True Blue

If Sacramento is the River City, then Gregory Kondos has been its most faithful champion. Long celebrated for his local landscapes that employ virtually every shade of blue in the spectrum, the soon-to-be 90-year-old painter is about to get the birthday present of a lifetime—his first solo show at the Crocker in 20 years. Blue skies are here again.

By Marc Weidenbaum

Morning Stars

When the weekend rolls around, we like to play our own version of the hunger games, seeking out our favorite meal of them all—brunch. In our latest quest, we tracked down sweet ’n’ savory chicken and waffles in Davis, a magnificent mango-stuffed French toast in Roseville, perfect pumpkin bacon pancakes in midtown, and a tangy Welsh rarebit omelet downtown, along with dozens of other egg-cellent dishes. So, top of the morning (or afternoon) to you, Sacramento—here’s our region’s best of the brunch. Let the games begin!

Déjà Brew

Before Prohibition, Sacramento was the beer-making capital of the West, and the largest hop-growing region in America. Here’s how an unlikely cast comprised of a Princeton architecture major, the grandson of a U.S. Secretary of Defense, a world-renowned grocer and a man known as the “Pope of Foam” conspired to create what may very well be Sacramento’s most authentically local beer in almost a century. The farm-to-fork movement is about to meet farm-to-pint. Drink up!

By Rob Turner

A Life Aquatic

By Max Whittaker

Silver Girl

For Kristiana Spaulding, a passion for vintage trailers has taken her down some unexpected twists and turns—designing silver Airstream-inspired jewelry, renovating and renting her fleet of retro-chic homes-on-wheels to national TV shows.

By Tim Swanson

The Naked Eye

Pamela Anderson dropped her robe for him, Paul McCartney bought one of his pieces, and Claudia Schiffer tried to have his nude painting of her lounging on a hot dog destroyed. Oh, and one of America’s greatest artists says he’s better than Andy Warhol.

By Marc Weidenbaum

Great New Places to Eat

There’s a saying that when one door closes, another one opens. Last year was tough on local eateries, but some very exciting restaurant doors have opened in the past few months, including one inspired by a food truck, another by a 56-foot-long bunny, and others by cuisines ranging from French to Mongolian and Indian to Southern (grits, anyone?). So feast your eyes on our favorite new spots, and you’ll see why we think the food scene is looking very sunny-side up.

By Rick Kushman and Kate Washington

The Tastemaker

He’s been called the Indiana Jones of the culinary world and the man who “knows more about food and wine than anyone else in America.” How did the son of a Sacramento mayonnaise salesman become a buttoned-up grocer while leading a double life as a globe-trotting gourmet? Just who is Darrell Corti and why do so many important people think he has the planet’s greatest nose for quality?

By Rick Kushman