FOOD&DRINK
LOCAL EATS
“ When you think about it, both of these foods are the last real undomesticated things humans consume.” —B rendan Pini, co-owner of Fished and Foraged
Pini, a fellow commercial fisherman and boat owner, has also spent a good portion of his life hiking in and around the Santa Cruz Mountains. Around 10 years ago he became fascinated with the study of mushrooms (or “mycology”) and how to forage for them. “I have been studying and hunting [for] mushrooms along the Central Coast for 10 years now, and I still turn into a little kid every time I am out in the woods,” says Pini.
After kicking the idea around on the docks after fishing, the two friends realized there wasn’t a sustainable food service in town that included their unique blend of oceanic and earthly products—and Fished and Foraged was born. Santa Cruz is a very special and fruitful place for seafood and wild mushrooms. The coastal upwelling (cold water from the bottom of the ocean coming to the surface) creates plankton blooms, which attract
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