Page 759 – Good Times

6 Things to Do in Santa Cruz This Week

Things To Do This Week

GT Staff

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September 6, 2017

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Event highlights for the week of September 6, 2017.

Green Fix

UC Master Gardeners’ Garden Tour

How’d you like to go on a garden tour right in your backyard? Well, OK, not your actual backyard, probably, but someone’s backyard. UC Master Gardeners of Monterey leads an around-the-world garden tour featuring eight different Santa Cruz locations showcasing styles from Mediterranean to Japanese that may just inspire your own gardening approach.

INFO: Saturday 9/9. 10 a.m.-4p.m. Starts at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, 140 Front St., Santa Cruz. $25-30.

Art Seen

Santa Cruz Follies ‘Best of Broadway’

How many Broadway shows have you been to? The answer is: not enough. However, the Santa Cruz Follies is putting on a show of scenes from eight different Broadway plays, including Annie and 42nd Street. Dubbed the “Best Kept Secret in Santa Cruz,” the Follies features some of the most talented 50-plus performers in town.

INFO: Wednesday 9/13-Saturday 9/16. Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. 307 Church St., Santa Cruz. santacruzfollies.net. $20.

Sunday 9/10

Farmworker Family Day

Farmworkers have one of the most arduous jobs, and are often faced with difficult life circumstances. The Center for Farmworker Families supports those who work in the fields, and helps to advocate against environmental racism and pesticides in and around the Pajaro Valley. Help support food justice and those who put food on your table everyday.

INFO: 3-6 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 6401 Freedom Boulevard, Aptos. farmworkerfamily.org. $50.

Friday 9/8-Sunday 9/10

36th Annual Greek Festival

Having been voted the best street festival in Santa Cruz County, the annual Greek Festival is back again with gyros and spanakopita galore, plus live music and dancing. Learn more about Greek culture while pretending you’re on vacation in Athens. Belly dancing totally optional. Opa!

INFO: Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, 223 Church St., Santa Cruz. livelikeagreek.com. Free admission.

Saturday 9/9

Mole and Mariachi Festival

If you aren’t a mole lover now, you definitely will be after this. The fifth annual Mole and Mariachi Festival will feature nine different types of mole, and as much mariachi as you could ever want. If and when you run out of mole to try, move on to unlimited tacos, churros, and chavelas for sale. Proceeds benefit the Santa Cruz Mission and the event is 100 percent solar-powered and zero-waste.

INFO: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, 144 School St., Santa Cruz. thatsmypark.org/events. Free admission, tasting kits $10-$15.

Wednesday 9/13

Street Smarts Campaign

In 2015, there were more than 600 reported traffic collisions resulting in more than 300 injuries in the City of Santa Cruz. Street Smarts is the City of Santa Cruz’s campaign to reduce traffic collisions in the city in partnership with local schools and health services to lessen the number of traffic collisions. The campaign will launch Wednesday and be followed by quarterly street smarts traffic presentations on how to be safe on the road.

INFO: 3-6 p.m. Kaiser Permanente Arena, 140 Front St., Santa Cruz. cityofsantacruz.com. Free.

Union Leaders Question Santa Cruz Metro CEO’s Salary Increase

Local News

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September 6, 2017

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Union Leaders Question Santa Cruz Metro CEO’s Salary Increase

A swarm of community members, most of them bus drivers, crowded into the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District room for a heated bus transit board meeting on Aug. 25. They filled every seat, wrapped around the room, and spilled out into the lobby, about half of them wearing shirts that read “Purple is the New Black,” a reference to the colors of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

The union workers had shown up to protest a salary increase for Metro CEO Alex Clifford of 10 percent, to $213,000 annually.

“The CEO, in negotiating this agreement, has put himself first, before all other members of this agency,” said Olivia Martinez, internal organizer for SEIU, Local 521, during the public comment period.

She noted that Metro workers and the SEIU had campaigned hard with agency leaders to help pass Measure D, Santa Cruz County’s 30-year transportation sales tax initiative that will provide $3 million per year to Metro. The measure’s victory in November of 2016 was the difference between a proposed 30 percent cut in service and the 12 percent cut in service that the board ended up approving—still not a strong enough financial situation for them to be putting cash toward the top of the Metro totem pole, Martinez argued.

One board member after another deflected the criticisms, noting that this was not, in fact, a raise, but rather what’s called a “step increase,” built into Clifford’s contract, to get approved when an employee has done a “satisfactory” job. Board Chair Jimmy Dutra said the board had step increases for union employees before it at that same meeting, and it wouldn’t think about denying those. Board member Mike Rotkin said that the board has never denied anyone at Metro a step increase since he first began serving on it in 1979.

The explanations may have quieted the grumblings in the room, but it didn’t eliminate them.

“I wish my step increase was an extra 17 grand,” said Metro driver Brandon Freeman, as he stood outside the crowded meeting room, turned toward his friends packed in behind him.

For him, each step increase was only in the 2 or 3 percent range. And unlike Clifford, he won’t be getting any more, because drivers top out after they reach their sixth increase.

Later, as members gathered around outside the meeting room doors, Martinez clarified that they weren’t criticizing the step increase itself, but rather the way it was handled.

The problem, she tells GT, is that the board unanimously awarded Clifford two simultaneous step increases in one motion, and also put the CEO on a brand new schedule that starts him over at step one—so that he’s at the first stage of six salary increases over the next five years. She feels the increases were all done under the table, in an attempt to avoid public scrutiny.

Clifford’s salary, she says, is out of step with what CEOs of other transportation districts make and also with that of Clifford’s predecessor, Les White, who retired in 2014.

Dutra and Rotkin say that the board granted Clifford two step increases at one time partly because the CEO had foregone last year’s step increase, given the financial tension Metro was in ahead of November’s tightly contested Measure D vote. Rotkin, a five-time former Santa Cruz mayor, says the board would have had no justification for denying an increase to Clifford because “he did a good job” navigating financially uncertain times—closer to “extraordinary,” really, Rotkin says—hence the extra step.

The board had Clifford’s performance evaluation at its June meeting, when it awarded him the increases in closed session, as noted on the agenda, although the agenda did not specifically mention anything about compensation. Dutra notes that a member of the public did show up to speak about Clifford’s evaluation at that June meeting—Metro driver Eduardo Montesino, who was the only person to do so.

Montesino, a former Watsonville mayor, spoke again at the August meeting to say that he wished Clifford’s salary increase, although not necessarily unwarranted, could have been handled with more transparency.

The transit district has faced other recent criticisms as well, most notably from a grand jury report titled “The Bus Stops Here,” which criticized Metro for its fiscal management, service cuts and failures to explore future opportunities and partnerships. The board and Clifford both rejected much of the report in separate responses, showing that it incorrectly claimed Metro was headed for a fiscal cliff, when it in fact has balanced its budget. And some of the grand jury’s suggestions, they argue, are too expensive to be worth the investment.

When it comes to compensation, Rotkin acknowledges that Clifford is making much more money than White did, but says that White made more than his predecessor did, too. Rotkin—a union organizer himself for the American Federation of Teachers—says that talented, experienced CEOs are difficult to come by, and hiring a new one can be expensive. At the same time, Rotkin explains that Metro leaders also keep adding on additional step increases—as they did earlier this summer, when extending Clifford’s contract—to avoid a situation where their CEO is asking himself, “Where else can I go?”

At the end of the day, Clifford is employed “at will” by the board, unlike other Metro workers.

“You want to keep him around for a few years,” Rotkin says. “But at the same time, if he did anything seriously wrong, the board could fire him at the next meeting.”

Thanks For Not Calling Us Back, Roger Grigsby

Local News

Jacob Pierce

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September 6, 2017

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Thanks For Not Calling Us Back, Roger Grigsby

In our time at GT, plunking away at computers and answering phones over the years, we like to think we’ve learned a lesson or two through this whole journalism thing.

One tidbit is that sometimes a guy or gal will have a perspective that seems so evil and vile from afar—either through word of mouth or pure conjecture—and yet once you hear them explain their side, that person’s point of view is pretty much never as bad as you imagined it in your head.

That’s the reason, as we mentioned last week, we were disappointed to not hear from Roger Grigsby, owner of O’mei, a Chinese restaurant on Mission Street. Grigsby donated $500 toward the white supremacist David Duke’s meager attempt at a U.S. Senate campaign in Louisiana last year, inciting outrage around Santa Cruz when the community learned of it this summer. Or at least we thought we were disappointed.

But after our story was published, Grigsby talked to reporters from KPIX and the Santa Cruz Sentinel (shortly after his whole wait staff apparently walked out), saying that he supports Duke for the former KKK leader’s record of “defending the civil rights of European-Americans,” adding that the backlash against him and his now-closed restaurant is all part of a “war on whites.”

Congrats, Roger. You proved our theory wrong! We now actually appreciate your not returning our calls, and sparing us from what would have been a conversation much, much worse than we were even imagining.

The saga got picked up all over, including, of course, at Breitbart, where one commenter wrote, “The time has come to fight the fascists on the left. If Santa Cruz is ground zero, so be it.”

Uh, OK then. If “fascists on the left” means “people who dislike racism” … well, bring it.

Music Picks September 6 – 12

GT Staff

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September 6, 2017

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Live music highlights for the week of September 6, 2017.

WEDNESDAY 9/6

UKULELE

JAKE SHIMABUKURO

I recently showed my six-year-old niece a video of Jake Shimabukuro playing his ukulele. I’ve also shared videos of him with my 71-year-old mom and a friend whose musical taste rests firmly in metal. Shimabukuro transcends music in a way that’s tricky to describe. He’s so damn good at his craft that things like genre and even medium fall away to reveal a creative and technical master. His latest album, Nashville Sessions, is a jazz album that pushes Shimabukuro’s skill set further still. If you have an appreciation for the little uke, you’re likely already familiar with Shimabukuro. If it isn’t something you’ve gravitated to before, but you have a taste for artistic mastery, check this guy out. CJ

INFO: 8 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $37/gen, $52/gold. 423-8209.

THURSDAY 9/7

HAWAIIAN

GEORGE KAHUMOKU JR.

Hawaiian cowboys and cowgirls are a thing—and an interesting aspect of Hawaiian history and music. Slack key guitarist/songwriter/storyteller George Kahumoku Jr. fully embraces the paniolo/paniola culture—he raises goats and grows taro on his farm on Maui—and is one of its most beloved musical ambassadors. In 2015, the multiple Grammy-winning artist released Paniolo Slack Key: Songs of the Hawaiian Cowboy—his latest offering in a long list of outstanding albums. A regular visitor to the Santa Cruz area, Kahumoku shares the rich Hawaiian music tradition in all of its forms with audiences around the world. CJ

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $17/adv, $20/door. 335-2800.

FRIDAY 9/8

PSYCH-SOUL

MONOPHONICS

Psychedelic soul. It sounds like the kind of music you listen to after your second or third dose of acid, when the Grateful Dead jam has finally started to bore you. But really, bands like Monophonics proudly wave this genre’s flag, because it highlights their diverse influences—everything from Pink Floyd to Funkadelic. In other words, a couple tabs of acid will go nicely with this groove-heavy, deeply layered music. With San Francisco’s Monophonics, expect things to fall less on the Pink Floyd freakout-jam side of things, and more on the laid-back groove side. AARON CARNES

INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $20/door. 479-1854.

SATURDAY 9/9

PUNK

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS

There’s a scene in the 2000 indie film High Fidelity where a record store hipster, in an attempt to impress a girl, plays her a taste of Green Day, then a snippet of virtually unknown ’70s U.K. punk band Stiff Little Fingers. Indeed, Stiff Little Fingers laid the groundwork for what Green Day was doing. Back then, obscure but highly influential bands like Stiff Little Fingers were the darlings of such hipsters. Nearly two decades later, all of us have become internet savvy music historians. But that doesn’t make Stiff Little Fingers any less incredible and remarkably influential. This is their 40th anniversary tour. How amazing is that? AC

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $22/door. 429-4135.

SUNDAY 9/10

ROCK

STEVEN GRAVES BAND

This past June, a federal judge granted the Lakota people a major victory in their on-going battle with the U.S. Government over the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. However, the nearly year-long protest and months of litigation required major funding for legal representation—which local musician Steven Graves hopes to help with. This Sunday, Graves and his six-piece band will play a benefit for the Lakota People’s Law Project and the Standing Rock Legal Defense Fund. Make sure to catch their latest single, “Stand For the People,” which is currently being considered Song of the Year for this year’s Native American Music Awards. MAT WEIR

INFO: 7 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $12. 335-2800.

SUNDAY 9/10

GYPSY/SWING

CAFÉ MUSIQUE

California five-piece Café Musique plays gypsy, swing, tango, folk and something the members have dubbed “wild classical.” Comprising Brynn Albanese—whose resume includes work with the Boston Symphony and the Hague Philharmonic—on violin and vocals; former pub owner Duane Inglish on accordion; Craig Nuttycombe, who toured with Jimi Hendrix and Canned Heat, on guitar and vocals; multi-genre and multi-instrument master Fred Murray on bass and vocals; and Eric Williams, who has worked with Tori Amos and Taj Mahal, on guitar, ukulele, bouzouki and vocals, the group is a musical treasure of the Central Coast and beyond. CJ

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $25/gen, $32/gold. 427-2227.

SUNDAY 9/10

ROCK

THE MAGPIE SALUTE

Most bands would be blown away to hear that their first show sold out. While we’re sure the Magpie Salute was thankful to fans, it didn’t hurt that they were formed by Rich Robinson, Marc Ford and Sven Pipien, all members of the world-renowned Black Crowes. Joining the trio are Matt Slocum, Adrien Reju, Katrine Ottosen and Joe Magistro—all from Robinson’s solo project—for a rock ’n’ roll experience that draws on influences from the Small Faces to Sly and the Family Stone. MW

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $27/adv, $30/door. 429-4135.

MONDAY 9/11

JAZZ

AVISHAI COHEN

Israeli-born, New York-based trumpeter Avishai Cohen possesses a gorgeous, warm, glowing tone and uncommonly poised sense of structure. During his six-year run with the SFJAZZ Collective, he often stood out with smart, elliptically lyrical compositions, and his concept seems to have evolved in interesting directions since then. His recent album, Cross My Palm With Silver (ECM), is a striking, quietly dramatic journey featuring rising 21-year-old Israeli pianist Gadi Lehavi, veteran Israeli bassist Barak Mori, and drummer extraordinaire Marcus Gilmore (a longtime member of pianist Vijay Iyer’s trio). ANDREW GILBERT

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

MONDAY 9/11

AMERICANA

RYAN JOSEPH ANDERSON

In 2014, Ryan Joseph Anderson was the talk of several Americana-loving music blogs for his debut solo record The Weaver’s Broom. The songwriter was already known from his group Go Long Mule. But his solo outing married a certain grittiness with a warm simplicity. “Straight to the point” is an understatement. His new record City of Vines is a much lusher example of his songwriting. Indeed, he told Glide Magazine that he went from a four-piece band to a 10-piece band for this record. He still evokes the emotion of the gruff Everyman, but it has the anthemic quality of all those heartland rock ’n’ roll artists that seem to be so popular in the rust belt. AC

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

IN THE QUEUE

WESTERN CENTURIES

Seattle-based country, rock and bluegrass group. Wednesday at Don Quixote’s

SINNE EEG

Renowned Scandinavian jazz vocalist. Thursday at Kuumbwa

SWEET PLOT

Indie folk and rock outfit from San Francisco. Saturday at Crepe Place

HELL’S BELLES

All-woman AC/DC tribute band. Saturday at Catalyst

GOLDEN STATE/LONE STAR REVUE

Blues artists Mark Hummel, Anson Funderburgh and more. Sunday at Moe’s Alley

Giveaway: Radical Reels

A&E
Film

Cat Johnson

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September 6, 2017

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Each year, the best mountain sports films from the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival are collected into a traveling film festival dubbed Radical Reels. And every year, mountain sports enthusiasts come out in droves to see outrageous footage of mountain climbers, skiers, snowboarders, kayakers, cyclists and more on the big screen. This year’s films include tales of free ascent climbing in Canada, French free falling flyers, skiing in the Swiss Alps and more.

INFO: 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $18. 423-8209. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 15 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the films.

Love Your Local Band: Reverend Stephan Sams

A&E
Music

Aaron Carnes

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September 6, 2017

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Love Your Local Band: Reverend Stephan Sams

Stephan Sams is the lead singer for local garage-rock band the Redlight District. He’s also a Reverend. You could call him Reverend Stephan Sams, if you were so inclined—in fact, that’s what he calls himself when he plays solo.

But he really is a Reverend. He got his license online when Prop. 8 was getting repealed so that he could be ready to marry LGBTQ couples pro bono.

“That was one of the great wonders I’m sure the internet was created for,” says Sams.

Sams has been playing solo a lot more lately, a product of quitting his day job at a factory, and wanting to find more ways to make money.

“I said to my bandmates, ‘I don’t get much respect there. If I’m going to be disrespected, I’m going to at least be disrespected doing something I love,’” says Sams. “Like a good ex-Catholic.”

Even before Sams started the Redlight District, he was writing solo songs on his guitar, so this is no new thing for him. His solo tunes are a bit more blues influenced, and you can really see his fondness for expressing himself in symbols and folk stories, something he attributes to his Mexican and Native American heritage.

The decision to quit his job, he says will give him a chance to explore his creativity. In a few months, he’ll be moving to L.A. to take the next step in pursuing his dream of being a professional musician. He’s hoping people will dig his Reverend self down there.

“I feel reverential when playing,” he says. “You know, I think that there’s some credence to that title, so that’s why I went to it.”

INFO: 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.

Film Review: ‘The Trip to Spain’

A&E
Film

Lisa Jensen

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September 6, 2017

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If you’ve never tagged along on the culinary adventures of comic actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, eating and joking their way through England and Italy in the first two The Trip movies, it may take a few scenes to get in the groove with this third installment, The Trip to Spain. But if you’ve already acquired a taste for the deadpan improv style and freewheeling mimicry of these guys on the road, make sure your passport is in order, and get ready to laugh.

Part foodie porn, part travelogue to gorgeous locales, the series revolves around two guys named “Steve Coogan” and “Rob Brydon,” lightly fictionalized versions of the real-life actors. As they drive around, eating at fancy restaurants, ostensibly writing a Sunday piece for The Observer, they do occasionally discuss the food placed before them. But mostly, they talk about life in all its complications, which, increasingly, as the series progresses, turns to issues of aging, family, relationships, and showbiz.

But there’s nothing ponderous about the talk in these movies. Even serious subjects are handled with fizzy drollery as these two accomplished comedians ping ideas off each other, working themselves (and the audience) up to crescendos of extreme hilarity. The show began as a six-part BBC TV series that was condensed to feature-film length by director Michael Winterbottom in 2011. Winterbottom has also helmed the two subsequent television series, first to Italy (2014) and now to Spain, from which the films are compiled; each movie is like a highlight reel of the TV productions.

Fact and fiction form an uneasy relationship in these films. The private lives of onscreen Steve and Rob are reinvented by director Winterbottom, with actors playing the parts of the wives, girlfriends, and agents they interact with—usually via phone—on their travels. A darker introspection threads through the comedy as Steve tries to solidify his fame in the U.S. (many pointed asides are made to the movie Philomena, for which the real-life Coogan was Oscar-nominated as co-writer and producer), while Rob’s contentment with his popularity on British TV irritates Steve.

But story takes a back seat to the fun of turning these guys loose in a rental car over miles of glorious Spanish scenery as they read guidebooks, re-imagine history, attempt the Spanish language, and visit tourist destinations—from the majestic Alhambra to a roadside dinosaur park. Inspired by their surroundings, they reference vintage Monty Python routines (“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”), and compare themselves to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza: “two middle-aged men looking for adventure.”

Since both actors are gifted impersonators, they take along an entire supporting cast of other Brit celebrities. Discussion of the Spanish Moors inevitably leads to Rob’s imitation of Roger Moore as James Bond (with a little Sean Connery thrown in.) Coogan does an amazing Mick Jagger, complete with hand-clapping gestures, and Rob counters with David Bowie. But they also indulge in less-often-mimicked celebs like John Hurt (Coogan’s take is brilliant), Ian McKellan, and Anthony Hopkins playing Picasso.

Other bits of inspired silliness include an a cappella duet of the bouncy instrumental “Tijuana Taxi” while driving through the mountains. Discussing King Ferdinand, who expelled the Moors in the 15th Century, Coogan calls him the “Catholitic Converter.” Waxing poetic over the vagaries of age, Coogan declares, “Time flies like a spear—but fruit flies like a banana.”

And, oh yes, now and then they do actually pay attention to the food—from chorizo to mussels in carrot juice. (Spearing one pink bivalve on his fork, Rob says, “The good news is, it’s benign.”) A plate of scallops prompts a funny confrontation between James Bond and a silky villain over who can dupe the other into eating the first one.

The effect of the comedy is cumulative: bits build to past their expiration date, then either fizzle out or soar into irresistible heights of absurdity. With such sharp, witty travel companions, you might as well enjoy the ride.

THE TRIP TO SPAIN

*** (out of four)

With Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Directed by Michael Winterbottom. An IFC Films release. Not rated. 108 minutes.

Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project Releases Book

Food & Drink

Lily Stoicheff

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September 6, 2017

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Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project Releases Book

When I first heard that a group called the Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project was researching stories about the food history of Santa Cruz County, I was instantly excited—and jealous. Excited because learning about the agricultural products that have shaped this community sounded absolutely fascinating to me, and jealous because, as a history major, I wish I could have been there, slowly uncovering the recipes and stories of the past.

The journey to uncover the ag history of the area started when Live Oak native Sierra Ryan discovered her great-grandmother’s recipe book, which dated back to when she and her husband moved to Santa Cruz in 1911. Four years of dusty archives and glowing microfilm later, Ryan and fellow amateur historians Liz Birnbaum, Jody Biergiel Colclough and Katie Hansen—who playfully refer to their collective as “the Heritagistas”—are releasing their findings in Harvesting Our Heritage: Bite-Sized Stories from Santa Cruz County History through the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. Underneath the beautifully designed cover, reminiscent of a vintage almanac, lies chapters on wine, wheat, potatoes, beer, dairy, sugar beets, apples, artichokes, berries, poultry, Pismo clams and dry-farmed tomatoes—all of which left a distinct mark on Santa Cruz County. At the end of each chapter are local recipes from when each crop was in its heyday, allowing readers to experience the flavors of local history in their own kitchens. Although most of the agricultural products discussed in the book are no longer produced locally, readers learn how each has left a geographic and cultural mark on local communities.

Ryan hopes that the Heritage Food Project will connect people living and eating in Santa Cruz County today with the history of the region, and inspire an appreciation for the events that took place to make Santa Cruz the foodie hub we know today. “We think it’s important because it brings the reader a fresh new understanding of the place they care about, the foods [previous residents] loved, and the relationship between the two,” says Ryan. “We hope people experience a few ‘aha’ moments as they read about their neighborhood, or their favorite local produce.”

Available at the MAH, Bookshop Santa Cruz, and local museums. More info at scheritagefood.wordpress.com.

Sarah’s Vineyard Tasting Room Exclusives

Josie Cowden

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September 6, 2017

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Sarah’s Vineyard Tasting Room Exclusives

Summer is winding down, and it’s time to appreciate the last of the summer wines, so to speak.

This pretty, pale pink Vin Gris Estate 2016 ($22) is all you could ever need for a picnic on a warm day, with its subtle aromas and flavors of tea-rose, sage, watermelon, strawberry and cranberry. Produced by Sarah’s Vineyard proprietor and winemaker Tim Slater, who calls himself a “mad scientist,” it’s made by using traditional techniques to craft handmade wines.

“Vin Gris is the traditional name for a Rosé of Pinot Noir,” says Slater. “This estate-grown-and-bottled wine is bone-dry with crisp acidity for hot-summer sipping.” Particularly elegant and well structured, this lovely dry wine immediately reveals its nuances of flavor and fruit-forward mouthfeel.

It says on Sarah’s website that this Vin Gris (pronounced “vahn gree”) is a “tasting room exclusive,” along with other varietals such as Charbono (which I love), Barbera and Gewurztraminer.

So, your best bet is to head to Sarah’s for a tasting. Slater makes top-notch wines and his Chardonnay is one of my all-time favorites.

Sarah’s Vineyard, 4005 Hecker Pass Highway, Gilroy. 408-842-4278, sarahsvineyard.com. Open daily.

Pizzeria La Bufala

A recent event at the Museum of Art and History showcased the newly opened Abbott Square, where I shared a La Bufala pizza with a couple of friends at Pizzeria La Bufala. And what a fantastic pizza!—one of the best I’ve had in some time. I put it all down to the dough, which is made from a blend of Italian and American flours and achieves just the right texture. Toppings are fresh and delicious, with many of them coming from local farms such as Route 1 and Happy Boy. Owner Sandro Costanza, who comes from the Calabria region of Italy, has perfected the craft of pizza making—and it shows. Pizzeria La Bufala, Abbott Square Market, 725 Front St., Santa Cruz. 999-0301, pizzerialabufala.com.

Website Correction for British Toffee Jacks

I wrote about British Toffee Jacks—crunchy oats and butter treats made by Rany Prambs—for the Good Times issue of Aug. 16, and gave the wrong website. The correct website is culinarybible.com.

A Moss Landing Man’s Shakespeare Sanctuary

Local News

Mat Weir

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September 5, 2017

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A Moss Landing Man’s Shakespeare Sanctuary

Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s season ended Sunday night with the final performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. But even as our premier local Shakespeare company goes dark until next summer, there’s a little-known spot not too far down Highway 1—in Moss Landing, of all places—that continues to celebrate the Bard year-round. It’s easy to speed past it, but tucked away in this community of barely more than 200 residents, as of the last census, is the Shakespeare Society of America.

The sign above the door at 7981 Moss Landing Road declares the SSA the “New Shakespeare Sanctuary.” Inside, mannequins are adorned with elaborate Elizabethan costumes, while leather-bound tomes fill bookcases along the perimeter of the room. A maze of glass cases display coins, elaborate knives and other artifacts, and a glance upward reveals framed woodblock prints and aging playbills. It’s hard to know what to make of it all, and indeed, the story of the SSA and how it got here is as offbeat as its collection would suggest.

“In 1967, the Shakespeare Society began as a group of culturally active, like-minded individuals who were dedicated to instructing and advancing the works of William Shakespeare,” says SSA President/CEO and museum docent Terry Taylor. “It was based out of a Tudor mansion on Alta Loma off Sunset Boulevard, near Mel’s Diner in west Los Angeles.”

In those days, a different Taylor ran the SSA. Under the leadership of R. Thad Taylor—Terry’s uncle—and John D. Uhley, the Shakespeare Society became a nonprofit in 1968.

“Let me tell you about Thad,” says SSA Board Member Francis Hamit. An author, journalist and playwright for more than five decades, Hamit says Thad Taylor told him much about his life over the years. “He was a merchant sailor who got ahold of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. He read it to pass the time, and it changed his life.”

Taylor and Uhley planned on building an Alta Loma Shakespeare Center on 20 acres of land, but could not raise the money. Instead, they moved out of their location in 1972, and into a quonset hut on Kings Road in West Hollywood.

“The museum aspect helped a lot,” remembers Hamit. “Thad had all this stuff he had collected over the years, and he would put it out in the lobby.”

Taylor and Uhley would eventually turn the hut into the world’s first replica of the interior of Shakespeare’s 1599 Globe Theater. They built it as a half-scale model, based on meticulous study through hundreds of primary documents and original drawings. Between 1976 and 1979, the SSA performed all 38 plays by the Bard outlined in the First Folio—known as the Shakespeare Canon. A monstrous task, the endeavour required more than 600 producers, actors and directors, with 200 supporting staff. Between 1981 and 1984, the society would repeat the Canon, along with the Apocrypha—plays attributed to Shakespeare but never verified—and the Sonnets.

The SSA’s work has reflected the constantly evolving understanding of Shakespeare’s writing, and the mystery that continues to surround the playwright. Details around everything from his birth to his “lost years” to his death continue to be disputed—not to mention the very question of whether he actually authored many plays attributed to him. Just last year, Oxford University Press announced they will begin printing copies of Henry VI with a new addition: a co-authorship for Christopher Marlowe, who was the subject of a 1988 play by Hamit called Marlowe, which debuted at the SSA’s Globe and is currently in the pre-production stages of being adapted into a feature film, Christopher Marlowe.

“Writers in Shakespeare’s lifetime were very collaborative, and jointly worked on numerous projects,” Santa Cruz Shakespeare Artistic Director Mike Ryan tells GT via email. “In some ways, they were more like today’s television and film writing teams than contemporary playwrights.”

Debates over authorship aside, Hamit thinks there is a reason that Shakespeare’s plays continue to be re-imagined for every new generation.

“He has universal appeal,” says Hamit. “Shakespeare had the talent of tapping into human consciousness, even if he wasn’t always 100 percent original.”

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Between the 1990s and the early 2000s the SSA continued its mission to reproduce Shakespearean productions for audiences of all ages.

“An estimated 10,000-plus actors and actresses crossed the stage,” Terry says.

It was in 2006, when Thad Taylor died, that the SSA found itself wondering what to do, and where to go. Hamit was asked to rejoin the Board of Directors, which he did out of dedication to Thad and the company, and Terry was elected president and CEO.

A native of the Bay Area, Terry decided to move the SSA to Moss Landing in 2008. He notes his uncle was a “feverish collector,” and the elder Taylor left behind a rare book and reference collection of more than 1,000 museum and memorabilia items, as well as a visual arts collection containing more than 1,000 pieces.

While the sanctuary can’t house everything in the SSA’s archives, it’s home to some of Terry’s favorites from the collection. Among them are the eight-foot sculpture of Shakespeare holding a torch, commissioned by the SSA for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and the 1805 printing of the Complete Works of Shakespeare owned by legendary actor John Barrymore.

The “New Sanctuary” has hosted more than 10,000 tourists in the last decade. Like many nonprofits, they still struggle financially and with staffing.

“Terry has gained progress, but he’s only one man,” says Hamit. “He really needs volunteer help that will stick with it.”

Hamit says Taylor and the Board have recently been going through and selling Thad’s collection of non-Shakespeare-related items, in order to raise funds to keep the sanctuary going. Another clever way the society has been raising money is through a unique merchandising line of playing cards called “Shakespeare’s Flowers.” The playwright mentioned 181 plants and flowers in his plays and sonnets, so British company Heritage Playing Cards released a line dedicated to the Bard’s love of nature. The deck features 54 different plants, along with Shakespeare’s quote on the items and the reference to where it can be found in his work. The SSA is the top retailer of the deck in the U.S., and they recently gained permission to reproduce the floral prints on mugs, greeting cards and even an 8-by-11-inch coloring book.

The SSA also plans to begin digitizing their folios and prints, making their archive accessible to a global audience.

“The SSA is one of the most unique cultural education organizations in the world, with an unparalleled stage legacy and physical artifacts,” Terry says, “[with a] publishing empire in a room full of master copies unseen by the world.”

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