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Italian restaurant Bedda Mia opened last month at 736 Water St., where Pearl of the Ocean used to be. Entrees include pizza, pasta, steak and seafood. The menu also includes four salads such as Caesar and the Gustosa (with ingredients like feta cheese, candied walnuts and dried cranberries) and pastries from Ben Lomond’s La Placa Family Bakery. The owners of La Placa are co-owners of Bedda Mia. There is both indoor and outdoor seating. The restaurant offers weekday $15 lunch specials; choices include panini sandwiches accompanied by a salad and non-alcoholic drink. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. daily. Call 831-201-4320 for reservations.
Online marketplace EatLocal.Farm, where customers pre-order seasonal produce and goods from one website (https://eatlocal.farm/), is shutting down on Sept. 14. When Kim Null and her husband Nick de Sieyes, with their friend Ethan Ruble, co-founded the business in 2020 they offered items from a handful of local farms and vendors. Over time, their offerings expanded to more than 40 local family farmers and food producers—with 100% of sales going straight back to farmers and small business owners.
The Capitola Art & Wine Festival is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in Capitola Village. Attendees can enjoy a variety of food and wine, buy art from more than 100 participating vendors and listen to live music. All food vendors—and all Artisans Marketplace crafters—are local to Santa Cruz County. Food trucks include Saucey’z, My Mom’s Mole and Pana Food Truck. The Local Artisans Marketplace features food and non-food items. The food vendors are Santa Cruz Balsamics, Sugar Bakery, Twins Kitchen, Living Swell Kombucha, Il Biscotto, Ashby Confections, Honey B Market, Cracked Cookies and 831 Seafood. There will be wine from 23 Santa Cruz Mountain wineries; festival admission is free but wine tasting requires buying a Festival Glass ($15) and tasting tokens. Visit capitolaartandwine.com for details.
Coffee Cat (255A Mt. Hermon Road) has closed its doors. Owned by local chain Lulu Carpenter’s, the café had been open since 2004.
Pizza My Heart (2180 41st Ave., 831-475-6000, pizzamyheart.com) is hosting a fundraiser to benefit the Live Oak Education Foundation (LOEF, liveoakedfoundation.org) from 4-8 p.m. Sept. 13. Pizza My Heart will donate 30 percent of sales to the Foundation—customers must say they are supporting the Live Oak fundraiser when they order. Dine-in, takeout and delivery orders all count; orders placed online (through the website or delivery services like DoorDash) do not count. Proceeds will benefit LOEF’s support for visual and performing arts programming in Live Oak School District schools.
Tickets are on sale for Evening on the Terrace which will be 5:30-8 p.m. Sept. 30 at Bargetto Winery (3535 N. Main St.). The event, which benefits Salud y Carino, features dinner, drinks, a silent auction and live music. Tickets are $60 per person or $450 for a table of eight. Visit eveningtobenefitsaludycarino.eventzilla.net/web/event?eventid=2138578943. Nonprofit organization Salud y Carino (saludycarino.org) serves more than 100 youth annually through free after-school programs for girls in local elementary and middle schools. They aim to open “…doors for girls to take action and gain confidence through physical activity and healthy choices to live their best lives now and in the future.”
Open Farm Tours (OFT, openfarmtours.com) is doing a fundraiser reception from 4:30-7 p.m. Oct. 2 at Whiskey Hill Farm (371 Calabasas Road). Tickets, $60 or $100/two, are available at eventbrite.com/e/open-farm-tours-reception-happy-hour-tickets-401823534007. You must be 21 years old to attend. There is a tiki theme with locally sourced food, beer, wine and tiki cocktails including one developed by Tanuki Cider. The event includes local agriculture presentations from organizations such as Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Campaign for Organic & Regenerative Agriculture. Whiskey Hall Farm owner David Blume will lead a tour of Blume Distillery and their tropical plant greenhouse. The evening benefits OFT, an annual event where community members tour family-owned farms while learning about sustainable farming and participating in fun activities.
Chef Katherine Stern and her business The Midway, which have been providing food at Bad Animal (1011 Cedar St., 831-900-5031, badanimalbooks.com) for the last year, are ending their residency on Sept. 18. Their successor hasn’t been named. Bad Animal announced via Instagram that Stern and her “…crew will be leaving Bad Animal to establish their own restaurant in midtown Santa Cruz.” At this time, no other information is available. Stern alluded to a future “announcement” and “big news” in a post via her @themidway_s_c Instagram account; watch that for details. Stern was chef at La Posta for many years and continues to offer housemade selections at the Saturday Westside and Sunday Live Oak farmers’ markets.
The Capitola Mall farmers market, which launched earlier this summer, continues to add more vendors. The market takes place in the front parking lot facing 41st Avenue. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Sunday. Products include fresh produce, take-home food (like frozen Chinese buns including dessert varieties with fun designs), ready-to-eat food (Mexican selections, fried shrimp and catfish and more) and drinks such as fresh juice. Artisan vendors sell items including candles, crystals, resin pieces, soap and artwork made with felt. Visit wcfma.org/capitola or follow on IG @capitolafarmersmarket.
Food Trucks A Go Go’s monthly Taco Tuesday series, where trucks offer tacos plus items from their regular menus, continues from 5-8 p.m. Sept. 13 at Skypark (361 Kings Village Road). This month it’s El Buen Taco, Taquizas Gabriel and Tacos El Chuy. The Boys and Girls Club will be hosting a beer and wine garden. Customers are welcome to eat at the park—seating includes picnic tables and a lawn area—or take food to go. Dogs on leash are welcome. Visit facebook.com/events/1009418396420032.
The West Cliff Food Truck Series continues with a 4-8 p.m. event Friday at the Lighthouse Field parking lot on West Cliff Drive. Local food trucks and vendors Epoch Eats, Taquizas Gabriel, Three Waves Coffee and Adobe To Go will sell items. Visit brotherspromotions.com/event/west-cliff-food-truck-series-2022/.
The West Cliff Outdoor Market is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Lighthouse and Surfer’s parking lots on West Cliff. This market will feature products from local artisans and businesses, plus food trucks. See brotherspromotions.com/event/west-cliff-outdoor-market- september-10-2022.
Quick Bites, compiled by Tara Fatemi Walker, is your weekly helping of Santa Cruz County restaurant, food, and drink news. Send items to sentinelfood@gmail.com (Sunday 7 p.m. deadline for that week’s column). Want local food & drink news as it happens? Follow the Sentinel’s food crew on Twitter @santacruzfood.
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