Yes, over here

USA Today’s Sam Amick (formerly of the Bee) broke the story on Twitter: the NBA Board of Governors has apparently officially rejected the Chris Hansen/Steve Ballmer bid to purchase the Kings and move them to Seattle.

Dish 1:

These are not the entrees you should be serving. These are especially not the entrees you should be serving when the Eats clan has invited the Crushers to come along and evaluate a new eatery. If you don’t remember the Crushers, they’re great friends who do not hold back when served a shitty meal. And rarely stay quiet when they’re served a somewhat ok meal. They expect no errors at a $20 a dish joint, and just short-of-perfection at a $5 hash house.

This is also not the food you should be dishing out when you’re on the radar. How should you know you’re on the radar? Well, first comes the attention from Bee critic BAR, then an increase in Yelp reviews, then you wind up having two reviewers (Garrett McCord from SNR and Vanilla Garlic was at the table next to us) in on the same night. We’re talking NSA level-Zero Dark Thirty radar going on.

The restaurant, Trio, is the third attempt from the previous owner of Gonul’s and Vanilla Bean to make a go at restauranting. From all indications, this attempt will end as the last two.

The food is less than appealing, which at nearly $20 a plate is simply unacceptable. The atmosphere is about as homey as a 1980s strip club; a fancy one though, like you’d see in Miami Vice, with lots of shiny black stone and dark red drapes, with a buffet thrown in just to be homey. The server (there was only one) was not doing the chef any favors, showing a lack of knowledge about the food, a lack of attentiveness to diners, and a lack of interest in his job. Enjoy some of these interactions as proof. We’ll call the waiter “Tim Tebow” for identification purposes:

Garrett: So what is this sauce with the bread?
Tim Tebow: It’s like a babaganoush. But not. It’s kind of Turkish, like a turkiganoush.

Soon to be Mrs. Eats: I think your front door is locked.
Tim Tebow: Good.

Mrs. Crusher: Could we get some more water?
Tim Tebow: (texting)

In Trio’s defense, it was a Monday night. The place was less than 1/4 full. The Korean War veteran a few tables away was talking at the top of his volume knob about Kim Jung Un. The bar had been set pretty high and our expectations were up.

That all being said, the night was a trainwreck. So bad that I’m not willing to give the place another shot. I’d rather spend my rubles at any of the nearby standouts like Blackbird, Estelle’s, or Grange. Hell, I’d rather spend my money at the Baja Fresh. Had it not been for the Crushers and Garrett, the evening would have been a complete waste. Instead, it was an absurd traipse through restaurant land. Not all meals are memorable for the right reasons.

Trio- 826 J Street
Food* Service* Atmosphere**

Ameneyro, who is originally from Norwich, England (home of the Canaries!), told me idea came about as part of her own ongoing discovery about healthy eating. “I admire [SFB's] mission to provide fresh produce to those in need. I believe that you cannot sustain happiness if you cannot sustain your health,” she told me.

Her abstract acrylics and watercolors are on display at the Paolo Mejia Art Gallery.

Priscilla Ameneyro art fundraiser
The Art Studios
1723 I St, Sacramento, CA (behind Michelangelo’s restaurant)
May 11, 2013 (Second Saturday) 6-9pm

Tahoe Pool, ready for action

YMCA of Sacramento had recently announced it would operate Glenn Hall, Southside and Tahoe Pools this summer. But the even better news is that these pools will hav open swim hours seven days a week.

In addition to open swim hours 1-5pm Sunday through Friday and noon to 6pm Saturday, the pools will be open for lap swim, lessons, water exercise and swim team (at Glenn Hall). The public swim fee of $4/adults and $2/children is steeper than previous years but still a great deal. There will also be a $150 family unlimited pass.

This is excellent news. I am definitely looking forward to some serious chillaxing at Tahoe Pool this summer. Long hours on Saturday is awesome!

America’s best food blogger of 2013

This was Shaw’s third nomination for his blog Hunter Angler Gardener Cook which chronicles his pursuit of honest food.

In addition to writing, Hank teaches food classes in the Sacramento area. His next appearance will be Friday May 10 at Whole Foods for Cajun 101.

Leading scorer Robert Snodgrass

In ‘Murican, this means the Norwich City Football Club, an English Premiere League team, will be playing in Sacramento as part of their recently announced American tour. This is apparently the very first time an English Premiere League team will play in Sacramento (not sure if that is saying much).

The friendly match will take place July 18 as part of Sacramento Soccer Day, which will see the debut of the Sac Pro Soccer team’s name, color palette, shield and scarf according to the press release.

AVClub gives the album a “B” and praises the album’s pacing and efficiency.

Pitchfork’s 6/10 is not a good score (and should be taken with a grain of salt) but the reviewer highlights the bands reliability.

Stereogum.com lacks a full review but seemed to dig its “deep hooks” and “thick textures.”

Zachary Houle at PopMatters raves about the album and gives it 8/10.

In other news, the band’s Spring/early Summer tour is skipping over Sacramento… but that’s only because the band is headlining a free Concert in the Park on May 31st at Cesar Chavez.

P.S. !!! needs to get famous enough for a biopic before Jesse Eisenberg is too old to play Nic Offer.

In a move that all but guarantees the Sacramento Kings are staying put, a committee of NBA owners voted unanimously today to block the team’s pending sale and relocation to Seattle.

Mood is pretty upbeat but it sounds like that’s warranted.

Bringing in our first compatriate SinghCity and then Sac-eats and Stickie shortly thereafter is what really made this thing take off. I’d like to send a personal thank you to those dudes, as well as the five or six of you that I know have been reading this for those 8 years.

Some pretty kickass Doctor Strange cosplay

UPDATE: Commenter Junior points out that the event has been since canceled. Thanks, Junior!

If you see a team of super powered individuals strolling Capitol Mall Saturday, don’t be alarmed — it’s just the participants in local actor Charlie Holliday’s Super Hero improv acting seminar. Participants will be congregating at Embassy Suites downtown, and then presumably chewing up scenery and super powered baddies up and down the Capitol Mall.

Participants will be given free(!) admission to Digital Odyssey 2013, a one-day film showcase and digital media workshop sponsored by the California Film Foundation.

Digital Odyssey Conference
Saturday, April 27 10AM-5PM
Information and tickets on CaliforniaFilm.net

From the post…

So in coming up with the criteria for the best single cities in California, we had to narrow it down to what we thought were “typical” requirements for today’s single. This included:

• A lower percent of the population that is married
• Number of bars in the city
• Number of romantic restaurants in the city
• A lower cost of living
• A lower percent of people who drive to work
• A lower median age

So to sum up: Fewer married people + places to mingle + young people to mingle with + a price you can actually afford = the singles’ mecca – which was apparently Sacramento.

The folks at Movato did a good job explaining their methodology, give it a read.

Do you single folks out there agree?

Miller was also a music writer, publishing Music: What Happened? in 2010.

According to his website, Miller had reformed Game Theory and was planning a new album. He was 53 years old.

N.B. Scott Miller, founder of 80s Sacramento record label Secret Center, is alive and well.

Perfect from now on

The venerable Built to Spill are on tour, and making a stop in Sacramento. The band, whose current lineup features front man Doug Martsch and guitarists Brett Netson and Jim Roth from the original ’90s lineup alongside new band members Steve Gere (drums) and Jason Albertini (bass) will be at Harlow’s next Friday.

Built to Spill released its most recent album There Is No Enemy in October 2009. It was the band’s first album since 2006’s You In Reverse. Previous studio albums include 2001’s Ancient Melodies of the Future, 1999’s Keep It Like A Secret, and their major-label debut, 1997’s Perfect From Now On. In 2012 Built to Spill remain an influential force in compositionally intelligent, lyrically thoughtful, melodic, guitar-centric rock music.

Holy crap, looks like Yo La Tengo and Man Or Astroman? are playing back to back nights at Harlow’s in May. Everything’s coming up late ’90s college radio today! Was anyone else at the “Clone Project Alpha” show at Old Ironsides back in the day?

A candlelight vigil will be held in Cesar Chavez Park on Sunday at 6:30pm.

And must not be disturbed.

I’ve been passing this sign recently along a newly protected area on the American River Parkway and finally stopped to see what was going on. It is adjacent to the Capital City Freeway near Cal Expo.

As someone who has incessantly chronicled the displacement of the homeless along the bike trail, I must say that I find it odd that the valley elderberry longhorn beetle gets a better deal than the homeless.