I’m honestly surprised that she didn’t at least finish second, though she did totally blow it toward the end there. I just never thought Samantha would get that far, considering she looked like an Applebee’s server and couldn’t walk on the runway, which as job skills go is crucial when you’re a model. However I have a history of being terrible at calling these things.

I was lucky enough to get to sample the new location of Morton???s Downtown. They are now located at the base of a new office building on the corners of 6th and Capitol, and it is a major improvement to the previous location. The old restaurant had the feel of an old Chicago mobsters hang out, and was about as easy to find. This new place is wide open, with big tall windows that leave plenty of light in. Also, the soft tones of wood, the huge temperature controlled wine room, and the big hanging lamps adorn this establishment and make it feel bright and welcoming.

The bar area is another highlight, with big comfortable chairs and a fully stocked wall of offerings. They will feature (happy) power hours with $5 bar bites, and drink specials. Also new is outside seating to enjoy the beautiful Sacramento weather.

The dinner menu features the same trusted items you find from Morton???s, with a multitude of generous cuts of USDA prime Aged Beef, a variety of fish and seafood, and a very impressive wine list with a combination of classics and some more rare to find vintages. As an addition, at this location they will now serve lunch Monday-Friday, and will offer a slimmed down version of the dinner menu, but with some added sandwiches and salads.

We chose their lobster bisque, which had a delicate balance of seafood, cream, pepper and spice to it. Additionally, we tried their colossal shrimp cocktail. With only 6-8 units to a pound, the four that they offered were soft, plump, and huge. They came with a tangy cocktail sauce. As entrees we ordered the prime rib au jus, and the NY steak sandwich. The prime rib was juicy, tender, and seared to perfection. The steak sandwich came with crispy fries and two generous cuts of spiced seared NY steak cooked perfectly medium rare. We ended our meal with a veritable S & S NY style cheesecake, imported from New York itself. A great meal!

The service was attentively overwhelming, typical for a soft opening. This place will likely be a great destination for all the bankers, lawyers and lobbyists that surround it, and for those celebrating something special.

Morton???s
621 Capitol Mall
Sacramento , CA 95814
Tel: 916-442-7877

Food **** Ambiance **** Atmosphere ****

Feel free to comment.

Today is Sacramento’s first “Stage 1 - No Burn” residential wood burning restriction. This means that “…burning is prohibited when air quality is forecast to be 36-40 micrograms per cubic meter unless EPA certified fireplace inserts or stoves, or pellet stoves are used. First time violations will result in a $50 fine or a requirement to attend compliance school, fines for subsequent violations will be higher.”

The funny thing about this policy is that the Spare The Air site states “Sacramento County Only” as the area affected by this law. But, when you scroll down a bit you find this detail:

Check Before You Burn is in effect in Sacramento County and its cities: Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, Isleton, Rancho Cordova, and Sacramento.

Does “Sacramento” mean anyone with a Sacramento, CA mailing address? Folks who are normally under the City umbrella can burn away? I checked the FAQ document and still couldn’t find anything concrete. Granted, I am not the brightest bulb so if I am missing this important detail, please comment.

According to the Sacramento Zoo email newsletter, the Zoo is planning to add a carousel by next spring.

Yes! A carousel at the Sacramento Zoo! Well, not quite yet??? By next spring, we will have a beautiful carousel located in our shaded Redwood Grove area (where the Magellanic Penguin temporary exhibit was previously located). This carousel will feature 32 carefully hand carved animals from the skilled craftsmen at Carousel Works ??? maybe your favorite animal will be one of them!

The carousel is being crafted by Carousel Works out of Mansfield, Ohio. At approximately 300 feet apart, I’m going to make the bold proclamation that this carousel and the one at Funderland are the two carousels in closest proximity to each other in the entire world. Prove me wrong. Roadside carnivals don’t count.

This article makes me wonder, however, if it is a smart idea to spend money on “extras” like this in an effort to boost local business.

A report from Folsom city staff puts the total cost of operating the rink for two months during the holidays at $248,000 ??? $68,000 more than it is predicted to bring in.

I get that the intent with this project is encourage folks to shop and eat locally, but could the $248,000 be better spent helping local businesses lower their prices? Decrease their lease payments? Or is just full steam ahead and let’s see what happens?

Especially with the news that so many of the region’s cities are scrambling to save money and cut corners.

In an effort to control costs, Folsom has a freeze on hiring and discretionary spending, Miller said. But even that won’t be enough to close the budget shortfall, which could be as much as $5 million for the current year if the city were to do nothing.

Your thoughts?

I won’t comment on the Prop 8 issue as that has already been argued ad nauseum here,?? here, and here.?? But I will say this.?? I wouldn’t spend my money at the Leatherby’s Family Creamery even if they donated all their proceeds to buy hopes and dreams for child insomniacs.?? The truth is that Leatherby’s just isn’t that good.?? And it never has been.?? Their ice cream is fine, but not special.?? Their food is abysmal.?? The service of the slow-limbed teenage crew that works there is infuriating.?? And the filthy stickiness of the tables, the chairs, the floors, and all other surfaces is more than a bit off putting.

On the other hand, it’s a totally acceptable place if you have a party of children with you who wish for nothing more than giant, whipped cream covered, nut crusted, ice cream monstrosities.?? Also, if none of the adults in your party are looking for good food or good service, then it’s totally acceptable too, as long as none of the adults in your party happen to be gay.

Leatherby’s- ?? 2333 Arden Way, Sacramento

Food* Service* Atmosphere*

Though I suppose it could have said “Beef?”

Because making appointments for these things is a real drag.

I thought the KJ appearance was off to a bad start when he awkwardly hammed it up at the beginning of the segment, trying to upstage Colbert. Overall though, I would say it was not a bad appearance. Colbert serves up some softball questions and gets some politician answers. Colbert, of course, can’t even smell mediocre from where he’s at these days. Favorite quote: “What would you do as mayor to make Sacramento less unbelievably boring?” Check it out yourself, if you’re able to work past the cringe-worthy opening of the interview.

I worked for Music Circus in 1996 and 1997, when Eckern was the managing director. He interviewed me for my first position, and I worked closely with him (as everyone did who was anywhere near the tent, it seemed — from volunteers to headliners). He is a good man and plainly no bigot. It saddens me to think that all the work he did for that company — and on behalf of the gay community — will count for nothing.

A group of citizens publicly attacking a man and ruining his career for expressing his beliefs should frighten people on both sides of this issue. This is not the way to win a political argument about tolerance and respect for all lifestyles. This is a sure-fire way to frighten the undecided middle, people who are concerned with ending discrimination but loathe to move too quickly to abandon the permanent things. Perhaps free-thinking gays and lesbians should go ahead with the boycott of CMT for kowtowing to this pressure.

Today is Veteran’s Day, and Harv’s Metro Car Wash will be offering free car washes for veterans.

[Harv's co-owner] Aaron Zeff and business partner Doron Levitan are both veterans themselves. Zeff trained locally at Mather Air Force Base before its closure and finished his career flying the supersonic RF-4 Phantom.

Harv’s Metro Car Wash
1901 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.446-0129
http://www.harvscarwash.com

Our much beloved Mamma Susanna’s Italian Ristorante in River Park is changing owners in mid Dec. New chef, new staff members, but apparently, the current owners are cross-training the new owners and “it won’t change too much.” I’ve got to be positive about this, but it’s my favorite restaurant, it’s in my neighborhood, and I’m resisting change!

Eric also reports the servers seemed “unenthusiastic” about the change. I think you should stay positive, Eric, it doesn’t seem like they would go through with cross-training if they weren’t serious about keeping things copacetic, but that could also be a clever ploy: “Sure sure, cross training, let’s do this.” And then they open an oyster bar. Is this helping, Eric?

Me, I haven’t been to that location since it it was Paradise Pizza. But it looks cute!

Film critic extraordinaire and die-hard zydeco apologist DB, launches a new site Monday (November 10), The E Street Film Society. DB writes:

Any of you who have followed my other blogs (The Barnesyard and Movie City USA) know what you are in for, but this blog will lean much heavier towards movie reviews, discussion, and interactivity. My goals are threefold:

1) See every supposedly “GREAT” movie I have never seen.
2) Create a functioning online film society where people can see and discuss movies with each other.
3) Schedule only films available on Netflix (if you do not subscribe to Netflix, I’ll give you a few minutes to catch up with the rest of us here in November 2008…hey, you’re here…heckuva ride, wasn’t it?)
4) Hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden.

I’ll be satisfied if I can accomplish any 3 of these goals.

The community is open to all; simply watch the movies on the schedule and participate in the discussions. DB and crew are a pretty savvy group, so the films he hasn’t seen will likely lean toward the obscure side, but the site kicks off Monday with Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai” (which I haven’t seen and would love to, maybe I’ll be an early participant) and the rest of the scheduled films should be classified as only moderately obscure, depending on your usual fare.

The “release party” at the Firehouse last week was more of a press event than anything else. Sure, some of the town’s culinary hitters were there, including Randall Selland, Biba Caggiano, and Mai Pham. Representatives of Sactown magazine were also in attendance, discussing their role in getting the Zagat people to recognize Sacramento as existing.?? Everyone was smiles and handshakes, but the event was fairly tame — either due to low attendance or the equally low economy.

The one takeaway from the get together was that Zagat is pronounced za-GAT. Every speaker made sure to pronounce the name correctly, with the proper inflection and implied reverence. Now that I know the proper pronunciation, I’m still not going to pronounce it correctly because I know I’ll sound like a douche and have to defend myself as being right, just like when I pronounce Byron’s Don Juan as don jew-on.?? It’s right, but you still look like an asshole for saying it unless you’re in lit class.

So what does the 2009 guide have to say about Sacramento??? Pretty much what you’d expect, actually.?? The usual suspects are included, and by usual I mean The Kitchen, Lemongrass, Biba, Firehouse, Frank Fat’s, and the Waterboy.?? But then there were those that made the list due to their popularity and not necessarily their quality, like Mikuni, Mason’s, and Paragary’s. Thankfully, a few interesting picks snuck through as well, including La Bonne Soupe, Bidwell Street Bistro, and Tuli Bistro.?? The listings aren’t exhaustive by any means with only 20 choices, but most of the 20 do represent some of the finer establishments in our town.

So, does this mean Sacramento has made the grade? That our town can take pride in its culture, arts, cuisine, people, politicians, architcture, and blogs??? Sure, why not. In one stroke Zagat has done for Sacramento’s inferiority complex what Barack Obama has done for race relations in America (not including Texas). We’re on the map people, and we made a helluva better showing than Orange County, which had Cheesecake Factory listed as one of their best dining establishments. One thing though, make sure you pronounce it za-GAT or we might not make it into the 2010 guide.

Here’s to the fine folks at Flaming Grill for continuing to grow and improve their business during these tough times.?? I commend them for offering the neighborhood, the region, and nearby Catholic schoolgirls sustenance for one whole year.

Drop by and say congratulations.

Flaming Grill- 2319 El Camino Ave, Sacramento

Anna writes (in my best Casey Kasem voice)…

Dear Sac Rag,

“Okay, we’re having a fit of nostalgia here in the office/random memory (very random!). Can anyone name/remember the bands that played at KWOD’s 1998 Summer Concert at Arco Arena (also known as the show that Green Day canceled because their drummer got bonked on the head by one of the guys from Third Eye Blind)?”

There’s not a ton of information on the InterWeb, so what say all you thirtysomethingers out there?

Seems like a pretty unique opportunity to see and hear a legend like Updike. I doubt he uses the C-word as much in his lectures as he used to in his books. If you have never read Witches of Eastwick I really recommend it; it was the first Updike book I ever read (I have not seen the movie, I take my filmed witch entertainment in the form of Supernatural). There appears to be a sequel book out.

John Frickin’ Updike
Crest Theater
November 11, 2008 7:30 PM
$27, yowza

…[Your holiday of choice here]! The Downtown Plaza Ice Rink opens tomorrow at noon with FREE skating all day. After tomorrow, regular admission is $6 plus $2 for skate rental. Plus $8 later on at Rite Aid for ankle braces and ice packs. The rink accepts cash only.

Mrs Cool reminds me that this weekend also brings 2nd Saturday and the Antique Faire. It was great planning to have the faire on Second Sunday, if you aske me.

Even if you didn’t grow up in a KCTC “Music Of Your Life” listening household with parents who grew up in the WWII era, it would be impossible to not enjoy The Cosmopolitan Cabaret’s presentation of Forever Plaid.

Sac-eats and I just returned from the 8pm show, where we were treated to 90 brilliantly executed minutes of ’50s and ’60s tunes in four part harmony — which proved to be the ideal antidote to the figurative election hangover. Still smiling ear-to-ear, I’m already plotting which table I need to reserve for my next visit to this show.

The four main characters played off of each other, the two musicians, and the audience adroitly, and their comedic touches were clever without being corny or cloying.

I’ll admit it: I used to schedule my classes around the UC Men’s Octet performances at Sather Gate, and I gasped with excitement when I learned that Richard Gilmore was in The Whiffenpoofs.

With the holidays coming up, consider buying tickets to Forever Plaid. Most people I know don’t need more stuff, but who wouldn’t love 90 minutes of smartly produced and beautifully sung entertainment?

Note: Our showtime was at 8pm, and we should have gotten there around 7:30-7:40 to get a little more settled with drinks and food.?? Servers stop taking orders 10 minutes before showtime, and they don’t return during the show.?? Try the cheese plate; the polenta balls were a little on the cold side. The 24 oz Stella or Sierra Nevada is just the right size for the length of the show.?? There doesn’t appear to be a bad seat in the house.

There are no additional details at this time.

No, not me not voting. YOU not voting.

Specifically, I mean the pressure that people feel to vote on everything. I encourage you to leave some stuff blank.

This morning, CNN had a film of a person flipping a coin to determine her vote for president. FLIPPING A COIN, FOR GOD’S SAKE. People like this should just not vote for president. Encouraging or pressuring these people to vote doesn’t support democracy. It hurts it.

I really hate the pressure that we put on people to vote, like you are a bad person if you don’t do it. Every 5 minutes it seems that Ben Stiller or some other Hollywood person is telling us to vote. Go vote! Do your civic duty! Be an American!

Bah.

Your civic duty is to be a citizen. A citizen casts informed votes. A citizen does not flip a f@$#ing coin to decide on an issue or candidate. If you are not an informed voter, I believe that you are doing your civic duty by NOT voting.

This goes double for Propositions. If you don’t understand the impacts the Proposition will have then DON’T VOTE ON IT. You don’t have to. In fact, you will finish faster if you don’t.

We are experiencing a record voter turnout because of the incredible excitement over the presidential race. If you don’t give a damn about anything except the presidential race, then go in, vote for your candidate, and LEAVE THE REST BLANK. If you have really strong feelings about being a Dem or a Rep, vote for your legislative slate, but then leave. Walk away.

You DON’T have to vote for a judge just because they are the only person running for this position. In fact, if there is only one person running and you don’t know who they are, I encourage you not to vote for them. Why elect someone by default?

Go do your civic duty.

My polling place is being held at an elementary school. Sort of an odd idea to have a steady stream of adults coming and going while school is in session, but that could just be my paranoia.

I was not asked to show ID as I had voted there before. Another interesting one. I guess I see them working, but would it be that much of a time killer to require an ID every election?

What about the folks that hang signs on the overpasses? Or the groups that gather at major intersections during heavy rains and jump in and out of traffic to get their message out there? The hand painted signs with way too much information to make out as you fly by. Wackiness.

Anyone cashed in on the free Starbucks coffee?