Feb 28, 2024
Basha Taste of Jerusalem is a vibrant example of Palestinian cuisine. Marrying flavors of the Middle East and Mediterranean, the Fulton Avenue restaurant delivers punchy spices and expert cooking from the Levant. It’s dished out with warm and welcoming service.
When I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, Fulton Avenue cuisine was burgers, pizza and cheesesteaks. Tiny’s Drive-In and The Buggy Whip spoke with meat and potatoes and cooking from another era.
Now, Fulton Avenue draws from around the world. The street features foods from Southeast Asia, India, Latin America and especially the Middle East.
Feb 28, 2024
On many blocks in the grid, a range of restaurants serve food with valley-grown ingredients. Local wine bars and craft breweries develop their own presence using grapes and hops from around the region.
A true community spirit is on display when the city comes together for a night out.
Thriving businesses in the grid win over customers with cutting-edge flavors and a love of how diverse cultures make us strong. Voluptuary & Lucid Wines reflects the inventive farm-to-bottle flair.
Founder Kevin Luther was born and raised in Sacramento and educated at UC Davis. After traveling the world to learn the wine business, Luther returned and put his experience to work. He enjoys giving back to his community.
Jan 28, 2024
Our region is perfect for olive trees. Drive from Sacramento in any direction and you encounter olive groves unfolding away from the roadside, their branches reaching for the sun, standing tall in orchards.
Each year, local olive ranchers practice harvest preservation by curing olives or pressing them into gold-green oil. As a devotee of extra-virgin olive oil, I’m always searching for the area’s best orchards and olive mills.
For several years, I’ve headed south on Interstate 5 and driven to the tight and trimmed rows of the Coldani family Calivirgin Winery and Olive Mill on North Thornton Road.
Jan 28, 2024
Sampino’s Kitchen at Joe Marty’s offers a traditional Italian American experience, spaghetti and meatballs included, on Broadway. Across the grid, newcomer Willow presents Italian food through a fine-dining lens. Both are special places.
Dec 28, 2023
Coming from the colder mid-Atlantic region, I was amazed by the valley’s ability to produce citrus and other exotic fruits, such as pomegranate and persimmon.
Then I saw juicy tomatoes smashed near highway exits, lemons and oranges moldy underneath their trees, plums dyeing sidewalks purple. So much abundance, so much waste.
Matthew Ampersand and partner Tessa D’Arcangelew Ampersand experienced the same shock when they arrived in town and noticed food rotting in plain sight.
Dec 28, 2023
“Old heads” are basketball fans who go way back. They’re eager to reminisce about Michael Jordan and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Not mere nostalgists, they’re up on the current scene as well. Magpie Café is old head central for the farm-to-fork crowd in Midtown.
Owners Janel Inouye and Ed Roehr bring history with them. Roehr worked in Midtown eateries before Midtown was cool. Inouye has been in the restaurant business for decades.
Their passion for fresh, local ingredients and seasonal cuisine predates the slow food peak. Their farm-to-fork credentials go back before the city slapped the logo on the Pocket water tower.
