Your Place

Your Place Opening Soon: New Restaurant Brings Farm to Table Home Cooking to the Westside of Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, California — Finally a place to call my own! We can look forward to a new restaurant opening on the Westside at 1719 Mission Street. Your Place will offer farm to table organic home cooking in a warm and classic environment. Art Russell, the new owner hopes customers will find not only fresh delicious food but a strong sense of community they have been searching for.

Art Russell, owner and head chef of Your Place says, "Our goal for Your Place is to bring back something old fashioned and yet new to the westside of Santa Cruz. Honoring the agricultural past with a sustainable future is our goal. We come from a past where people waved or tipped your hat as you went by. Your Place is about identifiying with the community and this incredible environment we have the opportunity to live in. We will offer fresh wholesome, organic food without chemicals: delicious simplicity. Genuine service includes good staff who want you to feel at home. We are glad to see ya! We want to grow a sense of community here, where people come because it is familiar. Where you know us and we are so happy to know you. We want to make you a meal that you love- that you crave! Tradition and fun and food go hand in hand to create memories of family and community."

Based on nearly 40 years of culinary experience, Mr. Russell brings a breadth of knowledge and relationships to Your Place. He has worked in many kitchens: the Clubhouse at Spanish Bay, Harrah's and Caesars in South Lake Tahoe, and his own resturant The Monach Cafe. Russell plans to buy fresh fruits and vegetables from local, organic farmers and will adhear to the Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood watch list. Your place will offer seasonal items on breakfast, lunch and dinner menus that take advantage of the abundant, year-round agricultural ingredients of Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Salinas, and Monterey Bay. They will be open to the early bird crowd, 7 days a week, on the Westside for a perfect homemade breakfast. The lunch and dinner menus will also feature locally grown and farm-raised ingredients, and a local wine and beer selection.

"We remember Santa Cruz when it was a small town, when chain restaurants were the exception, not the rule," says Russell. "We want to help people remember that time and offer a respite from the fast-paced lives we all lead these days. We look forward to welcoming everyone to Your Place and making it a restaurant they can call their place."

Your Place plans to open in late November or early December.