Food Traditional

Food trucks return to Capitola Mall after management secures permit

By Amanda M. Rye 3 weeks ago

CAPITOLA — After a delay, Capitola Mall was granted a conditional use permit to host mobile food vendors on its property.



a man standing in front of a building: Merlone Geier Partners, a real estate development group from San Francisco, bought the Capitola Mall in April but has not submitted a redevelopment plan to the city of Capitola. (Dan Coyro -- Santa Cruz Sentinel file)

© Provided by Santa Cruz Sentinel
Merlone Geier Partners, a real estate development group from San Francisco, bought the Capitola Mall in April but has not submitted a redevelopment plan to the city of Capitola. (Dan Coyro — Santa Cruz Sentinel file)

The permit, approved Thursday at the Capitola Planning Commission, is good for two years and includes conditions that require vendors to comply with city biodegradable and compostable disposable food serve ware requirements and the mall to only host food trucks in the spaces outlined in its application.



diagram: Capitola Mall management applied for a conditional permit to operate in four different spots on the property (highlighted by color). The Capitola Planning Commission approved the application Thursday night. (Credit: City of Capitola)

© Provided by Santa Cruz Sentinel
Capitola Mall management applied for a conditional permit to operate in four different spots on the property (highlighted by color). The Capitola Planning Commission approved the application Thursday night. (Credit: City of Capitola)

Mall

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Why Menorca is the ultimate island for food lovers

By Amanda M. Rye 3 weeks ago

My appetite turned up to “high”, I embarked on a voyage around the rich and sometimes enigmatic palette of the island’s flavours. It was autumn and the fields and woods gave off balsamic fragrances of camomile, rosemary and pine. One dew-drenched morning I set off with Lucia, of Farmer’s Way, a food-tourism outfit that lays on visits to artisan food producers, to a series of farmhouses in the rolling countryside of the interior. At one of these farms I watched Pedro Marquès and his family at work on their prize-winning artisan Binillubet cheese, made from the unpasteurised milk of their own cows. A few miles away at another whitewashed farmhouse, I met Italian expat Omar Zola, whose island-grown saffron has been wowing chefs across the island and beyond. Like wine and olive oil, saffron had not been produced here for centuries, said Zola, and his project marked the beginning of

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Which city’s food wins game day?

By Amanda M. Rye 3 weeks ago

For some folks, even die-hard football fans, Super Bowl food is as essential to game day as the game itself. And like many Floridians, Andy Hesman and Kenny Nadeau will be rooting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend. But when it comes to snacking, the two part ways, and voted quite differently in our city-centric Super Bowl Food Showdown.

Hesman, owner of AJ’s Press in Longwood, has Tampa roots. Years ago, he and his former business partner had a sandwich shop in Cigar City. Though it closed after sustaining serious damage during Hurricane Irma, its sister shop in Longwood still showcases Tampa love via its Cuban sandwich.

Nadeau, best known as the Kenny behind Uncle Kenny’s BBQ & Catering in Clermont, was born and raised in St. Louis, and though he’s been a proud Floridian since 1999, he’s just as proud showcasing the flavors of the Midwest via the

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All in the family: Las Margaritas Bar y Grill brings a fresh approach to ‘ritas and Hispanic cuisine

By Amanda M. Rye 3 weeks ago
Tacos galore, including fresh mahi, are part of the Las Margaritas Bar y Grill menu, now serving diners in New Centre Market. (Port City Daily/Shea Carver) Click photo to view the photo gallery.

WILMINGTON — Ben Avalos grew up in an environment where serving the masses Mexican food was the family trade. It only makes sense he continues the tradition by opening his first full-service restaurant, Las Margaritas Bar y Grill, on New Centre Drive

Alabos was introduced to restaurant life in the mid-’90s when his father ran El Vaquero on Market Street — where Bill’s Brewing Company now resides. He eventually expanded the El Vaquero brand into Elizabethtown. 

600 miles away, Avalos’ uncle operated Las Margaritas in Columbus, Ohio. 

When Avalos was almost 17, his father died, and though his mother and other family members stayed in Wilmington, Avalos wanted to pursue a career in soccer. So he moved

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