
Food & Drink
In the Name of the Mother
With Chu Mai, James Beard Award-nominated chef Billy Ngo honors his mom and the dishes he grew up loving, while putting his own spin on Vietnamese and Chinese classics. The result is a noteworthy new restaurant whose dishes taste both comfortingly familiar and excitingly fresh.
Garden Party
A new design-forward beer garden in East Sacramento offers dozens of craft brews on tap and craveable mix-and-match dishes from 10 different purveyors. At Garden at the Line, you can have your fresh Kru sashimi and eat your hot Nash & Proper fries too.
Q&A with Cookbook Author Erin Alderson
As Sacramentans, we are all intimately familiar with the concept of farm-to-fork, but according to Erin Alderson, we should be eating farm-to-cupboard-to-fork too. In her recently released vegetarian cookbook, The Yearlong Pantry, the Fair Oaks-based food blogger and author makes the case for thinking seasonally, not just when it comes to fruits and vegetables, but also for shelf-stable staples
The Meat Lover's Guide to "Meaty" Vegan Dishes
Bacon bits from coconut? Fried chicken and oysters from mushrooms? Indeed, creative innovations in plant-based food have led chefs around the Sacramento region to develop mouth-wateringly meaty dishes that happen to be deliciously—even surprisingly—meat-free.
Some Nog for Your Holiday Nosh
From richly aged, rye-whiskey eggnog to decades-old, non-spiked hometown recipes, here are four creamy reasons to skip the mass-produced carton this year, raise a glass to the holiday season, and drink local.
Northern Exposure
A transporting Caesar salad taco, a comforting cortadillo stew, a tender cabrito en salsa. The talented teams behind two local Michelin-rated restaurants, Nixtaco and Canon, come together to open Cantina Pedregal and bring the signature flavors of northern Mexico to Folsom.
Right on ’Cue
Texas collides with California as the team behind LowBrau and Beast & Bounty gets cooking at Slow & Low Smokehouse, plating up succulent ribs, juicy tri-tip and standout brisket. In this showdown of meaty flavors in Elk Grove, diners don’t need to choose a side in the great barbecue debates—just the many scrumptious side dishes.
Paradise Found
Marrying old-world charm with new-world optimism, V’s Paradise in Old Sacramento is a love letter to our city’s rich immigrant history. A classic American steakhouse with a dash of Asian-inspired umami and a sprinkle of Armenian spices, it’s a destination restaurant where the menu is brimming with unexpected flavor twists.
The 2024 Sacramento Coffee Lover’s Guide
To say that Sacramento’s coffee scene is, well, hot right now is as understated as the subtle notes of dark honey in Temple’s new ode to the Sacramento Kings. So we sipped and savored our way through the highly quaffable offerings from dozens of regional roasters to bring you our ultimate guide to local coffee. But enough teasing. Light the beans!
UC Davis Turns to the (Deliciously) Dark Side
Something’s brewing at the University of California at Davis. Already a global leader in wine and beer studies, the school is setting out to conquer yet another of our collective liquid loves. In May, UCD launched America’s very first academic facility dedicated entirely to the research of coffee. And with a multibillion dollar industry awaiting, the sky’s the limit.
Double the Dumplings
For many, the journey to Journey to the Dumpling just got a whole lot easier. The celebrated Elk Grove restaurant has expanded into midtown, introducing its signature 18-pleat XLB, hand-pulled noodles and other hot and steamy chopstickery to a new group of dumpling devotees.
Cheese the Day
The same thin sourdough crust, zesty sauce and “world-renowned” cheese. Almost triple the space in which to serve up his slices of heaven. After going lean during the pandemic, the proprietor of Pizza Supreme Being goes all in with an expanded downtown showcase for his one-of-a-kind pies.
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