Category: Food

Recalling Mr. Steak

Yesterday I was telling my wife about Mr. Steak. From my interweb research it looks like the brand is thriving in the Midwest, but the Sacramento location, which stood somewhere near the Border’s on Fair Oaks, is of course lost to all but the memories of those of us who ate there in the 1980s (and before, I assume).

So I was telling Mrs. Cool about it (for the dozenth time I’m sure, although probably less frequently since I started this here web log) and I got to the part where I was describing some of the items on the kids’ menu and I distinctly recall there being a chicken dish on there labeled “Matt Chicken.” Am I remembering that right? I remember from the time assuming that it was a play on “Matt Houston,” the brilliant Texas millionaire/LA private dick (played by Lee Horsley). And that’s about as far into the nether reaches of my subconscious as I think we should go today. Matt Chicken, anyone?

Fins

Ok, admittedly “Fins” sounds like the name of some aquatic strip bar, but it’s truly a gem in the the Sacramento foodscape. (Did I just coin a phrase?) Fins has been around for years, with one location in Fair Oaks; however, not too many people were willing to hoof it out to the exburbs to buy fresh fish. ( I checked Google and it looks like “foodscape” has already been used. As well as “exburbs.” Dammit!) So Fins owners, Ed and Darcy Jayousi, decided to expand, opening two new locations that would increase their “fishpire” across the wide Sacramento “foodaspora.” (I’m really trying here.)
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Go big or go home

And they said there’d be a pumpkin shortage.  Whatevs. In California, this is a new jack (o’lantern) city:

The winning pumpkin at the Elk Grove 12th Annual Harvest Festival weighed 1,280 pounds, a new state record. 

The Napa pumpkin was just under 9 feet tall at 107 inches. The crowd gave it a standing ovation.

The pumpkin’s grower, Gary Miller didn’t reveal any secrets to his pumpkin’s enormous size, other than to say it was just “well behaved.”

The biggest pumpkin win netted Miller $6,400.

About 120 growers participated in weigh-off, according to a festival official.

Even with the pumpkin’s great size, it’s not the biggest recorded this year. Word is, a grower in Ohio has cultivated a 1,500 pound pumpkin.

Made in China-Call To Readers

I’ve become quite disenchanted with the state of Chinese food in the Capitol region.  I’m stuck wandering between my two favorite places, Chinois and the Mandarin.  The Mandarin is steady, predictable and delicious and Chinois is hit and miss depending on what you order.  Every other Chinese joint in town either offers cheap, greasy, floavorless fare in unappetizing surroundings or skips all pretenses and goes straight to buffet.  What am I missing?  Where, oh faithful reader, should I go to experience fine Chinese cuisine and not grease noodles with grade D meat chunks thrown in?  Where is the fine hot and sour soup, the glazed duck and top rate general’s chicken?  And if anyone says “P.F. Chang’s” I will punch him in the throat.

Achtung Marzen!!

It is Oktoberfest season, kiddies, so get your livers ready.

First up is the second annual Fair Oaks’toberfest this Saturday, September 30 at Fair Oaks Park from 1-5pm. This is definitely the beer festival bargain of the area with admission at a mere $20 for unlimited microbrews from across the West Coast. Your friendly neighborhood Stickie will be on hand, as usual, and may even slip behind the taps to provide relief to the hard-pouring brewers who grace us with their presence.

For those who prefer a more traditional Oktoberfest, the following weekend will feature the 39th Annual Turn Verein Oktoberfest celebration. Admission is $10, with various beers, sausages, pretzels and other food sold inside. Expect to see hundreds of Germans decked out in lederhosen and dancing to the fabulous oompa band. October 6 & 7 at 3349 J Street. Call (916) 442-7360 for more information.

Prost, and try not to step on any Bierleichen!

Italian Roundup

If you don’t like Italian food, you’re probably not an American. Whether it’s pizza or pasta, raviolis or rigatoni, Italian food is tops in most Americans’ food preferences. Italian food restaurants are in every city and every state, offering high carb goodness that can’t be beat. Beware, though, the Italian restaurant that fools you with inferior sauces and horrible, soggy pastas. A simple moustache and overweight accordion player will not make up for tough meat and lousy service. My favorite Italian joint, Bravo, recently closed its doors, leaving me in search of a new haunt. What I came up with is a few hits and a lot of misses:
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Here’s your Chai, now quit your whining

When Hubby and I finished up our grubbin’ lunch at the Folsom branch of La Fiesta on Sunday, we noticed a business in the same strip mall that was called “Tea and Sympathy.” Wait..what? SYMPATHY? Did I read that correctly?

“Yes, I’d like an iced Mighty Leaf Green Tea Tropical, and my diabetic hamster who needs insulin shots just ran away.”

“That will be $3.40, and I’m sorry.”
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Like You Need Another Sushi Recommendation

There’s this place on the corner of Alta Arden and Fulton. It’s been there for many years. You’ve passed it a dozen times in your life, to and from Arden Fair, or when your mom would drag you to Gemco. You remember Gemco, you in your corduroy jumper and bowl haircut trying to convince your mother that you really really needed that new He-Man with the spring loaded sword arm.
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Updates on the Refabbed SSW Midtown

I don’t really know what to call the area southeast of the Capital, but let’s not quibble. I’m here to let you know what’s going on in that unnamed corridor:
1) Paesano’s new venture, “Pronto,” (“Real Italian, Real Fast”) is getting ready to open any day, improper grammar or not. A quick conversation with the manager of the enterprise (a fellow JHS alumn by the way) says that they’ll be open by next Monday for sure. So drop by the 16th and O St location for a quick meal. The menu on the wall looks like a sandwich and salad heavy mix with only a few pasta dishes and full entrees. One of those entrees, however, is bacon wrapped meatloaf. SCORE!
2) The old Icon on 15th and R is slowly coming together as a combo locale akin to Monkey Bar/Cafe Bernardo. From the signage on the windows it looks like it will be a Bar15/Cafe Bernardo combo. (Hey, if it ain’t broke…) Let’s see if this incarnation can coexist with Empire, since no other restaurant entity has made it so far in that spot. Good luck, Randy.

Spirits Are High at “Streets”

On August 1, Streets of London opened their full bar. That’s right, full bar. Prior to Tuesday, only beer and wine flowed through the jolly, unwashed customers of the local watering hole. But now every reveler can bask in the glory of cosmos and lemondrops while listening to the Stones on the jukebox. Don’t expect Tom Cruise and Brian Brown behind the bar just yet, though. Information gleaned from my last visit (including the comment from one of the bartenders, “Is Crown Royal whiskey or Scotch?”) indicates that the lovely barmaids still prefer the ales and lagers to the multi jiggered cocktails. So, things might change a little at the convivial joint, but odds are most things will stay the same (especially if they continue to fry everything, including the cocktails, in the same oil they’ve been using since the Clinton administration).