The sheer chef flex of the cooking demos at Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival would be enough to qualify it as a special gathering.
Michelin-starred chef and foraging obsessive Jonny Black (Chez Noir, Carmel), Jessica Yarr White (The Grove Cafe & Bakery, Felton), Gus Trejo (Jack O’Neill Restaurant, Santa Cruz) and Mat Schuster (Canela Bistro Bar, San Francisco) rank among the show-and-tellers with maximum flavor at their disposal.
But that lineup represents just the mushroom cap of the action as Far West Fungi, the Santa Cruz-sown mycelium superstars who—on top of robust wholesale and retail trade, horticultural, medicinal and culinary included—have made spore-spreading events part of their mission.
So here come gold chanterelles and electric orange cordyceps, meaty maitakes and earthy morels, mycological minds on Lion’s Mane Stage and live music on Trumpet Mushroom Stage.
It all happens at Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton May 3-4. Expect a banger, as 2024 conjured 3,000-plus attendees, 50-plus presenters, five bands, eight food booths, six cooking demos, 10 DIY activities, nature walks and some inspired community art projects—and that was all on a rainy weekend. (Yes, mushrooms and mushroom lovers love rain, but still.)
Day passes for the festival are $50, parking $15, scmmfest.com.
DOUBLE FRESH
A double debut for the leafy locals out there. First the Scotts Valley Farmers’ Market leaps into its 2025 season May 3 at the Joe and Linda Alberti Boys & Girls Club (5060 Scotts Valley Drive), 9am–1pm Saturdays, and its enclosed area with tables and chairs, a grass pad and kids zone, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, artisanal bread, brunch, garden starts, flowers, seafood and other staple foods from the likes of Groundswell, Casalegno, Stackhouse Brothers and Ken’s Top Notch farms. Then the Felton Farmers Market returns May 6, and pledges to go big to kick off the season, which runs 1:30–5:30pm Tuesdays through October, in the St. John’s Church parking lot (120 Russell Ave.). Participants include Penny Ice Creamery, Roli Roti rotisserie chicken and crispy potatoes, J&M Sourdough Bagels new vendor Fool Hardy Coffee and, per Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets’ Nicole Zahm, “enough produce to stock your fridge and cupboards for the week,” santacruzfarmersmarket.org.
MEANINGFUL MORSELS
The Salty Otter Sports Grill (110 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz) has been open just short of a week as this publishes, the new aerial mural of the Beach Boardwalk is on the wall, and owner-operator Rachael Carla Smith says things are cooking: “We are off to a good start. It’s a soft opening so just giving staff time to find their way around, learn the short menu, see if we need to organize anything better. We’ve had happy customers. Getting ready to add to our website and make it official that we’re open,” saltyottersportsgrill.com…El Salchichero in Santa Cruz has a homemade beef tallow moisturizer and just launched a face cream, elsalchichero.com…For my gum-chewing fam, studies recently summarized in The New York Times reveal some risk of jaw problems, but also better oral health, less heartburn and—oh yes—improved cognition and reduced stress….Hank Ketchum, draw the way out: “Flattery is like chewing gum. Enjoy it but don’t swallow it.”
