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Enoteca La Storia Wine Bar: Los Gatos

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

On Blame it on the Food we’ve basically gotten to the point where we just write about the places we like.  Enoteca is no exception here, we like it. One of the reasons we’ve become fond of it is because as our cousin who works in the food industry says, when the management is good in a restaurant and there is a positive vibe in the work environment, the place shines all around.  This is exactly how the environment is at Enoteca La Storia because the owners have created this and are so nice and professional and therefore so is their staff. They always seem to welcome customers and they feel bad if you have to wait for a seat.  They feel so bad that they often give you a complimentary glass of Prosecco to sip on as you wait.  Enoteca has only gotten more and more popular since the first time we visited.

I’ve actually been meaning to write about Enoteca La Storia in Los Gatos so many times in the last year but it is very dim inside in the evening and it makes it really hard to get decent photographs of the food and space. So I finally accumulated enough photographs to give you a feel for the interior and a bit of the food. It is a wine bar that serves some food and you can sit at the bar or at tables.  The backroom has some larger tables that seem like they could be reserved for larger parties. When people come into the wine bar they typically talk, eat, drink, eat a bit more and drink and hang out for extended periods. This is actually something I really like about it, you can meet friends at 8pm and hang out from there on out ordering snacks, wine, and to end, one of their really tasty desserts.

The food ranges from cheese to salumi boards (domestic and imported salumi) and crostini as well as paninis, salads and great desserts (carrot cake bites and chocolate cake with bacon bits). The majority of the food is nicely displayed and served on cutting boards.  For wine you can order half glasses, glasses, and bottles to share or flights.  We typically get a glass of wine each (or a Pliny de Elder, they often have that too), a cheese and salumi selection (Are Salumi & Charcuterie the Same Thing?) and then an awesome dessert like the chocolate cake with bacon bits on top!  If you come with at least four people the better deal is to buy a bottle (it is something like after the first bottle corkage fee, you don’t have to pay quite as much for each additional bottle).  Check it out on an upscale date night or plan to meet a couple of friends for chatting and good times.  It is kind of a bar for when you want to keep it classy, not really a hip spot so to speak but definitely not hipster – trendy maybe for the older crowd (40’s and up in age and not a kid or family spot).  On Fridays and Saturdays it can get fairly busy so keep that in mind.

416 N. Santa Cruz Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95030

Phone: 408-625-7272
Email: info@enotecalastoria.com

41st Avenue Liquor Store: Santa Cruz

Sunday, September 18th, 2011

Beer Snob?  41st Avenue Liquor is the place to buy beer in Santa Cruz.

41st Avenue Liquor has Belgian sour beers like rodenbach, a large variety of Ciders, IPA’s, German Beers, and large selection of microbrews.  In addition they have quite a good liquor selection including all types of whiskey, vodka, liquours, tequilas and so on.  The wine selection is not as large as BevMo but they do have a pretty good selection (the beer prices and liquor prices are usually a bit lower or similar to Bevmo).

Also, I like to randomly pick up unique drinking glasses and bar knickknacks here like the metal deer head shot glass and margarita glasses too.

2155 41st Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

(831) 475-5117

Blame it on the Food in the SF Huffington Post

Friday, September 16th, 2011


The Huffington Post San Francisco asked San Francisco Food Bloggers about the Best Noodles In San Francisco? When they asked us, we had to mention Tantan-men from Halu Ramen.

Check out the Article: Food Bloggers Reveal Their Faves:

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk • Top 3 Favorite Foods

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Can you tell we’re trying to hold onto summer … I thought I would mention our Top 3 Favorite Foods from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk so you don’t lose your chance to eat the goodness (hmmmm … badness).

Rides Open Only: 11am-7pm on Weekends now Weather Permitting

#1 – Cajun Corn Dog @ Surf City Grill … Homemade and delicious. They claim to have the best corn dogs and they may be right.

#2 – Tater Twist (Put hot sauce and some seasoning on it)

#3 – Chocolate Covered Bacon @ Marini’s Candies

Olive Oil & Balsamic Tasting ~ True Olive Connection • Santa Cruz

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

For Santa Cruz Food Blog Readers … Three relatively new “tastings” to try in Santa Cruz:

Wine always tastes better when you are out tasting it.  The same goes for olive oils, vinegars and pretty much everything else (sample nuts next door @ Nut Kreations too).  I guess the taste seems more pure when you are out tasting, without distractions from the other food and small talk at a dinner party (does it have anything to do with it being free, hm, maybe).  At that instant you taste something, when that taste is your one and only intent, you are alone with the flavors in your mouth, focusing solely on the potential flavor intensity.  It’s about an experience.  It is interactive and engaging, what you wish your entire educational experience could have been.

I love that there are so many new food experiences and unique food tasting opportunities popping up all over, like the tasting available at True Olive Connection and the new Santa Cruz Food Tours, both in Santa Cruz.  Many of these tasting opportunities seem to be located in tourist towns that have a lot of foot traffic.  Lucky for us (at least in this sense and many others of course), this describes Santa Cruz.

We’ve found that tasting a product before you buy it is a great way to open one up to new flavors that you may not have tried otherwise.  At the True Olive Connection in downtown Santa Cruz we sampled many fused olive oils and vinegars on their own as well as together in suggested combinations (such as Chipotle Olive Oil + Blood Orange Extra Virgin Olive Oil on fish, chicken or summer salads).

One of the vinegars that was very intriguing was the Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar because we figured it had some unique potential for drizzling on berries for a healthy dessert made with a great local product.  We also bought little bottles as Santa Cruz-specific presents for out-of-town friends.

In the end we purchased smaller bottles of Olive Oil and vinegars so that we could have a variety to sample later on salads, meats, and desserts.

106 Lincoln Street

Santa Cruz, CA

http://trueoliveconnection.com/

* Awesome marinade or sauce for meat – Chipotle Olive Oil + Tangerine Balsamic.

Bakesale Betty in Oakland & Cole Slaw Recipe

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Bakesale Betty, finally we’ve met!  We must be the only ones who hadn’t been to the infamous Bakesale Betty in Oakland.  You order at the counter.  Get a Chicken Sandwich or Salad, a lemon smoothie, and chocolate chip or molasses cookies!  Then you grab an ironing board out front and sit on a stool to chow down!  Their slaw is great.  Our friend Michele told us that their slaw recipe had been published online and we found it!  Check out the photographs above to see just how fine you need to chop the slaw ingredients.  You can even watch a video on how to make the Cole Slaw.

Bakesale Betty’s Cole Slaw Recipe

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/bakesale-bettys-cole-slaw/#ixzz1U4XfZXOD

For the vinaigrette: Combine mustard, vinegar and salt in a bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil until well blended.

For the coleslaw: Macerate onions in red wine vinegar, and let sit at least 20 minutes. Remove onions and discard vinegar. Toss onions with jalapeno, parsley, cabbage and salt. Toss with vinaigrette until evenly coated.

Bakesale Betty
Tuesday-Thursday
11:00 AM-2:00 PM
Friday-Saturday
7:00AM-2:00PM
Closed Sundays and Mondays.

5098 Telegraph Ave, Oakland.

We’re at the SE corner of Telegraph and 51st in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood.

510.985.1213

Cafe Delmarette • Santa Cruz

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Cafe Delmarette, located in downtown Santa Cruz on Pacific (next to the Delmar Theater, get it, Delmarette), is THE place to meet friends for lunch OR to take out of town friends for lunch, coffee, house made teas (such as house made caramelized pear tea), homemade scones (Bacon, chive, & cheddar Scones, Fig goat cheese Scones, Strawberry Scones etc…), sandwiches, salads, and soup.  This is an order at the counter cafe with limited indoor and outdoor seating. The casualness to the setting makes eating Delmarette’s local, tasty food quite wonderful.

Delmarette serves seasonal foods from a variety of pressed sandwiches to a great salad, daily soup special, and even a grain salad special which is always delicious too (such as Ta-Boo-Lee = Bulgur, Carrot, Red Onion, Cucumber, Cherry Tomato, Kale, Parsley & Dill).  They serve VERVE coffee, another one of my Santa Cruz favorites, and they put frozen coffee ice cubes in their Iced Coffee (see photo above)!  Their little cupcakes are delicious too – Blenheim Apricot Buttercream Frosting w/ fruit topping.  My brother says it is the only place he eats lunch in downtown Santa Cruz and I have to credit him with introducing me to it as I walked by it so often and thought it was just another coffee shop.  The atmosphere could be described as ‘cozy’ (not warm cozy like a diner or lodge in the winter, but small cozy). I would say that it is very much like a cafe you would find in Berkeley with local, homemade and seasonal foods for lunch with lots of folks strolling in and out.  You order at the counter and can sit among cool little art inside or sit outside on the street on a little patio and people watch.

CLOSED TUESDAYS

Mon: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Wed – Sat: 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sun: 9:00 am - 6:00

http://www.facebook.com/cafedelmarette

Cafe Delmarette
1126 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

The Naglee Park Garage • San Jose

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

The Naglee Park Garage is the kind of neighborhood restaurant that you want located a short bike ride down the street from your house.  There is a small interior space with a few bar stools and some tables with the kitchen wide open and the grill right there.  In any case it is located very close to San Jose State University, hence the 7-11 right next door.  It was featured on Triple D’s, which is how we found out about it, but I’m not sure that it is a typical Triple D’s pick, it is maybe a bit on the hip divey side, so OK, it works for that.  You order your food and a beer (Allagash White – A traditional Belgian Wheat Beer on Draft) at the counter and can grab a seat inside or if it is nice enough you can sit out back at a picnic table in the beer garden.  The menu is not what you would expect from an order at the counter joint.  The fare includes interesting seasonal California foods such as salads including their classic Picnic Salad with beets, blue cheese, and bacon or a seasonal salad with apples, pears, endive, and goat cheese as well as tasty burgers and interesting main dishes (Ribs, Trout, Lamb Meatballs).  My choice for tastiness (and a great date night place to sit at the bar) is to split the burger and order a small salad and an interesting side … oh, as well as what I would consider the best item on the menu, their Chocolate Bread Pudding with whip cream and candied pecans (or vanilla too) for dessert.

I’ve been to Naglee Park Garage at least five times now and my friends from out of town dig it.  They do have breakfast (mmm… tri-tip hash), although I’ve never tried it and they also cater local backyard family-style events which sounds interesting and you can check that out on their website.