Summer Food Events - What will you eat this summer?

Summer Food Events - What will you eat this summer?

June 29, 2015 0 Comments
The great thing about Sacramento is that we have food events all year long.  Our name of Farm-to-Fork Capitol is appropriate with everything from Baconfest to the Banana Festival. In fact, sometimes competition is fierce for your attention and your dollar.

 We are also blessed to be in the middle of so many destinations. With Napa, Tahoe, Reno, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey/Carmel, and Yosemite so close by, there are events to select from throughout Northern California.

 Below is the Foodie Calendar through September's Farm-to-Fork Festival. The ones with comments are my favorites that I return to year after year.

 July 17-18 Marysville Peach Festival
July 18 Capay Organic Tomato Festival 
July 24-26 Gilroy Garlic Festival
July 27 Courtland Pear Festival
August 2 Cochon Heritage Fire (Napa)
Probably my favorite of the summer, Heritage Fire is a meat lover's dream event. Plucking the best chefs from the Napa Valley and Sacramento. So far I see Michael Thiemann from Mother/Empress listed again and I'm hoping that we have some good Sacramento representation again this year. 

August 8 Woodland Tomato Festival 
August 8-9 Gravenstein Apple Fair

on

Checking in with Chando

June 26, 2015 0 Comments
via Sac Bee
It had been well over a year since I last saw Chando Madrigal. We had met in the early days of the gourmet truck movement here in Sacramento, at the time when we founded SactoMoFo. Chando was one of the first Sacramento trucks on the scene, close on the heels of Krushburger (then Miniburger) and Drewski's.


I was lucky in that my office building where I now work was hosting a luncheon for the tenants and they called in Chando's to cater it. I was happy to see that Chando himself arrived on site and we were able to take a few minutes to catch up.



Chando's been busy since those early days. Since we first met he's opened locations in South Sacramento and in Roseville as well as adding a second truck.


He's also been getting some great national press. Last year the blog FiveThirtyEight did a search for the country's best burrito.  For the entire nation, Chando's came in at a tie for 7th place and in the top 20 overall. (Many of the positions had 2 or 3-way ties.) Then in April Chando's was named in Saveur magazine's article on California's historic tortilla-packed Highway 99. 

 I asked him if he was ready to open location #4, possibly in Folsom and he said he's taking a break. His next project is actually to create a central facility where all of the catering and supply will function out of. At this location he can accept all deliveries, prep for catering events, and even make his own tortillas and more items from scratch. 

 Then I wondered if he was ever going to do a regular restaurant versus a fast food/fast casual concept. He says he has an idea in his head, but it will be some time before that comes to fruition.

 In the meantime I'll have to head over to the Arden Way stand and try this famous burrito. He says that they don't put beans or rice in them, only all the other fixings. This suits me just fine as I always order mine without rice and beans anyway. It's less carbs and less of a gut bomb. I've always been a regular for his great fish tacos (grilled, not fried) and the mulitas. 

 Whatever Chando touches has been golden of late and so as the future unfolds I'm sure we'll see even more great things. 
on

First (real) look: Iron Horse Tavern

June 23, 2015 0 Comments
Click to add a blog post for Iron Horse Tavern on Zomato
Trio of mac n cheese

 Last week I wrote about the opening event at Iron Horse Tavern. I was (am) really excited about this particular new restaurant because I was impressed by the look, atmosphere, and the menu. Being that it was a special event, it didn't really count as a review.

 Tonight I returned again with a group of old coworkers. I thought it would be fun for us to check out the Asian fusion tavern menu that Iron Horse serves. Now generally it's not good to review a restaurant so soon after opening, but I couldn't wait to really try them out and here was an opportunity to try several items with a group of friends.

 Suffice it to say, we had a really great evening with service, food, and drink. We also lucked out.  After we put in our food order the first four dishes magically appeared in literally about a minute. We were like, "Wow! These guys are fast!" But we eventually figured out that our table had been delivered the order from the next table over, which was nearly exactly like our own order. So we got an extra pizza out of the deal. This table/food confusion continued throughout the night making me think I want to be sitting at that table from now on if the table confusion can continue in my favor! Except for that error, the service was very good. The staff were friendly, attentive, and efficient. 

 I have to highly recommend Happy Hour. All the pizzas and small plates are half off from 3-6pm. We took advantage of that and for all the food you are about to see, the bill itself was only $68. There are, of course, drink specials as well. The only drawback is that the mocktails are not included in HH pricing, which seems stupid to me. After all, mocktails don't have any alcohol in them in the first place, so why shouldn't they be given a HH discount?

 Out of the items you are about to see, the mac n cheese and the desserts are not included in the HH pricing. 

 Let's start with the Trio Mac n Cheese seen at the top. Iron Horse has 9 mac n cheeses and for the trio you pick three. Our three were jalapeno, lobster, and chicken chorizo. You can see by the picture that the servings are small (note the spoon size next to the skillet). But mac n cheese is really rich and so do you really need more than that?  To break them down I'll say that the jalapeno either is really mild or they mistakenly gave us the pesto version instead of the jalapeno. It was the creamiest of the three, but not all that flavorful. The lobster was dull although it did have big chunks of lobster in it. The best of the three was the chicken chorizo. The other two needed that bit of spice and salt to waken them up.

The Bavarian Pretzel I had at the opening. It is served with mustard, jalapeno cheese, and bacon peanut butter. My favorite is the jalapeno cheese.

on

Mini Review - Federalist Public House

June 21, 2015 0 Comments
Click to add a blog post for Federalist Public House & Beer Garden on Zomato

destruction of the Marshall and the BFD

 In full disclosure, I've known owner Marvin Maldonado and his wife, Bridgitte, for a few years now. Since the time when Bridgette's fashion truck, Gypsy Mobile Boutique, rolled on to the scene. That's why I've declined to write a review before - the association. 

 I've gone to Federalist a few times now and the experience has been so good I just have to at least throw in my recommendation for a few pizzas. 

 I really like the vibe at Federalist. So much so that I had my summer birthday party there. The inside/outside aspect of the shipping container construction gives it a casual, relaxed feel. Even in the winter it is sheltered enough, with heaters, to make it comfortable. 

 I also appreciate the fact that they have non-alcoholic beverages, fresh made strawberry lemonade and kombucha, on tap. 

on

New R Street Complex - Iron Horse, Roxie, Dos Coyotes

June 15, 2015 0 Comments
I thought I was just going to another opening event last night. Instead I ended up leaving feeling pretty excited about the new R Street Complex, the one at 15th & R that includes the brand new Iron Horse Tavern, Roxie Deli & BBQ, and Dos Coyotes. Oh, and European Wax Center. Even better, the event was used to raise funds for the Children's Receiving Home of Sacramento.

Let's start with the big guy in the building, Iron Horse Tavern. Created by the Wong brothers who also have Mix and Cafeteria 15L, it's a great new place that's sure to be a big draw. 

I love the layout. Inside there is a long U-shaped bar with loads of bar stools, flat screens mounted above, and a couple of cozy nooks that would be great to snag if you have a group of friends. Next to it are long communal bar tables before the actual dining room seating starts. There are plenty of tables to feed the crowds that are sure to come.

There's a great patio on the outside with lots of long tables. My only thought on the patio is the lack of shade/cover structure for extreme heat or winter weather. Perhaps that is coming down the road.

on

A Revamped Paragary's

June 10, 2015 0 Comments
the new Paragary's patio

 If you've lived in Sacramento for a few decades then at sometime you were sure to have eaten at a Paragary restaurant. For three decades Paragary's has seen a generation grow up, graduate, get married, and start another generation — all while celebrating over a meal with family and friends at the restaurant. Now the flagship restaurant has been overhauled and poised for relaunch this Friday.
Randy Paragary with wife, Stacy

 The midtown location at 28th & N streets originally opened in 1983. For me, that's the year I graduated high school. Then I did my four years attending college in Portland before I moved to Sacramento in 1987. Even in college I was eating well and dining out often. My taste in fine dining came with me to Sacramento and I remember how, at the time, Paragary restaurants were the best in town. They were where you went to celebrate special occasions, Valentine's Day, or just wanted a good meal. I had a friend who was a manager for Zinfandel Grill Folsom and even had company Christmas dinners there. (Zinfandel Grills are no longer associated with Randy Paragary.)

Over the last decade (and since I've been food blogging for 7.5 years) I rarely ate at a Paragary restaurant. If I did, it was at their more casual Cafe Bernardo's. Having once been the leader of the Sacramento restaurant scene, it just seemed that they weren't keeping up with the times and were stuck in the late 90s. Not only with food and look, but also by their lack of social media and guest interaction. There were so many other new and more exciting restaurant concepts coming to town.

 Last Friday I was invited to a media event to see the revamped Paragary's. Over the decades I probably ate there only a couple of times. I didn't even know they had a patio, although I heard about it. The old restaurant had dark wood, booths, and carpeting. 

 You won't even recognize the place now. After being completely gutted and reconfigured, the new restaurant is bright, open, simple, clean. Someone referred to it as Napa French and that seems accurate. A California interpretation of French bistros. 

The most significant change is architectural. The windows were taken out and enlarged and the outside given a French bistro style facade. Inside walls were torn down, including the one that separated the back patio from the restaurant. In its place is now a wide open doorway leading directly into the patio. The bar was moved and also given the French bistro treatment. Even the kitchen was gutted, save for the wood fire pizza oven. All the kitchen equipment is new as well.  

The  menu is not all that different and certainly not edgy except for maybe a bit more use of offal. There's salads and small plates (gnocchi, liver mousse, pizza) and the entrees include French staples such as Steak au Poivre and Salad Nicoise. Paragary classics of their famous mushroom salad and their rosemary pasta remain.
Spataro and Ostrander
The kitchen will be helmed by Scott Ostrander, formerly over at sister restaurant Esquire Grill. Kurt Spataro is part owner of Paragary Restaurant Group and Executive Chef, overseeing the culinary side of all Paragary restaurants.
My feeling was that an important missing element these last few years has been a lack of good social media. Sure they send out email newsletters, but more creative and interactive engagement via Twitter and Facebook is needed to capture today's social media savvy crowd.  A good part about increasing your restaurant's reach is social engagement. This will be an important part of the restaurant's renewal.

 It will be interesting to see if the revamp brings them up to date to attract the younger crowd. After all, it's this new generation of diners which will be the next set memorable meals at Paragary's.
on

Sriracha Smoked Salmon

May 30, 2015 0 Comments

Last year I got a Brinkmann smoker and my goal once I got it was to learn how to smoke salmon. So far I have been pretty successful considering it is very hard to keep a low consistent temperature in this type of smoker. 

I started using charcoal and then bought the electrical converter hoping it would help with the temperature issue. It doesn't. I thought it would come with a control for the heat output but instead it's just either on or off. So there's still some learning to do.

But on the flavor front, I like a bit of spice and so I decided to incorporate Sriracha. I put it in the brine and also in the basting sauce. Turned out pretty good. 

I'm not going to go into the details of how to smoke fish in this post. I'm just going to share my Sriracha recipes.  I buy a side of salmon at a time when I smoke, so the recipes cover that amount. 

For the brine:
1 gallon water
1 cup of kosher salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of Sriracha sauce

Mix together, set the salmon in the brine and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.

For the basting sauce:
1/4 cup of Sriracha sauce
1/4 cup of honey
Cajun spice (optional)

Before placing the dried salmon on the grill to smoke, baste the fish with sauce in a thin coating. Sprinkle Cajun spice over the salmon if desired. Smoke fish per instructions. You can baste another time during the smoking time or when the fish is freshly removed from the smoker at the end. 
on

Sacramento Shines at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

April 13, 2015 0 Comments

A few weeks ago I wrote about how we had a collection of Sacramento chefs going to the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Show. After a tiring weekend of nonstop events, we are all back home and the chefs are exhausted. 

 Unfortunately my press pass was very limited in that I only got to go to the tasting events. No dinners, seminars, or cooking demonstrations. Also no after hours parties and that's where Bill Ngo and Michael Thiemann were.  Never did catch up with Ramon Perez or Ravin Patel. I did catch sight of Kelly McCown as he was leaving. He was done by Saturday afternoon and heading home. Therefore my coverage only extends to Meatopia on Friday and the Grand Tasting Tents on Saturday and Sunday.

 Kudos must be shared for Michael Passmore of Passmore Ranch.  Most of the chefs used his fish (trout, catfish, sturgeon, caviar) and he even did a special for Kelly by supplying lamb. He also worked his butt off. He was assisting many of the chefs, but it paid off for him because he got to talk about his business with many people in the food business, including a posse of Top Chefs from the Bravo TV show.

 Friday night - MEATOPIA!

 Although no Sacramento chefs were featured at the Meatopia event, there was still a good showing as they assisted Chef Matthew Accarrino of SPQR in San Francisco. Accarrino was recently nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef of the West and he's a big fan of Passmore Ranch.  He had a great wow factor bite in that they served up sturgeon chicharron with caviar and then roasted sturgeon. 


The roasted sturgeon was pretty spectacular. Michael says that the fish was 120 pounds out of the water, pre-evisceration. They stuffed it with citrus and herbs and then put it on a spit. They encased it in chicken wire so it wouldn't fall apart as it cooked. As always, the sturgeon was delicious and I even scored the cheek!
Michael talks to celebrity chefs
Helping Accarrino that day was Michael Passmore and Bill Ngo and Tyler Bond from Kru.  I missed seeing Bill on his own as he had the After Parties on Thursday and Saturday nights and press pass had no access.

 More from Meatopia...

Bottom left is Kevin Gillespie from Atlanta's Gunshow. You may recognize him from Top Chef. He once said on Top Chef Masters how our own Michael Tuohy was his mentor. I must say that both his bites, Friday and Sunday, were among my favorites from the whole weekend — packed with flavor. Friday's was pork belly with pickled apples and smoked peanut butter (and I'm no peanut butter fan).
Saturday Grand Tasting

 Saturday was the second event for Oliver Ridgeway of Grange.  He had also done some catfish poboys for Thursday's golf event. Once again, Michael Passmore was on hand to help out. Oliver got many compliments for his dish being not only tasty, but standing out as different.  It was a dill Yorkshire pudding with trout rillette and caviar with shaved bottarga on top. Bottarga is a new term for me — salted and cured fish roe. It hardens into a block so you can shave it like truffles.  This bottarga was made with sturgeon caviar. (At the time I thought they were shaving truffles.)




Below are shots of some of the other areas.  Driscoll's was a major sponsor so you can see their Berryland in the top right - all berry desserts.  Lexus was also a major sponsor, thus the cars. There were a LOT of wineries represented. A ridiculous number. Lucky for me Perrier was also there. 


And, of course, plenty of bites. The ones in the middle are especially noteworthy. The beef pho from Charles Phan of The Slanted Door. It was good, but difficult to consume with the noodles, etc. The pie slice you see is foie gras and orange and it was delicious. It came from The Modern NYC. I also ran into Dana Cowin, Editor of Food & Wine Magazine (hosts of the event) and asked her to pay more attention to Sacramento, we have so much great food!



There were plenty of celebrity chefs, including Curtis Stone, Charles Phan, Aaron Burns, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Brian Malarkey (from The Taste on TV). I also spotted Elizabeth Falkner, Anita Lo, Jenn Louis, and Iron Chef Morimoto.

 Sunday Grand Tasting

It was Mother's turn to shine on Sunday with Matt Masera representing.  I had seen Michael Thiemann on Friday and he explained he had to do the After After Party that night, but it turns out he had to return to Sac for other Mother obligations and so Matt was there with his wife, Dana, to man the fort. Their dish was an almond cake with pea dust soil, carrot puree, turmeric glass, and fennel frond.  He ran out about an hour before the event so hopefully they got to go around and eat what was left around the tent.

And, of course, more bites...
Notable in this collage would be the foie gras peanut butter doughnuts (didn't work for me) and the bottom right, which is Kevin Gillespie's pork and raisin crepinette that I liked. The bottom left is Morimoto's cold noodles with beef and that was a huge hit.  And there was Morimoto, on noodle duty, scooping out handfuls of noodles into each bowl and picking up droppings from the floor to be neat and tidy.



I didn't get too carried away with chef groupie selfies.  Took one with Kevin to say "hi" to Michael Tuohy and then had to get Fabio during prep time before the doors opened. I might not have gotten to more events, but at least it got me in early for the tastings. 



I want to thank Wagstaff Worldwide and Coastal Luxury Management for granting me the pass.  They don't give too many away to bloggers and so I was thrilled that they allowed me the opportunity to cover our Sacramento chefs. And they were a big hit too! Just check out Eater.com's review of the event and see #4 and #12! 












on

ClassPass May be the Answer

April 07, 2015 0 Comments
I'm quite sure I fall among the majority of Americans in that I wish I could go through life without having to exercise. But as I have now reached the half century mark, I've resigned myself that my middle age aches and pains will only be magnified as I age if I don't exercise. The fact is, I've never been athletic and I'm terribly uncoordinated. I have a crappy sense of balance and the only kind of dancing I can do is freestyle.

 Going to the gym is a chore and not a pleasure. It's no wonder that I've constantly been on the search for an exercise that I can tolerate if not like. I was really happy with spin until my arthritic hip started hurting. That definitely means running is out. Last year I took up swimming and I find that I rather enjoy it, but trying to get a lane to yourself at a pool is a chore in itself. 

 I've also had curiosity about other fitness programs such as The Dailey Method and pilates. The trouble is, you want to try them without having to buy a package. The answer is finally here - ClassPass. 

 ClassPass is a fitness membership that spans across multiple fitness facilities. The beauty of it is that with the one membership you can go to pilates, yoga, barre, crossfit, cycling, boxing, and more at numerous facilities that belong.  Just launched in Sacramento this month, ClassPass is in every major city in the U.S. and even in London and Canada. Each city has different pricing — Sacramento is $79 a month.
Club Pilates in Midtown

 For that $79 you get an unlimited number of classes at any of the member facilities. The only catch is that you can only go three times to any one. For instance, you can go to The Dailey Method three times, Aerial Evolution three times, Club Pilates three times, etc.  If one is a group, such as Dailey Method with multiple locations throughout Sacramento, it's three times altogether. You can't go to the downtown one three times and then then to the East Sac one another three times. 

 I was given a one-month pass to check it out. So far I've gone to both The Dailey Method downtown and to Club Pilates. I liked both classes. What was great was that they used muscles that I obviously hadn't been using during my other workouts with my trainer at 24 Hour Fitness. The Dailey Method really focused on my core while at Club Pilates I got to finally see and try those pilates machines/contraptions they use with all the straps and pulleys. 

 The beauty of ClassPass is that you can switch up your routine and try something new. It also gives you a lot of variety and flexibility. And like my 24 Hour Fitness membership, it's usable in any city that also has ClassPass. In fact, in some cities your ClassPass even includes gyms such as 24 Hour fitness and Gold's Gym. 

 At this point I'll probably be joining ClassPass next month. I'm liking the access to different studios and working on other parts of my body in new ways. 
on

Saint John's - A Place for Hope and Dreams

March 22, 2015 0 Comments
Tiffany and Michele Steeb, CEO
Tiffany has a gorgeous, sunny smile and bright, clear eyes. She is gloriously happy, perhaps for the first time in years...or maybe even her life. She has a roof over her head, her son with her, and a bright future. This is in stark contrast to just six months ago when she and her son were living in her car and she was (and still is) dealing with custody battles with her in-laws. She had been homeless for over a year, living in her car and on friend's couches. Tiffany represents the growing number of homeless families in Sacramento and her happy smile is due to one thing - finding help at Saint John's.
Saint John's Program for Change is a charity that was founded in 1985 on the footsteps of St. John's Lutheran Church. It's mission is to help women in crisis come to grips with their lives, battle their demons, and through education, assistance, and a job program, lead them to a new life of independence, productivity, and self sufficiency.

 I had recently been asked to come to one of Saint John's guest chef dinners, which we'll get to later. I had been to the dinners before and have ready many posts and articles about them. I wanted to know more.  I wanted to know about the program leading up to the Plates Cafe and to the success stories that come from Saint John's.
on