"Far West Fungi is a mushroom candy store! It has a couple locations in the state of California, and one of them is here; Santa Cruz is known for having a fungus festival. It's literally a candy store for anyone who's interested in mushrooms. You get your creminis and also your lion’s manes, and the people who work here are super-duper helpful and knowledgeable."

"This is a beloved local market that’s been around since 1938. They have wood floors, the butchers wear white lab coats, and there’s sawdust on the floor in the butcher section. It’s the most knowledgable butcher counter. I’m a cookbook writer, so if I have questions about butchering or about meat cuts, I go to Shopper’s and ask. They still do old-fashioned service; they’ll debone things for you. The produce department is excellent; they get a lot of their produce locally."

"This tiny Mexican market in Santa Cruz is tucked away in a strip mall. Early in the morning, before the market opens, they set up their tortilla-making machine, and they make tortillas left and right, and they are warm, supple, and absolutely delicious. You can also buy their masa to make tortillas at home. I can get frozen banana leaf here, which I use in Southeast Asian cooking, and they have a butcher who is very, very helpful."

"Each week I go to one, if not two, sometimes three, farmers' markets. In Santa Cruz county, we have farmers' markets five days a week. The Wednesday one downtown is lively and crowded. Some of my favorite farms, like Live Earth Farms, are here. There's so much wonderful, fresh product. Literally, the produce glows! Also my knife-sharpening guy, Sharp Quick, is here. Even though I'm a professional cook and supposed to sharpen my own knives, I don't do it all that often!"

"Garden Deli is a liquor shop, and half of the liquor shop is a deli, where you can order sandwiches that are really well-prepared with fresh ingredients. They get slammed, so my suggestion is to call in your order first before going over to pick up; that way you don't have to wait 15–20 minutes. I love their club sandwiches—it's really hard to get an old-fashioned club sandwich! Many people go for the meatball or the hot pastrami sandwiches, but I love the classic club."

"Developing the recipes for Vietnamese Food Any Day, I did the grocery shopping in my local community. We live in such a diverse grocery-shopping world! AJ's has the best selection of South Asian and Middle Eastern ingredients in the county. It's very compact, but it's well-curated. If I need a special ingredient that I don't want to go to San José for—like amchoor, which is dried green mango powder—I'll go to AJ's. It's like this mini international market, and it's attached to a Chevron!"

"I love light beers, like lagers and kölsches, which go really well with Asian food, and Humble Sea makes some of the most refreshing beers around. They have a mid-week yakitori pop-up from Yakitori Toriman, which has pop-ups all over town. The one at Humble Sea on Wednesdays is really great. You can go there and sit outside and order little skewers of chicken; it's a delicious and wonderful way to experience Santa Cruz. A breeze can pick up, so bring a sweater!"

"Birichino makes wonderful small-batch wines that are beautifully crafted. I love their rosé and their Malvasia. I love everything they have. You can go there, taste, and purchase wine as a gift or to take home and enjoy. They source their grapes from some of the oldest vineyards in the state of California, and they just have a really balanced palate for making exceptional wine."

"Barceloneta is a Spanish restaurant from restaurateurs from San Francisco, who now reside here. It's just super-duper fun: You're getting city food in a beachside town. I order the vegetable paella, but then I have them put squid ink in it. Brett [Emerson, the chef-owner] has these clams that he steams with jamon serrano and a ton of garlic, and I always get extra bread to sop up all the cooking liquid. And they have the best selection in the county of Spanish wines!"

"Shun Feng is a family-owned restaurant; the family is from northern China. Stacy, the daughter, runs the front of house, and her father cooks in the back. They're really nice people. I order a lot of dishes from what they call their 'special menu,' which is geared toward international or Chinese students who are attending the university—and curious people like me! They have these spicy little chicken wings that are fabulous with beer."