WATSONVILLE

Martinelli’s launches Class of 2024 bottles

S. Martinelli & Co., which has made sparkling cider and apple juice for more than 155 years, has gift bottles with special Class of 2024 labels. “Whether graduating from high school, college, graduate school, or even kindergarten, Martinelli’s Class of 2024 Sparkling Cider is the perfect way to mark these milestones with family and friends,” said Gun Ruder, president/CEO of S. Martinelli & Co. The bottles are available at national grocery stores (including Safeway and Target) and at the Martinelli’s Company Store & Tasting Room (345 Harvest Drive, 831-768-3938, martinellis.com).

Hook & Line opens Thursday

The new restaurant Hook & Line, from chef/owner Santos Majano, opens Thursday at 105 Walnut Ave. This is the former site of Soif, where Majano served as executive chef for many years. The seafood-driven menu offers dishes like halibut ceviche with sweet potato and avocado, marinated mussel toast with mustard sauce, oysters with house-fermented hot sauce, and whole-fried Monterey Bay rockfish. Other selections include anchovies (with grilled bread and house pickles), fried calamari, grilled cabbage with miso brown butter, and slow-cooked pork shoulder with roasted apples and cheesy grits. “My team and I are so grateful to the incredible community of people who helped bring this dream into a reality,” says Majano. “It is because of this community that we have this wonderful opportunity. We look forward to working with local farms, fishermen, wine and spirits producers, and many other industries and local talents to showcase the amazing bounty Santa Cruz has to offer.” In addition to wine and beer, there are many house cocktails and non-alcoholic selections. To start, hours will be 5-9 p.m. Thursday-Monday (closed Tuesday-Wednesday). In a few weeks, the restaurant plans to add happy hour service from 4-5 p.m. A long-term plan is to add weekend brunch. For details, visit eathookandline.com or follow Hook & Line on Instagram @eathookandline.

SOQUEL

Homesteaders Market season starts Saturday

The Soquel Homesteaders Market, which will be held the 2nd and 4th Saturdays each month through October, will have its first 2024 appearance from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 2505 S. Main St. (in the Soquel Creek Animal Hospital parking lot, across from Beer Thirty). There will be many vendors with items including produce, arts/crafts, and upcycled goods — plus food and drinks for sale, a seed bank, demos, and homesteading info.

The market, organized by Jill Troderman, first appeared last fall in a different location and took a break until warmer weather. Part of Troderman’s mission is to “connect people to locally grown and produced foods, homemade goods, and holistic wellness services.” Learn more at santacruzholisticnutrition.com/2023/10/soquel-homesteaders-market.

Food trucks and more at family-friendly event

The third annual Live Oak Jack Rabbit one-mile FUNdraiser Run and Student Art Contest celebration is at Shoreline Middle School (855 17th Ave.) from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. This free event, open to the entire community, supports arts programming for Live Oak schools via the Live Oak Education Foundation. Three food trucks will be present — Areperia831, El Buen Taco, and Aparicio Family Ice Cream Truck — plus Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting with solar-powered coffee and pastries. A pop-up market has artists and vendors including Cakes with Care (operated by a Live Oak School District parent, it provides cakes to financially and socially disadvantaged kids and seniors). CrossFit Pleasure Point and GOAT (Group Open Air Training) are hosting free fitness classes. Other programming includes performances by the Shoreline Middle School Band and Coffee Zombie Collective; a community partner expo; and free kids’ activities including sack races run by a local Girl Scout troop and “bilingual storytimes” by Santa Cruz Public Libraries. For details and full schedule, visit tinyurl.com/LOJR2024.

SANTA CRUZ

The Midway changes offerings

Chef Katherine Stern’s restaurant The Midway (1209 Soquel Ave., themidwaysantacruz.com) has changed its dinner service and also expanded its days open to include Mondays. Dinner is now served five days a week, and there are a la carte selections (the restaurant first launched dinner service in mid-March with a multi-course prix fixe menu). Visit the website for the menu and to make dinner reservations. Last week’s dinner menu included Fogline farm chicken & lime soup, and chanterelle & ricotta agnolotti. The Midway offers lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 5-9 p.m. Thursday-Monday, plus weekend brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Follow The Midway on Instagram @themidway_s_c.

CAPITOLA

Sip and stroll tickets on sale

The Pleasure Point Sip & Stroll will be noon to 5 p.m. April 25, taking attendees on a tour through Pleasure Point Village. Tasting stations will be located at several businesses. Tickets are $40 in advance ($45 day of event if not sold out) and include beer and wine tastes. Learn more and buy tickets at pleasurepointsipandstroll.com.

APTOS

Food and wine pairing event on deck

Cabrillo College Culinary Arts and the Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains are partnering for “The Perfect Pair,” a culinary and wine showcase on April 27 at Sesnon House (6500 Soquel Drive). Eleven teams of Cabrillo Culinary arts students are matched with 11 Santa Cruz Mountains wines; each team prepares a dish to pair with their chosen wine, aiming to “perfectly match” the food and wine. The public can buy $90 tickets for a 1-4 p.m. “walkaround tasting” to sample the creations. There are also tickets on sale for two different in-depth wine master classes at 10:30 a.m. and noon. Read details, including list of participating wineries, and buy tickets at winesofthesantacruzmountains.com/events/the-perfect-pair/.

CAPITOLA

Nothing Bundt Cakes expands hours

Nothing Bundt Cakes (3555 Clares St. Suite YY, 831-476-8773, nothingbundtcakes.com) has new hours. It is now open 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

APTOS

New menus at Pino Alto

Pino Alto Restaurant (Sesnon House, 6500 Soquel Drive), which the Cabrillo College Culinary Arts Department operates, launched new lunch menus last week. Also, dinner service is a student-curated Sustainable Seafood Menu through April 11. Lunch is 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, dinner is 5:30-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Call 831-479-6524 for reservations, which are recommended but not required. Visit pinoaltorestaurant.org for details including menus.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

Local Dungeness crab season has ended

The local commercial Dungeness crab season, which had a delayed mid-January opening date due to humpback whales being present, has ended early. As the Sentinel published on Monday, “With humpback whales heading back to their feeding grounds off coastal California and gray whales migrating north to Alaska, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife … (is closing) the commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries in southern and central fishing zones including Monterey Bay to reduce the risk of entanglements.”

SCOTTS VALLEY

Tickets on sale for 1440 Multiversity Lunch & Learn

1440 Multiversity (800 Bethany Drive, 844-544-1440) has tickets available for two upcoming Lunch & Learn events. For this series attendees participate in a workshop, or a guided walk and discussion, then enjoy a sustainable and locally sourced lunch — mostly plant-based — at 1440’s Kitchen Table restaurant. Cost is $65 and advance reservations are required. There are April 11 and May 8 events. Learn details and register at www.1440.org/events.

SANTA CRUZ

Homeless Garden Project service opportunity includes lunch

Homeless Garden Project welcomes the community to participate in its annual Cesar Chavez Day of Service from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the farm (Shaffer Road near Delaware Avenue). Volunteers will work on spring tasks — like planting seeds — from 10 a.m. to noon, enjoy complimentary lunch, and hear speakers including an HGP trainee and Dr. Ann López, executive director of Center for Farmworker Families. For details, email omarg@homelessgardenproject.org.

SCOTTS VALLEY

Archival Wine Tasting at Pelican Ranch Winery

Pelican Ranch Winery (2364 Bean Creek Road, 831-332-5359, pelicanranch.com) is hosting its annual Archival Wine Tasting Party from 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday. Winemaker Phil Crews welcomes visitors for “a unique opportunity to compare current releases to those that have been cellared for a half decade or more.” Attendees can also purchase pizza and pretzel bites. There is no admission charge for Wine Club members.

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