Santa Cruz Good Times

Food & Wine

Inside:
Oak Tree Ristorante
SmoQe
Soif Wine Bar & Restaurant
Cava
Vino Prima
Vinocruz

Plus:
Nightlife
11 Sexy Foods you just have to sink your teeth into

Business Fair 2010 & Exhibitor’s

March 17, 2010 4pm -7pm Cocoanut Grove
How To Santa Cruz is both the title of this year's business fair and a social media marketing initiative the Chamber has developed to give members the opportunity to engage in a rich social media experience. Each Business Fair participant has been invited to contribute to a collection of online articles on how to survive and thrive in Santa Cruz... information to their potential customers, visitors, and other businesses can find and contribute to.

Each article (text, video, or PowerPoint) utilizes the emergin...

After The Fall

Burton follows Carroll down the rabbit hole in a funny, engaging 'Alice in Wonderland'
The better you know the Alice books of Lewis Carroll, the more you'll appreciate Tim Burton's winsome and nutty remix, Alice In Wonderland. Instead of rehashing of the familiar children's story, Burton and scriptwriter Linda Woolverton borrow elements from both classic Carroll books, "Alice In Wonderland," and "Through The Looking Glass," then dare to imagine an entirely new story populated by Carroll's enduring fantasy characters.

Burton and collaborator Woolv...

11 Sexy Foods

Burrata
Fresh Asparagus
Crab
Maguro Sashimi
Scallops
Sandwiches
Chocolate soufflé
Meyer Lemon Lavender Truffle
Fresh strawberries

1 Raw oysters

(from booth at Saturday morning Cabrillo Farmers Market) An oyster’s texture, unmistakably sensual, can make your tongue dance—and who knows what will follow. Treat yourself to some oysters with lemon and Tabasco after shopping for fresh, organic produce on a sun-filled day at the Farmers Market with your sweetheart.
Cabrillo Farmers Market, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, montereybayfarmers.org/aptos....

Facutly Backs Students, Zings Kilger

UCSC faculty takes UCSC administration head on in a recent letter to the community

Fifty faculty members have signed an open letter to the UC Santa Cruz campus community in support of the strike and protest that happened on March 4. Notable faculty signatures include those of History Professor Dana Frank, American Studies Chair Eric Porter, and Kresge College Provost Juan Poblete. Last week’s protest and strike effectively shut down the base of campus preventing most workers, teachers, and students from going to work or class.

“It is true that th... Read more...

Night on the Town

Santa Cruz Hot spots and other notables you need to know about
Motiv, Mad House, Jalisco, Parish Publick House, Britannia Arms, Brady’s Yacht Club, Boulder Creek Brewery

In downtown Santa Cruz, Motiv is hot and happening. The nightclub’s  owner, 39-year old Mike Pitt, said the root word motiv in many languages means purpose. Purpose is fueled by inspiration.

“We’re an art venue,” says Pitt, “we’re a political forum, we’re music, we’re food. What all those things have in common is inspiration. That was my goal, to bring together all this inspiratio...

From the Editor

Plus Letters to Good Times...
He Made His Bed ...
EIR or LIE?

Some foods are too tempting to pass up. That seems to be the case this week with GT’s dining scribes. In our biggest Food & Wine issue to date , our resident foodies experimented with some old favorites and also embarked on new culinary adventures. Delicious. Plus: “ 11 Sexy Foods .” (Spring is coming, after all.) Send us a list of your favorite local hotspots at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Tell us what local foods you can’t...

Surfing Wholeheartedly

Local event helps veterans, amputees go surfing
When Chris Lopez was an infantryman stationed in Iraq in 2003, his father would go out surfing and sit on his board to send him prayers across the ocean. Today the 27-year-old, who retired from the service and returned to Santa Cruz with an injured lower back and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), assists fellow veterans through his work at the local Veterans Affairs office. Taking a cue from his father, he also picked up surfing as a source of relief from the memories of war, and the stresses ...

Movies & Film Events: Week of Mar. 11

Films This Week
Check out the movies playing around town.
With reviews and trailers.

Hello, Spring!

Huichol Indian Shaman Brant Secunda welcomes the new season with a powerful seaside workshop and retreat

For centuries, ancient peoples such as the American Indians, Mayans and Druids have welcomed the vernal equinox with lavish ceremonies meant to thank their deities for allowing them to survive yet another winter. Nowadays with modern conveniences like indoor heating and grocery stores, winters aren’t quite as troublesome as they once were in the past, but there is something in the human spirit that still relishes the first verdant signs of sp...

Now What?

Our intrepid reporter follows up on newly implemented parking fees

March has arrived and, with it, new downtown parking fees. From the talk about town and the impassioned comments in response to Good Times’ Feb. 18 article, “Pay to Park,” it appears that Cruzans are up in arms over the charges.

I spoke with Les Gripkey, who created a website in response to the parking fees that provides the contact information for city council members and some “Free Parking Talking Points” (gripkeys.googlepages.com/parking). A Boulder Creek resident who regularly...

Santa Cruz Area Events

Events this Week

Need something to do? Read about what events are not to be missed.

Also see our area featured music page >

Music Calendar

Live Music This Week

Check out the latest hot concert picks happening around town.

See more area activities on our events page >

Felton Teen Receives PETA Award

Local youth gets recognized for his commitment to animal rights work

Whoever thinks teenage boys are too busy playing video games to do anything productive obviously has never heard of Beau Broughton. The 17-year-old honor student at San Lorenzo Valley High School founded the SLVHS Animal Rights Club earlier this school year, and has been busy organizing local protests and guest talks by animal rights activists ever since. His group has held a vegan bake sale to help raise relief funds for Haiti after the earthquake, collaborated with Saturn Caf...

Cool Band Now

Ingredients: Nick Green’s guitar, Chris Hopkins’ bass, Logan Bean’s drums, ample 4-track tape recorders, a hell of a lot of irreverence, and a pinch of freak pop with the rock. Stir ingredients together in a mixer with a lot of attitude and humor on tape, then set out on a stage to cool. The result? Cool Band Now. Friends who grew up in Livermore going to punk shows and pizza parlors together, the trio formed in Santa Cruz as a reaction against the sometimes stifling nature of taking music too seriously. With each member having spent plenty of ... Read more...