May 1, 2019
The job of visiting every restaurant in Pocket and Greenhaven has produced a surprise. While I expected diverse menus and a wide terrain of tastes and kitchen talent, I was not prepared to see local restaurants acting as community gathering spots and meeting halls. I expected to see people eat and run.
But quick meals and fast exits are not how every restaurant works in Pocket, especially during the afternoon. The food comes quickly, but customers are in no hurry to leave. In this way, our restaurants become unique alternatives to home and work. They become the “third place” identified by sociologists—places where people linger and experience their neighborhoods in neutral settings.
Apr 5, 2019
When husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Ellen Chen and Mario Del Pero—owners of Mendocino Farms Sandwich Market, which opened its first Sacramento location at the Ice Blocks in December—were dating, Chen asked her boyfriend an unusual question. She asked if she could work for him.
Del Pero, a Yuba City native, was hard at work developing a food concept in Southern California (where he and Chen had gone to school) when Chen’s consulting business was acquired.
Mar 30, 2019
Towering ceilings and expansive windows beckon natural light and make the inside and outside worlds blend seamlessly at Zocalo. Next comes the décor: mammoth urns, intricate iron works, slab tables and stunning tableware create a culturally stimulating atmosphere for the food and drinks that follow. Housed in the handsomely renovated Arnold Brothers building, which served as a Hudson car dealership in the 1920s, Zocalo’s eccentric interior is inspired by the majestic town square of Mexico City, a gathering spot for centuries that embraces its past while embarking toward the future.
Mar 30, 2019
Three simple words encompass the philosophy of The Rind: “Cheese. Wine. Beer.” The cheese-centric bar in the Handle District offers artisanal cheeses paired with wines and beers selected by the two certified sommeliers and one certified cicerone—beer taster—on staff. Cheese enthusiasts explore all variety of exotic cheese products, from buttery and blue to nutty and stinky—created from local dairy sources.
