Taste: The region’s latest food, drink & restaurant news for Aug. 3

A New York City chef returns to his hometown to open a deli in the foothills, an Italian bistro will use their hand-made noodles in El Dorado Hills this fall, and the locally famous Sheepherders Inn building houses a new restaurant in Rancho Cordova. All this in this week's regional dining news, and more.

Osteria Moto Bar & Caffè

Having run a successful restaurant in L.A. since 2009, Stephen Sakulsky has decided to venture up north to El Dorado Hills, where he will open Osteria Moto Bar & Caffè, an Italian bistro, by mid-September in the space that formerly housed Bistro 33 in El Dorado Hills Town Center. The 5,400-square-foot space will be warm and earthy, with limestone tiles and tables, wood accents and greenery scattered throughout, as well as cord chandeliers and pendant lamps by modern lighting designer Brendan Ravenhill, and a glassed-in room where pasta makers can be seen crafting hand-made noodles. The pasta will feature large in the lineup of classic Italian dishes like pappardelle and cacio e pepe. The menu will also include small plates–like octopus crudo and a dish of ricotta served with baguette (both made in-house) and caramelized agave nectar–using ingredients from local growers like 24 Carrots, Stemple Creek and Soil Born Farms. Noting the lack of coffee houses in EDH, Sakulsky plans to make about 600 square feet of the space into a cafe with coffee drinks and pastries on offer, as well as freshly baked bread, pasta and sandwiches to go. 4364 Town Center Blvd. El Dorado Hills. eatatmoto.com

Station 38 Coffee

This new coffeehouse, which opened on June 11 in East Sacramento, is the latest business from husband-and-wife team Trinh Le and Minnie Nguyen, who also own Firehouse Crawfish in South Sacramento and Station 16 in midtown, as well as Station 8, the burger-focused eatery that will open inside The Bank food hall on Sept. 1. Caffeine addicts can sip coffee drinks—made from java beans roasted locally by the likes of Kolcafe and Camellia Coffeee Roasters—inside the 1,700-square-foot space bedecked with a large mural by Sacramento artist Franceska Gamez, or on the small sidewalk patio. The menu also includes specialty items like Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk and chicory java from Cafe du Monde of New Orleans. The food lineup consists of pastries from Estelle Bakery & Pâtisserie and house-made Belgian waffles (try the Funfetti version, baked with sprinkles and topped with a dollop of whipped cream), as well as a selection of breakfast sandwiches like one with two sous vide eggs, turkey sausage and cheddar cheese on a brioche bun, and an acai bowl with a blend of berries, bananas, honey and chia seeds. Mon.-Sun. 6 a.m.-6 p.m. 3711 J St. 916-476-6322. station38coffee.com

Magnolia House at Sheepherders Inn

Before testing your luck at Magnolia House Casino’s card room in Rancho Cordova (slated to host a grand opening in September), load up on grub at the adjoining 9,000-square-foot restaurant that soft-opened on June 25 at the former longtime location of Sheepherders Inn. The menu features morning staples like pancakes, breakfast burritos and French toast, while the afternoon and evening lineups feature items like seafood jambalaya, crab-and-cheddar melt, herb-crusted salmon, potato spring rolls and ahi poke. Guests can settle in at the long, colorfully lit bar, or slide into one of the swanky velvet booths lit by crystal chandeliers, to sip on one of Magnolia’s crafted cocktails, like the Sheepherders Smash with vodka, strawberries, basil syrup and lemon juice, or the peach jalapeño margarita with jalapeño-flavored tequila, peach schnapps and lime. Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-10 p.m. 11275 Folsom Blvd. Rancho Cordova. 916-476-6114. magnoliahousecasino.com

North Fork Deli

After living in New York City for 16 years, chef Jake Somers shuttered his two successful Brooklyn restaurants, packed everything into a van with his wife, Christmas, and three sons, and moved back to his hometown of Auburn to open this new downtown sandwich shop on June 19. At North Fork, which is named after the branch of the American River that runs right by Auburn, you'll find a menu of deli classics like the Meatball Hero sub with scratch-made beef meatballs, marinara sauce and provolone on a 6-inch baguette roll from Berkeley’s Acme Bread, and the Italian sandwich with coppa and salami from West Sacramento’s Tony’s Fine Foods with shredded iceberg lettuce and oil and vinegar on a white roll, as well as more modern fare like the Southwestern Buddha bowl with black beans, quinoa, avocado, pico de gallo and hummus dressing. Wash down your sammich with a bottle of Sprecher's hand-crafted root beer or a pint of kombucha made from Christmas' own recipe. Tues.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. 886 Lincoln Way. Auburn. 530-537-2182. northforkdeli.com

Small Bites

Sarah Short began an online business in early April titled Trust Bakery, through which she sells custom-made cookies and cakes via her online store and Instagram (@trustbakerysac). Short, who studied baking at Le Cordon Bleu, offers a variety of drool-worthy cookies like the Marsh N’ Oats (oat-flour chocolate chip cookies topped with toasted marshmallows) and the Salt Crunch with dark chocolate, marshmallows, salt flakes and toasted macadamia nuts, which folks can taste in-person during Short's next pop-ups at Camellia Coffee Roasters (Aug. 18) and 18 Grams Coffee & Tea (Sept. 8). trustbakery.com

This fall, midtown’s Identity Coffee will make a jump across the Sacramento River and expand into West Sacramento at the space that formerly housed Bean and Barrel. Although the coffee lineup will be similar to the original spot, co-owner Lucky Rodrigues hopes to expand his food offerings beyond pastries to include sandwiches and other cafe-style fare. Rodrigues (who co-founded Insight Coffee Roasters) also plans to redesign the 2,000-square-foot interior and create a small outdoor patio. 289 Third St. West Sacramento. identitycoffees.com

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