Sep 28, 2022
Just steps from the Capitol, Prelude Kitchen & Bar serves a splendid lunch and dinner to more than politicians and lobbyists. “Like any Downtown restaurant, it’s a mix of tourists and locals,” says executive chef Tom Patterson. Given the diversity of culinary influences and focus on seasonal ingredients, Prelude appeals to just about anyone.
Prelude’s location is coveted real estate. Two previous eateries, Chops Steak Seafood & Bar and The Diplomat Steakhouse, both put in time at the spot. Now, Prelude looks to eclipse those previous tenants, creating a farm-focused yet innovative menu that might garner Michelin attention. At least, that’s what some involved with the project proclaimed when Prelude opened last December.
For now, the focus is on quality cooking with local bounty. “We use the freshest seasonal and highest quality ingredients we can find,” Patterson tells me. “(We take) advantage of the local bounty of products that the Sacramento area provides.”
Sep 28, 2022
What’s the most important thing Anne DeStefano wants people to know about Sacramento Fine Arts Center in Carmichael?
“That we exist!” says DeStefano, a fiber artist and jewelry maker who joined the center 10 years ago. “I don’t know if people realize that the center is there and that we have significant gallery space. Each month, we have a different show on exhibit. It’s quite a range of variety.”
Sacramento Fine Arts Center was founded in 1986 by several local, independent art clubs that came together to share their love of art and pool resources for shows and classes. The center now boasts roughly 300 members from different disciplines—painters, sculptors, fiber artists and more. They share responsibilities, run the giftshop and teach classes.
Sep 28, 2022
For Miguel Perez, being bilingual is like having a superpower.
“I like to remind my students that it’s a gift being able to read, write and speak in two languages,” says Perez, a fifth-grade teacher at the Language Academy of Sacramento, a public charter school near Stockton Boulevard and Broadway that offers bilingual education in English and Spanish.
Aug 28, 2022
While massive wildfires in California make headlines, the increase in fires around homeless encampments doesn’t receive the same attention. Sacramento endures this alarming trend with other major cities, including Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose.
Sacramento’s 2022 homeless count found 9,278 unsheltered people in the county. Despite massive taxpayer investments, the numbers continue to move in the wrong direction. The county had 5,570 homeless in 2019, and 2,538 in 2013.
During the past decade, encampment-related fires grew with the homeless population. An April 2022 report by the Sacramento Sierra Club notes the Sacramento Fire Department responded to 536 encampment fires between 2013 and 2019, an average of 89 a year. The report cited 156 encampment fires in 2021.
Aug 28, 2022
A little more than two years ago, Sacramento’s core suffered a nasty one-two punch. COVID-19 and the March 2020 lockdown removed about 100,000 state workers who poured into the central city each day. Suddenly, they were working at home—many still are—while many restaurants, bars and other small businesses depending on them collapsed.
Throw in the late-spring and summer of sometimes violent protests over the murder of George Floyd and other outrages, and the central city became a ghost town by day and frequent crime scene at night. What finally seemed like a Sacramento renaissance months earlier dissolved into a sad, depressing mess.
Aug 28, 2022
Kau Kau, the new Hawaiian hotspot in East Sacramento, has already hit its stride. Open only four months, this home-style island eatery feels like it’s been part of the Sacramento food scene for years.
I typically don’t judge a restaurant until at least six months after opening. Menus change, personnel shifts. The realities of opening a new business in any environment—not to mention a pandemic—mean things aren’t always at their best the first few months. But Kau Kau nails it.
