Brunch Bites at Verve, Westside, Santa Cruz

Whenever we visit Santa Cruz, we immediately head to Verve, a cafe with multiple locations all over California. This particular one, on the west side of the city where undergrads and postdocs mingle for their morning wake-me-ups, struck us as less crowded, more mellow and easily accessible as we drive south from Highway 1. We would normally grab two cappuccinos including one of their delicious pastries, mostly almond croissants. These two combination, thick, creamy, frothy cups of coffee and crispy, flaky French croissants with almond paste vanilla-flavored with lightly toasted sliced slivers of almonds on top would normally satisfy our pre-brunch cravings.

However, on our last sojourn, we decided to give in to our savory yearnings and ordered the Garlic Goat Cheese and Tomato Toast and the Breakfast Sandwich. To our pleasant surprise, the toast came smothered liberally with herbed organic goat cheese. The avocado layer spread on a crispy sourdough bread came with warm cherry tomatoes, watercress and a sprinkling of edible purslane petals and other tasty calyxes.

The Breakfast Egg Sandwich also left us feeling lucky. The poppy seeded brioche buns complemented the cheesy organic egg, mixed greens and housemade ketchup. Sipping our cappuccinos on a strikingly hot and bright morning, we felt a sense of triumph, our pockets happy and ready for more action this side of California!

And by the way, Verve has a pretty lengthy selection of coffees aside from the very normal espresso, Gibraltar, au lait, macchaito and such. They offer innovative concoctions with names like Nitro Flash Brew--coffee on draft served over ice; Missile--coffee concentrate, cream, and housemade syrup served over ice; and Espresso Tonic--espresso poured over tonic water and ice.

When in Santa Cruz, before you plunge into the many whirlwind of activities that this city offers, Verve can be a great option to satisfy your hankering for simple, California-style bites in a less hectic surrounding.