English Breakfast

BEST NIGHT CAP

WARSAW MULE AT SHADOWBROOK

There’s something about visiting the Shadowbrook that feels like going back in time. It’s more than just taking the historic cable car down the hill, or winding down through the garden walkway teeming with plants that overlooks Capitola. Along with the high-end service and infusion of class, the rambling rooms and elegantly lit main bar area are pungent with a sense of ineffable nostalgia. All of this makes going for a mid-week nightcap feel like you really got away for an hour or two. There are many gems on the cocktail list—like the Basil English Cucumber or the Guavapolitin—but it’s the Warsaw Mule that takes the cake when it comes to a refreshing old-timey drink to imbibe on a spring evening. A variation of the Moscow Mule, which became popular in the U.S. during the 1950s vodka craze, the Warsaw Mule is a winning combination of Sobieski vodka from Poland (made from top-shelf Dankowski rye, and distilled four times) ginger beer and lime. Served in a frosted copper mug and at a very doable $7, this drink rounds out the night with a truly satisfying cap. | MARIA GRUSAUSKAS

MOST INNOVATIVE TECH PROJECT

DIGITAL NEST

Living just a skip (albeit a perilous one) from Silicon Valley, tech growth has been a natural fit for Santa Cruz County. But as tech here has increasingly tried to assert its independence the gap between available academic resources and technology know-how has become more obvious. Last year, Tony Hill Award-winner Jacob Martinez founded Digital NEST (Nurturing Entrepreneurial Skills with Technology) in Watsonville, in the hopes of closing that gap. The NEST creates technology centers in vulnerable communities all over California—including in Watsonville, where the impact has been almost instantaneous. It gives young people (ages 12-24) from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties access to computers, software, and classes in digital filmmaking, networking, music recording, graphic and web design. The tech world is a competitive one, so hats off to Martinez for fighting to bring the necessary resources and inspiration to communities that need them most. | ANNE-MARIE HARRISON