Modest little Capitola Wine Bar and Merchants is one of those places that makes the small city vibrant. The wife-and-husband-run spot features a balance of small-batch California and worldly wines...hey dish food like smoked pancetta-pear flatbreads and secret recipe “adult” mac ’n’ cheese, plus draft local beer

EcoFarm, the oldest and wisest organic farming convention in the country (the world?), is coming up quick, happening Jan. 17-20 at Asilomar Conference Grounds. While it digs deep on big-picture policy and in-the-dirt practicum, it also involves...

It would be intriguing enough that Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are introducing a high-grade collectible vodka in partnership with UBlendIt of Scotts Valley. But...

An apple is more than an apple for Larkin Valley growers Freddy Menge and Ellen Baker of Epicenter Orchard. It’s a dance with history, an exclamation of flavor and a meeting place between farmer and eater.

Chef Jessica Yarr knows how to cook up a good time. Santa Cruzers familiar with her Chicken Foot popup downtown have known this for a while. Now the gentle people of Felton, where she came of age at her parents’ Bigfoot Discovery Museum and recently opened The Grove Cafe + Bakery, are learning that in full-flavored ways.

The details of an empanada can elevate what’s inside. That said, the interior ingredients from the premiere empa-empire of the area, Fonda Felix, are done with tastebud IQ

The biggest surprise at new local beer outfit Balefire Brewing Co. will be…how unsurprising it is. “There will be a lot of familiarity for people who knew it as East Cliff and Greater Purpose,” co-founder/ co-brewer Leslie Buchanan says, “and I hope they come back, because they like the beer, of course, but also because they find a sense of hospitality and community.”

It’s melting toward midnight on a recent Friday at Red Room Cocktail Lounge when the barkeep with the hoop earrings yells out a challenge:...

Most debates improve as the night advances, even the iffy ones (Is this a simulation? Is a hot dog a sandwich? Would you rather...

We've been coming to Totoro even before it was Totoro, and always enjoy the beach neighborhood ambiance—casual Santa Cruz funque—in a welcoming space. Tiny...

This is not the obituaries section. But I am here to announce 24-hour spots in Santa Cruz are pretty much…dead. There is one shining exception, however, which goes round the clock unless it runs out of product: Ferrell’s Donuts on Mission. A place where...

Sunday, Oct. 29, author/photographer/former molecular biologist Nik Sharma—who sits atop a growing stack of cookbook resources like James Beard Award-nominated Season:Big Flavors, Beautiful Food and The Flavor Equation—presents Veg-table: Recipes, Techniques and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Focused Meals.