Author: Leilani Marie Labong
Home Plates
Inspired by her mom’s Vietnamese feasts, a local restaurateur brings a taste of home to midtown with the launch of Saigon Alley Kitchen & Bar.
Live Work Create
In 2015, a visionary young developer heeded the call to create an urban sanctuary for local artists to live, work and create all under one roof. Five years later, the Warehouse Artist Lofts is a kaleidoscope of creatives—from fashion designers to fire dancers—with one common truth among them: Home is where the art is.
The A-Tea
Sacramento’s legendary allergy season is upon us. Here’s one very hot tip.
Fever Pitch
Are you ready for some major league fútbol? MLS has finally tapped Sacramento to join its very exclusive club. Here’s an in-depth look at the new stadium and how it will raise the game for both soccer fans and our city.
Fowl Play
The boozy bird’s the word at Bawk, R Street’s new finger-licking-good restaurant. A bucket of vodka-battered fried chicken with a bottle of Dom Pérignon? Oui, please.
A Killer’s Instincts
California Stage’s brand-new play explores the cunning—and conning—mind of Sacramento serial murderer Dorothea Puente
Radio Activation
Over the next year, the visionaries behind a new downtown headquarters for Capital Public Radio will transform a long-empty mid-century building into a living, breathing physical manifestation of the station’s news-and-music format. Behold the ultimate audiovisual room.
Super Bowls
Kru chef-owner Billy Ngo goes underground to serve up hearty heaps of authentic ramen at his new downtown basement restaurant Kodaiko.
A Rockin’ Jewish Deli
Solomon’s Delicatessen opens downtown at the former site of a Tower Records store, dishing out classic and neoclassic food like lava salt bagels, thick-cut pastrami on rye, vegan Reubens and schmaltz fries that’s music to our taste buds.
The Big Chill
It's summertime in Sacramento and the living is easy—except when Mother Nature cranks up our city's thermostat. If you can't stand the heat, it's time to get out of town. From clear-bottom kayaking in Tahoe to a waterfall-filled hike in Marin and an ocean safari in Monterey, we've got 18 ways to keep your cool right now.
The Boy with the Dragon Tattoo
The list of his regulars reads like a Rolodex of Sacramento’s culinary elite. Randall Selland. Molly Hawks. Ginger Elizabeth. Now, two years after opening the sophisticated expansion of his celebrated restaurant Kru—known for its exquisitely crafted sushi—top chef Billy Ngo is going underground, literally, for a new venture with a concept as unpretentious as he is: a basement ramen bar. How did a boy born in a Hong Kong refugee camp become a thirtysomething star of Japanese cuisine in Sacramento? The story, it turns out, is written in ink. On his skin. And luckily, for those who haven’t seen him naked, it’s also told in the pages that follow.
Tailor Made
California cool meets British haberdashery at chef Oliver Ridgeway’s new brasserie, Camden Spit & Larder.
Opposites Attract
The buzzy new Beast & Bounty draws diners on both ends of the food spectrum with a smoking-hot menu that is as veggie friendly as it is meat forward.
A Man for All Seasons
At his new midtown restaurant, chef Chris Barnum puts the "local" in Localis with his inventive farm-fresh fare.
The Scene Setter
If dining out is a theatrical experience, then Sacramento interior designer Whitney Johnson may be the city’s leading set designer, crafting visual feasts to complement the edible art on our plates. From the Shady Lady Saloon’s lush Gold Rush bordello look to Hook & Ladder’s hipster-historic vibe and Kru’s Tokyo-inspired elevated elegance, she’s curating the culinary environment for some of the city’s most accomplished chefs and bar masters. And she’s just getting started. With a bevy of savory new projects about to be launched, the 31-year-old Rocklin native is more poised than ever to design and conquer.
The New B Hive
B Street Theatre—led by co-founder Buck Busfield—has finally moved from its humble warehouse space outside East Sacramento to splashy new digs in the heart of midtown. Enter, stage left: The Sofia.
Modern Classics
With a new landmark study, Sacramento is officially recognizing the mid-century modern structures that define a critical period in our city’s architectural history. Here are five retro-cool gems—from Gunther’s to Eichlers—that deserve a deeper look into what makes them both time-specific and timeless.
Homecoming Queen
Greta Gerwig proves that you can indeed go home again with her stunning directorial debut Lady Bird, a semi-autobiographical story about the Sacramento native’s senior year in high school. In her “love letter” to the River City, she fills the screen with nostalgia-soaked scenes of local landmarks and neighborhoods, revisiting her youth with the thoughtful perspective that only time can bring. And if growing Oscar buzz for the film is any indication, this is just the beginning for the first-time auteur and newly crowned Hollywood royalty. Long may she reign.
Eat Drink Play Love
If you think you know Napa and Sonoma, think again. We’ve got the skinny on the region’s newest hot spots (and updates on a few old favorites), just in time to celebrate the harvest season. Discover the movie mogul’s swimming pool where you can make a splash, the glampground where you can sleep in a yurt, the fried chicken shack where you can sample a Michelin-starred chef’s finger-lickin’ fare and, of course, the coolest watering holes, from a bike-themed tasting room to an organic cider house that rules. Scroll down, and get ready to wine and unwind.
Greener Acres
Longing for more breathing room, the co-creator of "Yard Crashers" and his wife, who owns Karen’s Bakery in Folsom, built a modern Orangevale oasis that lets the outside in.
Culture Club
ArtStreet, the hotly anticipated follow-up to Art Hotel, is just the next step in M5Arts’ master plan to transform Sacramento into a creative mecca
The Artful Lodger
A prominent Sacramento gallerist converted an old auto repair shop into an urban oasis brimming with vibrant paintings and bold sculptures. For Pamela Skinner, home is where the art is.
Spreading Their Wings
The husband-and-wife team behind Hawks in Granite Bay brings Michelin finesse to gastropub fare for their Sacramento debut.
On Sale Now!
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