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Making Their Marks

Robert Scheer

Liquid Uplift: Mark Curtis (left) and Marc Westburg, co-owners of Pearl Alley Bistro in downtown Santa Cruz, toast their new liquor license and the big plans they have for their small treasure of a restaurant.

Pearl Alley Bistro's creative owners
expand, stretch and get a
liquor license to boot

By Christina Waters

Even though they've been doing what they do so well for years now, I keep thinking of Pearl Alley Bistro co-owners Marc Westburg and Mark Curtis as the new guys on the block. And it's easy to do, because the youthful chef and proprietor can't stop re-inventing, fine-tuning and updating their cozy little landmark overlooking the getting-better-by-the-minute downtown alley.

Anyone familiar with the restless culinary style of Westburg knows that this is a creative mind incapable of "sitting still." Like a heat-seeking missile, he's all over the map, coaxing bold depths out of an autumn menu of Burgundian recipes--designed to complement a special pinot noir tasting--or defying trends by showcasing Australian food ideas and concocting witty parodies of classic French cuisine.

Okay, I'll calm down. The point of all this is to set you up for some of the newest stuff simmering upstairs at Pearl Alley. First of all, a liquor license is imminent. Curtis gushed the news to me last month whilst we were both banking at Coast Commercial. Any minute now, the folks at the ABC--"the most secretive agency this side of the CIA" in the opinion of chef Westburg--will give Pearl Alley the right to serve hard liquor along with its sexy listing of intriguing wines.

"It could come through any minute now, but we're definitely hoping to have it by April 1," Westburg says. "We're going to do tastings, a lot like our monthly wine tastings, but with handmade liquors--single-barrel bourbons, vodkas, single-malt whiskies and tequilas." Relax, the pours will be responsibly portioned. Westburg says the exotic liquors will be featured in flights of six half-ounce pours, complete with informative sheets about the distilleries, styles and all that good stuff.

The down side of this costly foray into the glamorous world of distilled spirits is that the two Marks are pouring a sum almost equal to the cost of the liquor license itself into new accessorizing. "We'll need an ice machine, a new dishwasher, a whole line of new glassware--and we'll be rebuilding the layout of the bar to accommodate liquor," says Westburg. On the other hand, Westburg adores remodeling, so he's already in heaven at the prospect of more tinkering with Pearl Alley's cozy physical ambiance.

But wait, there's more! Pearl Alley, fueled for so long with only a single oven and sauté line, recently has added some more firepower to go with its upcoming firewater. "I've got a French top griddle for really fine searing and we've doubled the sauté space to 16 burners," Westburg says. "Plus, now I've got three different ovens, so I can do more delicate baking. Before, I had to keep the oven at a single high heat to accommodate pizza temperatures."

Perhaps most importantly, Pearl Alley now sports a mesquite grill/rotisserie. "I can really do a wide range of cooking styles," says the excitable cuisinartist. He rattles off a few juicy new menu items, like a "real nice vegan-friendly barbecued vegetables" dish and a grilled and smoked half-duck to be served with a confit made of the de-boned thigh and leg meat. I salivate right on cue.

This place evolves so often that Chuckie Darwin would have insisted on his own bar stool. Westburg says that in addition to fine handmade spirits, we can expect more of those playful theme menus, on a grander scale than in the past. "Our tango New Year's Eve party was so successful," he says, "that it got us thinking of different things than just the obvious wine and food concepts."

The chef vows that the incredibly popular vegetable flan, onion tart and roasted whole garlic will remain firmly in place, but he also reminds us that "this year is my year for refining."

Clamming Up

A quick chat with Seaside Company public relations director Ann Parker confirmed that, no, Julia Child unfortunately will not be stopping by this year's Clam Chowder Festival. But most of the rest of the known world will be at the Boardwalk, chewing up the scenery and scores of seafood chowders on Saturday. Tasting kits cost $5 and public sampling of soup, beautiful soup, starts at 1pm. For details, call the Boardwalk at 423-5590.

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