Summer Fun

Collette, Toran, Aurelia, Jonathon & I spent a day in Santa Cruz recently. Jonathon, having lived in Santa Cruz, remembered the Crow's Nest fondly, so we went there for dinner. We had a stunning beach side view on the deck, while being protected with high class walls.

Toran & I started out with a nice cup of clam chowder. It could have used a tad more salt, but was tasty nevertheless.

Collette & Aurelia split a kids fish & chips and seemed to enjoy it.

Jonathon, without further ado, went directly for the yellowtail special. He said the fish was great!

Next arrived Toran's salad completing his kids soup & salad set.

And I was simply bowled over by my sesame ahi salad. What's not to like about that beautiful bowl of greens with broccoli, rice noodles, fresh ginger, almonds and seared ahi sprinkled with sesame seeds? And the flower garnish was lovely too. I assure you, it tasted as good as it looks.

Strawberry ice cream was a hit with the under 12 set.

Jonathon & I found the key lime pie with a hint of mango irresistable. It was good, and could used a bit more mango.

The beach was extraordinary.

And the company couldn't have been better.

Cruisin Santa Cruz. Wednesday was a lovely day for a drive over the mountains and through the woods to have a business meeting Santa Cruz. Before the meeting, we grabbed a quick bite at Benten, a small and friendly Japanese restaurant on the north end of Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz.

I enjoyed the Oyako Don (a chicken and egg dish), which was prequeled by a nice bowl of miso soup. Although nothing to write home about, it was good solid fare at a reasonable price with friendly service.

It was with trepidation that I chose a dish with chicken in it, having heard the news that Consumers Union testing showed that 83% of chicken that they tested harbored bacteria which can make you ill. The spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Steve Cohen stated "There is virtually nothing or any conclusion that anyone could draw from 500 samples. They're passing along junk science and calling it an investigation." hmmm. That seems a bit strong. Wouldn't you think it worth note if you picked up 525 chickens from various stores, organic, free-range and traditional, and found an 83% rate of bad bacteria??? Time to rethink my stance on buying a SensorfreshQ, or even better, eating ever-more vegetarian.