From Chile’s Casablanca valley to Capitola’s Pelican Ranch Leah, the daughter of some friends was in town from San Diego last month, and my only chance to see her was a quick meeting up in Pelican Ranch’s tasting room in Capitola. I needed to thank her for the many useful tips she gave us on Chile,...

Family tradition turns into toffee business for Marci Prolo Santa Cruz’s Marci Prolo makes hand-crafted toffee that is simply splendid and will satisfy locals’ sweet tooth. Prolo’s toffee, which she sells as Goose’s Goodies, is handmade, based on a family recipe. She sells the candy online and also at local retailers like Chefworks, Buttercup Cakes, the...

Heather Christie sings in local duo the Feral Fauna, which combines organic acoustic instrumentation with danceable electronics. Christie also has a solo project titled Cheraki, but though it shares some influences, she sees it as a very different kind of outlet. “I like to think of it as my feminine project. It’s more introspective. It really...

Win tickets to see Yo La Tengo at The Rio on SantaCruz.com In 1990, alternative rock band Yo La Tengo released Fakebook, an album of cover songs by artists including Cat Stevens, the Flamin’ Groovies, and Gene Clark. Earlier this year, they circled back around to the concept with Stuff Like That There, an album of...

A doctoral student at UCSC examines how a new method of cattle ranching can help restore tropical forests in her home country of Colombia In the southwestern mountain forest of Quindío, Colombia, there is a farm known as Finca Pinzacuá. Here in the La Vieja watershed, rancher Don Olimpo raises cattle. It’s the number one land...

Cabrillo students reflect on their media fast I have been teaching at Cabrillo since 1996, before cell phones were popular and texting became ubiquitous. One thing I’ve noticed is that before cell phones, students talked to each other more before and after class. Now, half the students I see are bent over their phones. Many have...

How ‘This is Camino’ co-author went from punk rock to fine dining Leafing through the pages of Russell Moore and Allison Hopelain’s beautiful new cookbook This is Camino, based upon their acclaimed Oakland restaurant, its punk-rock roots may not be obvious. But when a barely teenage Moore was hitching rides to punk shows in Los Angeles,...

Call it chamber folk—or don’t—but Bombadil combines sharp songwriting with a fascinating soundscape In 2005, James Phillips answered a Craigslist ad for a drummer posted by the Durham, North Carolina band Bombadil. He was a good fit, so the band brought him on board. Since no one else wanted to do audience banter during performances, Phillips...

Manresa wins a third Michelin star, plus paninis in Davenport and Fried-Chicken Dinners Yes, David Kinchis stoked about his latest culinary triumph. The Michelin folks, those very picky, very discerning arbiters of dining excellence, awarded a third star to Manresa, the innovative Los Gatos restaurant built by the creativity and hard work of chef Kinch and...

On TV, it’s easy to tell when Fred Armisen is joking. He pretty much always is. But what if you saw him in person? Would you still know? Fans grappled with that very dilemma when the Portlandia star stopped by Streetlight Records with his electric guitar on Friday for a free 30-minute show announced just a...