Sous Vide and Shaved Chests

Caught a piece at sacbee.com today about the revamping of Lounge on 20. Apparently they’re revamping the menu, going all molecular gastronomy on us, and changing the name to Lounge 2.0. Also, they’re redecorating.

Three things: 1) Molecular gastronomy? Really? My personal opinion is that the MG movement will never quite catch on with Californians becase we’re too close to the source. Basically, we’re living on top of the greatest agricultural land in the world, and turning our native products into foams and bricks and pebbles, delicious as they may be, seems somewhat against the Cali aesthetic. Continue reading “Sous Vide and Shaved Chests”

C Webb working to save Kings?

This one isn’t a joke. I didn’t see this conversation on the TV, so thanks to Voisin for transcribing it. I still say the relocation isn’t a done deal, though I’m not sure what C Webb would be doing. And it is nice to hear kind words about Kings fans for once, though.

Though JoeSacramentoDotCom’s comment did make me chuckle:

So C Webb is trying to call a timeout and we don’t have any timeouts left. Where have I heard this story before?

Sac City Redistricting

As it turns out, the City of Sacramento is undergoing a redistricting effort this year as a result of the 2010 census. The current population is 466,488 badass Sacramentans, and the City needs to redraw council district lines to equally distribute the population at 58,311 badasses per district. The results of that should be interesting.

The City has set up a website to allow us citizens badasses to participate. You know where I usually stand on participatory democracy gimmicks but this looks fun.

You have to sign up for an account to try it out, but on the plus side, no CAPTCHA.

(Hat tip to Jay Schenirer for alerting his constituents to this opportunity.)

SF Outside Lands Festival lineup announced

Arcade Fire should play here

The 2011 lineup for the SF Outside Lands festival was announced today, headlined by 2 sets by the venerable Phish and seemingly required visits by Arcade Fire and the Black Keys. Mick Jones’s Big Audio Dynamite will also make an appearance, as will ex-Sacramentans !!!. This year’s lineup features a great mix of acts, from the standby hipster rock to old school R&B (the Meters), Sugar Hill records Americana (the Infamous Stringdusters), and loads of hip hop (Big Boy, the Roots). Heavy on the “know your popular music history” acts, which is cool — Mavis Staples, John Fogerty and several of the aforementioned. As Laura Mason of 7×7 points out, lots of cult favorites and local bands, so it should be a major turnout.
Continue reading “SF Outside Lands Festival lineup announced”

Waiter, There’s a Hair-Band in my Soup

‘Twas a beautiful evening Sunday. The sun shone, the clouds meandered, the river splashed and frolicked on its scoot to the bay. I could not have pictured a more lovely evening for riverside dining. My lovely companion and I took a table at Scott’s Seafood on the river, ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir, and watched the world and the shadows lazily drift by. As we toasted to our rare fortune to live in such a beautiful place, and to our great blessings of health and happiness, we were serenaded by the strains of “STROKE ME, STROKE ME.”

Yes indeed, at Scott’s, a place where you’re lucky to get dinner for two for less than $100, the music du jour was taken directly from a 1981 episode of Headbanger’s Ball. Continue reading “Waiter, There’s a Hair-Band in my Soup”

Parting is such sweet sorrow, even in cow towns

…this is how an article about the pending Kings move begins at latimes.com. Sigh.

This article does bring up some interesting points, however.

Time Warner’s new $3-billion Lakers TV deal reportedly has a third-team clause, reducing it by $250 million.

Twist!

Does someone think Buss will watch $250 million fly away because someone set up a lemonade stand in Orange County, then say, “I’d be glad to kick in an extra $5 million to $10 million annually?” When the looming lockout complicated New Orleans’ sale, Commissioner David Stern swooped down, bought the Hornets and put talks on hold.

And Stern can’t sell the Hornets to save his life.

Here’s another interesting article from the Orange County Register… Continue reading “Parting is such sweet sorrow, even in cow towns”

Hello, I like to drink on the river.

 It’s Springtime. And if tradition holds, Summer will probably follow. There can be no better time, then, to dust off the Big Eight, Summer Edition. This being my first post on Sac Rag, I could talk about what I do or where I grew up. But in my experience, the best way to get to know somebody is to get to know their bars. I’ve got eight of them. Eight summer bars, I mean.

I’ll start with the Virgin Sturgeon, since right now I feel like a beer and cigar on a deck overlooking the Sacramento River. If you’ve never been to the Sturgeon, it’s unlikely you’ve ever walked a jetway onto a floating barge-turned-seafood-shack-and-bar. And that would mean you’re missing out.

Don’t take a first date here and don’t wear your clubbin’ shirt (or clubbin’ skirt, ladies). The Sturgeon’s no place for putting on airs. And the only dress code, as far as I can tell, is the sign outside kindly asking that you wear a shirt and shoes. Continue reading “Hello, I like to drink on the river.”

Nacheez Release Party

Here are three words you never thought you’d hear: vegan nacho cheese. It’s true. Local artist and, dare I say, Midtown personality Ilsa Hess has developed a totally dairy-free nacho cheese sauce for all of you that love the idea of neon orange cheesy chip sauce but can’t (or prefer not to) handle the lactose. In other words, start stocking up on corn chips my Asian friends!

She’ll be holding a raging release party of both her spicy and mild “Nacheez” on Friday, April 8 from 5–8 p.m. at the Never Felt Better vegan shop at 2315 K St. Free samples to be had for all, so drop by and get cheesy!

State Senate to block Kings Anaheim move? Is this necessary?

CBS13 is reporting that State Sen Steinberg is planning to introduce a measure in the legislature that would “effectively prohibit a California city from signing a contract with a professional sports team unless that team has paid off all its debts to the other city.”

Putting aside the Onion News Network aspect of this kind of legislation, I was under the impression that the loan would already be due in full based on the Maloofs’ existing contractual obligations, and therefore that existing law would probably be sufficient to force the Kings to pay what they owe.

In fact, the way I read the Kings April 1 letter in response to the City’s letter requesting loan pay-off confirmation, the Kings basically agree to abide by the terms of the agreement. I think the media are stirring the pot to make this part of the conversation more saucy than it really is. One is left with the impression that the Maloofs basically said FU to the City when asked to honor their contractual obligations.

But I’m not one to champion the Maloofs grasp of business ethics. What do you say, Kings fans–am I wrong?