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.
Nov 27, 2023
Headed to the theater for a holiday show? I’ve got the place for you. Juju Kitchen & Cocktails, a drinks and small-plate enterprise at 15th and L streets, offers a sophisticated stop for the discerning theatergoer (or anyone else).
Chef David English brings his pedigree and penchant for tasteful simplicity. Having closed his Press Bistro in late 2019, English offers many familiar dishes at Juju but with a different vibe.
Juju is a cocktail lounge. It’s a bit of a restaurant too, but alcohol comes first. A cleverly situated circular bar dominates, but a partial wall bifurcates the bar and splits the room in two.
The inner space, all ferns and soft surfaces, opens onto the Marriott Residence Inn. The outer space, all windows, is an urban fishbowl with funky cocktail vibes. The menu is the same on both sides and bears the hallmarks of English’s journey from New Orleans to Sacramento.
Nov 27, 2023
My dinner tonight is tender, flakey and buttery black cod, known as sablefish, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, torn basil confetti and crushed cherry tomatoes.
It’s the freshest fish I’ve had in town—and it came from a waterfront stand off South River Road in West Sacramento.
Down South River Road’s bends and twists, across the river from Pocket and just before Vierra Farms, there’s sign for Ferrari Fisheries. The trail leads to a stall with a table and containers.
The sign brings to mind the timeless, muddy Sacramento River floating past. Yet here is some of the area’s freshest ocean fish. The fisherman is Anthony Ferrari. He carries on a family tradition started decades ago by his father.
