. For years, there was a restaurant with a rotating floor at the top. In its early days, the movement was so brisk that some visitors got dizzy and nauseous. Engineers had to recalibrate the equipment so it was sufficiently leisurely to keep everyone comfortable. Your current situation resembles this story. The right elements are in place, but you need to adjust the timing and rhythm. If there are frustrating glitches, they are clues to the fine-tuning that needs to be done.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Octopuses have three hearts, each with a different function. Every one of their eight limbs contains a mini-brain, giving them nine in total. Is there any doubt, then, that they are the patron creature for you Pisceans? No other zodiac sign is more multifaceted than you. No other can operate with grace on so many different levels. I celebrate your complexity, dear Pisces, which enables you to draw such rich experiences into your life and manage such diverse challenges. These qualities will be working at a peak in the coming weeks. For inspiration, consider putting an image of an octopus in your environment.
It’s time for double the apple-walnut pancakes, double the egg bread French toast, double the Cowboy omelets, double the calamari steaks and eggs and double the chicken cutlet BLTs.
Those popular plates and specials at Silver Spur (2650 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz) will soon be flying from the kitchen of location #2, as East Lake Village Shopping Center finally adds a standout breakfast-lunch spot to complement a sturdy selection of flavorful spots like Fruition Brewing, Ozzy’s Pizzeria and Staff of Life.
In a word, yeehaw.
The sister Silver Spur (1040 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville) debuts at dawn March 4. Hours are 6am–2pm daily.
The original Soquel institution found renewed identity in 2023 when the longtime chef for former Spur owner Linda Hopper, Juan Valencia, bought the place with his son Danny Govea, himself a restaurant veteran. They promptly restored historic menus and reinvigorated the historic good vibes.
They’ll each oversee a location and the hot coffee–strong service–big plates recipe that’s made the Spur a Live Oak life affirmer for generations.
Humble Sea (820 Swift St., Santa Cruz) soon commemorates a birthday as it does much everything: with style points to spare—and this time, choose-your-own-beer-venture optionality. The three plays for the March 15 anniversary celebration: 1) “Just Show Up” (free): Per HSB, “roll through, grab beers, eat food, vibe out. No ticket needed.” 2) Level Up Your Experience ($25 early bird; $30 after March), which involves a commemorative glass, magnum pours, an anniversary lager, and a sticker. 3) Full VIP ($50/$60) with the Level Up love plus private bar access, HashNDash food truck, cellar bottle pours, tank-fresh lager pours and extra magnum pour access. Presale kicks off as this goes live (Wednesday, Feb. 26) on HumbleSea.com.
DON’T WORRY BE HOPPY
More beer news, less boozy. A tasting flight at Discretion Brewing (2703 41st Ave., Suite A, Soquel) remains an intriguing endeavor, especially complemented by a bianca flatbread and some Italian antipasto. Last visit there, for instance, I gained altitude with a splash of a tart raspberry-hibiscus ale, a Shimmer Pils, a Jugo Nuevo hazy, a Follow the Creek West Coast IPA and a Uncle Dave’s Rye IPA, and closed with a new addition to the menu: a house hop water that proves crisp, balanced, refreshing and surprisingly satisfying. That fits into a wider trend toward NA options, and staffers told me after sales have remained consistent, if less robust than during a Dry January surge. Hop on, discretionbrewing.com.
RECOGNIZE GAME
The Santa Cruz Warriors play their annual game at Chase Center in San Francisco against the Mexico City Capitanes on Sunday, March 9, and the first 10,000 fans in score a Stephen Curry Sandcastle Bobblehead; a shuttle bus or two from Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz to Chase Center will transmit local season ticket holders, santacruz.gleague.nba.com…Meanwhile Sea Dubs big brother Draymond Green is getting into the restaurant game with Meski, an Ethiopian fusion restaurant and bar opening in SF’s Lower Nob Hill…A special webinar 6–7pm Feb. 26 empowers locals to help protect Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, by doing everything from collecting data beachside to kayaking on the bay, montereybay.noaa.gov/getinvolved…Reminder: Our very own intergalactic omen interpreter Rob Brezsny has a newsletter, check out freewillastrology.com…A single oyster filters 50 gallons of water a day…Zora Neale Hurston, shuck away: “I do not weep at the world. I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.”
After taking the cable car down the lushly landscaped hillside at The Shadowbrook restaurant in Capitola, the kind hostess welcomed us and sat us in a lively dining room with comfortable, soft lighting. It was Feb. 5 and five birthday parties were underway around the room, including my own.
Flames tumbled in the fireplace in the cocktail lounge as diners filtered into the cozy wood and stone setting. At the table next to ours was a woman celebrating her birthday, Feb. 5, 1999. Across the room, at a large table, a crowd sang for a woman born on Feb. 5, 1937.
That’s when we met Matt, our waiter, who added tremendously to our evening with his expertise and warmth.
Our drinks arrived with two hot rolls and butter and an appetizer of fried calamari with Thai chili, cocktail, and tartar sauces. Our dinner came next. I had their “Chateau Cut” prime top sirloin, a char-grilled Angus steak with potato gratin, shiitake mushroom/sautéed spinach with baker’s bacon, and chef’s butter. One word applies here: Outstanding.
My wife had prime-grade prime rib, slow-roasted Angus beef, garlic-whipped potato, creamed spinach, horseradish cream, and cabernet jus with a Manhattan cocktail. I enjoyed a Cock’n Bull ginger ale over ice.
Another round of “Happy Birthday” rang out from an adjoining room: a woman surrounded by about eight people, just turning 70. Right behind us was a couple who were handed cupcakes with candles after their dinner, a celebration of 13 years of marriage.
Shadowbrook opened for dinner in 1947 overlooking Soquel Creek with a dining capacity of 50. They added the cable car in 1958. A curving walkway gives visitors an alternative route down the hillside for a pleasing tour of the garden.
In 1978, current owners Ted Burke and his partner Bob Munsey purchased Shadowbrook.
With a full bar and extensive wine and craft beer menu, the place offers a sweeping outdoor seating area ringside to the creek and woodsy setting.
Everything about our dinner stood out. The potato gratin, with its thinly sliced potatoes, and the sautéed spinach were a powerhouse flavor combo. My steak—I ordered medium—was just that, not overdone and dry, nor so underdone that I had to chase it around the room and tackle it onto my plate. Sarah relished her meal as well, noting that the creamed spinach was top shelf. Right behind us was a couple who were handed cupcakes with candles after their dinner, a celebration of 13 years of marriage.
Overall, our evening at Shadowbrook struck us as exceptionally pleasing, minus a devastating bill. To cap it all, Matt took our photo and moments later handed a photo postcard to us with the words “A Time to Remember.”
As we climbed back into the cable car for the short lift back up to Wharf Road, we shared the ride with a couple who had a young boy. The woman said it was her birthday as well. The five of us cheered the moment, and our pleasing evening out, as we headed off to our cars and into the night.
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
It’s time for double the apple-walnut pancakes, double the egg bread French toast, double the Cowboy omelets, double the calamari steaks and eggs and double the chicken cutlet BLTs.
