The Cellar Door Cafe

Right after kickboxing on Saturday I showered and we all piled in the car to drive over to Santa Cruz for lunch at the Cellar Door Cafe. I figured I had burned enough calories between the 2 hours of weight training and then the hour of kickboxing. David, Lauren and Cooper are at the kitchen bar, our favorite place to watch all the action as we eat.


Below is a large chalkboard on the wall with the list of the producers and suppliers of the ingredients that day, all the farms. Lauren, being a very clever young woman asks "Is the boy happy because the girl is dirty?"


Ha! Smart girl!

The Chef, Jarod Ottley sends out a complimentary dish of fried Brussels Sprouts with smoked chevre. We also ordred Smoked fingerling potatoes with aioli and a fantastic pizza. It was Lamb sugo pizza with sheep's milk ricotta.  My plate is below, I had only one piece but could easily have eaten half the pizza.


Cooper and Lauren said it was the best pizza they had ever eaten in their lives (yes I know they are only 17 and 18, but they eat a lot of pizza!).

David then had Santa Cruz abalone, winter roots, castelvetrano olive and pickled carrot. I had a similar version of this last visit, it is amazing.

I typically order any seafood because it is so fresh and unique here. I had Eureka sand dab. Monterey squid, white beans and cippollini. Heaven on my plate!

Both Cooper and Lauren had the same thing: seared skirt steak, warm cabbage salad, fried farm egg. The moans and groans from the two of them were never ending. Cooper said it was the best steak he has ever eaten. I explained they use great local meats- but he said it wasn't just the meat, it was HOW it was cooked.

Oh, I finished my plate....could have even eaten the skinny little bones I guess! 

We ordered some cookies, but the server brought over a huge platter of desserts, including my favorite Dark chocolate cookies with caramel mascarpone. I explained that we hadn't ordered that, and she turned to look at Jarod, who just nodded his head, instructing her to place the platter in front of us.

Dessert was on the house. Lauren took one bite of the cookie and I thought she might try to whisk mine away from me! David and Cooper thoroughly enjoyed the date cake with maple and walnut.

Jarod come over and chatted about the upcoming holiday, the restaurant would be closed for a couple of weeks (good for them, bad for us). Lauren and Cooper expressed their pleasure with the whole experience and we vowed to return again soon.

Getting Big and Enjoying Life

It was Thursday, the day before Veterans day which was a holiday for all of us. I sent David an email:


"Cooper and Lauren are going to Halu before their play- want to go out to dinner?"
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss"
"Cellar Door!"


I make reservations online through open door and get home at 5:30. We live in San Jose, on the Los Gatos border so we are right at the Santa Cruz Mountain foothills, the Cellar Door Cafe is over the hill in Santa Cruz on the other side of the mountain. It would take almost an hour with traffic.


As we drive over the hill I am talking about my "bigness". I want to get big, I am trying to get big and amazingly, my diet has been working. I have cut starches back to only 3.5 ounces ONCE a day (after training) and increased protein 2 ounces every meal, which is 12 ounces more a day- almost a pound of lean meat/eggs/fish. I have grown, I am 13 pounds more than I was 5 weeks ago. And, most is muscle, there isn't much fat, really. I have done a good job. 


But, I am still allowing myself to enjoy life and eat, drink and be merry on occasion. Tonight was one.


David said "It's a holiday! We are off!"  "Well" I said "I still have to get up at 4 am to go to the gym". "Your choice" he happily shouts as he zips along the mountain road. "Don't wake me up when you go!"


We arrive and I ask to sit at the bar, we love to talk with the chef and watch the action. We love this restaurant and we are lucky to have such a fantastic place so close. We sit and the server greets us "Hey guys! Nice to see you again!" I don't know her name but she is a wealth of knowledge regarding food and wine. 


She brings us a glass of wine then places a dish in front of us. "Chef has sent this out for you!"


Notice she said "Chef" and not "The Chef". Jarod Ottley is respected and he is "Chef". He waves and smiles, he has sent out a beautiful dish of Fried Brussels Sprouts with Smoked Chevre. 


Heaven. Absolute heaven. Jarod walks over and greets us welcoming us back. Here David is enjoying the sprouts.

And more sprouts. They aren't breaded, just fried and the cheese is smooth and smokey.

Bread from Companion Bakery around the corner, olive oil and salt.

The pizza oven and the prep area where Jarod stands and creates the masterpieces he sends out to the anxious patrons. 

We shared Local Greens, Lemon, Almond. It isn't just a salad, it is a lovingly created piece of art. The greens are local and dressed by hand, then carefully stacked on the glass plate. The couple next to me ask what it is, they want one too.

David then has Pork Belly Confit, Cippolini, Torn Bread and Bean. He has had a slightly different version of this before, he likes it very much.

I had Monterey Squid, Squash Blossom, Sunchoke, Corn. Oh I ate half before I took the picture!


A French fellow sat down next to me and we chatted, he ordered the Duck Confit.

I look at the menu and see "chocolate cookie". I ask the server about them, could they be the fabulous cookies I had last month? She talks to Jarod, no they are not the same. But Jarod will make them just for me, as a special treat!


She tells me they changed the serving size, they used to serve 6 and realized it was way too many. Funny, I ate all 5 last time, David had 1.


Here they are, my special cookies, little sandwiches, so I actually did get 6 (two per sandwich). Last time I guess there were actually 12! David didn't even have a bite.

They all watch as I thoroughly enjoy each cookie. Then the two women sitting next to David want to know what I am eating. They don't see this on the menu and they want them. Oops, Chef will need to make more I guess!

David said he would have me home in time for bed, we arrive at 8:30, I relax with a glass of sparkling wine then off to bed, 4:00 am comes early.

Next Saturday is Passport Day, we have wine shipments to pick up and they happen to be in Santa Cruz, I have made reservations for lunch at the Cellar Door again. We told Jarod we would drop off some of our wine for him.

Dave's Tuna and Santa Cruz

This was a blog I wrote a few weeks ago and for some reason found it sitting in my drafts! So, I would not be doing this on a diet....ha ha no way! Although its a little late, its still a great story.


David and I went over to Santa Cruz not long ago, we wanted to go have the deep fried calamari at Aldo's. Years ago we would come here quite often, we owned a sailboat and so were here just about every weekend. 

We had a great time sitting in the sun, eating and laughing. As you can see by the picture above, it's not a fancy place, in fact, if you go to the "fanciest" restaurant at the harbor you will be right across from this place, behind glass windows paying a fortune, and probably eating frozen fish...Aldo's also has huge wonderful breakfast served late...

I started in on my calamari, they catch it on their own boat and clean it right there, it's the freshest you can get.  I looked at David and told him I felt sick, I don't recall the last time I ate this. He laughed and said the same, we decided we just cannot eat the deep fried stuff like this any longer.

We had a glass of wine and I looked at the small menu on the table. I couldn't figure out what they were trying to convey.

I asked him if the letters and numbers were the "coordinates" of where the wines were from, you know, since it is a nautical theme. He almost spit his wine in my face laughing so hard. Talk about being blond! It was the price! G=glass B-bottle.

I laughed at myself too.

Afterward we stopped at Dave's Gourmet Albacore. Here is a picture of the canned products they sell. I have been eating Dave's tuna for years. Dave's employs the most ecologically responsible methods available to harvest his seafood. 

The process of harvesting both Dave's Gourmet Salmon and Albacore are among the most primitive and discretionary methods when it comes to selecting the best! Dave's standards are strictly hook & line, also referred to as 'Trolling'. This technique allows fishermen to hand select and properly store each fish to insure freshness and purity. 

In overseeing quality and care from the ocean's catch to the delight of the eater, Dave's high standards demand only the best hook & line seafood from his fleet. Dave's fishing fleet covers an area of stretch from Big Sur to Alaska.  

Dave's wife, Krista sells at the Campbell's farmers market, so I can pick up some great tuna every week. Some of our favorites though are the albacore loins they sell. Beautiful, thick loins of sweet albacore. I picked up a couple in the freezer section, I will take them home and make my own tuna, tuna confit. I will post my recipe later, complete with pictures.

If you eat tuna, you deserve to eat the best and treat your body right. The smoked albacore is a treat, I open a can and gently flake apart the huge chunks, then top it on a salad.

Stop by Dave's and give them a try!

Eat Less, Move More

Don't these look stunning?  I went into this little shop, just to look and smell everything, I walked out and didn't buy a thing. It's not always that easy for me though, it's the deep, dark, rich, gooey chocolate that gets me every time.

I have had a few requests for diets lately, along with the usual, "how do I lose weight?", "what should I do?"

My answer is always the same. Eat less, move more. It's really quite simple.

You need to reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories everyday to lose one pound in a week. That really shouldn't be difficult. If you drink alcohol, drink less. If you drink soda, switch to sugar free. If you eat dessert everyday, stop.

Crackers, bread, butter, cream in your coffee, any and all snacks (packaged) are not your friend when you are trying to lose a bit of the jiggly stuff.

Then, if you start moving a little bit, that only doubles the calorie reduction! So if you start going for a walk every night after dinner AND reducing your daily calories by 500, you will lose even more weight!

Just think what will happen if you go to the gym and actually break a sweat, every single day?!

Start small, make easy changes that you can live with. Switch to no calorie sweeteners, eliminate soda and sugary drinks, use non fat milk, savor a piece of bread and not a loaf of bread, eat a portion of pasta and include vegetables and protein, instead of eating a bowl of pasta as a meal on its own. Use reduced calorie mayonnaise, or replace it with non-fat yogurt. Use low sugar ketchup. Avoid sugary jams, they have low sugar or even no sugar ones that taste fantastic.

Soon, you will really be able to enjoy the special treat you select at the bakery like the ones in my picture above, at least once in a while.   If you want to visit this bakery, it is in Santa Cruz, in the shopping center where The Cellar Door restaurant is located....

The Blond Bomber

My latest book. This is an actual picture of my book, I buy a lot of books so I get them used. This particular one came from Lexington Public Library, I wonder how many people checked it out before I bought it?

Dave Draper is an interesting fellow. I subscribe to his newsletter via email and he has an interesting way of writing, I think I would like to meet him someday.

For those who are not familiar with Dave,  I will tell you a bit about him. He was born on April 16, 1942 and began weight training at the age of 10. At 21, he won the Mr. New Jersey title.  Six months later he moved to Santa Monica, California, working for the Weider Barbell Company until 1969. During this period he also worked in motion pictures.

In the early days, Draper says, "There wasn't a whole bunch of encouragement or inspiration from a society which considered you either stupid or egotistical and probably a sissy."

In California, Draper initially trained at a gym many called "The Dungeon", which he described as "a large, awful space dug out of the ground on the corner of 4th and Broadway, and later at the original Gold's Gym.
Training partners included Frank Zane, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu and Mike Katz.

Here are some other titles  he won:

 1965 IFBB Mr. America Tall Class & Overall, 1st
 1966 IFBB Mr. Universe Tall Class & Overall, 1st
 1967 Mr. Olympia 4th
 1970 AAU Mr. World 3rd
 1970 IFBB Mr. World Tall & Overall, 1st
 1970 NABBA Mr. Universe Tall, 3rd

Until recently,  Dave owned and operated World gym in Santa Cruz, California with his wife Laree, and he continues to lift weights to this day.

In this book, he has lots of interesting facts about bodybuilding "back in the day", and sound advise. He has one interesting trick about eating nothing but tuna and water for several days to quickly drop body fat and get ripped, I may try it some day, but not right now when I am only a few weeks away from a competition. I will definitely post my results for all to hear and see though!

Here is a piece from his book: Brother Iron Sister Steel, just to give you an idea how his writing will make you look inward, to understand yourself and your motivation.

There comes a time, sooner or later, when you must listen to yourself and not those around you. You must become the student and teacher at once. Look directly to yourself and your training as the masters. If you enjoy the magazines and the science and research, sip on them as one does afternoon tea. Enjoy the aroma, swirl the flavorful liquid about the palate, note the heady summaries but don't expect sustenance. This comes from you, the gym and hard work over and over again. Insight and revelation fall like sweet rain from above on the sunniest days.

Pick up the book, and sign up for his newsletter at Iron Online. You can even join the forum and talk with others, and take in some good advise.