Best of Santa Cruz County: Where Calories Go to Party and Wallets Go to Cry (Oct. 10–16 Edition)


🍇 Welcome to the Land of Gourmet Guilt

Ah, Santa Cruz County — where the coastline sparkles, the people glow (thanks, kombucha), and the food scene operates on the assumption that calories don’t count if they’re local. Every week, someone somewhere is hosting a tasting, a tour, or a dinner so organic it probably apologizes when you eat it.

This week’s lineup (Oct. 10–16) is an all-you-can-eat buffet of local pride and fermented beverages. Lily Belli’s curated list offers a smorgasbord of events guaranteed to make your taste buds weep and your bank account file for emotional support.

Let’s take a snarky stroll through the highlights — because nothing says “community spirit” like artisanal small plates and $99 tickets for the privilege of pretending you can still fit into your jeans afterward.


🥂 Gourmet Grazing on the Green: Where Wine Meets Wallet Pain

Saturday, Aptos Village Park transforms into the epicenter of indulgence with Gourmet Grazing on the Green, a fundraiser for the Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group. For $99, you get four hours of “unlimited” wine and beer tasting, which is just enough time to forget how much you spent.

Dozens of local chefs, restaurants, and “cottage food businesses” (translation: people who turned their pandemic sourdough hobby into an LLC) will be handing out “small bites.” That’s marketing speak for “you’ll need seven of them to feel full.”

But hey — it’s for a good cause. Drink generously, tip kindly, and try not to start any philosophical debates about biodynamic viticulture with someone named Skylar who’s wearing hemp shoes.


🚜 Open Farm Tours: Because Dirt Is the New Luxury

Sixteen organic farms are flinging open their barn doors for the 12th annual Open Farm Tours, which sounds wholesome until you realize it’s $25 per car for the privilege of watching people more competent than you harvest kale.

The event is divided by geography — South County Saturday, North County Sunday — because Santa Cruz sustainability runs on spreadsheets. You’ll find farm tours, u-picks, tastings, and “special events,” which probably means you’ll end up watching a goat do something adorable while you contemplate your life choices.

Family-friendly? Absolutely. Kids can pet animals, pick pumpkins, and ask impossible questions like, “Why does organic lettuce cost more if it’s smaller?”

Pro tip: Bring boots, bug spray, and an attitude of reverence for heirloom tomatoes. You’ll need all three.


🍽 Friday Night Fancies: Where Dinner Comes with a Hashtag

If you’ve ever thought, “I want to eat dinner, but I also want it to have a mission statement,” Friday has you covered.

  • Open Farms, Open Table at Pajaro Pastures (5 p.m.) brings you a farm-to-table dinner by chef Jessica Yarr. Expect every ingredient to come with a backstory, possibly involving a goat named Clementine and a regenerative soil practice that sounds vaguely spiritual.

  • The 29th Annual Farm Dinner at the Land Trust’s “Little Bee Barn” (5:30 p.m.) is exactly as cute and rustic as it sounds — right up until someone mentions climate resilience between bites of grass-fed beef.

  • Vine to View Dinner Series – Orin Swift Winery (6:30 p.m.) at Chaminade Resort & Spa is for people who believe Pinot Noir tastes better when you can see the ocean and post about it in real time.

  • Welcome Black BBQ (2 p.m.) at Stevenson Knoll, UC Santa Cruz, offers smoky goodness and good vibes, reminding everyone that community isn’t just about who makes the best tri-tip — it’s about showing up and celebrating together.

By the end of Friday night, you’ll either be drunk on local wine or self-satisfaction. Possibly both.


🥕 Saturday: The Holy Pilgrimage of the Locavore

The Santa Cruz Saturday lineup is a culinary marathon disguised as community engagement.

Start your day at the Aptos Farmers Market (8 a.m.), where you can spend $9 on a head of lettuce and feel morally superior for doing so. Then head to Open Farm Tours in South County (11 a.m.) for some fresh-air capitalism.

Feeling snacky? Food Truck Saturday at Capitola Mall (noon) promises fried comfort food parked conveniently near the ghost of Sears. You can almost hear the walls whisper, “Remember when this was retail?”

But the real MVP of the day is Gourmet Grazing on the Green — the aforementioned $99 ticket to gluttony — featuring enough food and booze to turn even the most disciplined vegan into a “weekend pescatarian.”

Other highlights include:

  • Pumpkin Day at the Rose Farm (1 p.m.), because autumn Instagram content doesn’t create itself.

  • Bubbles & Oysters with Bill Oysterman (1 p.m.), which sounds like a 1920s speakeasy act but is actually at MJA Vineyards Westside.

  • Oktoberfest at Mission West Bar (2 p.m.), where people will insist on calling it “authentic” even though it’s 70°F and someone’s wearing flip-flops.

  • Sea-to-Table Education Dinner (4:30 p.m.) at 1440 Multiversity, which is sold out — because apparently, “mindful dining” is the new yoga.

By nightfall, you’ll have consumed enough farm-fresh calories to power a small wind turbine.


🥖 Sunday: Where Bread and Brunch Are Religions

Live Oak Farmers Market (9 a.m.) sets the tone — all smiles, fresh produce, and one guy playing acoustic guitar while you wonder if he’s part of the event or just lost.

Next, Autumn Fest (10 a.m.) at Companion Bakeshop Westside delivers the carb-based comfort we all crave. Expect apple galettes, pumpkin pastries, and people debating whether cinnamon is “basic” or “essential.”

Brunch on the Farm (10 a.m.) at Pajaro Pastures proves once again that brunch is less a meal and more a moral stance. There will be mimosas, there will be plaid, and there will be at least one conversation about how “industrial agriculture is ruining everything.”

Open Farm Tours continues in North County (11 a.m.), because apparently one day of staring at beets wasn’t enough.

Finally, Boots ‘N Brews (3 p.m.) wraps up the weekend in style at Murray Street & Seabright Avenue. Translation: country music, beer, and the existential realization that “craft lager” now costs $14.


🍻 Monday: Recovery Mode

Indigenous People’s Day celebrations at UC Santa Cruz (noon) remind us that not everything needs to be commodified, Instagrammed, or infused with truffle oil.

Meanwhile, Keg of Honor Mondays at Discretion Brewing gives locals a noble excuse to keep the weekend going. Because nothing says “honoring culture” like a well-timed IPA.


🎃 Tuesday: Pumpkin Politics

The Pumpkin Decorating Bonanza (1:30 p.m.) at Felton Farmers Market is where Santa Cruz proves that even vegetables can be vehicles for self-expression. Expect arguments over whether glitter is compostable, and at least one toddler emerging fully orange.


🍪 Wednesday: The Cookie Conundrum

By Wednesday, the sugar crash has set in, and you’re ready to make questionable choices. Enter the Halloween Cookie Party for Adults (6 p.m.) at Bruno’s Bar and Grill.

You haven’t lived until you’ve watched a grown man in a Dracula cape attempt to pipe frosting after three beers. It’s art, chaos, and diabetes in one convenient evening.


🧠 The Deeper Meaning of All This Eating

Here’s the thing about Santa Cruz County — it’s not just about food; it’s about philosophy. Every event here doubles as a mission statement. You can’t just eat a tomato; you must honor its lineage, learn its soil pH, and discuss its carbon footprint before taking a bite.

And honestly? That’s kind of beautiful. Santa Cruz doesn’t do “grab and go.” It does “pause and ponder while holding a mason jar.”

These events aren’t just meals; they’re love letters to community, sustainability, and the idea that joy can be handmade. They’re a celebration of the quirky, the conscientious, and the occasionally pretentious — and we wouldn’t have it any other way.


💸 Final Thoughts: The Price of Taste

By the end of this week, you’ll have spent roughly $300 on food events and another $200 on “artisan” gas station snacks between them. But you’ll also have stories, Instagram posts, and the smug satisfaction of knowing your avocado toast supported local farmers.

Santa Cruz food culture isn’t about perfection — it’s about participation. Whether you’re sipping organic wine at Aptos Village Park, dodging pumpkins in Felton, or trying to find parking at Chaminade, you’re part of a community that eats with purpose and drinks with pride.

So here’s to Gourmet Grazing, Open Farm Tours, and every beautifully overthought, overpriced, overdelicious thing in between. Because in Santa Cruz County, the only thing better than the food is the story that comes with it.


🥂 Epilogue: Eat, Pray, Compost

Next week, the kale will wilt, the cookies will be gone, and the farmers will go back to growing miracles in the dirt. But for now — for this one glorious week — the county hums with laughter, clinking glasses, and the faint sound of someone saying, “Is this gluten-free?”

Eat up, Santa Cruz. You’ve earned it.

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