Visiting the wild horses of Carson Valley

February 20, 2018 0 Comments
all photos courtesy of Carson Valley Tours

 One of my favorite wildlife shows has been Meerkat Manor. It is like a soap opera with meerkats. It followed a couple of meerkat troops in the plains of Africa and monitored the social dynamics that take place. Each troop had a queen, her mate, and all the lesser meerkats who were responsible for childcare and security of the troop.

 What about the social dynamic of horses? After all, horses have been domesticated for millennia. They are, for the most part, kept apart in stalls and pens. What are horses like in the wild with no restrictions of man? What social structure and dynamic do they have?

 Normally cheapskate me would be just crossing my fingers hoping that I might see some wild horses from my own car. After four trips to Virginia City, this did happen when some wild horses actually wandered into town. OK. Good. Been there, saw that.

This month was an entirely different experience when I went on a jeep tour to see the wild horses of the Carson Valley near Minden, Nevada. My guide was Dwayne Hicks, who runs Carson Valley Tours. Dwayne is a retired veteran who loves photographing the wild horses and the raptors in the area. He supplements his pension by selling his photographs and doing various tours in the valley. Dwayne loves the Carson Valley area the same amount as I love Sacramento - a lot. He knows its history, its inhabitants, its terrain, and its wildlife. He was a fountain of information and a wonderful tour guide. He is also nice enough to take care of the photography and send you the photos later. A bonus for me!

 Dwayne drove us out to the east side of the valley, trying to get away from the ever increasing housing that eats away at the horses' territory. We were on part of the Bently Ranch (another blog post soon). The Bentlys are contrary to many ranchers in that they love the wild horses and so they keep their ranch pretty much free of fencing. Dwayne went over the rules regarding wild horses and the laws that are overseen by the Bureau of Land Management - no feeding or watering of the horses. Leave them alone and don't interact with them. Just observe. 
Red

 It didn't take long before we came across a group of three stallions. These guys were buddies hanging out for a drink. Dwayne explained that males that don't have a band or care about procreating hang out together in bachelor groups. All the local wild horse followers know and name the horses. This group had Red and two others. 

 Dwayne was looking for particular bands with his favorite horses. We took off over a couple of more hills and came across another bachelor band with a few more stallions. In this group was Socks and Socks Jr.  Socks is an older horse of about 20 years old. Socks had once had a large band of his own until one day a younger stallion, Samson, came into the area and challenged him. Dwayne says that at the time, Socks was not at his healthiest and so when Samson challenged him, Socks took a stand and then changed his mind and said, "OK. You win." and walked off with his son Socks Jr. The locals didn't see him for several weeks and feared that he had gone off to die, but he later returned, recovered and healthy. Ever since he's been hanging out as a bachelor.

 We moved further along and were very lucky to find more bands hanging out in close proximity to each other. 

 Off to our right was Blondie with a group of about 14. Blondie has been in charge of his band for a few years and is about 10 years old. He was named, obviously, due to his recognizable blond mane. 

 In the middle was Zorro with his two mares. He's a new stallion who only recently came into the region and decided he was ready to have his own band. He took over his females from another stallion, Skip. And then I was lucky enough to witness a confrontation...
Zorro confronts Blondie

 Some of Blondie's group started to shuffle and Zorro, from a distance, saw and started galloping over. Blondie saw this and took a dump to mark his area. He then went out to meet with Zorro. Zorro approached all cocky and reared up. Blondie just sort of stood there like, "yeah, what?" Zorro kept up his testosterone act and then takes a dump also, saying, "Don't cross this line!" And that was that and both returned to their areas. 

 Dwayne explains that is the usual interaction. The stallions meet up, discuss, go back to their groups. There's one case that he knows where the stallions actually fought to the death. The new stallion killed the elder.

 I really enjoyed the day and loved learning about the lives of wild horses. It's something that did require a guide who knew the area and bands. The only way to get a real experience, short of living in the area yourself, is to do a tour. 

 Carson Valley Tours
(775) 781-8808
on

Sacramento to shine at special Pebble Beach Food & Wine event

February 18, 2018 0 Comments


Wow! This year Sacramento has 10 chefs going to the Pebble Beach Food & Wine weekend. During the weekend of April 5-8, they will be representing us and our Farm to Fork flavors. 

 Our first female Sacramento representation will be Ginger Elizabeth Hahn, who is listed as from San Francisco as a way to promote her new location there. Meanwhile, nine other chefs will be representing us in a special Sacramento Farm to Fork event on Friday afternoon. The chefs are named and pictured above.

 In the last three years that Sac chefs have attend PBFW, they've been usually scattered through other events such as the golf tournament, after-hours parties, and the Grand Tasting Tents. This year they get an event all to themselves!

 Pebble Beach Food & Wine is a series of food and wine events sprinkled across four days. Celebrity chefs from around the country attend as well as California chefs. Among the celebrity chefs this year are Daniel Boulud, Jeremiah Tower, and Top Chef contestants John Tesar, Bruce Kaplan, Fatima Ali. 

 Tickets are not cheap and are sold a la carte. The Grand Tasting Tents are $250 and our Sac F2F event is $225. 

 I'll be there to cover it for you, but if you can, come join me for this extra special event. 
on
Keto Misconceptions - 6 weeks in
on

March Food Events - Cochon, Yountville

February 15, 2018 0 Comments
Some of my favorite food events are coming in the next two months. They are definitely pricey, but if you can afford a special culinary treat to check off your bucket list, then either of these will do. 

Cochon555 at AT&T Park - March 4

 I love pork and this has always been worth the money. A couple of times local favorites have participated - Kelly McCown and Michael Tuohy.

Cochon555 is a culinary competition to promote local family farming and whole pig cookery through the eyes of five notable chefs. Each tasked with the goal to win votes from celebrity judges and participants, chefs have one week to prepare a 200 pound pig and present a “Judge’s Plate” scored on utilization; technique; and overall flavor. The winner of the local competition is announced the Prince or Princess of Pork and advances to the national finale, Grand Cochon on September 30.  Grand Cochon spotlights the 'Best 3 Bites' from all Cochon555 regional events in a head-to-tail, winner-takes-all showdown for the crown.


Tickets for general admission start at $130; VIP tickets (early admission + exclusive access to cocktail competition and allocated wines and spirits) are $200. Guests can purchase a $400 ticket that includes VIP and the Silver Oak "Swig for Swings" Vertical Tasting and Seminar with winemaker Nate Weis in the Press Box paired with four of the Giants' "Greatest Moments" on the big screen.
Where:           AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94107
When:              Sunday, March 4, 2018
Time:               4 p.m. for VIP entry, 5 p.m. for General Admission, 3 p.m. “Swig for Swings” Seminar

Yountville Live - March 15-18

 Last year I went to Yountville Live and really enjoyed it. The location is, of course, beautiful, the food and music are wonderful, and it wasn't too crowded!  I think it's the best little secret right now and will be sad as it grows each year. Sometimes you want things to stay secretly your own.

 You can enter a chance to win a VIP experience here.

 Yountville Live will feature James Beard celebrity chef Stephanie Izard, chef and Food Network host Bob Blumer and local renowned chefs including Bob Hurley, Chris Kollar, Morgan Robinson, Nick Ritchie, Nate Lindsey, Cindy Pawlcyn, Anita Cartagena and more. The four day event will include headline performances by X Ambassadors, Foy Vance, and NEEDTOBREATHE and intimate performances throughout the weekend by Dave Barnes, Emerson Hart, Marc Broussard, Jon McLaughlin, Logan Brill, Corey Harper, Keelan Donova, High Noon and more. Health and  wellness guru from the Today Show, Joy Bauer and “Eat Travel Rock” TV host Kelly Rizzo will host events throughout the weekend. Also set to be featured are some of the most celebrated wineries.

on

Old Skool Cafe - Educating Youth

February 11, 2018 0 Comments



It's rare for me to go into San Francisco for a weekday event, but when I got an invitation, I decided to schedule work at our Bay Area location for that day so I could stay late to go to dinner at Old Skool Cafe.
Old Skool Cafe is a faith-based, violence prevention program, providing marketable employment skills in the restaurant industry to at-risk youth ages 16-22. Old Skool Cafe provides the opportunity to transform the loop of incarceration and recidivism into healthy life loops. Youth come from jail, foster care or situations of abuse and neglect into a supportive environment. 
The invitation had piqued my interest because the program reminded me so much of Saint John's Program for Change, which I had written about in 2015. Both programs help those struggling and in need of assistance with support and education. Both use restaurant programs to teach skills that will lead the participants to jobs in the industry. 

Old Skool is a much younger program in terms of age and, of course, its participants. Back in about 2004, Founder Teresa Goines came up with the idea. The first few years she was operating the program from her own home and with help from caterers and people who were able to give them spaces to do occasional popup dinners. As word spread, she was blessed when a church gave them an old building to use with minimal rent. In 2012 Old Skool Cafe opened in the Bayview Hunter’s Point neighborhood. In 2014 they purchased the building and over the last six months they've been closed for renovation. 

I was invited to a soft opening as they prepare to reopen in the next few weeks. We were treated to a menu of International Soul Food that included gumbo, ribs, a Tongan ceviche style dish, and a West African peanut butter stew. Everything was executed very well, from service to the tasty dishes. Please watch my short video with interviews with the founder and one of the participants.


Old Skool Cafe
1429 Mendell St
San Francisco
on
One month of Keto
on

Foodie Podcasts - Updated

February 02, 2018 0 Comments

As podcasts gain in popularity I figured it was time for an update to my list. I listen to podcasts at work where I can stream off my work's wifi. I feel pretty food knowledgable and a lot of it has to do with continuous education - through podcasts.

 The best way to find podcasts is through the recommendations of others. So here are my recommendations for foodie podcasts and at the bottom is a list of Sacramento (not foodie) podcasts.

 Sporkful - Host Dan Pashman hosts this James Beard Award nominated podcast. The slogan is "It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. These are only half hour podcasts, so usually stay to one interview or topic.

 Splendid Table - One of the most listened to podcasts features Francis Lam who talks to chefs, authors, restaurant owners, and food specialists. I like it because there are interviews mixed in with call-in questions and other fun food features.

 Milk Street - After Christopher Kimbal left PBS and America's Test Kitchen, he basically copied everything for his new Milk Street. Same format as the old podcast with call-ins, advice, and food information.

 Gastropod - This show mixes history and science to bring a new food topic to the show each week. You  might learn about the history and science of ice cream, for example. They interview people who have researched and written books on the subject or others who practice the science involved. An especially good one is the recent one on a sourdough study. I highly recommend that particular one. 

 Special Sauce - This podcast is done by Ed Levine, the founder of Serious Eats. He talks with friends and celebrities about food.  

 Good Food and Good Food on the Road by KCRW is a podcast covering all sorts of things food. Added benefit, the restaurant reviewer is the famed Jonathan Gold.

 Eater - If you follow restaurants and Eater.com, then this is for you. Interviews with famous chefs and restaurateurs about topics concerning the dining industry. 

 Bon Appetit - No surprise, this comes from the magazine covering a variety of food discussions.

 Spilled Milk - Need a laugh? Then this one is a great one. Two besties talking about a different food each week, cracking jokes. 

 Burnt Toast is the podcast of Food52.com and, as they say, includes stuff that they haven't put on the website. Hasn't been active for a few months, so it may be dead. 
Local Sacramento podcasts:

 Sactown People (My episode from August 2014)

 Serious Talk, Seriously (My interview February 2016)

Finding Sacramento
on

Chocolate Salon returns to Sacramento

January 25, 2018 0 Comments

Are you a chocoholic? Or looking for some chocolatey goodness to give as a traditional Valentine gift? Then you need to go to the Chocolate Salon at the Citizen Hotel on  Saturday, January 27. 

Come and taste a bunch of chocolate, buy some as well, and listen to a couple of speakers. Here are some highlights:

 Great presentations, chocolate tasting, and more are taking place at the Citizen Hotel in downtown Sacramento. Featuring award-winning creators such as Amano Artisan Chocolate, 3D Candies, Farm Fresh To You, be a gourmet, Cowboy Toffee Company, The Cocoa Exchange, Raphio Chocolate, Rainy Day Chocolate, New Orleans Bill, Cru Chocolate, Z. Cioccolato, Endorfin, Michael's Chocolates, Tombo Toffee, Kindred Cooks Caramels, Fookie Fudge, Welk Resorts, and more.  

Meet Art Pollard of Amano, recently ranked by the New York Times as the #1 Bean-to-Bar ChocolateMaker in the United States.
Sacramento CHOCOLATE SALON
January 27, 2018
11:00am - 5:00pm 
Citizen Hotel
926 J St
Sacramento, CA 95814
Adults: $20 Advance Tickets, $25 Door
on

First Look: Punch Bowl Social

December 15, 2017 0 Comments


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. ;-)
on

Updating Jimboy's Tacos

December 12, 2017 0 Comments

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.
on