It’s Pronounced za-GAT

Last week I was generously invited to attend an unveiling of sorts at the Firehouse.  The 2009 Zagat publication of America’s top restaurants has been released, and guess who got invited to the party?  That’s right my much maligned local compatriots, Sacramento. The 2009 guide features almost 50 cities in America and Texas, and this year’s newest addition to the guide was our fair city. Showing off its diversity, Sacramento contributed restaurants of all stripes including Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Italian, French, and Pretentious.

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.