Two Days in Santa Cruz
We were there from our home in Pasadena for a family wedding, so between that event and other family get-togethers several meals were taken care of. We did have a couple of breakfasts and a late dinner that deserve mention, for better or for worse.
Saturday's breakfast was at Hoffman's, on California, located by the very oldfashioned method of looking in the Yellow Pages. They had a menu ad that looked good, even after we discovered that the advertised prices had been rather outdated. Service was friendly but spotty, since they seemed to be shorthanded: the most tangible fallout from this was that nobody offered a refill of the very good coffee, though we'd had some previously and didn't really need it. We were served a basket of two scones, one whole-grain and cinnamony, the other plain with currants, both perfect. We could have breakfasted just on those. Mrs. O ordered the brie omelet, which she found to be dry, rubbery, and insufficiently filled. My house-cured gravlax Benedict on the other hand was more than satisfactory, with three nicely poached eggs, Hollandaise and lots of cured salmon on a slice of good sturdy sourdough bread. The potatoes were big tender cubes with a good hearty seasoning, obviously a house specialty. Aside from the rather distracted service, the overall experience was a pleasant one; this is obviously a local favorite with a good portion of regulars, and I'd be happy to return. Maybe Mrs. O would too, if she'd avoid the omelet... tab was about $25 before tip.
Saturday night, after we'd disengaged ourselves from the wedding revelry, we met some old friends for a sunset stroll on the wharf, and then a visit to the Boardwalk. We were still pretty full of wedding grub at the outset, but by the time we'd had as much fun as we wanted from the Boardwalk we were ready for some food, drink and relative quiet. We headed back down to Pacific, but it was a little after 10 pm and most places were buttoning up for the night. Taqueria Vallarta, however, was open until midnight, and some Mexican and a margarita sounded appealing. Service here was friendly, too, and prompt as well. We let the waiter talk us into a pitcher of margs, which once more proved to be a restaurant's strategy for economizing on the tequila (when WILL we learn?), but they were tasty anyway. Mrs. O ordered the chicken molé, her favorite, and I ordered mine, a chile relleno with just a side of beans. We did not make note of what our friends had, though they liked theirs pretty well. Mrs. O's molé was a bit too sweet, even for her, and bland as well; my chile had a nice enough flavor, but the pepper had not been seeded at all! The whole upper third was taken up by the wad of seeds and stringy core. Perhaps this is how they do it back where the cook comes from; if so, I'll make a note not to go there. The party managed to drop about $70 here, total. Not highly recommended...
Sunday's breakfast was near our motel, the Mission Inn, at Kelly's French Bakery. We'd been told about this place by Mrs. O's cousin and his wife, and we'd arranged to meet them there. He's in a wheelchair, and had no trouble rolling in and parking by the table. Mrs. O and I both opted for the Imperial Breakfast, which was yet another Benedict on sourdough (is this a Santa Cruz thing?), this time with 2 eggs, plus potatoes and three tender link sausages. Mrs. O liked these potatoes better than Hoffman's; I'm not a big fan of potato skins, so I didn't, but they were good despite that. Two plates and two 8-ounce coffees came to about $25, which was not bad. The pastries in the case and the other stuff on the menu definitely put this place on our list for any future visits. Nice find!
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Kelly's French Bakery
402 Ingalls St, Santa Cruz, CA
By Will Owen
on Jul 27, 2010 12:12 PM
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sourdough anything is a santa cruz thing. i went to college in santa cruz in the 90's but i see that's still a big tradition. the pastries at kelly's were awesome!
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The pastries at Kelly's will be worth a return trip all by themselves, I think. Mrs. O had three picked out before breakfast, but after we'd stuffed ourselves she somehow lost interest.
I have to say that Santa Cruz sourdough has a lovely rugged tooth that has just about disappeared elsewhere. It really was as stout a base as the usual English muffin.
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iirc there were about 5-6 bakeries all in the santa cruz area and each one of them made a sourdough. not only can you get acme bread from SF you can also get fresh bread from each of the local bakeries. the farmer's market there is unbelievable. artichokes and strawberries pick in the morning and sold a few hours later. this was all before sc became a bedroom community for silicon valley so food was cheap. not sure about prices now but definitely worth a trip back if you're in the area again!
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Will, glad to see you had some good grub in SC. We were there in mid-August for a week and did some hearty damage ourselves:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7256...
If you folks enjoyed Kelly's, you might also give The Buttery a try as well. Gayle's in Capitola is very good as well, but I'd give higher scores to the bake sections of both Kelly's and The Buttery. The big plus for Kelly's is that more and more wineries and a brewery have set up shop in the immediate area, as well as a charcuterie maker that is due to open this month. The Buttery is great though, and right across the street is a great mom & pop-style market called, "Shoppers' Corner Market." Excellent quality across the boards, and great wine selection to boot - many are local. For being a relatively small city, SC has some excellent grub. We haven't committed to any plans for next summer, but if we land in SC again, I'd be very happy indeed.
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bulavinaka, i used to live right around the corner from the buttery and shoppers corner. what great college memories of eating!
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trolley, you must have found it hard to leave - I know I would have! Kelly's and Gayle's seem to get a lot of mention, but I really found The Buttery to a charm. And we stocked up at Shoppers Corner on a lot of harder-to-find items and of course - wine! :)
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Shoppers Corner
622 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
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