Former Café Sparrow chef brings playful pub food to downtown Santa Cruz speakeasy

If people go to a bar to have a good time, why can’t the food be fun, too? 

That was chef Donnie Suesens’ line of thinking when he created the menu for Food Talk, his restaurant at Ulterior, the speakeasy space on the second floor of Motiv, a bar in downtown Santa Cruz. In the swanky upstairs lounge, with its dark wood booths, marble bartops and emerald green walls, Suesans draws from childhood nostalgia to create dishes inspired by his grandmother’s holiday clam dip and Friday night trips to Taco Bell, and makes playful versions of traditional pub snacks. 

It’s a pivot from his previous restaurant career. Before he took up residence at Ulterior last August, Suesens was the chef and owner of Café Sparrow in Aptos from 2021 until its closure in April 2024, and had worked at the longstanding French restaurant for 11 years. 

At Food Talk, Suesens offers a short menu of playful versions of traditional pub snacks, made largely from ingredients sourced from local producers within Santa Cruz County. The name comes from a desire for guests to leave their differences at the door and come together over a meal. “For me, in my particular space, I keep the politics away. And my whole motto here is: there’s too much controversy in the world, so we should sit down, break bread and let the food talk,” he said. 

For the dinner plate-sized crunchwrap supreme ($17), Suesens recreates the classic fast food item with layers of homemade nacho cheese, Jack cheese, shredded lettuce, either fatty pork belly or carnitas-style lamb, and a crunchy tostada shell, all wrapped in a tortilla and pressed into a fat disk. In a nod to the Hispanic neighborhood where he grew up in Stockton, he includes a side of lamb consommé for dipping, quesabirria-style. 

At first, it’s hard to see the origin story behind the clam paté toast ($10), served on a thick slice of plush Japanese milk bread and topped with geometric lines of finely chopped chives, fried onions, shiitake mushrooms, and crushed potato chips. But the appealing clash of textures and umami is intended to mimic the familiar flavors of clam and cream cheese dip served with crinkle-cut potato chips, a classic American snack and Suesens’ grandmother’s trademark dish. 

One of his flagship menu items is a Scotch egg ($16), a common pub snack in the United Kingdom. At Food Talk, Suesens wraps locally raised pork sausage around a soft-boiled egg, then fries it until the outside is crunchy and the yolk is jammy. It comes to the table on a spoonful of homemade mango chutney and a squiggle of curry tomato sauce that has the exact color and texture as Heinz ketchup, but with a blast of warm spices. 

“I’m just elevating it with a bit more technique behind it. That’s why you can feel like you’re indulging, but at the same time, when you’re eating my version, you know that you’re getting quality ingredients inside of it,” said Suesens. 

The lamb – braised for hours with a mix of spices that include cumin, chipotle, adobo and celery, until impossibly tender, then shredded and fried – is intensely flavorful, and makes another appearance on top of Seusen’s filthy fries ($17), a heaping pile of seasoned fries topped with house-made nacho cheese, the curry “ketchup,” and sweet Japanese-style aioli. It’s not fancy, but it is shockingly good, and would likely be a euphoric experience after a few cocktails. 

His menu is lighthearted, but Suesens is serious when it comes to sourcing local ingredients. The vast majority of the produce Seusans uses comes from the downtown farmers market, and all of his pork, lamb, eggs, and beef is sourced from Pajaro Pastures, a small ecological farm in Corralitos. He either makes his bread, like his burger buns, in-house, or purchases them from baker Talia Damon at 11th Hour Coffee. 

All of the condiments, including the mango chutney and curry “ketchup” are made by Suesens. Even the crushed potato chips on the clam paté toast are made in-house from farmers market-purchased potatoes. 

“I don’t believe in supporting huge corporations when we have the ability to support mom and pop businesses,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but for me, I like to keep all of my money and my thoughts here in my little community.”

As a result, Food Talk may lay claim to the most local burger ($20) in the area. The thick beef patty is cooked to temperature, and layered with a sweet-savory homemade bacon-cherry jam, smoked onions – from the farmers market when they’re in season – and a homemade brioche bun. The only ingredient he purchases from out of the area is the funky Gruyere cheese. 

In addition to supporting local farms, Suesens is committed to pricing his items at $20 or less. “I want everybody to feel like they can come in here on a Wednesday or Thursday, grab dinner, and not break the bank,” he said. “Two people can come in here for $40 and some change, and they will leave full. I’m going to continue doing that as long as I can.”

Rising food costs were the main reasons that led Suesens to close Café Sparrow last year after 38 years in business. The small size and scale of Food Talk – he doesn’t have any employees – allows him to be more nimble and use almost exclusively local ingredients while keeping prices affordable. 

Working inside a bar has a different set of challenges. There is a strict 21-and-over policy – including small children and babies – so he can’t serve families, and Food Talk’s kitchen closes at 10 p.m. before the bar gets too rowdy. 

But for Suesens, that doesn’t eclipse his ability to create strong bonds with local farms and create food that reflects his personality and history. “I really believe in keeping our community’s money inside of our community. I don’t want to support the big guys. They have enough money. They don’t need anymore,” he said. “The more that I can support the little people in Santa Cruz County, they can support me. It’s a full circle, and it allows all of us to survive and keep doing what we love.”

110 Pearl Ally, Santa Cruz. Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.