Food News: Marsupial Edition

kangaroo-meatThe newest burger at ‘Rag favorite Flaming Grill? Why, kangaroo of course. Kangaroo is low fat, dark, meaty, delicious, and full of all kinds of nutritional thingies that all strange meat claims to be full of. Hell, you can probably find some crackpot with a PhD to tell you that wombat meat delivers more X per serving than any other indigestible food.  But I digress.  The kangaroo burger is actually very good. Texture and flavor-wise I would say that it’s somewhere between a turkey burger and a lean beef burger. Highly recommended, but still not as good as FG’s ahi burger, which is the best in the state.

Gatsby’s, a ’30s diner (notice the apostrophe in front not between the numbers and “s”) whatever that is, recently opened on the corner of Alta Arden and Fulton. Check it out if you like a good tongue sandwich (I haven’t been there yet and couldn’t tell you if they sold tongue sandwiches or not).

David Berkley’s, purveyor of fine foods in the Pavilions shopping centre, is changing its name. As reported on this here fine ‘Rag a while ago, Mr. Berkley no longer owns the joint and will be removing his name from the masthead. The place, which checkout guy assures me will be unchanged, will simply be called “The Market at the Pavilions.” Talk about grabbing you by the short one’s, heh? That’s a name to remember. The Market. It’s about as remarkable as that place I go to work out, “The Gym.” Ok, it’s a pretentious load of wind, but I thought y’all should know in case you get confused next time you pull up to the ‘Vilions (ok, this apostrophe thing is getting out of hand) and don’t see the familiar name up on the marquee.

Spotted – the Coolest Couple in town

We spotted the coolest couple in town this weekend at Trader Joe’s in East Sacramento. He was bald and wearing faded short-legged blue coveralls, which gave him the appearance of an artist in his paint clothes. She had reddish dyed hair done up in an old-fashioned style, vintage inspired shades, a blouse, and high-waisted side-zip 1950s dungarees, like these from Freddies of Pinewood, but even higher-waisted and with flared legs. The two looked like Katharine Hepburn and Jackson Pollock out doing errands.

They passed in front of our car in the TJ’s parking lot and loaded their groceries into a older Volvo sedan. I’m not much for talking about fashion, but I knows über-cool when I sees it. If I were writing for The Sactorialist I would have stopped traffic in the TJ’s parking lot to take their photo.

Has anybody else seen this couple? Or did we dream it?

Burrous takes credit for spotting Art Beast

This morning’s Good Day Sacramento featured Art Beast in several spots in the “Prego (sic) & Beyond Posse” segment. (Or are they are covered in delicious sauce?) Reporter Lisa Gonzales spends a few hours at the studio, which looks like the most amazing place ever, interviewing owner Bridget Alexander. Anchor Chris Burrous then takes credit for “finding” Art Beast. What I assume he means is that he saw it first on this here web log and thought it looked like a good story ripe for horkin’. Only Mr Burrous knows for sure…

good day sacramento prego & beyond posse logo
Good Day Sacramento 'Prego & Beyond Posse' logo
Funny side note: the title on the videos tab says “Prego Posse & Beyond,” which is what you might think it was supposed to be called if all you had was the logo, which shows the words “Prego” and “Posse” in the same typeface (see right).

Public transit budget grab was illegal, court says


this poster should have
been illegal too

News & Review’s Cosmo Garvin blogs about Regional Transit’s EPIC WIN last week when the California 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled (in the case SHAW et al. v. THE PEOPLE ex rel. CHIANG, as Controller, etc., et al.) that a portion of the money taken from Public Transportation Account in the last 3 budget years must be repaid. Garvin points out that there is obviously no money in the state’s wallet to pay out, so it remains to be seen what will happen.

What should happen, to borrow a phrase, is the political heads of Gov. Schwarzenegger and many other elected officials on a platter. What would happen to a businessperson who shifted money around in order to pay his company’s bills and did something illegal?

DUI killer sues restaurant for serving him booze

In other crazy lawsuit news, convicted DUI manslaughterer Roberto Vellanoweth is suing the Camino Real Restaurant for serving him a “boozed-up mystery drink” that he claims caused the fatal crash in which he killed 4 people one horrifying and tragic day in South Land Park.

Obviously this is another insane what-is-this-world-coming-to lawsuit, but am I the only one who thinks it wouldn’t be a bad thing if somebody put that place out of business? In California there is really no excuse for bad Mexican food. The Yelpers back me up, using phrases like “HUGE mistake,” “thrown up,” “funny odor,” and “fat jerky was that brown ooze it had been swimming in” in their mostly 1-star reviews. If you’ve been to Camino Real Restaurant, you might wonder whether the mystery dosage in Vellanoweth’s drink was Hepatitis A. (This joke was brought to you by Mrs Cool.)

Squeeze Out

UPDATE: Bee reports that Squeeze Inn owner will move rather than try to fight lawsuit.  Let’s just hope it’s not to Roseville.

handicapped-adaChalk this one up in the category of “money grubbing, litigious douchebags ruining all of our fun.”  From the Bee:

Aficionados say the burger sold at the Squeeze Inn is perfection (including me), the consummate marriage of bun, ground meat and melted cheddar cheese. But a disabled woman has filed suit, saying the one-time coffeehouse with 450 square feet of space at 7918 Fruitridge Road (left) is anything but perfect. She says the kitschy confines where photos of fishermen, fighters and racers abound break federal law and violate her civil rights.

Here’s the really, really shitty part: the owner of the ‘Squeeze, Travis Hausauer, says that to make the fixes would cost so much that he’d be better closing his doors.

All the facts in the case, from the identification of the lawyer, Jason Singleton, as a wheelchair chaser who goes around finding small businesses that don’t meet all ADA guidelines then finding handicapped people to file suit against them, to the “victim” Kimberly Block, who is apparently a vegetarian (ok I made that up), make this case a grade-a shitball. But it brings this whole issue into regional and — thanks to that loud-mouthed Fieri guy — national focus.

Here’s what should happen and here’s what will happen: What should happen is that these type of ADA code issues be brought before the city or county and not be resolvable by lawsuits. If a disabled person has a problem with a business, they should complain to the city or county, an inspector would go out, issue an order to upgrade the property and/or fine the business. What will happen is that this case will be settled out of court, the lawyer will take the bulk of the settlement, and the “victim” will go about her tofu-eating life. Continue reading “Squeeze Out”

The Best Food Week in Sacramento

143-PoppyWine_highlight_prod_affiliate_148Two of my favorite events are coming together in the same week. Life is good.

All week, Sacramento Wine & Dine is taking place at restaurants throughout the region. From Andaloussia to Zocalo, restaurants are offering three and four course meals (usually with wine) at severely reduced prices. Check out their website for participating restaurants, menus, and reservations. Check out ‘Rag favorites Tuli Bistro, 58 Degrees, Enotria, Esquire Grill, Il Forno Classico, L, Slocum House, and The Firehouse. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not cheap dining by any means, but if you’re holding out for a fine meal at a screaming price, it’s hard to beat.

The highlight of the week, however, is the Grape and Gourmet. An extension of the State Fair and the Sac Convention and Visitors Bureau, the G&G is the tits. Every wine there is a State Fair medal winner, every restaurant there brings out its best quick bites, every person there is beautiful and smells like an alpine meadow. This year marks the first year that the event moves off the grounds of Cal Expo and is to be held downtown at the Convention Center.

The event is on Thursday, July 9, starting at 5:30pm. Tix are $50 or less with a $5 coupon through this link. Come on down, look for me, or better yet, look for Poppy!

Kids art studio ArtBeast opens today

ArtBeastToday is the grand opening of a new venture called ArtBeast:

ArtBeast Studio provides open studio space, arts exploration rooms, and loads of classes so that children can dig into the arts.

It benefits the awesomely named Tubman House. For parents of little kids this is a godsend — both because of the budget and because of the lack of things to do in Sac when it is hot or raining. And I can’t say enough about the fact that they have a “pledge to the shy.” In addition to arts & crafts they have puppets and costume stuff and a music room, and in addition to free range play ArtBeast will also offer a number of organized classes. Perfect for preschool age kids or homeschooling families. This might be the coolest thing to ever hit the 916, family fun-wise. Not to mention the pretty slick Web design!

ArtBeast Studio
2226 K St.
(916) 441-1233

Pearl on the River Not Exactly a Gem

As a Sacramento resident, you can count on many things in the summer: at least one week of unbearable heat, a ridiculous amount of news reporting on that obvious heat, a budget impasse, and fairly weak riverside dining.

When you travel to any of the riverside joints that promise great views, relaxed atmospheres, and top-notch food, you usually leave about two-thirds satisfied. Whether it’s Chevy’s, Crawdad’s, Joe’s Crab Shack, Delta King, or any of the other dozen or so eateries on the city’s riverbanks, the food is not what you’re going for.

Unfortunately, Pearl on the River lives up to the standard set by its neighbors. Continue reading “Pearl on the River Not Exactly a Gem”