I first heard about Punch Bowl Social when I was working at my last job dealing with restaurant software. At that time they only had about seven locations around the country. Sacramento is now #11 and opens today. I got a sneak peak on Wednesday and learned some interesting things.

The reason that PBS had been on my radar at my last job was that it had a connection with famous Southern chef, Hugh Acheson. He's been on many episodes of Top Chef as a judge. He happens to be PBS' Culinary Partner. The restaurants are also interesting in that they are more than just bar/restaurant, they are activity centers. 


So let's start by going through what you will find at Punch Bowl Social in Sacramento. First to note is its location. It's directly across the main entrance of the Golden 1 Center and attached to the Sawyer Hotel. It is sure to be the place to hang after a game or a concert as it will be staying open until 2 a.m. every night but Sunday. Also noteworthy is that so far only the huge second floor is open with the additional first floor space scheduled to open in about February. I had to wonder why it needed a second floor!


lobster roll

The answer came from the CEO, Robert Thompson, who was in town for the Grand Opening. PBS is headquartered in Denver and he was out with quite a corporate entourage for the press, soft openings, and opening day. He mentioned that while they love facing the arena, they also wanted a streetside (J St) entrance, thus the first floor. They wanted to be able to have some outdoor space, so the patio is off the first floor. Thompson also talked about the partnership with Acheson and how the chef not only helped with their menus, but also with training their kitchens to be able to deal with hustling meals to as many as 500 covers a night.


sriracha fries
Quite a few items were out for us to try. I loved the lobster roll in particular. I also noted the vegetarian nachos, not knowing if adding meat is an option. While I enjoyed the tacos, I did not really try the sriracha fries as they had gotten cold and I can't stand cold fries. One menu item I noticed that we did not get to try was Lobster Bacon Fries. Now those sound delish!

During my conversation with Thompson I commented on how happy I was to see a drink menu that had a wide selection of non-alcoholic options. While they have boozy milkshakes and specialty punches to attract fun drinking, I always look to the mocktails and other specialty sodas or drinks. I tasted a cucumber cocktail that had a cardamom syrup. Very refreshing. Thompson is a non drinker himself, so also likes to have a variety of drinks other than Coca Cola products. 

Got a sweet tooth? Thompson said they don't do their own desserts and choose to enlist local bakeries in each city. It was easy to guess who got the gig for Sacramento - Ettore's. Good choice!


fried chicken


It's the activities that really make Punch Bowl different. You can now go bowling in downtown Sac! There were two sets of bowling alleys - four lanes each - on the second floor. I'm guessing there will probably be at least one set downstairs. 




The thing is, there is SOO much to do. Here's a list of what I saw available:

  • bowling
  • darts
  • karaoke
  • pool
  • foozball
  • shuffleboard
  • cornhole
  • AR/Wii stations
  • board/card games
  • giant Scrabble
  • checkers
  • arcade/pinball
  • skeeball
  • and I'm probably still missing something


Punch Bowl will surely be popular for the pre and post Golden 1 event socializing. You'll probably find me at skeeball or Scrabble. ;-)



Disclosure: My friend works at Jimboy's corporate and my visit was known and the meal was comped. 

There will be many people who may read this that don't live in the Sacramento region and therefore have never heard of Jimboy's Tacos. Sort of like In-n-Out Burger, it's a California thing. In fact, it's such a California thing, that you can't really classify them as a Mexican restaurant, despite the word "Tacos" in their name, because theirs is not typical Mexican fare. It's California Mexican, I guess. After all, Mexico doesn't really have Parmesan cheese on their tacos like Jimboy's does. 

As my disclosure above states, my friend works for Jimboy's and so I've heard a lot about the changes her company has been going through over the last few years. You can read a pretty in depth history of them in this excellent article by Sacramento News & Review - The Jimboy's Story. That's why I'm not really going to get all detailed here. 

Long story short, over the decades Jimboy's let people get franchises of their brand, but each restaurant was different. There was no consistency in look, food, etc. Basically, it was anything goes and there was no standardization and branding. That's why you would often find the burritos better at one location and the tacos better at another location. I really did know that if I went on one side of town, they did much better burritos than the one closer to my work downtown. My friend even said some owners did their own recipes.



That's changing. Jimboy's is working on updating everything. They have a new look to their restaurants and they are standardizing their menus and adding new menu items. Franchise owners have been told that they can either get on board, or they can no longer be Jimboy's restaurants. This is a good thing.

I was invited to check out the new look and a new dish at one of the newest locations in Sacramento. 

The Look
The new look is definitely a big change from the 70's era plastic booths. This new location was bright with lots of new wood furniture and accents. The brightly lit "Tacos" sign beckons you to read the menu that is now on modern screens versus the menu boards of old. The accent wall has large quotes tying them to the company history.  In the corner there was a big screen TV with a football game on. Definitely a more enticing look, especially to attract newbies who may never have had Jimboy's before. 

The Food
One thing Jimboy's is really trying to promote is that they use fresh ingredients and do everything by scratch every day. There's no use of canned goods. Instead, vegetables are freshly chopped and meats cooked in small batches. This shown through in the new menu item they wanted me to try.



The new Street Fries are plank cut fries covered in queso, tomatoes, jalapenos, and more. Basically think of fries as nachos. I'm not kidding that I actually sat there eating the fries and mentally noting how crisp and fresh the jalapenos, tomatoes, and onions were. Another thing I noted was the how well covered the fries were. You know when you get nachos and the queso is only on the top chips so that you get frustrated that the ones underneath have no cheese? Not the case with these fries. There was plenty of cheese and toppings so that I got to enjoy every bite. Plus, you can choose what type of meat you want. They will differ in cost, but I opted for putting carnitas on mine versus the ground beef or chicken.



Jimboy's are famous for their tacos that are grilled to have a crispy shell that is sprinkled with parmesan cheese. I've never been a fan of crisp shell tacos, but I figured I ought to order just one. It was a little on the salty and greasy side for me, but I could easily see why they have a following and make particularly good hangover food. 



Finally, I saw cream filled churros on the menu and just had to check them out. They were nice and hot, but I was disappointed in those and would suggest you just stick to plain churros. 

The transition to the new look and menu is a slow one. The other day I went to a location that hasn't changed a bit. Just a note that the one near you may or may not reflect some of the changes that are being made company wide.


Original post: 2011

Over Thanksgiving I brought home the antique mah jong table that has always been in my family. It was my mother's and has a bit of history from her family that is interesting enough to share.



The story as I was told...

My mother was an upper class Filipina who grew up in Manila. My grandfather was one of the first Filipino actuaries and I say it was fate that I ended up working in the Actuarial Office at work. Anyway... during World War II the Japanese moved in to occupy the Philippines. As in Europe with the Nazis, the Japanese moved in and took over families' homes and pretty much trampled over the locals. My mother's family was forced out of their home when it was taken over by a Japanese officer. Also similar to the Nazis who stole valuables from the Jews, the Japanese stole as well. When the Americans finally liberated the Philippines and the Japanese fled, the family was able to return to their home. That's where they found this mah jong table which had been stolen from some other family. They didn't know who it was stolen from, and so it's been in the family since. My mother ended up with it. After she died, dad says the uncles actually called to see if they could get it back, but dad told them I had always claimed it for myself some day. 

Please watch the video to see how really cool it is.

Update 2017

I sent in photos and this information to Witherell's, an antique dealer here in Sacramento that sometimes participates in giving estimates on PBS' Antiques Roadshow. Here is what they said:




​It’s #GivingTuesday! Instead of Black Friday or Cyber Monday, today is centered on giving back & helping kids feel good. By donating and sharing your #FoodLiteracyFeels, you’ll be making a difference in the lives of Sacramento children.

When our kids feel good, we feel good!

But right now, this isn’t happening.

Only 4% of kids eat enough vegetables to protect their health. Poor diets are making our kids sick. 40% of Sacramento kids struggle with childhood obesity.

YOU have the power to prevent this.


How YOU can help
Donate! You can protect kids’ health and help them feel good by donating today! Your gift of $180 (that’s just $15/month) funds one low-income child to learn cooking, nutrition, and to eat their vegetables.

Forget Thanksgiving, my November is filled with Filipino food. I stopped in at Pinoy's Place in Hayward the first week, attended a Filipino popup dinner last week, and next week is the special Filipino festivities and dinner at the California Museum. I've said before, I lack knowledge of my mother's cultural foods and so I try to gain more by eating it when I can

That Filipino popup took place at a small cafe borrowed for the event. You can find a great selection of popup feasts throughout the Bay Area via Feastly.com. This website presents chefs in a few select cities that put on these events on a regular basis. Many are professional chefs that do not have restaurants and are looking for a way to share their food. All different kinds of meals are available, such as...




I opted for the Pinoy Heritage 8 course meal and was surprised to find that it was a chef I had experienced before. I had run into Chef Francis Ang at Cochon and Heritage Fire events in the past. It was his deep fried balut that I had tried a year and a half ago. Some notable points on his resume include working for Gary Danko, being named Food and Wine magazine's "People's Best Pastry Chef" for the West Coast, as well as, being nominated for Zagat's "30 Under 30" in San Francisco. Be sure to check out his future dinners on Feastly.com
I'll be trying to get him here in Sactown for a popup. Turns out he's going to be working with our own Ramon Perez of Puur Chocolat at the Dandelion 12 Nights of Chocolate next month. 

Hopefully these shots will entice you to try out either Francis' food or Feastly.com.  Please read on a bit for a couple of interesting notes as well.


Deep fried quail egg and pomegranate soda with basil seeds

This amuse buche has an interesting note in that it was supposedly a play on Sarsaparilla and egg drink in the Philippines. Turns out Sarsi is a brand of soda and the Sarsaparilla is their root beer. People will pour it into a glass and then add an egg. Some people beat the egg first, but others don't. Then they drink it down. It's supposed to be an energy booster because of the protein and sugar. Probably a hangover cure too.

Octopus salad with eggplant salted egg kale cherry tomato and Squid Ink


Kalabasa flan with pinkabet, delicata squash, acorn, xo bagoong
Chicken Pancit with malunggay noodles, black truffle powder
At this point was the chicken pancit. The interesting piece of the dish is that the noodles were made with malunggay. The English known name for it is Moringa. Apparently it's from a bushy plant with tiny leaves. It grows in Asia and in the Philippines it most often served in their monggo bean dishes and soups.


amberjack bulangang with miso, guava, Taro, winged Bean, radish

Black tea Panna cotta, calamansi sorbet, honey crisp
Calamansi is a small citrus fruit used in a lot of Filipino dishes. It is pretty tart.

Coconut flan with dacquoise, yuzu, banana ice cream
Ube canele
Ube is the same as taro and Filipinos use it often in desserts where it is usually bright purple in color.

Back in 2011 I made lemon posset. It's an easy British dessert made with just cream, sugar, and lemon. Lately, I have been thinking of things to use my passion fruit puree with and it occurred to me that the posset would be perfect. 

If you have fresh passion fruits at your grocery or Asian store, it's perfect to garnish at the end with the seedy insides of the fruit. Here, I used raspberries. 

Where to get the puree? You can get a big container of Perfect Puree at Whole Foods in the freezer section. 


Passion Fruit Posset
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup passion fruit concentrate (reserve a couple of tablespoons)


In a saucepan, stir together 3 cups of cream and sugar. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the majority of the passion fruit puree. Pour into serving glasses, and refrigerate until set, about 5 hours. Before serving, drizzle a bit of the remaining puree on top. Garnish with fruit (optional). 

Last year I read this article about Chinese restaurants in Davis catering to Chinese students. They have an American menu and a Chinese menu and the chefs do not cook across the menu. Certain dishes are cooked and seasoned completely differently by each side. 

I finally got the chance to check them out and it was well worth it. We had a delicious meal of tan tan noodles, farmhouse lamb, and fried fish in sweet chili sauce. 




At work I keep a jar of almonds and chocolate chips to snack on. Nuts are always a healthy choice and dark chocolate has been shown to be beneficial as well. 

We all know that almonds are nutritious and make a healthy, low calorie snack with lots of fiber to make you feel full. What people don't realize that pretty much all almonds that you are eating are actually stopping you from absorbing all their healthy nutrition because they are either raw or roasted, but not soaked. 

Almonds have tannins and enzyme inhibitors that keep you from getting the nutrients. When an almond drops from a tree to dry ground, it doesn't automatically start growing. In fact, it could sit in the dirt for months and not do a thing. That's because almonds are coated with tannins that naturally protect the seeds so that they will sprout in the right season - spring, after the rains. The water washes the tannins away, signaling it is safe to allow the almonds to sprout. 

When you eat raw or roasted almonds that have not been soaked, your body isn't able to absorb all the nutrients from the nuts because of the tannins and inhibitors. You need to soak the almonds overnight so that the tannins are released. Another benefit of soaking is that germination changes the proteins and fats in the almonds, reducing the fat content and making the nutrients easier to digest. Sprouting almonds is also the only way to release lipase, an enzyme which digests fat.
Look at all the tannins that come off in soaking!

    “Soaking in warm water also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, present in all seeds, and encourages the production of numerous beneficial enzymes. The action of these enzymes also increases the amount of many vitamins, especially B vitamins. During the process of soaking and fermenting, gluten and other difficult-to-digest proteins are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption.”

So even if you are eating almonds just as a snack food, you really should soak them first, rinse, and then dry out again in an oven or dehydrator.
 


What I found is that after soaking and drying, I had softer almonds that weren't as satisfying to chew. I've found the solution is to roast them in the oven for a few hours at 200 degrees. 
Professor Ermias Kebreab explains the trial

The above title is actually false, which I'll explain shortly. Yet I'm sure it grabbed your attention. After all, we generally think that cows are making too much methane gas that contributes to climate change and that it's coming out as farts. 

Turns out that is false. While they do emit a considerable amount, 95% of it is coming from their breathing and not from the other end. This little detail was revealed to me recently during a visit to UC Davis' feed lots where they are studying ways to reduce cattle emissions.

Food bloggers had been invited by the creators of Mootral, a new supplement created by Swiss company Zaluvida. UC Davis is world-renowned for its agricultural programs and is one of the few research centers in the world that can handle many types of animal studies. Mootral is in California for a six-month trial of their supplement to test it in our conditions. 

It should be noted that California's Air Resources Board and other agencies have been tasked with reducing factors that contribute to climate change - and that includes through agriculture and livestock. These studies help toward these efforts. 

We were met by UC Davis Professor Ermias Kebreab; Don Harper, in charge of the cattle operations at UCD; and Breanna Roque, a graduate student working on the Mootral trial. 

Harper explained the feeding that the cows receive and the nutrition involved, especially at finishing lots. The primary focus at UCD is for the large cattle operations that feed the masses of Americans who are used to cheap beef in grocery stores. These operations focus on finishing the beef off with corn and other ingredients rather than on an entire life of grass grazing.




Video shows the corn, steamed/pressed corn, cotton seed, almond husks, 3 stages of feed mixture moving to more corn, molasses, added vitamins/minerals


One interesting bit of information was about how blessed our California cattle are. Due to our agricultural bounty, their feed is often supplemented with byproducts that we humans don't consume. Some examples would be the husks from almonds or from cotton seeds. Not only do they help to rid us of these excessive byproducts, eliminating waste going to landfills, etc., but it takes them out as competing with humans for other products that we both eat, such as corn. Other ingredients included processed corn and spent grains from alcohol processing. Added to the feed mixture is molasses and other vitamins and nutrients, providing a very precise nutritional mix. 


the feeder
The Mootral is all natural. It consists basically of garlic and citrus extracts that are added to feed pellets and given to the cows at only 15 grams per day. The Mootral works to reduce the amount of gases created in the cattle's digestion by as much as 30%. 

I had to ask how the emissions are measured and that's when we learned the fact about the breathing. The cattle are encouraged to eat out of a special feeder that they stick their heads in. As they breathe, a fan system sucks up their exhalations into a device that is able to measure how much methane, hydrogen, oxygen, etc. is exhaled. 

There are many companies and scientists trying different methods to reduce emissions. Professor Kebreab tells us that after the Mootral trial there will be another one with dairy cattle and a seaweed supplement.




We finished with a nice dinner at the UCD Meat Lab. If you are local and did not know, you can buy meat from some of UCD's butchered animals from their Meat Store. 




Thai chicken

Do we need another make-your-own pizza place in town? If you are a beer drinker, you'll say "YES!" when you hear about the newest addition - PizzaRev TAPROOM. The reason I've capitalized the TAPROOM is because, unlike other PizzaRevs which do serve a few beers, this one has an entire bank of taps and you can serve your own beer.




It may surprise my regular readers to see me touting a feature I'll never use because I don't drink, but this was something new to me that I thought readers would appreciate. Really, it might be not new at all, but my friends and I had never seen this serve yourself concept/method before.



Like all the other similar pizza places, PizzaRev has a bank of ingredients and you go down the line and tell them what you want on your pizza. There's thick, thin, or gluten-free crust and then an assortment of sauces, meats, vegetables, and cheeses so you can be as creative as you want. There is always the list of set pizzas on the menu board as well (margherita, Mediterranean, etc.). 




When you get to the register and select your drink, you can choose to use the Coke-your-way soda machine or choose beer and wine. Choosing alcohol means you will receive an electronic wristband so you can go serve yourself at the bank of beers/wines.




There are 24 taps along two walls. Two are wine, the rest are beers, including many local favorites. Hold the wristband up to the machine and it will trigger it to allow you to pour your beer, dispensing a measured amount. While we were there for the VIP soft opening, the wristband allowed 32 ounces of beer. So apparently they can be programmed. 


Margherita

As for the pizzas, we choose to try the Thai Chicken (Thai sizzle, mozzarella with buffalo milk, sweet chili chicken, shredded carrots, fresh cilantro, fresh green onions) and a regular Margherita. We enjoyed the Thai one with the exception that they could reduce the amount of the the Thai sizzle sauce. It's pretty strong and sticky and easily overwhelmed the pizza. 


plenty of hot sauce options

This PizzaRev should do very well being that it is located a mile from Sac State and affordable for students. It has a good amount of seating and a lovely fire pit outside as well. 


For more on make-your-own pizzas and a comparison of other brands, read 

Comparing Fast Casual Pizzas.



You may have read my bio and know that I grew up in Saudi Arabia for all my school age years. My dad was there for 16 years and during our vacations back in the States we would often get the (stupid) question - Do you ride to school on a camel?


Suffice it to say, I never rode a camel. I saw plenty of them, of course. I even was given freshly milked camel's milk by a bedouin in the middle of the desert, but I never rode a camel. That is, until last week. Not only did I ride a camel, but I raced one. 


Every September for the last 58 years Virginia City has hosted camel races. Not just camels, either. They also race ostriches and zebras. This traditional, fun, family weekend has been one of the staples of Virginia City's tourism calendar. Lucky for me, Fridays are devoted to media, who are invited to ride.

This is my third posting of Virginia City on my blog, but in the upcoming November issue of Sacramento Magazine you should find a piece I wrote about it as a great getaway weekend for adults and for families. 


I arrived Friday morning to find a dozen camels, four zebra, and about ten ostriches and a handful of emus. All of these exotic animals come from Hedrick's Promotions, Inc. based out of Kansas. Joe Hedrick has a history in rodeo and with dealing with exotic animals. Over the decades he has amassed about 70 camels, 50 ostriches, and more on his Kansas ranch. I'm assured by the the Virginia City Chamber members who have visited his ranch that the animals live a very good life there, with plenty of open acreage to wander about. 

We were given an orientation about what to expect, sign waivers, etc. Then we got to ride a camel around the ring to see what it was like when they were just walking. Very bumpy. 



While we waited we got to hang out behind the scenes. The ostriches, like the camels, are very tall. I definitely was having to look up at these crazy birds. At one point I had my back to them and my elbow resting on the bars of the enclosure and next thing I know, I got bitten! Others have fared worse, I hear, with bruises and hurtful nips. For me it was like someone with a set of plastic, duck bills on their hand that clapped onto my arm. Shocking at most. 


Finally it was our turn for the last race of the day. It was quite difficult for me to climb up as there was no ladder and I'm only 5'3". I was finally on board and then was shocked to get a soaking! I thought the camel was somehow peeing on me! But how can a camel pee up and cool? Turns out a gust of wind came just at that moment and blew water off the awning behind me. At virtually the same moment the gates were open and we were off!



All I cared about was hanging on and I think you can see that in my expression. I asked a woman in the audience to film me, so that's why the poor quality of my video. Thank goodness Daniel from Visit Virginia City got the great still shots!

If I continue to go back each year there's a chance I can graduate to zebra or ostrich! So why not?

Check out the Virginia City calendar. There's always something fun going on. Next month: Outhouse Races!