There are many gems hidden throughout Los Gatos, from its rich history to picturesque spots. Some of those jewels are our elegant restaurants, like The Bywater. Owned by David Kinch–the chef of 3 Michelin Star holder Manresa–this open and welcoming spot specializes in delivering the best in New Orleans cuisine to Santa Cruz Mountains and Silicon Valley diners.
And in the kitchen is another local rarity, though many don’t know his name. Yet.
That chef is Joshua Cremer. For the past four years he has worked under head chef Nick Lamantia shucking oysters, frying catfish and smoking spare ribs.
“We cook everything from the ground up,” Cremer states confidently. “It’s the first place I’ve worked that doesn’t cut any corners.”
Cremer started working in kitchens while attending California State University, Chico (State). He studied audio engineering and made ends meet with a job on campus at Celestino’s New York Pizzeria. By the time he moved to Santa Cruz in 2019, Cremer was working for PG&E. While the yearly salary and benefits were enticing, the job didn’t allow him anytime for his other passion, playing music.
‘The reason why we can play shows at night is because we have these jobs in the morning.’
—Joshua Cremer
So after the 2020 Covid lockdowns were lifted Cremer and his wife moved to Boulder Creek and he got a job in the kitchen at the Boulder Creek Country Club. After his day shifts were over, he would play gigs anywhere he could throughout the area.
“As a musician around here, we don’t post about our day jobs but we all have them,” Cremer says. “The reason why we can play shows at night is because we have these jobs in the morning.”
Four years later Cremer and his wife (with a baby soon on the way) currently reside near Felton, keeping him relatively close to The Bywater.
“Los Gatos is a great community,” he exclaims. “We have a lot of regulars that will later go to my shows and people that see me at shows then will come eat some barbeque at the restaurant.”
His band, Eyes Like Lanterns, have been making their own waves in the community as of late. While Cremer originally started out as a solo act performing under the monker–and sometimes still does–a year ago he put out a call for musicians interested in playing in a full band. Along with Cremer on vocals and guitar is Billy Reese on guitar, Jesse Kenneth Cotu Williams on bass and Jorge Marquez on drums.
“Chef Nick Lamentia is a great man,” Cremer states. “He’s been in bands before and told me that he decided when he was in charge he would be the guy to give musicians time off. They treat (music) like a second job, which it is.”
In the year the quartet has been together, they’ve played all over Santa Cruz County and beyond. Along with playing local markers like Streetlight Records and Moe’s Alley, they released their Plague Spells EP, and–to celebrate the release–played their first Catalyst Atrium show which also just so happened to sell out. They were even asked to play the Good Times’ 50th anniversary party this past summer. Since then the band has continued to grow and recently played three of the area’s larger festivals: Event Santa Cruz’s Midtown Fridays Summer Block Party, West End Celebration in Sand City and the Los Gatos Music In the Park. The last of which marked another milestone for the band and its musicians.
“That was the largest crowd any of us have ever played for,” Cremer says of the 1,800 to 2,000 attendees.
They got the gig after one of the bookers for the concert overheard Cremer playing a solo show at The Club. He asked if Cremer had a full band and would be interested in playing Music in the Park.
“He said normally they book cover bands but he really liked my original sound,” remembers Cremer. “We spent a better part of the year getting together a two and a half hour setlist for it.”
The band is currently back in the studio fine-tuning some new songs they will be recording as soon as possible. So for now, Cremer is using the time to set his intentions and focus on his cooking before his family grows.
“(The Bywater) smokes and grinds all its meats and we have beignets that will knock your socks off,” he says. “What you see is what you get and what you get is really good.”
