Food News

Two items of note:

Dad’s Deli, favorite sandwich shop of many midtowners and local office workers in the Richmond Grove area, will soon be opening a new branch of the quickly growing Dad’s empire on 5th and Freeport.  The new digs, called “Dad’s Kitchen” will be a breakfast/lunch/dinner spot serving beer and wine and hearty fare.  Zach, your favorite sandwich slinger at Dad’s, is very excited that he’s going to now have facilities to “roast his own meat.”  Apparently, Dad’s Kitchen will now be a feeder for Dad’s Deli, providing roasted meats, breads and other sundries.  Work has just started, an opening date has not yet been set.

A note to late night diners:  If you find yourself in the Handle District/Gourmet Gulch/Capitol Ave Corridor, and feel like a bite to eat after 10:30pm, and you happen to be hanging out with local blues legend Aaron King, don’t embarrass yourself by trying to get late night bites at Dragonfly or Paesano’s.  They’ll be closed.  Instead, go straight to Zocalo and feast on some yummy chips, habanero shrimp and flaky, warm, gooey empanadas.  Just a bit of advice from sac-eats.

City wants you to photograph dumpers

Illegal dumpingThe Bee reported today that the city will start awarding $500 to citizens who send in photographic evidence of illegal garbage dumping. It is a severe problem in neighborhoods like Oak Park, and one hopes the city’s plan will work. The guilty parties will be fined $500.

For some reason that $500 correlation* is humorous to me. Continue reading “City wants you to photograph dumpers”

The Pumpkin Farm


The Pumpkin Farm

Reviewing pumpkin patches is a hard racket. Unless the pumpkins are visibly rotting or parking costs more than Arco, you’re pretty much dealing with a numbers game, balancing cost versus amenties until the cows come home. (If they actually have cows though, that’s a definite plus.)

The Pumpkin Farm is located in scenic Citrus Heights, California, otherwise known as that big area out there beyond the mall. But seriously, you find yourself “way out there” in what seems to be Kentucky before you know it.

Continue reading “The Pumpkin Farm”

On a clear day..

..you can see across California!

While flying home yesterday morning from a conference in Minnesota, I stared out the window and watched the west go by. Barren mountains and alkali flats were the lay of the land, with nary a tree to be seen.Oz

As we crossed over Carson City and into California, it was like the scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy escapes her black and white world and into a technicolor dream. Continue reading “On a clear day..”

Inventive Street Names

light-bulb.jpgOn my way to the airport this weekend, I passed Whitney Avenue and realized, perhaps for the first time, that Whitney was yet another street in the Arden/Arcade named after a famous inventor, namely Eli Whitney of cotton gin fame. I have to admit, Whitney snuck up on me. Most of the inventors honored by local street names are fairly well known–Edison, Marconi, Watt (for a list of their accomplishments check out this well written SacMag piece)–but Whitney was just second tier enough to go unnoticed by me for decades. This started me thinking: Were their other streets in the ‘Cade named for lesser known inventors that I’ve been overlooking all these years? It turns out that the answer is yes. So here’s a brief list of some of the not-so-well-known inventors honored by Sacramento street names: Continue reading “Inventive Street Names”

Lucy’s Taqueria

Before I get into the disappointment that is Lucy’s Taqueria, I’d like to discuss a matter of some import: namely, what is a “taqueria” exactly?  Many terms are tossed around when naming Mexican restaurants and Mexican businesses of all sorts, so I wanted to give you a quick reference guide that might help you navigate the Spanish language businesses in your area.  Oh, come on, no need to thank me, I’m just happy to be here.

Here’s a quick list of some of the more common nomenclature used in Spanish language businesses for your reference (NOTE:  if any native Spanish speakers wish to correct me or add some nuance to these definitions, please, please, please let me know.  Your help is appreciated.):

Mercado-  store, but esp. grocery store

Carniceria– meat market, typically selling raw meats and prepared foods

Taqueria– originally referred to street vendors who specialized in Mexican food like tacos or burritos, but now indicates a small, informal, short-order style restaurant serving a variety of Mexican fare

Cocina– lit. kitchen, fig. used in the name of many restaurants to give that “homey” feel

Cantina– termed used liberally by white people who open Mexican restaurants chains who focus more on the margaritas than they do on the food Continue reading “Lucy’s Taqueria”