This Week on the Central Coast
PG will be the home to the first Seltzery in California, local-made salami and cured meats are coming to Monterey, and a UCSC professor leads the charge in demystifying the life of mammoths.
Pacific Grove will be home to California’s first “seltzery”.
The site of the former Latitudes restaurant, near Lover’s Point, will be the site of a new seltzery. California Seltzer Company is a new concept that takes the brewery/restaurant concept and adapts it to hard seltzers. The company started with beer and pizza (both of which will also be available at the seltzery) in Lodi. When the pandemic happened, the group began thinking of new projects and landed on hard seltzers.
After scouting other locations, the group settled on Pacific Grove due to one of the founders’ fond memories of watching squid boats on the water during family vacations. Once the company passes the city’s clearances, work can begin on transforming the site into the seltzery. In the mean time, the California Seltzer Company has put up a website that lists the different flavors and more information.
PigWizard prepares to sell house-made salami.
Jonathan Roberts, owner of PigWizard on Coast Guard Pier, has finally made the leap to legally making and selling cured meats. Roberts had put off the project due to the overly-complicated process of legally curing and preserving meats. However, it was ironically thanks to the shut-downs of the pandemic that lead Roberts to finally get the license he needed. He has some strong opinions about the process of applying for the license, arguing that if it wasn’t such a hassle, there may be more creativity and variety within our local community. PigWizard converted its indoor dining area into production space in order to make this a reality. Roberts made some of his cured meats available for presale and will supply those sales first before making them available to the public. PigWizard’s initial lineup will include “five flavors of salami, a hot coppa, lemon rosemary lonza and pancetta”. They hope to have charcuterie boards ready for the holidays as well.
UC Santa Cruz professor leads an analysis of a woolly mammoth's life.
The study analyzed the tusk of a woolly mammoth that died in Alaska about 17,000 years ago. By cross-examining other species’ fossils from that same geographic area, the team was able to determine how far the mammoths travelled and major life events, such as being kicked out of its herd. Mammoth’s lives and movements have been puzzling, but the team’s research begins to piece together some of the clues left behind in their fossils. The article goes into much detail about the process and is a great read for anyone interested.
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