Taste: The region's latest food, drink & restaurant news for Dec. 15

This week in dining news: a new steakhouse opens in Sloughhouse, a colorful candy store launches in Old Sacramento, and a crepe shop swings open its doors in Folsom. Plus, Ruhstaller has brewed a new bottle shop, and a popular bookstore chain pegs Sacramento for its third restaurant concept store.

Barnes & Noble Kitchen

Bookworms can now settle in with a good book—and a glass of wine or beer—at this new concept store, which opened at the Palladio in Folsom Dec. 13. The location is one of the first three Barnes & Noble has opened across the country (the others are in Eastchester, NY and Edina, MN) and it features a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu featuring locally sourced produce inside a warm interior by New York-based design firm AvroKO. Barnes & Noble brought Sheamus Feeley, formerly of the Farmstead Restaurant in Napa, on board to develop the menu, which includes lemon-ricotta pancakes, braised short ribs, glasses of vino from local wineries like Renwood and Skinner Vineyards, and craft beer from local breweries like Oak Park Brewing Company and Track 7. 280 Palladio Pkwy. Folsom. 984-4428. barnesandnoble.com

Meadowlands

This new restaurant from husband-and-wife restaurateurs Ron and Terri Gilliland—who also own Sacramento staples Lucca and Roxy—opened Friday, Dec. 2 in Sloughhouse. Situated on Highway 16 in the historic Old Sloughhouse Inn, the restaurant serves up an approachable yet elevated steakhouse menu from chef Danny Origel (who has helmed Roxy for the past 10 years) that includes items like a wedge salad with iceberg lettuce, sweet chile bacon, quinoa, sunflower seeds, radishes, chives and buttermilk dressing; a grilled rib-eye (all of the beef comes from the owners’ ranch in Dixon) served with smashed marble potatoes; and pizzas cooked in an Italian-made wood-fired oven. Meadowlands—whose decor stays true to its building’s historic heritage with exposed wood and antique furniture—also offers Saturday and Sunday brunch (think cast iron cinnamon rolls, Liège waffles and a pork belly breakfast sandwich), a wine list largely sourced from the surrounding Sierra foothills, and a cocktail menu featuring playful twists on the classics, like a cosmopolitan with pear or a blood orange old fashioned. 12700 Meiss Rd. Sloughhouse. 525-1575. meadowlands.restaurant

T-Crepes

Offering sweet and savory Japanese crepes served rolled like an ice cream cone, along with tea and boba drinks, this warm and inviting new shop opened Dec. 2 in Folsom. You can build your own sweet crepes with scoops of Gunther’s Ice Cream in flavors like green tea, chocolate and coffee, fresh fruits like mango and strawberries, and toppings like Oreos, rainbow sprinkles and mini marshmallows. Savory crepes on offer include smoked salmon and grilled chicken varieties with a mixed spring salad, tomatoes, onions, corn and choice of dressing. Wash these down with boba and milk teas, or blended drinks like passion fruit smoothies topped with offerings like lychee jelly, while you watch the chefs at work. 1870 Prairie City Rd. Folsom. 597-2787. t-crepes.com

The Old Fashioned Candy & Confectionary Store

The Confectionary, the latest project from Troy Carlson, who runs neighboring stores Stage Nine and G. Willikers Toy Emporium, popped up Nov. 23 on Front Street in Old Sacramento. The shop is loaded with colorful buckets of sugary sweets, including nostalgic candies like Honees and Pop Rocks, sodas like Cheerwine, and obscure confectioneries like chocolate-covered scorpions or morinaga, a candy based on a popular Japanese soft drink called ramune. The store was previously home to a retro arcade game room Carlson launched in fall 2014, filled with games like Frogger, Punch Out and Pac-Man. Happily, some of the machines have stuck around and there’s now a door leading straight to G. Willikers, so patrons of all ages can fulfill their childhood wishes. 1117 Front St. 447-3623. stagenine.com

The Shop

This new bottle shop and tasting room opened Dec. 1 in an industrial park in Dixon, Ruhstaller’s answer to the shuttering of its popular nearby Farm & Yard off of I-80, which unexpectedly closed in April due to Solano County's permitting and safety concerns over the facility. The brewing company’s new “hop spot” offers 12 beers on tap, including year-round favorites like XQST Kolsch, a variety of IPAs and seasonal tipples like the Barn Owl, a Belgian-style dark ale infused with nutmeg and persimmons. Owner J-E Paino says that just like Farm & Yard, The Shop is intended to be family- and dog-friendly, and Ruhstaller is partnering with local food trucks and restaurants like Dixon’s La Cocina Mexicana Restaurante to offer fare that pairs well with a bottle of brew. 800 Business Park Dr. Dixon. 530-601-8240. ruhstallerbeer.com

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