Byington’s Mountain Hideaway, Plus Wine On the Wharf

High in the Los Gatos hills, along the winding Bear Creek Road, is Byington Winery. This beautiful estate boasts acres of stunning property and impressive vineyards. Weddings, corporate events and parties galore are held both outdoors and indoors.

There are tables, umbrellas, gas and charcoal grills for your use (for a fee, and bring your own tools), and there’s a bocce ball court as well. Picnic tables are available on a first-come, first-served basis but can be booked in advance for parties of 10 or more. The tasting “fee” for a picnic table is the purchase of a half-bottle of wine per person—to enjoy on the property or to take home. In a nutshell, Byington Winery is a fun and welcoming place to visit, and their wines are excellent.

The Chardonnay 2015 ($28) from Byington’s estate Tin Cross Vineyard in Alexander Valley is a bright and lively expression of this varietal. White florals, lemon citrus and crisp green apple delight the palate—crowned with a clean, refreshing finish and softening into flavors of honeyed lemon custard. Byington suggests pairing the Chardonnay with risotto and spring vegetables.

Byington Vineyard & Winery, 21850 Bear Creek Rd., Los Gatos. 408-354-1111, byington.com

Pop-Up Tasting on the Bay at Vino Locale

The new locally owned Vino Locale wine bar on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf will be hosting Muns Vineyard from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23 for an afternoon tasting flight of Muns’ 2012, 2013 and 2014 Pinot Noirs, as well as a 2014 Syrah. Join Ed Muns and Mary Lindsay of Muns Vineyard for an enjoyable afternoon—complete with an incomparable view of the Monterey Bay. The cost of $22 includes the wine flight and cheese hors d’oeuvres.

Vino Locale on the Wharf, 55 Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz. 426-0750, vinolocalesantacruz.com

Murder Mystery Dinner

Elf Empire Productions is putting on three murder mystery dinners at the Food Lounge in downtown Santa Cruz on Feb. 23, March 2 and March 9. Dinner seating is at 5:30 p.m. and the $55 price includes dinner, show, tax, and tip.

Visit elfempire.com for more info.

5 Things To Do in Santa Cruz: February 20-26

A weekly guide to what’s happening.

Green Fix

Replacing The Lawn

Learn about the advantages of replacing your water-guzzling lawn with drought-tolerant California native plants. Instead of gazing at gopher mounds, plant something to save the bees and butterflies. Neal Christen, water conservation representative from the Santa Cruz water department will provide information about the city’s Lawn Replacement Rebate Program. Arrive 15 minutes early to sign in or register, but the class is limited to 16 people, so early sign-up is recommended.

INFO: 10 a.m.-noon. Saturday, Feb. 23. Costanoa Commons, 335 Golf Club Drive, Santa Cruz. 763-8007, mbmg.org. Free/donations welcome.

Art Seen

Quilt Show

These are not your grandma’s quilts. Well, maybe they are, depending on who your grandma is—maybe she is an epic quilter. Featuring over 300 handmade quilts and wearable arts, the Pajaro Valley Quilting Association’s Quilt Show includes a flea market and vendor mall, plus a fashion show. There’s a featured artist and a featured quilt, plus live demos so you can start a new quilt at home.

INFO: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24. Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E Lake Ave., Watsonville. pvqa.org. $10.

Friday 2/22 and Saturday 2/23

‘R.U.R. Humans Versus Robots’

Meet the play that coined the term “robot.” Best known as Rossum’s Universal Robots, this 1920s scientific stage play is an adventure tale of humans versus technology, which quickly became an influential piece that bridged art and science. The play’s robots aren’t what we commonly think of today; they are artificial flesh-and-blood humans built in a factory. They are often mistaken for humans and able to coexist at first, but their rebellion leads to a grim future for the human race.

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. Merrill Cultural Center, UC Santa Cruz. Free. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. Broadway Playhouse, 526 Broadway, Santa Cruz. $12 general/$5 students. 212-3491, rurcrown.weebly.com/tickets.html

Saturday 2/23- Sunday 2/24

38th Annual Clam Chowder Cook Off

Who knew that the country’s biggest and longest-running clam chowder fest was right here in Santa Cruz? The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Clam Chowder Cook-Off and Festival is back for its 38th time around. There are both amateur and professional categories, plus prizes for the best chowder. Be a part of Santa Cruz’s storied clam chowder history, and find out where you fit into the bigger clam chowder picture. (OK, just kidding on that last part. There is no bigger clam chowder picture, but wouldn’t that be kind of cool?)

INFO: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. 420-5273, beachboardwalk.com. Free admission/tasting kits $10.

Saturday 2/23 and Sunday 2/24

Santa Cruz Symphony ‘Symphonic Fire’

This two-part concert opens with Dvorák’s monumental cello concerto, featuring the Santa Cruz Symphony’s internationally renowned principal cellist and Grammy-winning artist Jonah Kim. Dvorák wrote the cello concerto while living in New York, where both the B minor Cello Concerto and the New World Symphony were written within a few years. Rachmaninoff’s final symphonic masterpiece, his fiery Symphonic Dances, follows. In it, Rachmaninoff reflects his nostalgia for the Russia he had known.  

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Saturday Feb. 23. Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St., Santa Cruz; 2 p.m. Sunday Feb. 24. Mello Center for the Performing Arts, 250 E Beach St., Watsonville. 462-0553, santacruzsymphony.org. $31.50-$102.

Holy Smokes Makes BBQ A Family Affair

It only took four months for Holy Smokes BBQ to move from catering to the old U.S. Meal spot. With the help of her family, owner Janis Cota worked through Christmas and the New Year to open her first storefront.

A favorite local caterer, the family started with farmers’ markets in Sonoma before moving to Santa Cruz seven years ago. Her three kids grew up helping out in the kitchen, so Cota says opening a restaurant was a fairly natural progression for them.

They previously did pop ups at East Cliff Brewing, and will now be serving food to the brewery and running the catering business, too. Cota says she wasn’t sure what to expect when they opened, but they have been so busy that they’ve had to hire extra help just to keep up.

Are you hiring other non-family staff?

JANIS COTA: We’ve hired a few people so my kids don’t have to work so much. I’ve hired three people so far, and I’m hiring someone to help me put everything together since I make everything myself—I made the carrot cake and macaroni salad this morning. So she is going to have to video it or write it down, because I have all of my recipes in my head.

Why BBQ?

My ex-husband and I purchased the barbeque [grill] to do long road trips to Mexico. We would go deep-sea fishing and have a BBQ. It was easy, and I just fell in love with cooking. We’ve had that BBQ since 1996, and when we divorced it helped me support my kids. I never thought I was going to open a restaurant. It’s always been a dream, but when U.S. Meal closed so quickly, it was a right-place-right-time kind of opportunity. It was crazy how it happened.

Your back patio looks amazing!

Yeah, we redid it all. We have a firepit and a rotisserie that we will be doing whole pigs on. We’ll have cornhole and darts, plus we just applied for a beer and wine license, so hopefully we will get that in time for the summer. It is just a cool place to hangout, especially when the sun comes out.

holysmokescountrybbqandcatering.com

Opinion: February 20, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTE

This is the third year we’re doing Santa Cruz Burger Week, and every time we do, we get letters from vegetarian and vegan readers bemoaning the focus on beef. We’ve had veggie burger options every year, but of course it’s true that the majority of Burger Week offerings are beef burgers.

But will it always be that way? Anyone who read my dust-up with Lily Stoicheff in these pages a couple of years ago over who has the best burger in town knows that I do have a thing for well-made burgers, but I’m also an aficionado of great plant-based patties, going way back to my days of haunting the Saturn Café when it was on Mission Street (I loyally followed to its current location downtown, of course).

When I first tried the Impossible Burger last year, I was instantly sold. The idea of making a veggie burger as “rare” and juicy as possible might seem gimmicky at first, but the results are remarkable. In combining the umami bomb that most beef-burger eaters seek with the sustainability of a plant-based product, I have long suspected Impossible Foods has found a winning formula.

Then I saw more and more places locally add it to their menus—now there are nearly 20 places in the county (by my last count) that serve it. Several Burger Week participants are offering an Impossible Burger as an option, including not only Saturn, but also Flynn’s, Hula’s, Parish Publick House and Splash.

So in our pullout cover story for Burger Week, we take a closer look at how the Impossible Burger is changing the veggie burger game. You’ll also find a guide to every participating restaurant, along with their menus and an explanation of how this week of burger feasting works. Like me, you can plan your own restaurant route for the next seven days. See you there! 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Down the Drain

Perhaps the most crucial problem currently underway in the Soquel Creek Water District is the huge amount of money that has been, and continues to be, spent on developing a system to clean up sewer water and inject it into the aquifer (sometimes referred to as the poop water project). Yes, it is being done elsewhere, but that is no reason to justify doing it here.

It is said that it is virtually impossible to eliminate all the various pharmaceuticals people dispose of in their toilets, and that treated water being dumped into the oceans contains such contaminants. This being the case, there is no reason to believe that the district could avoid contaminating our aquifer. Furthermore, it is questionable whether this source of water is necessary, as there is evidence of adequate water without it. Yet the district management continues to spend tons of money on the project. It is time to know the truth!

Another significant problem is the number of water offset credits granted to the Aptos Village Project. The fence that surrounded the project since the beginning of construction had a lot of signs on it that extolled the idea that the project has saved great amounts of water, much of it having to do with a claim that the developer replaced a significant number of fixtures at Cabrillo College.

Replacing a single toilet results in a document four pages in length. The document describing the replacement of 70-some toilets and 40-some urinals at Cabrillo consists of one page and is signed by a foreman from the Village Project; no evidence of purchases by whom, when, where, how many, or the cost. Neither the college nor the water district produced any of that evidence. If this work was actually done, it is up to the college, the water district and the developer to prove it!

Thomas Stumbaugh
Aptos

West Cliff Ride

E-bikes are great, and so is the idea of using them as alternative transportation. Unfortunately, it seems only Claire Fliesler, the city architect of this plan, supports introducing 118 electrified bikes to the West Cliff multi-use pathway; 162 residents and pathway users have written the City Council in opposition, and 250 residents/pathway users have signed a petition in opposition. The comment that the pathway was designed to accommodate bikes, pet-walkers, seniors, wheelchairs, pedal-power bikes and electrified bikes is a bit disingenuous. The pathway in many critical sections is less than 6 feet in width and has no lane markings or regulatory markings. Folks have gotten injured along this pathway in bike-pedestrian collisions, and that is before introducing 118, 60-pound electrified bikes. In addition, residents and friends of the natural environment along West Cliff Drive find the idea of locating dozens of bright orange bikes in commercial lots along our coastline a degradation of a precious coastal environment. But, some folks think that multiple facial tattoos and nose ornaments are really cool. Are these the same folks that champion dotting the lighthouse, Steamer Lane and Mitchell cove with orange e-bikes? Also, CVC Section 21207.5(b) allows the City Council to forbid these electric bikes on the pathway. I wonder why.

Phil Crawford
Santa Cruz


PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

Submit to ph****@go*******.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.


GOOD IDEA

Santa Cruz environmentalists have joined the Humane League’s “imnotlovinit” campaign to raise awareness about the welfare of chickens that end up in America’s sandwiches. UCSC’s Banana Slugs For Animals will hold a silent protest in front of the McDonald’s at 1421 Mission St. in Santa Cruz on Friday, March 1, from 5-6 p.m. The Humane League is campaigning to see McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast food company, publicly commit to a meaningful welfare policy for chickens suffering in its supply chain. For more information, email Sydney Fox at se***@uc**.edu.


GOOD WORK

Julia Hartz is “an energy person.” The Eventbrite cofounder, who grew up in Santa Cruz, said as much in a recent interview with the New York Times. “Maybe it was growing up in Santa Cruz, or maybe I was just born with it, but human energy, I just feel it so much,” she explained. Also, a job with the Ugly Mug that Hartz took at age 14 left a big impression: “I would get there before it was light out and open up. From the Ugly Mug on, I’ve never not worked.”


QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We all need to make time for a burger once in a while.”

-Erica Durance

‘Champions and Lovers’ at Tannery Winter Dance Fest

In 2015, the Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center (TWDCC) invited former Lines Ballet dancer Gregory Dawson to Santa Cruz for the first-ever dance performance at the Colligan Theater. After the performance sold out, and was enthusiastically received, the TWDCC knew they would have to have him back.

“We knew that Santa Cruz audiences were hungry for great dance with something you could sink your teeth into intellectually,” says Cat Willis, TWDCC Executive Director. “Dawson’s innovation with contemporary ballet forms is particularly appropriate for Santa Cruz, as audiences have not typically had contemporary ballet companies showcased in our city.”

For this year’s TWDCC Winter Dance Fest, Dawson and his San Francisco-based tour de force company Dawsondancesf will be joining again to debut a new piece called Champions and Lovers.

Choreographers often create works especially for the Winter Dance Festival. This year, Santa Cruz choreographer Taliha Scott will be opening the festival with ORÉNDA: First You Gave Me, followed by local teacher and Santa Cruz choreographer Stephanie Emmanuela Da Silva with her recent work Innocent Targets.

“TWDCC is especially excited to be featuring the work of emerging female choreographers from Santa Cruz alongside Gregory Dawson, who has taught and mentored Taliha Scott in his position as Cal Arts Summer program assistant to the chair,” Willis says. “The dynamic voices of all of these choreographers will exemplify what it means to push boundaries of forms in dance and telling stories from the voices of today.”

The aim of the Winter Dance Fest is to exhibit emerging and established contemporary choreographers on the same stage in Santa Cruz, hence inviting local dancers alongside Dawson.

“It’s exciting to the bring fresh voices and ideas to the dance stage,” Willis says. “That is what is at the heart of the contemporary form; breaking through traditional ways of moving and finding relevance from the artist’s particular voice and juxtaposing that with familiar forms.”

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. Colligan Theater at The Tannery Arts Center, 1010 River St., Santa Cruz. 425-1440, tanneryworlddance.com. $18/$22.

Who Owns Your DNA?

UCSC already has a claim to fame in the history of genomic data; it was a team from the university that published the first draft of the human genome online in 2000. Now, with a new $600,000 National Science Foundation grant, another UCSC-led team could be on its way to making genomic history—this time, defining what constitutes privacy when the information at stake is what makes you who you are.

Abhradeep Guha Thakurta, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at UCSC, is on a team exploring how to best give researchers access to increasing amounts of genomic data. The stakes are high, promising unprecedented insight into what causes—and could possibly cure—a range of diseases and chronic conditions.

How to share that valuable information without revealing deeply personal medical details is the balance that Guha Thakurta will try to strike, along with UCSC Assistant Professor of Bimolecular Engineering Russ Corbett-Detig, UCSC Professor of Computer Science Dimitris Achlioptas, and Temple University Assistant Professor of Statistical Science Vishesh Karwa.

“Your genome sequence is your fingerprint,” says Guha Thakurta, a clue to highly individualized strengths and weaknesses in human biology, which is also increasingly of interest to at-home gene analysis companies, drug makers, advertisers, and other business and research interests.

The explosion in genetic data is fueled in part by a huge decrease in the cost of genetic sequencing, from around $3 billion for the groundbreaking Human Genome Project to $1,000 today for whole-genome sequencing. Companies like 23andMe offer a less-detailed view of a person’s DNA for as little as $100.  

Companies are cropping up to charge people for all kinds of insights purportedly based on their DNA. Many operate in the field of “personalized medicine,” offering a chance to adapt medical care and behavior to individual genetic health risks. And then there are ventures like Helix, which offers products “personalized by your DNA,” from $90 weight-loss plans and $60 wine recommendations to color-coded genetic results printed on socks, shirts and tote bags.  

When people take the plunge to learn about their DNA, it’s also not just their own information they’re sharing (or wearing). Some 60 percent of Americans of Northern European descent can be identified through genetic databases, regardless of whether they’ve personally joined, a recent study found. That number could reach 90 percent within three years.

With companies and researchers vying for gene data for their own purposes, the researchers at UCSC are trying to allow medical teams to access more shared data—wherever it may be—without compromising deeply personal details. “Privacy is not a scientific word,” Guha Thakurta says. “It is an expectation of people.”

He brings years of experience dealing with this gray area, including privacy work at Microsoft Research, the security group at UC Berkeley and Yahoo Labs. Guha Thakurta also worked at Apple from 2015-2017 on “differential privacy,” a way of gaining insights from a group of users’ data without revealing information about individual users. So far, that’s been difficult to do with hyper-specific genetic data.     

As it stands, when someone spits in a tube and sends it to a private company to be sequenced, they often don’t know where their data is going or how it’s going to be used. But there is at least one nearby startup trying to change that, offering customers a chance to control their DNA—and make money off of it.

Most people are paying personal genomics companies “for the privilege of having them take your data and resell it,” says Kamal Obbad, CEO and co-founder of San Francisco startup Nebula Genomics. He pitches a world where the cost of gene sequencing shifts from individuals to organizations using their data by letting people sell directly to researchers or buyers like biopharmaceutical companies.

That makes it more important to answer social and regulatory questions about who genetic data belongs to, Guha Thakurta says. Ultimately, he hopes the new grant project will yield privacy protections that go beyond an academic paper, to actually be used by those who control genomic data—whoever they may be.

Love Your Local Band: The Village Green

In 1968, while most rock bands were going as far out into psychedelic territory as they possibly could, the Kinks released the commercial flop The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, which has since become a cult classic and a favorite among Kinks fans. In fact, local Kinks tribute band the Village Green like it so much, they named their band after it.

“It was a very British album. It talked about going out and having afternoon tea and preserving the tradition of the Village Green,” says guitarist Jeff Ebbage. “There was nothing psychedelic about it. It wasn’t what was popular. That meant that people got into it because they looked for it, and something about it really resonated.”

The Village Green does play hits like “You Really Got Me” and “Lola,” but they also dig deep into obscure cuts from the late ’60s and early ’70s, when the group was getting really experimental and mixing musical theatre and opera into its music.

The group doesn’t play much. In fact, it exists almost exclusively to raise money for Guitars Not Guns, which helps put instruments in the hands of disadvantaged kids. They’ve also recorded an album of Kinks songs to sell and raise more money for this organization. Sometime later this year, they hope to release a second album for the nonprofit.

After all, the Kinks are the perfect vehicle to celebrate everyone’s weird side and encourage creativity in kids.

“The Kinks were misfits. When you get the misfits together, it’s a beautiful thing,” Ebbage says. “There was the Beatles, the Stones and then the Kinks, and they were on the fringe. Us collectively all getting together and celebrating the stuff, it’s powerful.” 

INFO: 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. Michael’s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $12. 479-9777.

Burger: Impossible

While at the Paris Climate Accord in December of 2015, Patrick Brown noticed something peculiar about the mass of environmentally conscious politicians and ardent activists attending the momentous summit. Despite spending days advocating for more stringent regulations around greenhouse gas emissions, he observed that many of these conservationists would end their day not with a salad, but instead with a juicy steak.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with prime rib, it’s a bit of a daring choice for environmental advocates: Livestock alone generate 7.1 gigatons of greenhouse gases each year, about the same amount as the entire global transportation sector, and are also the biggest driving factor of biodiversity loss in the world, according to a 2013 report by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. (Animal populations also declined at an astonishing 58 percent between 1970 and 2012 alone.) And Brown says that’s no secret, either.

“It’s very hard for people to make changes in practices that are a huge source of pleasure in their lives and that are very ingrained in their patterns,” Brown explains. “We could have every person as educated about this problem as the environmentalists in Paris who, just like them, would all go out and have a steak anyway.”

So if environmentalists at the most important climate summit on Earth can’t give up steak for the benefit of the planet, where does that leave the rest of us?

A few years prior in 2011, Brown quit what he describes as his “dream job” at Stanford University to answer that very question. A lifelong educator, the professor emeritus of biochemistry and co-founder of the open-access Public Library of Science knew that a solution didn’t lie in trying to convert the masses to veganism. Instead, it stemmed from giving people what they want: more meat.

“The most important scientific problem today is identifying what makes meat delicious, and so our job is to serve meat lovers,” he says. “The only way to solve this problem is to make food that not only has a lower environmental impact, but also does a better job of giving consumers what they want: delicious, nutritious, convenient, and affordable food.”

Enter the Impossible Burger, a plant-based patty that looks, feels and tastes just like beef. (It even “bleeds” when it’s raw.) Brown, the founder and CEO of Redwood City-based Impossible Foods, is leading a food revolution that seeks to satiate the carnivore in all of us—without ever killing or harming a sentient being—and hopes to solve critical issues like food security, global warming, deforestation, and animal welfare along the way.

Where better to start than with an all-American staple like the hamburger? As one of the country’s most popular foods, ground beef is consumed by Americans at an astonishing rate of 5 billion pounds per year. About half of that is sold in restaurants. So while the concept of the burger is classically American, Impossible Foods is a true Silicon Valley invention. Defining innovation, it’s changing both the definition and limitations of meat as we know it to create a product that uses 75 percent less water, 97 percent less land and 87 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions per patty. What could be more disruptive than that?

Celeste Holz-Schietinger, director of research at Impossible Foods, says that making the impossible possible begins with the science. First and foremost a research and design company, Impossible Foods spent its first five years pouring its time, money and resources into creating a scientific platform that would understand what key biological components made meat taste like meat, and how the aromas, textures and flavors could be reproduced by plants.

“People love to eat meat because it’s craveable, there’s a delicious flavor, and people love the sensory experience: You see it cook, hear the sizzle and of course smell and taste it,” she says. “What we’re doing is breaking that down to the sensory experiences, going down to a molecular level and identifying what aspects of meat drive that.”

Impossible Science

The secret sauce that makes the Impossible Burger a reality is an essential molecular building block called heme (pronounced heem). Heavily abundant in animal tissue in the form of hemoglobin, heme is responsible for giving meat its satisfying, craveable taste. Scientists at Impossible Foods discovered that the same meaty flavor could be achieved by supplementing heme from the roots of legumes, specifically soybeans.

Fermented in large quantities with yeast, legume-derived heme is a blood-red liquid that tastes metallic when raw and meaty when cooked. When combined with a few other simple, naturally derived ingredients like wheat, potato protein, konjac, xanthan gum, and coconut oil, a burger is born—one that’s flavor, texture and aroma truly does mimic its animal-based counterpart.

“The molecule-to-molecule breakdown of heme in a cow or the Impossible Burger is identical,” Holz-Schietinger explains. “Heme binds to iron, which is actually what gives it its red color and metallic flavor, and upon cooking gives the Impossible Burger a roasted, caramelized flavor.”

Taste test aside, investors who are seeing meat production as an increasingly global problem are buying into the Impossible Burger’s unique, scientifically backed formula: The company has secured $450 million in funding from big name investors like Khosla Ventures, Temasek and even Bill Gates—$300 million of which was raised in the last 18 months alone. Their product is being served in over 2,500 restaurants, onboard Air New Zealand and most recently, in White Castle restaurants across the Midwest and on the East Coast.

PASSING PATTY It's not meat—it's a molecule called "heme" that lends the Impossible Burger its flavor and appearance.
PASSING PATTY It’s not meat—it’s a molecule called “heme” that lends the Impossible Burger its flavor and appearance.

The Impossible Burger hasn’t been brought to grocery store shelves yet—but that’s for a pretty smart reason, explains David Lee, Impossible’s chief operating and financial officer. The Impossible Burger’s unique appeal to millennials, arguably the world’s most influential trendsetters, is what’s ultimately causing the plant-based burgers to fly off the griddle, he argues. Because who better to experience the new Impossible Burger for than captive audiences on the ’gram?

“The grocery store is generally not an Instagrammable moment,” Lee says, adding that the consumer movement is key in the Impossible Burger’s success strategy. “Eating together in restaurants is social and viral by nature. If a great burger arrives that’s new and provocatively named, it’s something you can share with your friends.”

Ron Levi, owner and head chef of the Funny Farm in San Jose, found out about the Impossible Burger through a more traditional form of advertisement, specifically a poster hanging inside Wahlburgers in downtown Palo Alto. He’d heard about the product before, but wasn’t convinced until he took the first bite. A chef and restaurateur for 35 years, Levi explains that he’s never come across a veggie patty that actually satiated the customer’s desire for a burger. Since adding the Impossible Burger to his restaurant’s menu a few months back, he’s been amazed by the demand, which he estimates constitutes 10 percent of all burger sales, something even he admits is a lot for a plant-based patty.

“Having been in the industry forever, I’ve come across a lot of veggie patties, and I never really liked any of them,” he says. “When I tried it, everything I had heard was true, and I’m a burger fanatic. I eat Impossible Burgers every now and then in lieu of a regular burger because they taste great.”

The latest phase of the meatless meat revolution is in the form of a state-of-the-art production facility that Impossible Foods opened in Oakland last fall. The goal: churning out 1 million pounds of plant-based meat a month to distribute across the nation to hungry vegans, vegetarians and especially adventurous carnivores. Brown sees a very bright future for the Impossible Burger, and he hopes that consumers and farmers—needed to help make the impossible a reality—will share his vision of being the best meat in the world, ultimately helping the brand expand its offerings to include Impossible cheese, milk, fish, and poultry.

“Being ahead of the curve with a next-gen technology—one that’s better for consumers, food security and the environment—is an awesome opportunity,” he says. “If it’s going to happen anyway, you want to be leading it, not its victim.”

Music Picks: February 20-26

Live music highlights for the week of Feb. 20, 2019

 

WEDNESDAY 2/20

R&B

ELLA MAI

Ella Mai creates soulful R&B grooves that will make you feel like falling in love can be empowering as well as all-encompassing. Reminiscent of the earlier, more love-struck R&B of the ’90s, her intimate, emotive stylings weave through the highs and lows of relationships with personal storytelling and incredible vulnerability. Her voice is bright and assertive, complimenting thick, heartthrob bass notes and back-up harmonies oozing amorous inclinations. No matter how hot the track may get, Mai keeps her message focused: self-knowledge is what’s most sexy. AMY BEE

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $27.50 adv/$30 door. 423-1338.

 

THURSDAY 2/21

AMERICANA

MOSHE VILOZNY

Moshe Vilozny exudes buoyant playfulness as he jams on the lighter side of American roots music, often finding the silver lining in the personal, and inspiration in the most unlikely places, including the environment. “The world is an ocean/And it’s easy to drown/But you can ride on the same wave/That’s been holding you down,” he jauntily sings on the title track of solo album Lost and Found. An easygoing candor permeates Vislozny’s musical arrangements, making what could be dismal redemptive instead. His ever-promising lyrics promote rose-colored hope. AB

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777

 

FRIDAY 2/22

REGGAE

SLY & ROBBIE

Sly & Robbie’s list of credits are too long for your meager human brain to fully comprehend. Sly Dunbar (drummer) and Robbie Shakespeare (bassist) had separate careers in the early ’70s in Jamaica, but then teamed up in the mid-’70s to become one of the best and most prolific production teams to ever come out of Jamaica. They’ve worked with reggae legends Black Uhuru, Dennis Brown, Bunny Wailer, Gregory Isaacs, and Peter Tosh. They’ve also worked with people like Madonna, No Doubt, Bob Dylan, and Grace Jones, and managed to release their own incredible reggae-dub music as well. AARON CARNES

INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $26 adv/$30 door. 479-1854.

PUNK

VAGABONNIES ROADSHOW

What do you get when you cross seven badass women in music for one night only? The Vagabonnies Roadshow, duh! Featuring Stacey Dee and Jennie Cotterill (Bad Cop/Bad Cop), Jen Razavi (Bombpops), Beebs and her Money Maker, Jen Carlson (Angry Amputees, Tiger + Bunny), Jen Johnson (F-Minus, Tiger + Bunny) and Gillian McGhee (Hi Ho, Turnspit), this feminist mini-Warped Tour shows a side of these punks most audiences aren’t familiar with: the acoustic one. Don’t worry, with a line-up like this, it’ll be one unplugged show that still delivers a no-holds-barred night of politics, poetry and destroying the patriarchy. MAT WEIR

INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $7. 429-6994.

AFRICAN

HABIB KOITE & BASSEKOU KOUYATE

Habib Koité is a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter born in Senegal and raised in his ancestral homeland Mali, where he forged an irresistibly grooving sound that unleashes traditional instruments from traditional roles. He’s joined by Malian vocalist Bassekou Kouyaté, a master of the ngoni, an ancient string instrument that preceded the banjo. He appeared as a special guest on Koité’s acclaimed 2014 album Soô, the guitarist’s first release in decades that did not feature his working band Bamada. The duo has continued to develop the partnership, which gives the two bandleaders plenty of space to stretch out and deliver Bambara soul from the source. ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: 7 and 9 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $31.50 adv/$47.25 door. 427-2227.

 

SATURDAY 2/23

AFROBEAT

ANTIBALAS

Antibalas are celebrating their 20th anniversary with a tour highlighting the gold standard of Afrobeat and funk music. Diverse influences often sound like a rumination on repetitive beats and vocal callbacks—groovy jams to get lost in. The horns and percussion work hard to keep the infectious mood going, allowing the guitar and vocals to explore multiple sonic interpretations. It’s like one long, jazzy, dance-inducing jam session. The music is mesmerizing and pleasing to body and ear, both top notch and peerless. AB

INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $28 adv/$32 door. 479-1854.

ELECTRONIC

THE SESHEN

Every once in a while, a band will come along that marks a defining moment in music evolution. San Francisco’s the Seshen is one of those bands. Their soul-filled, electronic jazz flows under a sky of politically charged poetry that is unlike anything you’ve heard—but, somehow, warmly familiar. MW

INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$12 door. 429-6994.

 

SUNDAY 2/24

HIP-HOP

YHUNG T.O.

SOB X RBE is one of the most interesting hip-hop crews to come out of the Bay in a while. The beats are raw, yet with an eye toward pop, and still keep a foot in the hyphy sound that at one time defined the Yay Area. The individual members all have distinct personalities that make them a group to be reckoned with. Now we’re seeing them start to break off with some excellent solo records—as is the case with Yhung T.O., the member with probably the most pop radio upside. His album Trust Issues, released late last year, shows clear breakout potential. AC

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $15 adv/$20 door. 423-1338.

 

TUESDAY 2/26

FOLK

MAKANA

In 2011, Hawaiian singer-songwriter Makana was invited to perform at a dinner in Honolulu, which was attended by then-president Barack Obama. Makana took the opportunity to play a song he’d recently written about his dissatisfaction with the current wealth gap called “We Are the Many.” In no time, this Guthrie-esque folk song became the unofficial anthem of the Occupy movement. He had been around since the ’90s, known for melding Hawaiian slack-key guitar and folk, with a generally political bent. “We Are The Many” offers a taste of the authentic protest spirit that’s all over his lesser-known catalog. AC

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $25-$40. 427-2227.

What Does the Homeless Census Really Tell Us?

It’s Jan. 30, and Joe Bishop, a volunteer with the Point-in-Time Count, or PIT Count, is driving at 10 miles per hour, while Amber Belcher rides shotgun and sifts through maps of three census tracts. The two met for the first time half an hour ago, when they were assigned this area.

Both Bishop and Belcher are rookies in the pre-dawn counting process aimed at better understanding the population of those without homes. Most of the counting happens from the car. Outside, the ground is wet from a nighttime rain. As we roll down a quiet Capitola street, the two volunteers confer with each other to make sure they follow the steps correctly. It’s 5:30 a.m. when Bishop turns around, peering toward me in the backseat, and says with a smile, “As you can see, Jake, the training was—”

“Extensive!” Belcher says, also smiling. Bishop and Belcher both watched a quick video a few days prior as part of their training, then were briefed for 10 minutes as a refresher at the Homeless Services Center before volunteers dispatched into small groups. They’re both happy to be volunteering and want to make sure they get everything right.

The information that volunteers are amassing this morning will serve as the first data point in the 2019 Santa Cruz County Homeless Census and Survey. Over the next couple of months, organizers will conduct about 400 interviews of homeless individuals, attempting to mirror the demographic breakdowns that volunteers like Belcher and Bishop found in the field last month. Researchers will then compile all of the findings in a report due out this summer. The study plays a pivotal funding roll for communities like Santa Cruz County, which receives federal money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

As Santa Cruz waits for the results of the bi-annual PIT Count, its struggle with the problem of homelessness shows no sign of abating. The homeless camp between the Ross department store and Highway 1, known by many as “the Ross camp,” will be closing in the next three weeks as city employees attempt to shift tent-dwelling residents to other shelters.

Assumed Errors

Over the years, some skeptics have raised questions about counts like these, including the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. The group authored a 2017 report titled “Don’t Count on It,” aimed at highlighting the ways that HUD’s PIT process underreports the actual number of homeless people nationwide.

Naomi Sugie, a social ecology professor at UC Irvine, participated in similar PIT counts, including one in New York City. She tells GT via email that she generally believes “these methods are assumed to have error.” That, she adds, makes it “not particularly useful to emphasize small differences from one year to the next.” Beyond that, if conditions change dramatically in a given year (i.e. a big winter storm), that could affect the count in more problematic ways, adds Sugie, who recently authored a report about how to use new technology and research methods to study “hard-to-reach groups.”

Here in Santa Cruz County, some leaders have grappled with what to make of the count for some time. “It is not real accurate, but you know what is more accurate? Nothing,” says Chip, executive director of the Downtown Association, who went on the 2013 count. He argues that survey results still provide valuable insight into the homeless community. “It’s the best data we have, and when you’re making policy decisions, data’s really important.”

The overall number of local homeless residents has jumped around in recent years without much explanation. Reports showed a 44 percent decrease from 3,536 people in 2013 to 1,964 in 2015. The total went back up again in 2017, to 2,249 people, still 36 percent less than the 2013 number.

Watsonville company Applied Survey Research (ASR) oversees this count and survey, as it does others across the San Francisco Bay Area. ASR Vice President Peter Connery finds that the data is actually “remarkably consistent” year-to-year, especially when it comes to survey results. Many social scientists, generally speaking, don’t like to rely heavily on self-reported data, but the reports’ statistics on reported drug abuse, mental illness struggles, reasons for becoming homeless, and duration of homelessness all hold rather steady. Also, since 2013, between 68-84 percent of respondents have said that they lived in the county before becoming homeless.

Each count, Connery says, is statistically accurate, and ASR tries to make sure as many volunteers as possible get paired with an expert guide from the survey company.

Foggy Math

Early on Jan. 30, after 15 minutes of circling mid-county, Bishop and Belcher spot the first person of the morning who appears to be homeless. From the car, Belcher bubbles in what she guesses is the person’s age bracket, 24-65. As Bishop drives around, Belcher keeps track of which streets we’ve already traveled down, and also wonders how the rain is affecting the count—if the downpour might have pushed people farther out of sight in search of dry hiding places. At the suggestion of organizers, Bishop and Belcher skip over a few streets in a more affluent neighborhood. Our census tracts include parts of Live Oak and Capitola. The 2017 count found that 1 percent of the county’s homeless population lives in Capitola.

Santa Cruz County’s PIT count happens every two years on one day during the last 10 days in January. Connery says HUD mandates that the counts happen at the end of the month because homeless people will often pool cash to get a hotel room when they can afford it, and that money is usually gone by the end of the month. This year, in order to count inhabitants of the Ross camp, Connery says that ASR had “embedded reporters” go undercover at the encampment.

No one knows exactly how variables like weather, date of the month or day of the week affect any given count, though Connery says he doesn’t see any of those factors having an impact. By virtue of its methods, the process involves making judgment calls and even some stereotyping. Belcher and Bishop are not allowed to disturb anyone or knock on car windows, so when they coast past parked vehicles, they’re instead looking for fogged-up windows—a telltale sign that someone’s been inside for hours. That can be tricky, because early in the morning after rain, many car windows look foggy. Later, when they see a tired-looking man with a backpack walking down a busy street at 9 a.m., they have to decide: homeless or not?

As we circle, Belcher wonders aloud if the counting process might be easier if each car was given a GPS tracker, so that every two years volunteers could see how the previous group covered the same ground. Chip suggests that surveyors could do a PIT count on two or more days for every homeless census to widen the sample size, but acknowledges that it would take more resources and may not be worth it.

Connery says that adding days probably would make the count more accurate. Other communities opt to do the counts every year instead of every other year. But he’s not sure what end such a change would serve. Instead of spending more money studying homelessness, he says that local governments should increase spending on services to put a real dent in both the size and the suffering of the homeless population.

He gets defensive when answering questions about the surveys. At the national level, many of the criticisms of HUD’s counts come from homeless advocates on the left, but locally, the critiques come more often from anti-homeless groups looking to undermine the survey’s results. “You don’t have a data problem,” says Connery. “You have a service delivery problem.”

Bishop and Belcher both participated because they know how important it is to fund solutions to homelessness. Bishop is the founder of the faith-based counseling nonprofit Respero, which has been increasing its homeless outreach. Belcher is a nurse who used to work at the Homeless Persons’ Health Project, and she sometimes misses her old job.

“You need funds in order to help people,” Belcher explains, recalling efforts to track down new funding sources on the phone. “It does break down to the dollar at some point. And if you don’t have the ability to provide resources, then you’re not gonna help anyone. I think it’s really important we count all the people we can.”

The two volunteers wrap up their count around 9:30 a.m. Belcher and Bishop have both been up since before 4 a.m., and they had second thoughts about coming out today. Once Belcher finally crawled out of bed after hitting the snooze button on her alarm a few times, she looked out her window at the rain, and thought that maybe she didn’t really want to leave the house, after all. “Then I was like, ‘You know what? You’re being lame because you’re gonna go out survey people who live out in this rain right now,” she says. “Suck it up!’”

Byington’s Mountain Hideaway, Plus Wine On the Wharf

Byington Vineyard & Winery
A Chardonnay lover’s retreat

5 Things To Do in Santa Cruz: February 20-26

Humans Versus Robots
Humans vs. robots, plus a clam chowder cook-off

Holy Smokes Makes BBQ A Family Affair

Holy Smokes
Meet the matriarch behind Santa Cruz’s latest BBQ eatery

Opinion: February 20, 2019

Plus letters to the editor

‘Champions and Lovers’ at Tannery Winter Dance Fest

Tannery Winter Dance Fest
Annual performance returns with dancers from near and far

Who Owns Your DNA?

DNA privacy
UCSC researchers decode genetic privacy

Love Your Local Band: The Village Green

village green
The Village Green play Michael’s On Main Friday, Feb. 22

Burger: Impossible

Impossible burger
Can a Silicon Valley startup change veggie burgers forever?

Music Picks: February 20-26

ella mai
Live music highlights for the week of Feb. 20, 2019

What Does the Homeless Census Really Tell Us?

homeless census
As another camp closes, a trip on the bi-annual Homeless Census
17,623FansLike
8,845FollowersFollow