Best of the City 2021
If there’s one thing we’ve learned during the pandemic, it’s that the human spirit perseveres through the darkest times. The dozens of Sacramentans featured here—struggling like all of us over this past year and a half—have found ways to shine some much-needed light into our lives, whether with charmingly anachronistic TikTok videos or a winning French pastry made with Top Ramen or an eco boutique that’s trying to help save the planet one bottle-free shampoo bar at a time. They bring smiles to our faces, good food to our bellies and taps to our toes. And if you haven’t already met, we’re thrilled to introduce you.
Fright Bites
Raise your spirits with these apparitional treats
Big in Japan(ese)
Daisuke Tsuji has clowned around (literally) for Cirque du Soleil, appeared on stage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, voiced the lead character in the blockbuster video game Ghost of Tsushima (a role that earned him a BAFTA nomination), and acted in Japanese on television shows like The Man in the High Castle and Brockmire. In his latest Japanese-speaking role, he co-stars with Sam Neill in the new Apple TV+ sci-fi series Invasion. The Sacramento-raised multihyphenate talks about landing his biggest part yet, filming around the world during the pandemic, and the lasting impact of his Rio Americano drama teacher’s words.
Stronger Together
Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney are arguably Sacramento’s First Couple of Farm to Fork. With Sacramento celebrating our region's agricultural bounty in September, we sit down with the owners of Mulvaney’s B&L to talk about the impact of the pandemic on the restaurant industry, the life lessons learned from Bobbin’s bouts with cancer, the controversy surrounding local caviar purveyor Michael Passmore, the importance of openly discussing mental health issues in the workplace and the community, and their efforts to lend a helping hand, one loving spoonful at a time.
Birds of a Feather
Auberge alums and Milestone owners Nick Dedier and Alexa Hazelton team up again to launch Mom & Pop Chicken Shop. The result? Twenty-hour-brined chicken with 20 herbs and spices that’s finger lickin’ great.
Fall Arts Preview 2021
To borrow from the Bard, it has been, by all measures, the spring, summer, autumn and winter of our discontent. Every theater shuttered, each seat unfilled, preview posters of musicals never performed hung in frames like broken clocks. But make no mistake, the stage is set for the arts to come roaring back as the curtains rise again this fall. So cue the music—it’s time to sit back and enjoy the shows.
Q&A with CEO of Broadway Sacramento Richard Lewis
On Sept. 15, after going dark in the spring of 2020 due to Covid, Broadway Sacramento (which produces Broadway on Tour and Broadway at Music Circus) will finally raise the curtain on its first show in a year and a half, the 11-time Tony Award-winning Hamilton—and in a newly renovated theater to boot. Here, Richard Lewis, the CEO and president of the arts organization, whose strong penchant for musical theater is hereditary—his father co-founded Music Circus in 1951 and his mother was a stage performer—addresses the pandemic elephant in the auditorium, reveals the best seat in the (new) house, and gives a pro tip for Hamilton first-timers that’s super, well, sonic.
The Wonders Down Under
Sacramento’s annual Wide Open Walls mural festival is upon us. But in many cities around the country, people are looking down on public art—about 5 to 6 feet down. It’s time to wash that gray right out of our streets.
The New Golden Age
By weekday, they’re construction workers, utility mechanics and registered nurses. But on weekends, they abandon their respective vocations and venture far up into the storied Sierra foothills and far back in time—circa 1849—dodging rattlesnakes, poison oak and the stink-eyed gazes of seasoned treasure hunters as they transform into passionate modern-day prospectors. And they’re not alone. The global pandemic drove gold prices to record highs this past year and left many with a lot more time on their hands—and knees—searching for the precious yellow metal that’s so deeply entwined with our region’s historical DNA. Yep, there’s still gold up in them thar hills, and the rush to find it is on (again).
On Sale Now!
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