Where The Chefs Eat

 

MIKE FAGNONI

El Sombrero Taqueria on the edge of Granite Bay is your classic California Mexican restaurant. It’s just a neighborhood taqueria—with killer carnitas that are soft with crispy edges, hints of orange, and taste rich. They also have a nice, spicy pico de gallo, and their green salsa is really good. On Friday nights, they have a mariachi band, and they just let loose. It’s a cool, fun spot.

Our daughter goes nuts for Mikuni Sushi. [Fagnoni owns his restaurants with his chef wife, Molly Hawks.] The one on Eureka [Road in Roseville] is our midweek go-to spot. I don’t know how Taro [Arai, chief dreaming officer of Mikuni] has done it, but he’s made a sushi restaurant that’s every kid’s favorite place. We’ve gone there so much that we don’t even look at the menu. We just know it’s going to be the [albacore] pepperfin, a couple of Zig Zag Shrimp hand rolls, salmon nigiri, and a negihama [yellowtail and green onion] roll. And my son loves the potstickers.

And The Kitchen [in Land Park] is modern American, but you can’t pigeonhole it. Crab cannelloni, filet mignon with carrot purée, chocolate chip cookies with Chantilly. It’s delicious, refined, ingredient-driven, and seasonal, but it’s not stuffy. It’s a fine dining spot that’s fun to go to. And Kelly [McCown, the executive chef at the Michelin-starred, prix fixe restaurant] puts on a show.

Mike Fagnoni photo by Rachel Valley, courtesy of Greenfield Marketing

 

MAI PHAM

One fairly new place that I was very impressed by is Tasty Dumpling. [The Curtis Park location opened in 2021, followed by Arden-Arcade in 2025.] It’s a Chinese dumpling place, but it’s a dumpling you might see in Beijing. What we [normally] see are more Hong Kong-style, dim sum types. This is different. It’s a little chewier. You’ve got to taste it. And they have more things on the menu like scallion pancakes, golden buns with condensed milk, classic Chinese-style green beans, and dan dan noodles. It’s a very authentic, original and promising dumpling house. And it’s quite delicious.

Another place I go to is OneSpeed in East Sacramento. I like the feel of a trattoria-type bistro. I don’t know Rick [Mahan, the chef-owner of OneSpeed and midtown’s The Waterboy,] well, but he’s a very talented chef. And I love OneSpeed’s pizza. I usually do half margherita and half Italian sausage with extra mushrooms and extra basil. The dough is handcrafted, and he uses really nice ingredients. He executes really well, and the food is spot on.

I also like to take friends to Bốn Mùa on Stockton Boulevard [in Florin]. It’s not fancy, but the atmosphere is quite pleasant. My husband loves going there. We like the bánh bèo—little rice cake appetizers topped with a smudge of mung bean paste and some shrimp floss [a savory shrimp-based condiment with a fluffy texture], scallion oil and pork skin. It’s beautiful and delicious. It’s a very iconic Vietnamese cuisine because it has contrasting favors. The rice cake is soft, and you get a little savoriness from the mung bean paste; the shrimp floss should give you a little umami [meaty flavor]; the pork skin is there for a little crunch; and the scallion oil perfumes the dish. And then you drizzle that with a very light nuoc cham—the Vietnamese dipping sauce. It’s something that you can eat three orders of and not think that you ate too much.

Mai Pham photo courtesy of Lemon Grass Restaurant

 

BILLY NGO

Somewhere fairly new is Southside Super in Southside Park. It’s a really cool, little Asian diner cafe with traditional Korean and Vietnamese dishes. They have two or three tables inside, and then just counter service. And a little grab-and-go station too, with premade food. It’s casual comfort food. The whole feel is small and cozy. And both of the owners, Seoyeon Oh and Phuong Tran, are actually there every day, cooking the food. They rotate the soup menu often, but I get whatever noodle soup they have. It could be 110 [degrees outside], and I’ll get ramen, I’ll get pho, I’ll get bún bò [Vietnamese rice noodles] or whatever. For me, it’s the broth. With a good ramen or a good pho, it’s the broth first. The flavors have to be developed properly and seasoned properly. I usually end up getting a sandwich too—they have a really good Vietnamese meatball sandwich.

On the higher end, a place I find myself going is Camden Spit & Larder [in downtown Sacramento]. It’s just so opposite from what I do every day. I’m making sushi, these little bites of food, and when I’m off work, I want a big slab of meat. I love going to Camden because they do a really, really good prime rib on the weekends. It’s so tender and juicy. I always get it medium rare. I go a couple times a month just for that. And the vibe is elevated, but chill. I’ve been in there dressed up for celebrations, or in shorts and flip-flops. Either way, they give you that same level of great service.

For late-night food, Elixir Bar & Grill is a dive bar in the Southside Park area that has good smash burgers. It’s been around for 20 years. The patties have that little crispy edge, but are still juicy. No fancy cheeses—just straight American cheese. Go there for their smash burgers and tacos. I lived in that neighborhood for about 15 years and coming home after work, sometimes I wasn’t even trying to go there, but I’d be on autopilot and [drive to Elixir]. I’d park and be like, ‘Oh, I’m already here. I’m just going to go inside.’

Billy Ngo photo by Greg Gearhart, courtesy of the chef

TOKIKO SAWADA

We have three kids, so we go to a lot of casual places. [Sawada owns Binchoyaki and Kizuna Bento with her chef husband, Craig Takehara.] One place is Roma’s Pizzeria [in south Sacramento]. It’s a casual diner with old-school booths—very nostalgic, very homey. Something about their lasagna is so comforting. It looks hearty and rich, but they don’t saturate it with too much cheese, and their tomato sauce is simple, not greasy and heavy. So even though it looks really big, it has a very light aftertaste. They also put hard-boiled eggs in the lasagna. It’s a nice treat, because that yolk gets a little creamy with the tomato sauce, and changes the flavor a bit.

We also go to Tealicious, a little cafe [in Hollywood Park] that serves Chinese barbecue. They have crispy skin pork belly. They have roast duck. But one dish we always get is their tea-smoked chicken. It’s so juicy, so flavorful, and their jus, when they roast it, they pour a little bit of that over the rice, and it’s really good. The tea smoke itself is very subtle. It’s more like a roasted chicken that has a sweet soy glaze on it. We just go and eat and enjoy.

Another Chinese eatery we go to on Freeport is Jade Fountain Cafe. We’ve been going there for at least 10 years. Their salt-and-pepper pork and their shrimp with lobster sauce are always our go-tos. The shrimp with lobster sauce is very light and super flavorful. It’s just shrimp, chopped pork, seasoning, carrots, and an egg-white gravy. A very simple flavor, but not salty at all, and really good over hot rice. We also really like the salt-and-pepper pork because their jalapeños are really spicy, and they fry it all with the onions. It’s a little bit saltier than the shrimp and lobster sauce, so it balances our dishes out. That’s our ultimate combination there.

Tokiko Sawada photo by Dl Cunningham Photography, courtesy of the chef

 

SAL GUTIéRREZ

Aioli [Bodega Espanola] in midtown is one of my favorites. It has a really nice atmosphere. When you come in, you can thoroughly smell the spices of the kitchen. All the [décor] inside is like a house, but restaurant-style. It’s like a piece of Spain. I normally order steak or the salmon alcaparrado [salmon with capers]. The saltiness of the capers is the perfect combination with the flavor of the salmon. For special occasions, it’s wonderful.

My favorite place for fried chicken is Fixins Soul Kitchen on Broadway in Oak Park. It’s a totally Southern-style kitchen. I always order the three-piece fried chicken, which includes a leg, drumstick and a wing. It’s been marinated for 24 hours, so by the time you eat it, it is falling apart. You can taste all the herbs they use. The flavor is just delicious. It’s food for everybody.

Mother in midtown [where I used to work] is one of the nicest places to go for a perfectly vegan or vegetarian choice. You don’t have to be vegetarian, because the flavors are comparable with meat. If you like bacon, for example, they’ve got a mushroom that tastes like bacon. If you like oysters, the oyster mushrooms [in the signature po’boy] are like you are eating oysters. Everything is fresh. And it can be an [everyday] restaurant—there are a lot of choices. You can eat salad, there’s a daily soup, there’s sandwiches and specials. You can go five days a week.

Sal Gutiérrez photo courtesy of the chef

 

DENEB WILLIAMS

I don’t really eat a lot of cheeseburgers, but if I want a burger, I’m going to Skip’s Kitchen, this little burger joint on El Camino Boulevard [in Carmichael]. I’m a simple guy: [patty cooked] medium, bacon, cheddar, waffle fries. The burgers are great, the fries are good, they’ve got beers on tap. But really, it’s the hospitality. When you walk in, you feel welcome. It reminds you of something you’d have seen in the ’80s. The owner’s name, unironically, is Skip [Wahl]. He’s the most friendly, outgoing guy. He’s hustling, but he always stops to take time to talk. They do this fun thing where every time you order, they spread a deck of cards out and, if you pick the joker, your meal is free. I’ve never actually won, but I love a little gambling adventure.

A little bit off of the beaten path, Restaurant Josephine in Auburn is worth the drive. I cannot recommend it enough. If you love classic French bistro fare with a really homey, rustic vibe, it is unbelievable. Their steak frites is everything you want in a steak frites dish—perfectly cooked New York strip with light, little peppercorn sauce and French fries. The heart and soul of that restaurant are Eric [Alexander] and Courtney [McDonald], who are the [married] owners. Not only are they talented and hard-working, but they’re really good people too. You can just tell they love it.

On Fair Oaks Boulevard [in Arden-Arcade], there’s a sushi spot called Miyagi, which is my go-to Tuesday night happy-hour sushi date with my wife [and business partner Elizabeth-Rose Mandalou]. It’s a really comfortable neighborhood bar and sushi joint. If we don’t want to cook, we pop down to Miyagi and have an incredible meal with great service. You can walk in there in jeans or shorts or flip-flops. It doesn’t matter. The service: 10 out of 10. I love sashimi, so I always get a sashimi platter. But they’ve also got a great fish sandwich. It has a really light, pillowy brioche bun and a beautiful cut of fish with a light tempura batter. If you like a crispy fish sandwich, it’s lights-out good.

Deneb Williams photo by Anna Wick, courtesy of the chef

GREG DESMANGLES

My wife and I love Canon [in East Sacramento]. Our first date was there. We had our wedding reception dinner there. I’m a big fan of Brad [Cecchi, the chef-owner], and Sean [Rumery, the chef de cuisine]. It’s a really cool environment. You can go pick some shareables and not be killed by price. I like the chicken drumsticks. They’re delicious. Canon is really good at taking nostalgic things and then finding a way to elevate them. The drumsticks come across as backyard-barbecue-style, where you grill it and glaze it, it falls off the bone and has so much more flavor to it. But the thing that’s unique about Canon is what they can do with produce. A lot of their dishes are produce-focused, and they do a great job treating it with that same level of care and attention as you’d treat a protein. [The menu rotates seasonally.] I’ve had their Buffalo potatoes that were really good. They also used to have a hummus with black garlic oil. I used to get off work, go get a drink at Canon and eat that hummus like three times a week.

Also, I love Duc Huong Sandwiches near Florin. It’s a little Vietnamese bakery. You walk in, put your order in, and then wait outside. They are also a banh mi shop. The grilled pork banh mi is the way to go. My personal favorite move, for a while, was I would get a Vietnamese coffee and two of the pâté chaud, which is pastry filled with ground pork and vegetables, and that would be my breakfast. And then I’d get a banh mi for lunch. It’s just a casual bakery, but people literally line up.

I’m also a huge fan of Majka Pizzeria downtown. It’s a quaint mom-and-pop shop in the best way—a really unassuming spot. You walk in, it’s counter service, and you can see the whole team. Alex [Sherry, the pizzaiolo who owns Majka with his wife and co-chef, Chutharat Sae Tong] is usually working the oven. There are really good-quality pizzerias in that area, but Majka has a heavy emphasis on top-tier sourcing and sustainability. I’m always going to get the cheese slice just because that’s how I measure a pizza spot, and I think theirs is pretty immaculate. I don’t think people realize the pedigree of their team. [Sherry and Sae Tong are alums of The Cheese Board Collective, the celebrated vegetarian pizzeria-bakery-cheese-shop in Berkeley.] And their pasta changes nightly. I’ve had really good corn pasta, crab and elote pasta, and pork ragu there. They do an amazing job. Also, I’d like to mention they serve the best bread and butter—with their [house-made] baguette and butter—that I’ve ever had. I think they do simple things really, really, really well.

Greg Desmangles photo courtesy of the chef

COURTNEY MCDONALD

The Hillmont [recently] opened in downtown Auburn. It’s a really big space, and it’s just beautifully designed. It’s got bright splashes of orange and gray, and a huge horseshoe-shaped bar. They have a shrimp and melon dish that is spectacular. [Currently off the menu, the chili melon shrimp will return in the summer.] The flavors are super concentrated. It’s refreshing and the shrimp is cooked perfectly—just a really good dish that I want to eat a lot of. And they’ve got great cocktails as well. Their straight-up daiquiri is made with Ko Hana rum, which is a Hawaiian agricole rum that I’m totally in love with. That kind of simple, well-executed, classic drink can be hard to find. The owners, Jordan and Melinda [Minyard], are so great. They’re bringing approachable, elevated bites and drinks to Auburn.

Pizzeria Luba, also in downtown Auburn, has incredible pizza. Make it a point to go because the food’s great. They use local ingredients. Their pizza [base] is naturally fermented sourdough, so the crust has amazing flavor, and then the toppings are always really creative. I like the Foggy Dew. Foggy Dew Fungi is a great local mushroom farm here in Placer County—we get mushrooms from them too—and Pizzeria Luba features their mushrooms on a pizza. It’s just cream, mushrooms and some truffle oil. Really simple, really good. Corey Belanger and his wife, Carmen, they’re chef-owners like Eric and I, and run the dining room themselves. [McDonald owns Restaurant Josephine with her chef husband, Eric Alexander.] They can sell their [food] in a really meaningful way because it’s theirs—they made it with their hands.

For fine dining, Hawks in Granite Bay is always where we’ll go. It’s fantastic. On our anniversary, we had this broccoli cheddar soup that was really refined. I can’t stop thinking about how good that soup was. It had such great broccoli-and-cheddar flavor and was so elegantly presented. It was so finely puréed, and it had all those elevated techniques applied to it, but in its essence, it was still just a great broccoli cheddar soup. We know [the chef-owners] Mike [Fagnoni] and Molly [Hawks]. They do such a great job with their food and service. It’s a reflection of their vision. It feels like a place to dress up for and celebrate. It’s fancy, the furnishings are beautiful, and the lighting and the décor—you just want to fit in with it. But it’s still approachable and friendly.

Courtney McDonald photo by Rachel Valley, courtesy of the chef

 

ISAAC HERNANDEZ

On Saturdays or Sundays, I like to eat at a place in south Sacramento called Lalo’s. They do barbacoa. It’s only available in the mornings, and they usually sell out around noon. It’s a taqueria-style place, and it’s always super busy because of the barbacoa, but they still have great service. Their barbacoa is goat, and they braise it for six or seven hours. The meat is super tender and juicy. And they make a broth from all the drippings and the bones, which is rich and has a nice flavor. It’s really homey food. I’ve tried it in other places, but from Lalo’s, it’s always good.

My wife and I really like Sushi Q—usually the one on Florin. [Sushi Q has two locations—one on Florin Road in South Land Park and another near Elk Grove.] When we want sushi, we don’t think twice—we go there. It’s a classic Japanese-style restaurant. The fish is fresh, the servers are really nice, and the food is always on point. We try to eat different things, but we like the sea steak sashimi. It’s a quick-seared tuna where they torch the outside, then slice [the tuna] and serve it in a seaweed salad with potato strings cut really, really thin, and then add a sauce and micro cilantro. Everything combined, the textures and the flavor—it’s a citrus flavor, a little sweet—makes it a really nice dish.

Two months ago, my wife and I had a date night and we went to Restaurant Josephine in Auburn. The food is really good and it’s really nicely presented. It’s French-inspired, and it’s a fine-dining restaurant, but the prices are not super high. We got the escargot, the paté and the steak tartare, but the pork chop was the best of the night. It was cooked to perfection, super juicy, and had really nice flavor.

Isaac Hernandez photo by Evelin Dare, courtesy of the chef

 

STEPHEN ASHLEY

The Waterboy in midtown has always had a special place in my heart. It’s where my wife and I took my mother-in-law when we announced we were having our first child. I would call it casual fine dining. Fresh-made, house-made pastas, like a good pappardelle pasta. And big steaks like heavy red wine-braised beef. It’s the butchery first of all, the way they take care of their proteins, using the product wisely. For me, it’s about their love of the food that we’re just so lucky to have here in Sacramento—the creativity that goes into certain dishes and the specials, from the plating to the farm-to-fork vegetables to the sauces. I’m sure they take a lot of pride in the sauces they serve there. All of them are just finished with so much finesse. A little bit of butter goes a long way.

Blue Sky Chinese is a hidden place in Carmichael. It’s authentic and casual. It’s great. We go there about once a week. The General Tso’s chicken and orange chicken are my go-to dishes. Sweet, spicy, crispy and very umami. The flavors are incredible. You get big portions, enough to last for three or four days. And they actually just redid their whole interior—the carpets, the booths, almost everything. It’s beautiful. It definitely has that upscale vibe now.

There’s also Matteo’s [Pizza & Bistro] on Arden Way [in Carmichael], which has a great wine list and a great little menu. I just had the beef short rib. It’s phenomenal—the tenderness, the fact that they let it rest properly, and present it beautifully. When I was there, it was served over celery root, mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and then the jus was poured over it tableside. They also have fresh, house-made sourdough bread. They stuff it with roasted garlic butter, cover it in Asiago cheese and throw it on the broiler, so it’s this cheesy, melty, bready deliciousness.

Stephen Ashley photo courtesy of The Firehouse Restaurant

 

ASHLEY STRICKLER

I crave the chicken sandwich at Auburn Alehouse all the time. It has chicken breast, and it’s difficult to produce a juicy, succulent chicken sandwich out of chicken breast—most places use chicken thigh. But it’s the ratio of meat to bun that just really gets me. It’s fried beautifully. It’s crispy. It’s a nice, toasted soft bun. I don’t think it gets much better. It’s a brewery, but it doesn’t feel like a brewery. It’s a fast-paced restaurant that has great beers. I usually just stay inside by the window because it’s good for people-watching.

I love Allora because there’s always something exciting and new. My all-time favorite dish there is the mussels conserva. It’s tomato-broth steamed mussels that they serve with bread. It’s the acidity versus the sweet level, and it’s just incredibly balanced. The mussels add a lot to the tomato sauce and the tomato adds a lot to the mussels. And the bread is just incredible—so warm and comforting. Allora is an evening in itself. The building is gorgeous. The lighting, the seats, the colors throughout, whoever designed it did an incredible job. It feels fancy, but it also feels comfortable. They’re there to serve people that want to eat well.

Then Motorhead Pizza. They’re located in Loomis and are somewhat new. [Motorhead opened in March 2024] They are takeout-only; there’s no dine-in. But you can take the pizza to Loomis Basin brewery right next to them. They have Detroit-style deep-dish pizza. I’m a sucker for anything crispy, greasy and filled with carbs, so every other week or so, I have to get it. The pizza itself is so different from anything that’s around. The dough, when it’s cooked in the deep-dish, rectangular pan, the cheese goes around the dough and on the sides. It’s crispy, but also very, very pillowy, almost like a focaccia. It’s extraordinary. Maybe I’ll grab a slice on the way home.

Ashley Strickler photo by Anna Wick

JEANA PECHA

My favorite place to go to is actually The Curry Leaves in Rocklin. It’s a small Indian restaurant. There’s not a bad dish there. I absolutely love their Mumbai butter pav bhaji. It’s vegetable curry with soft, buttered buns and a super spicy salad on the side. Everything is very shareable. It’s just big, bold flavors. And the amount of flavor and spice and salt is so unapologetic. There are whole serrano [peppers] in certain dishes. They’re not trying to appeal to the masses. They’re trying to be true to who they are and what their flavors are. I went in one day for lunch, then I went back for dinner, and now I go as often as I can.

I also love Localis, near midtown. I really respect Chris [Barnum-Dann, Localis’ chef-owner]. Definitely sit at the chef ’s counter because that’s where the experience is. I always leave feeling inspired and excited. There’s a story behind each one of his menus—one menu that he did recently was an homage to certain people who work there. So it’s not necessarily just about going to eat, but it’s about going to be inspired and think about travels. And you can tell it’s somebody’s dream restaurant. It’s comfortable, like you’re sitting at someone’s house.

Q1227 in Roseville is great. Chef Q is amazing. It’s Southern food, and it’s a mix of love and butter. They have a lovely gumbo that’s warming to the soul. It’s delicious—always really hearty and clean-feeling. But the bread [the garlic cheese loaf]—oh, it is so good. It’s a pull-apart bread with Parmesan oil or something. It’s insane. It’s cheesy and crispy. Whatever they’re doing to it, it should be illegal. And they put a lot of attention to detail inside. It’s beautiful, it’s big, and it feels very regal. It’s just so stunning.

Jeana Pecha photo by Loni Stewart, courtesy of the chef

 

ALEX SHERRY

Probably my family’s favorite place to eat is in a strip mall on Stockton Boulevard, a hole-in-the-wall-type place, Pho King II. The Little Saigon area, on Stockton Boulevard [in Florin], is probably the best food scene in Sacramento, one that doesn’t get talked about a lot, but has amazing Vietnamese food. And I really like Pho King II. The bún bò huế is our go-to comfort food, especially in the wintertime. It’s these round rice noodles, and a lemongrass, beef and pork spicy soup. Really deep, rich broth, very well-seasoned rice noodles and fresh herbs.

The best pastries in the city are at Pastry Cat. The owner is Nariya [Charoensupaya], who used to be a chef at Bay Area restaurants. She does a pop-up on Saturday mornings. She’s been doing it for almost five years, but rotating at different places. She used to do it at our restaurant for a while [Sherry owns Majka with his wife and fellow chef, Chutharat Sae Tong], and now she’s doing it at Offbeat Coffee [near 6th and Broadway]. Always an amazing assortment of pastries. When she has a chocolate croissant, I get that, no matter what. I just want the best chocolate croissant you can make, and that’s what she does. It’s really high-quality lamination, high-quality butter and great chocolate. It’s delicious.

Kru [in East Sacramento] is our favorite thing when we’re trying to go out to have a nice dinner. I just like eating all the nigiri specials that chef Billy [Ngo] has on the menu every night. It’s really fresh fish that’s well prepared and well seasoned. They always have great bluefin tuna. But really, it’s just about what’s fresh and what they have in at that time. It’s always changing, and it’s just super, super high-quality food.

Alex Sherry photo by Chutharat Sae Tong

 

OLIVER RIDGEWAY

My friend Galice [Ryan, formerly executive chef at Hook & Ladder] recently moved to Star Lounge at Hyatt House in midtown. He’s got a modern European approach—very fresh ingredients, a lot of technique, but without being complicated. He’s doing a beautiful Flannery Beef short rib there, and wonderful pasta. He’s probably one of the most underrated chefs in town. You can tell that each dish is thought-out. It’s also a little bit whimsical. Every placement of the food has a meaning. And the setting there is beautiful. Candles, kind of moody, live music. It just has an elevated vibe about it.

And Matt Forester Brown opened up Husick’s by Forester [in 2024] in Clarksburg. Matt’s out there cooking wood-fired pizzas and creative seasonal dishes. It’s just honest food. It’s a beautiful drive out there, surrounded by vineyards and the river, and then you’ve got this little refined, rustic restaurant that he’s running. It was a hardware store back in the day. They’ve got some beautiful salads. I had the goat cheese and beet salad. Very fresh and very tasty. That particular day, he was doing [deep-fried] pizza rolls filled with cheese, marinara and pepperoni. You break open that roll and it was all ooey, gooey deliciousness.

I also enjoy Thai Farm House [BBQ & Bistro], which is on Broadway. They just have very clean, slightly refined Thai food. Fresh ingredients, very vegetable forward, good heat level. And you can really taste the flavors of the ingredients. When you find a Thai place focusing on that, it makes a real difference. They do a great green curry. Their drunken noodles are amazing. They do a really good side of beautiful, crunchy, garlicky green beans there. It’s a guilty pleasure for myself, after just getting your butt kicked all week and being exhausted and thinking, ‘I just want to eat something delicious and spicy.’ They do a bang-up job.

Oliver Ridgeway photo by Anna Wick

TARO ARAI

I enjoy the creative menu at Hawks in Granite Bay. I always look for what kind of fresh fish they have. Depending on the season, they have a yellowtail or sometimes they have an ahi tuna tartare with pine nuts in it, so there’s a dimension of crunchiness to it. It’s very refreshing. Mike and Molly [chef-owners Mike Fagnoni and Molly Hawks] are very nice people, and they’re very advanced on the culinary side. You can enjoy not just the food, but the ambience and their customer service and hospitality. It’s nice to [dine] at a cozy, small restaurant that has had the same chefs for years.

Whenever we talk about breakfast, all my friends and family go to Mario’s Early Toast. He has five locations now [in Granite Bay, Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom and El Dorado Hills]. His menu is not just a typical breakfast. It has a little twist to it. He’s from Maui, so he has a little flair of Hawaii, like breakfast rice—fried rice for breakfast [served topped with eggs of any style]. I think that last time I asked for over-easy, so I broke the eggs and ate it together. You enjoy all the different flavors at once. He also has loco moco [a classic Hawaiian comfort food dish], with eggs and hamburger meat on top of rice. Hawaii is all about mixing cultures. I go with my parents or have breakfast with my son. It’s a place to meet my loved ones.

And if I’m going out for [traditional] Asian food, I go to Auburn Thai Garden. Whenever I go to Tahoe, I always stop by there. It’s a small restaurant, very casual, kind of a hole-in-the-wall. The price is affordable. I really enjoy the Yum Woon Sen [Thai glass noodle salad] there. It’s one of my favorite seafood salads, and they make it the closest to what I’ve had in Thailand. I have that every time.

Taro Arai photo courtesy of Mikuni

 

ELENA WINKS

If I eat in West Sacramento, I’m usually on my lunch break, and [Cocina] Doña Chuyita is a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place. It’s just really sweet inside. You order at the counter, and they’ve got a salsa bar. I’m very into sauces and salsas. And they have this white, sour-cream-based salsa. It’s pretty spicy and vinegary. It’s got that pickled jalapeño flavor to it. When I was pregnant I would buy an entire quart. My go-to is their shredded chicken super burritos. And I would dump the burrito in the container of that sauce. I don’t know what they do to it, but it’s the best.

I live in Tahoe Park, and Sac City Brews in Tallac Village is one of those neighborhood hubs. It’s always, always fun. I probably stop there a few times a week. It’s a really good place for families. It’s the opposite of pretentious. When I’m there, I get their sweet potato fries. They coat them in herbs de Provence, which is interesting. So they have a lavendery, salty flavor. And then they make a green goddess dressing that’s similar to a ranch, but with more fresh herbs in it.

Having lived in France for so long, one restaurant I really admire, and somewhere that feels very authentically French and very thoughtfully executed, is Restaurant Josephine up in Auburn. It’s really worth driving up for. From the building that they’re in, one of the more historic buildings in Auburn, to the way that the dishes are presented, and the quality and simplicity, it really does feel French. It’s definitely elevated bistro cuisine— like escargot, steak frites, tart au citron for dessert—and it’s all just well executed. And their oysters are so excellent. And I remember the desserts really standing out, too. It’s just great.

Elena Winks photo by Fiona Barnard, courtesy of the chef

 

PATRICK MULVANEY

Stepdad’s makes me question why we don’t live in Land Park, because it would be my neighborhood joint, where I know the folks at the bar, and have some simple, clean food. It’s got great comfort food and it’s run by warm, welcoming people. It’s good to stop for a drink on the way home, good to bring the kids after volleyball practice for a snack, good for you and your sweetie to grab a quiet bite. It’s like a Swiss Army knife of restaurants. I love the watermelon, tomato and feta salad. [The seasonal dish will return in the summer.] And my wife [Mulvaney’s B&L co-owner Bobbin Mulvaney] is a big fan of the cheese curds. Anytime she can get her hands on their hamburger, she is all about it.

We love Binchoyaki [in Southside Park]. It’s always been a favorite. We just sit down at the patio and have that beautiful food that Toki and Craig [married chef-owners Tokiko Sawada and Craig Takehara] do so well. There’s a great sense of hospitality there. You know it’s going to be good, and you know it’s going to be fun. Whatever they bring out is killer. It’s all the small plates and yakitori cooked over a traditional Japanese grill. And I really like what they do with pickling. You can get a pickle plate with all the pickles they have that day. We all live in California, a place with a 12-month growing season, so sometimes we forget how important preservation is. And to see the things that they’re doing with koji, a fermentation process that adds a big bold kick of umami, and with just regular preservation for their pickles on the plate—it brightens up every dish.

We also love Ernesto Delgado’s new Octopus restaurants. Each one [midtown’s Octopus Baja and downtown’s Octopus Peru] is a modern Mexican cevichería that speaks to [influences from] a different part of the world. Ernesto is from Michoacán, and when we eat any of his food, we know there’s a story behind it. This really is Mexican, but outside of what we normally see. I enjoy his short ribs with scallops—beautiful braised short ribs with squash purée underneath, seared scallops on top, and then a little bit of lime. Bobbin and I also love that the cevicherías really scream to us the freshness that is the valley. It’s just pristine and refreshing.

Patrick Mulvaney photo by Rachel Valley, Courtesy of Mulvaney’s B&L

BYRON HUGHES

I just left Tealicious on Freeport [Boulevard], in Hollywood Park. They do boba and milk tea. But then you see the window with the hanging chickens and ducks, and you realize it’s not just a tea shop. The food comes, and it’s f—ing delicious. We love the crispy pork. It’s like this whole salty, savory situation, and a little sweet—maybe a little sugar in the marinade. But it’s really about the five layers. Pork belly is known as ‘five-layer meat’ in Chinese cooking: Skin, then alternating layers of fat and lean meat. In a good crispy pork belly, the layers can be clearly distinguished, partly due to the chef ’s choice of the section of pork belly, and partly due to the technique and execution. These layers are nice and pronounced.

Another gem [around Hollywood Park] is Da Fei Ge. It’s a northern-style Chinese skewer concept. Super informal. We all know food on skewers, but have you had the Chinese version? If you go, order the potato. Just trust me. I don’t know what the hell they do to that damn potato. It’s a center-cut piece of a large potato, it’s super thin, and it is delicious. All of their skewers you can order spicy or not spicy, but they have this ubiquitous custom spice blend they use. I say, eat your way through that menu.

Majka downtown stands out for me. I’m really interested in their pastas. They did a celery root agnolotti that was so good. The pasta was cooked perfectly, made perfectly, and filled perfectly. Everything I’ve eaten there has been on point. And it’s a very comfortable dining experience. Anybody can go sit down there. It’s not pretentious, all the details are super simple, and it lends itself to being an inclusive space. I love that.

Byron Hughes photo by Lina Barham, courtesy of the chef

 

RICK MAHAN

I’m pretty regularly going to La Venadita in Oak Park. I really enjoy their tacos. I personally like crispy shell tacos, and they do a really good job of it. It’s always just nicely balanced and well seasoned, and I’m not ever reaching for salt or something like that. You eat those, and you go, “Yeah, these are La Venadita tacos.” I usually get something simple, like their carnitas or their chicken tacos. I just want things done the right way, and they seem to do that. The service is breezy and good. It’s always a really nice experience.

I also love dim sum and going to Asia Pearl on Stockton Boulevard. Bottom line is the quality of the food. I love all the hustle and bustle, the crazy carts coming around. Their dim sum carts just speak to me. Nobody’s coming up and checking in with you; they’re all business. You say, ‘I’ll take one of those,’ and they drop it, and they’re off. It’s uniquely satisfying. I love the shumai [pork and shrimp dumplings] and the roasted duck.

The other place I was very impressed with recently was Nixtaco out in Roseville. [They also have a location in Folsom.] I had six or seven tacos. They were all delicious. They’ve got one in particular called the Roadkill. It has pork belly, and it was really nice. I would have been there 10 more times in the last month and a half if I didn’t have to get into my car. Everything was really balanced. Simple guacamole and chips, perfectly prepared. I know Patricio [Wise, chef-owner of Nixtaco] through various [events] over the years. He’s just one of those guys that gets it. He’s doing it for the right reasons. Clearly, there’s thought and attention and love put into those dishes. And that’s really all it takes.

Rick Mahan photo courtesy of the chef

MY LE

My family’s favorite is Lollibowl off of Stockton Boulevard in Florin. It’s got a quick-bite vibe. They make Chinese food, but they fuse it with a Vietnamese style. What you get is a Chinese meal, but made in a lighter version with Vietnamese flavors—it’s crave-worthy. Their flavors are really well balanced. We order the steak cubes and peppers stir-fry with red rice. And you’ll see half the people in the restaurant get that. Usually with Chinese cooking, it’s either a soy sauce base or an oyster sauce base, but they do something to brighten it. It has almost like a fruity note. And because of that, it makes it very, very easy to eat, and I just keep eating it.

Our favorite bakery is Estelle [Bakery & Pâtisserie, with locations in Downtown Commons, Arden-Arcade and Davis]. She [owner Esther Son] does an excellent job. She really cares about the quality. You can tell. My husband gets the chocolate croissant and I get the almond croissant. They’re not oily or overly heavy, and they have good texture and flavor. You can finish the whole pastry and find yourself wanting another one. We’re really lucky to have a bakery like Estelle.

I recently went to an Italian restaurant in midtown, Pazza Notte. It was really charming. Their pizza was more of an artisan-style crust, and not doused in oil, and their pasta was very light. I’m not really into heavy foods, so I always try to find restaurants that have brighter notes. I had the seafood pasta, the pappardelle di mare. The sherry sauce with it is on the creamier side, but wasn’t filled with cheese that makes it heavy. And the décor was very cozy and welcoming. It’s like a modern [European] cafe, mixing a lot of old style and new style, with fresh plants everywhere. It’s just extremely cute and pretty.

My Le photo by Tuan Le, courtesy of the chef