Category: Food

Rail Bridge Cellars: Drink Local

It turns out that you can make wine almost anywhere. Growing the grapes with which to make the wine is another story. But the actual storing, crushing, filtering, and fricasseeing necessary to make great wine can be done almost anywhere where you can match a bit of floor space with regular temperatures. Why, then, should it be a surprise that some of the best wine this writer has tasted in a long time comes out of a nondescript white brick warehouse across from a discount furniture store and a card room?

Rail Bridge Cellars, located on North 16th Street, may be a trailblazing entity, injecting the business of winemaking in to the urban core, but regardless of its geography, the wine’s the thing that makes this small wine producer stand out. Winemaker Jon Affonso (Jesuit High class of ’88, Go Big Red!) confidently, and with obvious passion produces only two wines at the present, but what wines they are. Continue reading “Rail Bridge Cellars: Drink Local”

New Eats in the 95821

Within the last few months, three new eateries have appeared in the greater Town & Country Club area (a hybrid of Country Club Plaza and Town & Country Village). These new joints manage to fill in a few gaps in the foodscape. If we keep our fingers crossed, maybe we’ll get an art house theater too.

Taqueria Y Pastelria San Marcos

It’s a fine piece of fortune when a fantastic taqueria opens up within blocks of you. San Marcos offers everything that a good taqueria should: great tacos, killer chips & salsa, and depression-era prices. Not only that, but San Marcos meets all the conditions for ethnic dive greatness, including a plethora of handwritten signs indicating the bizarre and sometimes draconian rules regarding restroom usage, ATM utilization, soda refills, chips & salsa availability, and most importantly, what is and is not included in the daily special. If you try to bend any of these rules, you will be left out in the Oaxacan desert to be eaten by coyotes. Continue reading “New Eats in the 95821”

Watcha Doin’ This Weekend?

Friday-
Celebrity Chef Challenge– This annual event and fundraiser for InAlliance, a non-profit organization that provides employment and living services for adults with disabilities, pits some of the area’s best chefs against one another in a contest of Olympian proportions. There’s bound to be great food and copious wine and talented chefs.
Where: The Old Sugar Mill, Clarksburg (10 min south of Sacramento)
When: Friday, 5-9pm
Continue reading “Watcha Doin’ This Weekend?”

The Best Sushi in California

Forget traveling throughout the state looking for the best sushi. Next week, the best sushi will be in Sacramento. Why? Because the best sushi chefs will be at the Sacramento Convention Center as part of the annual SushiMasters competition on Tuesday, June 10.

Chefs vying for the ultimate SushiMaster title include Chef Koji Ogawa, Sakura Chaya (formally with the Japanese Kitchen), Fresno, Chef Billy Ngo, KRU Restaurant, Sacramento, Chef Tomaharu Nakamura, Sanraku Four Seasons, San Francisco, Chef Akifusa Tonai, Kyo-ya Restaurant, San Francisco, Chef Takuya Matsuda, Sushi Bar Nippon, San Diego and Chef Aung
Soe, Geisha House, Hollywood.

The event goes from 5:30- 8:30pm. Tix are $50 online/$65 at the door. Price includes sushi sampling, sake tasting, and a free bag of rice, which, with the escalating price of food, might be worth more than the ticket price itself. The event is sponsored by the good people at the California Rice Commission who remind you that rice production is yet another thing at which California kicks the rest of the world’s ass (ok, fine, I made that last part up myself, I doubt that the California Rice Commission would use the word “ass” in a agricultural slogan).

See you there.

Eat, Write, and be Merry

This past Sunday Mrs. Eats and I were lucky enough to attend the second annual Sacramento food bloggers potluck. ‘Twas a rousing event filled with tasty vittles and plenty of food-geek conversations. I won’t give you the litany of flavor delights that were available to the attendees, for it would only make you jealous.

What you might find interesting, however, is a list of the local cooks/writers who attended, and the gastronomical riches available on their respective blogs. Continue reading “Eat, Write, and be Merry”

Things Afoot at Loehmann’s Plaza

A couple quick notes, one about a perennial “dead zone” and another about a case of storefront switcheroo.

The Loehmann’s shopping plaza storefront that has played home to a variety of dining establishments, most recently Giovanni’s pizza, will now be a casual sushi and Japanese eatery called Bento Box. I’m going to take a stab in the dark and guess that they’re going to serve California rolls, tempura, teriyaki chicken, and a noodle bowls. Oh wait, gyozas, I’m sure they’ll also serve gyozas. This is not exactly the Japanese-greasy-spoon idea I had last week; nevertheless, I wish them good luck.

The former home of Beyond Napa wine market in the Lyon’s Village across from Loehmann’s, will now be home to a fro-yo establishment adorably called Yo-Yo Yogurt. It will be a self-serve enterprise ala Big Spoon. Don’t fret about your friendly neighborhood wine seller though. Beyond Napa has moved one door down to take over the former digs of the Francisco Franco woman’s boutique (which, as far as I can tell, is still closed).

Bel Air makes it easy to forgo the snacks

How’s that?

They stock the snack foods like crackers and packaged cookies directly across the aisle from their baby goods.

What’s that? You don’t like Wheat Thins with baby-fresh scent or the thought of diapers when scoping out the Double-Stuf Oreos?  Eww.  Neither do I.

This must be a thing for me, given previous posts on the whacked out way of organizing grocery stores.

This is at the Arden & Eastern location, so maybe they’ll have items in more appealing places later on following the remodel.

Updates for the Hungry: Liquor License Edition

The Flaming Grill, everyone’s favorite burger joint to be located across the street from a catholic girls school, has finally gotten a beer and wine license. What does that mean to you and me? Well, it means later hours for one. Look for the ‘Grill to be open until at least 9pm on most nights. Right now the taps are pouring the likes of MGD and Pyramid, but look for more craft brews in the future. Really, what would go better with their killer ahi sandwich than a nice Trumer Pils?
Flaming Grill- 2319 El Camino Ave, Sacramento

Dad’s Kitchen is finally open for business. The new restaurant from the owners of Dad’s Sandwich Shop opened its doors a few weeks ago and reports are already coming in that the food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner lives up to expectations. The taps are flowing too, adding a lovely, hoppy bite the lineup of sandwiches, salads, and (during dinner hours) entrees. So grab and “Angry Road Man” with a pint of “Monkey Knife Fight” and see if the funny names make the items any more fun to order.
Dad’s Kitchen- 2968 Freeport Blvd, Sacramento

Empty Stomachs for Empty Niches

I have no illusions. I realize that this is not the way to start trends. But just in case someone from PRG (Paragary Restaurant Group), HFE (Haines French-fry Empire), or FFF (Fat’s Friendly Foods) happens to stop by and read this here blog, I’d like to outline a few restaurant concepts that this town needs. (OK, maybe Sacramento doesn’t exactly need these restaurants, but they’d certainly broaden the dining landscape a little.)

These are all niche ideas at best, but who would’ve thought that Chuck E Cheese would still be around after all these years. In no particular order, here they are:

1. Japanese greasy spoon– A friend and I were walking through Japantown in LA and came upon this little Japanese diner. The place looked like the joint that all the cabbies hang out at in “Taxi Driver”–ripped vinyl booths, formica, and tired waitresses. They served beer, sake, soup, and lots and lots of fried stuff. They were open until 2am. And the best part, not a piece of sushi in sight. Yes, that’s right, a Japanese restaurant without sushi. It’s unthinkable, but try and tell me it wouldn’t work. Restaurateurs, lend me your ears: scoop up the old sushi joint on Cap Ave and insert this concept. You’ll have an immediate hit. Continue reading “Empty Stomachs for Empty Niches”

Brew Fest Season is upon us!

Mark your calendars for two awesome brew fests in May.

The West Coast Brew Fest is May 17 in Miller Park from 1-5pm. 60 brewers, cidermakers, and mead craftsmen will fill your cup. No tokens, unlimited tastes. Discounted tickets are available at both Sacramento Brewing Company locations, The Shack, Manderes, River City Brewing, Hoppy Brewing, and Brew-It-Up or at the Web site.

The Raley Field Brewfest is May 24 from 1-4:30pm. You can also purchase a VIP ticket that lets you in at Noon to enjoy the works of 30 brewers from across Northern California. Tickets available online.