Dec 28, 2025
Two recent coffee additions serve more than coffee. Zoe Coffee & Tacos pairs excellent dishes from Mexico and El Salvador with traditional coffee shop fare. The Coco Cafe draws on its Thai roots. Both expand what coffee shops can be.
Zoe Coffee & Tacos, opened in June 2024, is a fantastic little shop tucked into a corner of Poverty Ridge in Midtown.
A stone’s throw from the construction site where The Sacramento Bee stood, this tiny spot makes the most of its footprint. Once, it was part of the Bee’s delivery truck garage.
Owner and chef Josue Acosta recalls his Salvadoran roots to make excellent pupusas, tacos and more.
Dec 28, 2025
Liz and Markus Bokisch created a bucolic, organic and sustainable wine oasis where Spanish roots shine in vine after vine.
Burgundy and amber grapevines tangle against each other. Liz and Markus exchange stories of their years working the land in California and Spain.
Bokisch Vineyards and tasting room in Clements Hills east of Lodi showcase the Spanish varieties Markus helped introduce to the U.S. in the 1990s. He grew up in La Jolla, but his mom is from La Rapita, a fishing village on Spain’s Catalan coast.
Dec 28, 2025
Next time you shop at Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, pop upstairs. You’ll find an art exhibition by a local artist, thanks to a new partnership between the co-op and Timeless Thrills Gallery.
“A few months back, someone came into the gallery who happened to be an employee at the co-op,” says Tyler Wichmann, who owns the J Street art gallery with his wife Jessica. “We hit it off and they mentioned they were interested in creating more creative avenues with the upstairs space and showing local art.”
Nov 28, 2025
A unique partnership between Jesuit High School and the nonprofit Stanford Settlement Neighborhood Center takes place this month. It’s called Operation Cratchit.
For three days—Dec. 16–18—students deliver and unload truckloads of canned goods to help create holiday baskets. Residents sign up in advance to receive deliveries. Volunteers assemble the baskets.
The program is Stanford Settlement’s annual Christmas Basket and food-distribution project.
Jesuit students and families play a big role with campus collections of canned food and non-perishables. The donated items serve Stanford Settlement’s service area.
Nov 28, 2025
Not long ago, there was a short list of local developers who could pull off big projects. Their names were Lukenbill, Benvenuti, Tsakopoulos, Petrovich and a few others. Successful people with deep community roots, they had big ideas and access to money. They got things done.
Today, major new players have much deeper roots.
Two Native American tribes, Wilton Rancheria and Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, are investing heavily Downtown, bringing excitement and cash.
“These tribes are making a lot of money and they are investing a lot of money in the core. That is a great thing for the city,” developer Sotiris Kolokotronis tells me. “We should be grateful for that.”
Nov 28, 2025
Sacramento’s glide path to all-star status in the food world gained momentum when the Terra Madre Americas conference took over SAFE Credit Union Convention Center and surrounding Downtown streets for three days in September.
Food was the focus for thousands of ranchers, farmers, vintners, distillers, chefs and community members, all sharing ideas for more environmentally responsible, productive and sustainable ways to grow and consume food.
Booths featured all things food, including olive oil, cheese, wine and spirits, ranching, fruit production, restaurants and policy experts. Renowned chefs Alice Waters, Ann Cooper and Jeremiah Tower, along with local grocery stars Darrell Corti and Danny Taylor, spoke at free public seminars.
