Original Sin Desserts, Bakery and Café moves its creative menu 
When I was younger, an occasional buffet meal was an opportunity to gorge myself on the less healthy foods that I rarely saw at home. Like piles of bacon and a table-full of desserts. Now I appreciate buffets as a quick lunch stop. The new Thai Village restaurant in the King's Village Shopping Center offers a small, fresh buffet ($8.95) that was well-attended by local Seagate employees last week.
Westside's Phoenix Asian Restaurant serves huge portions from its long menu
It seems that everyone in Santa Cruz has ties to Fresno, me included. Driving home from that Central Valley town, rows of tall corn, orchards of pistachios, and trailers laden with ripe tomatoes make it hard to ignore hunger pangs. But if you can make it past Casa de Fruta to San Felipe Road, you're just minutes away from what's billed as the best tri-tip in San Benito County.
Malone's in Scotts Valley offers gargantuan burgers and outlandishly fresh salads
It seems that there is a national day set aside to celebrate every food on the planet. But why are strawberry ice cream and apricot awareness days in January, and why is there a dog biscuit appreciation day at all? August's list makes more sense. It's National Peach month. Boxes at local farmers markets are brimming with these fuzzy fruits, just-picked and juicy.
Having heard that the Cypress Lounge had added Cajun flavors to their streamlined menu, I was keen to check it out. When we arrived just after 7 p.m., instrumental jazz musicians were playing their final song. The music was loud for anyone expecting a subdued dinner, but not for those noshing with friends. We were excited to find the elusive Santa Cruz Aleworks IPA on draft ($2 Tuesday happy hour all night) in all its ultra-hoppy glory.
Gilbert's on the wharf gets a new look, a new name, and adds a cafe 
At Hollins House Restaurant, a new chef and menu complement the original vision for Pasatiempo
Marion Hollins, the U.S. Women's Amateur Golf Champion in 1921, was also the only American woman with a handicap in men's polo. In designing the championship golf course at Pasatiempo, her vision was to take advantage of the local topography, and indeed, golfers tee off across canyons, and the seemingly hundreds of bunkers hold more sand than Its Beach. Her home, now Hollins House Restaurant, looks out over the manicured first fairway and sports a new chef who also draws heavily from local and natural sources.
A new Middle Eastern restaurant has opened on Capitola's Esplanade. Mr Kebab and Falafel is the half sister to House of Falafel over the hill, and skewered meats are their specialty.
Fatoosh, the House Salad ($3.99), topped with crunchy deep-fried squares of pita, was served on a large plate, and, as a starter, could feed three people. Strips of romaine were mixed with fresh parsley, cucumber, tomato, and a light lemon juice dressing. The mild mint tasted dried rather than powerfully fresh.
