Taste: The region's latest food, drink & restaurant news for June 10

Breaking food news: The Porch has begun serving brunch on Fridays; a popular taco van is slated to open a brick-and-mortar in Roseville; a farm-to-fork-minded chef takes shoppers on farmers’ market tours; and Ginger Elizabeth launches its summertime ice cream sundae series.

The Porch Restaurant and Bar

As if Fridays weren’t great enough, The Porch Restaurant and Bar began serving Friday brunch on June 3 (from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., just like on the weekends), prompted by demand from its avid weekend brunch-goers. The Friday brunches will include various options from the weekend menus, like their signature pig-shaped beignets, lightly dusted with powdered sugar and served with seasonal fruit, as well as a new watermelon salad with blueberry-red wine vinaigrette, pistachios, apples, fresh basil and a balsamic drizzle. If you’re looking for high comfort on a Friday morning, co-owner John Lopez recommends the chicken and waffle dish with cereal-crusted fried chicken. In recent weeks, the cereal coatings have included Rice Krispies and Fruity Pebbles, and the dish is served along with bacon and a sweet potato waffle, topped with blackberry brown sugar, bacon-maple syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon. 1815 K St. 444-2423. theporchrestaurantandbar.com

Grange Restaurant & Bar

This downtown farm-to-fork-minded restaurant is now hosting its annual Follow the Chef series every other Wednesday through October. Head chef Oliver Ridgeway will lead a troop of 12 foodies through the Cesar Chavez Farmers Market to explore its fresh produce and chat with producers. After Ridgeway introduces participants to the ingredients soon to be on their plates, the group will head back to Grange for a three-course meal that's about as fresh as food comes. Recent dishes included a shaved squash salad tossed with pickled cherry, goat cheese, toasted walnuts and herb vinaigrette, and a gooey black forest chocolate cake with market cherries for dessert. Ridgeway says he aims for the tour to inspire home cooks and allow them to become more familiar with their neighborhood farmers’ market produce. 11 a.m. $39 per person. 926 J St. 492-4450. grangesacramento.com

Nixtaco Mexican Taqueria

This new taqueria soft opened in Roseville on June 1, and is expected to host a grand opening within a few weeks. Husband and wife team Patricio and Cinthia Wise, who ran a fine-dining supper club in Monterrey, Mexico for two years before moving to the U.S. in 2010, have been operating Nixtaco as a taco van since early 2015, hoping all along to open a brick-and-mortar venue. The new restaurant serves an array of tacos and Mexican fare with non-traditional protein choices like pork belly, bacon and short ribs. You’ll also find vegetarian options like the rajas con queso made with roasted fresh poblano peppers, as well as the queso fundido appetizer featuring melted cheese from the Lincoln-based Long Dream Farm served with spicy chorizo and chips. The restaurant’s décor harkens back to its Mexican roots, featuring photographs of the Monterrey mountains, sit-in tables and a bar with a wooden countertop that Patricio made for the space. 1805 Cirby Way. Roseville. 771-8587. nixta.co

Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates

This midtown chocolate boutique is hosting its eighth annual Ice Cream Social event beginning on Saturday, June 11 and continuing only on the second Saturdays of each month until October. This Saturday, the shop will serve the Ferrari Farms Bing Cherry Brown Betty Sundae made with Manresa Bread pain au levain, cherry butter sauce, frozen custard made from Contreras Farm duck eggs and Chantilly cream. On July 9, Ginger Elizabeth will whip up the Yeast Risen Waffle Sundae featuring roasted strawberry and malted milk ice creams with strawberry jam, local organic strawberries and Cowgirl Creamery crème fraîche). On August 13, come in for scoops of the deep-dish ARC Farm marionberry pie sundae, made with grass-fed butter ice cream and Chantilly cream. If the popularity of Ginger Elizabeth’s Chocolate for Breakfast menu in April (which drew massive lines out the door) was any indication of how popular this shop’s events can be, we suggest getting there early to stake your sundae claim. 1801 L St. 706-1738. gingerelizabeth.com

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