Where the Chefs Eat

 

Q Bennett

Four Sisters Cafe for brunch, in Roseville. They’re so friendly, and I just like how it’s a family-run restaurant and they put a family touch on it. As the name implies, it’s four sisters running the restaurant [Tricia Cleland, Gina Sanders, Lisa Lees and Julie Gaffre]. It tastes like you’re eating a weekend breakfast at a family member’s house, and the staff treats you that way. Just fresh ingredients and large portions. I’m always about the Four Sisters Omelet—it’s a huge three-egg omelet [with another over-medium egg folded inside] with bacon and white cheddar cheese. The food is always good.

We love Mikuni. [The chef runs Q1227 with his wife, general manager Tamara Bennett.] We go to the one here in Roseville, off Eureka Road. It’s easygoing, casual—a great place to meet people or take your family and just have a good old time. No fuss, no frills, just ‘come to our bar, have some good sushi.’ I have two favorites. First, the Carmen Roll. I love that it has crab and lobster. I love the texture. They put a spicy sauce on it, the lobster is fried and it has the crab mix—together it’s really good. And then the DMC Roll, mainly because I was a big fan of DeMarcus Cousins [formerly] with the Kings, and I appreciate the fact that they named a roll after him.

In Granite Bay, Hawks does an amazing job. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Great atmosphere. I get the gnocchi every time. Little pillows of love, right? They’re always delicious. And you can tell that they push the best product. It’s very clean, very fresh and very well done.

Q Bennett photo courtesy of Q1227

 

Brad Cecchi

I’m close friends with Patricio [Wise, the chef-owner] at Nixtaco. It’s a cool place to hang out with other chefs, and then obviously enjoy really great food. I am a Roadkill Burrito guy. That is the dish I order every time. It’s pork belly. The way that Patricio and his team over there make it, it’s acidic—it’s got lots of lime juice in it—the meat’s really braised down, and there’s a little bit of heat to it. But what they’re known for, and what they do a great job with across the board, is all their tortillas. They’re grinding and making the masa right in front of you and using heirloom corn. It just has this bite to it and an awesome, clean corn flavor. 

And I love Journey to the Dumpling in Elk Grove, a best-in-market dumpling place. As a chef, what I crave are things that I don’t do well, so I find myself craving them on a regular basis. The wontons in chili oil are delicious. And the xiao long bao is a special experience, because it’s a dumpling full of soup. To keep that liquid encased in dough while you steam and cook it is a challenge on its own, but the broth that’s inside of those is super flavorful and well done.

For a date night, a lot of times [my wife and I] end up at Kru. They are just masters of their craft. It’s a sushi place, but their hot kitchen is putting out some of the best food in town, and it’s really creative and beautiful. You can get all the things that you want—from beautiful nigiri to a sushi roll to sashimi, and then you can get their beignets with chanterelle mushroom purée and caviar—it’s like a savory jelly doughnut. They’re using the farm-to-fork ingredients and the inspiration of what’s around us, melding it with contemporary flavor profiles and then staying authentic to Japanese tradition.

Brad Cecchi photo by Erin Alderson

 

Georgeanne Brennan

Waterboy is a longtime favorite. I love sweetbreads, so no matter what else fabulous is on the menu, I always get an order. [Chef-owner] Rick Mahan does a perfect job with them. They’re wonderfully tender, lightly breaded and sautéed. They’re not fussy, but they’re really good ingredients, well prepared, and the kind of white-tablecloth fine dining situation that you could easily find in Paris or Bordeaux. Sometimes fine dining takes itself too seriously, and Waterboy doesn’t, so you get the feeling of urbane casualness. And you never know who you’re gonna see there. I was with a friend and here came Darrell Corti, bustling over to our table with his grocer’s jacket on.

I also really like to go to Preserve [in Winters]. It has a really nice atmosphere, a mix of urban sophistication and high-end rustic design with a lot of personal touches, like the bar, which is curved staves from old barrels. And it has an excellent hamburger. You can share it with somebody and still have plenty. When you say you want medium rare, it actually comes medium rare. And the French fries are thin, hot and salty, just the way they should be.

And you can’t come to Winters without talking about Buckhorn. It’s a landmark destination. People have been coming to it from all over the area for over 40 years. It’s really a classic, old-fashioned steakhouse. Inside are the heads of all kinds of animals, both in the bar and then the dining room, and it specializes in, of course, steaks. The quality of the meat is excellent—anything there with tri-tip. You can have a tri-tip salad and the sliced tri-tip with the seasonal vegetables and French fries or mashed potatoes. And the tri-tip is an interesting cut that [co-owner] John Pickerel has really popularized throughout the area—the classic cut that’s used in Santa Maria[-style] barbecue. Thin sliced or in chunks, it doesn’t have a lot of fat like a rib eye. It’s really tender and juicy.

Georgeanne Brennan photo by Craig Lee

 

MINNIE  NGUYEN

One of my favorites is Mikuni. It’s colorful, and it’s Asian but with a modern twist. And the vibe is very friendly and inviting. I think it’s the culture of how the owners run it. Taro [Arai, the chef-owner] runs it with a lot of vision and love and they do a great job of maintaining that. I love the Fair Oaks Roll. It’s the texture. You get the crunch from the tempura shrimp, and then the creamy sauce, which ties it all together.

For pizza, I go to Fat Mike’s [Pizza] on Grant Line in Elk Grove. It’s just like an old-school diner, a neighborhood joint. And you can taste the love that they put in their pizzas. I usually order pepperoni. It’s simple, but what makes a great pizza is the dough. Their dough is really good. It has a signature taste and texture—very soft and fluffy when you bite into it. 

Going to Gunther’s is traveling back in time, like you’re walking into history—the display of ice creams and small booths gives it a classic ice cream shop feel. I love their vanilla bean ice cream the most—it’s rich and creamy. My kids like the [Fruit Freeze] slushies. I think ice cream just brings happiness to everyone.

Minnie Nguyen photo by Samantha May

 

Patricio Wise

I love going to Restaurant Josephine in Auburn for special occasions. They make European-inspired dishes with a California flair. It has Art Deco architecture, and very friendly and warm colors. They did a really great job in arranging everything so it feels roomy even though the restaurant is always packed. And the menu is awesome. They have this dish called vareniki, which is like ravioli. I always get it. They change the sauce and the stuffing seasonally. Eric [Alexander] is an amazing chef, and Courtney [McDonald, the co-owner and pastry chef], she’s a magician with desserts. Josephine probably has the best dessert program around town. The tarte au citron [pictured in the opening spread above] is a lemon tart with a pine nut crust. It’s spectacular.

At Canon, I really like the chicken drumsticks in chili sauce. It’s like a mole—very rich, earthy, a little spicy. It’s a very well-balanced dish. They are cooked to perfection and fall off the bone when you bite into them. Brad [Cecchi, the chef-owner] makes it playful in the sense that it’s very thought-out, and every flavor goes well together, regardless of where he was inspired. That’s what California cuisine is.

I can’t forget about our newly found local gem—Chicha Peruvian [Kitchen & Cafe]. Giancarlo Zapata and his wife [Marleny Chávez] are both chef-owners there. It’s very lively, very bright, and extremely colorful. It looks like there’s a party going on. I love the leche de tigre—a seafood cocktail with a very acidic liquid. It’s a fish stock with lime juice and Peruvian chilies. It’s just one of those pick-me-ups. If you like ceviche, that’s my go-to. I’ll also get a dish called Pescado a lo Macho. It’s pan-fried, breaded white fish, with lots of dressing and a seafood sauce, and mussels, shrimp and calamari. It’s just an explosion of flavors. The first time I tried it I remember thinking, ‘What the hell is this? This is amazing.’

Patricio Wise photo courtesy of Nixtaco

 

Cecil Rhodes II

My favorite restaurant is a pho place, Pho Xe Lua, in Sacramento on Stockton Boulevard. From the aromatics to the cloves, and the depth of flavor that’s in that whole bowl. The broth is just wonderful. I get the oxtail. This one has a little more texture and chew to it, but just the way that it is prepared, within the broth, you get all the flavor from the collagen that’s in there. It’s a pho place, so it’s pretty low key and there’s lots of slurping going on. They come and ask you what you want, and about three to five minutes later you got a big steaming bowl of goodness in front of you.

And if you can get into Localis, go there. Chris [Barnum-Dann, the chef-owner] is a cool dude. I had the opportunity of taking my crew there for dinner and it absolutely blew my mind. The amuse-bouche was such a simple little potato cake with a quail egg. Super crispy on the outside, but it was creamy inside. And there was a little bit of sea salt and cracked pepper, but that combination was one of the best bites I’ve had in a very long time. So simple, but so delicious. And I remember the octopus. It’s probably the best octopus I’ve ever had.

And you can’t go wrong with Chef Q’s Q1227 in Roseville. It is soul food in a fine dining setting. And in Sacramento, you don’t really get that a lot. You can feel the soul in his food. It gets me excited when you can take something from everyday cooking and just make it the absolute best that it can actually taste. When I eat Chef Q’s food, it’s almost like it takes you out of yourself. It changes your mind about how you should be cooking. He has bacon-wrapped meatloaf. And when I go to Chef Q, I know it’s not gonna taste like any old bacon-wrapped meatloaf.

Cecil Rhodes II photo by Aaron Moses

 

N’Gina Guyton

Midtown Spirits always has a great fun vibe. Chef Janine [Villalobos] has such flavorful food. I don’t know if she puts addictive substances in it, but it’s just really good. And she puts her culture into that food too, which I appreciate. I cannot quit her wings. The chicken is seasoned perfectly. They hit every salty flavor bomb I want when I go out. Nor can I quit her loaded fries, and every time I go in there, I get them. It’s comfort food—something that reminds me of childhood. I love the fact their number one goal there is to have fun, and the food reflects it.

And I’ve got to shout out Loomis Basin Brewery’s Gastropub & Smokehouse. Kenny and Linda [Gowan, the owners] were my neighbors 12 years ago. You want to talk about people who are super passionate? They just go for it. They have a dirty grilled cheese that is fire. It’s got pulled pork and smoked white cheddar in it. It’s gooey, salty, cheesy—a beautiful grilled cheese sandwich. You’re going to listen to some live music, drink some damn good beer, eat some great bites, and you’re just going to relax. Kenny and Linda do a good job of creating really comfortable spaces that feel like home.

If I’m feeling I want something more upscale, I’m going to Kru. Billy [Ngo, the chef-owner] is an amazing chef. He makes such creative food and he pulls so many cultures into his food and has that Northern California South Sac flair that he puts in. Billy has created this restaurant where no matter what your ethnicity is, no matter what your financial status is, you go in and you feel like you belong and you’re welcome in this elevated space. And it’s just a beautiful restaurant. There’s so much wood incorporated into the décor, and that pairs with the lighting and it creates this perpetual sunset inside. It’s sexy.

N’Gina Guyton photo by Chantel Elder

 

Kelly McCown

There’s a little pizza joint in Loomis called Il Pizzaiolo. They make amazing wood-fired pies. And Jackie [ Jacqueline Lostritto, who owns the eatery with her husband, Peter] is such a sweetheart. They do a really nice job. It’s Neapolitan style, thin crust, quickly cooked at a high temperature. There’s a big wood pizza oven in the middle of the place, and it’s got a low-key vibe.

Mike Thiemann just reopened Mother. Talk about a chef who’ll surprise you. He doesn’t play by the rules, which makes him exciting. He took the idea of a vegetarian restaurant and turned it on its ear. If you think of a dish that has become beloved, it’s his oyster po’boy. He took a left turn by using oyster mushrooms instead of [traditional] oysters, but he treated them the same way. He didn’t necessarily [consider] Mother a vegetarian restaurant, but a restaurant that used vegetables as the medium. He’s probably one of the most talented chefs in Sacramento.

And there’s an amazing place I’m almost afraid to say because I don’t want anybody to find out about it, but Bangkok Thai at 65th and Stockton. I mean, it’s blow-your-doors-off amazing—its authenticity, its flavor. Everything’s got a nice spice to it. It’s a very small restaurant. The owners and staff are not only exceptionally talented, but also exceptionally humble, hospitable and gracious. And I think all those things together really create an amazing experience. The green papaya salad balances the lime juice, the sugar and the ground dried shrimp in a way that I think makes it really, really good.

Kelly McCown photo by Gabriel Teague

 

Ravin Patel

One of my favorite restaurants is Obo’ Italian—going there and being able to come in with my family and have a lot of choices for everyone. The classic pepperoni pizza done in a wood-fired oven is delicious. The temperature they cook it at is really high, and they’ve made so many pizzas there that they’ve got the system down, so it’s consistent.

Urban Roots is a cool place to hang out with family and friends. The barbecue is great, you have amazing beer, and there’s a lot of communal seating, so it lends itself to a community-type experience. My go-to is their EZ PZ pilsner—it’s a great, refreshing beer—and the brisket. They make good brisket. It’s prepared with care, not just thrown in a smoker and you-get-what-you-get. There’s a thought process behind it. You can tell.

At Binchoyaki, it really feels like you’re in Japan. They have a fried rice with a spicy tuna mix on top. The different textures and levels of flavors you get, from the tuna to the garnish, and the way the rice is crispy—it’s just so good. I get it every time. It’s a very small restaurant, but the menu is massive. The yakitori grill is going, and the [aroma] wafts into the whole room. You can actually smell the food cooking on the binchotan charcoal. And with the décor and layout of the room, it just reminds me of places I’ve visited in Tokyo, where you have these little places that create amazing food and experiences.

Ravin Patel photo by Ashlee Patel

 

Craig Takehara

I like Franquette in West Sacramento. Chef Elena [Winks] does a great job. I actually ate there this morning. Everything’s done really well. I was originally a French cuisine chef, so it’s nice to be able to find that. Two of my favorites are their Quiche Lorraine and the salmon tartine. It’s really hard to nail a quiche, but theirs is packed full of ham and onions and it’s super delicious. For the tartine, it’s basically an open-face sandwich. They cure their salmon with beet juice, so it has this red hue, on a really nice piece of sourdough. It’s fantastic.

My wife [Binchoyaki co-owner and pastry chef Tokiko Sawada] and I sneak away for lunches at Lalo’s, which is great Mexican food. One of our favorite dishes is their chile relleno. We like fairly simple food that’s done really well. They make the chile relleno to order. They also do a quesadilla where they take fresh masa and make the tortilla shell, stuff it with what you want, and then they will deep-fry it. That fried, crispy outside texture of a quesadilla rather than it being pan-fried is totally different. 

We like to eat dim sum at Happy Garden on Stockton Boulevard. We always get siu mai—a pork and shrimp dumpling. It has a bit of a bite to it, it’s meaty, and I’m a big fan of the flavors. And har gow—a shrimp dumpling with a clear [dumpling skin]. It’s a solid shrimp flavor with a nice, light, chewy texture of the skin. We also really like the shrimp chow fun—they put the shrimp inside and fold it over with big flat noodles. They pour this sweet soy sauce over the top, which is a nice contrast. My kids definitely love that.

Craig Takehara photo by Matt Chong

 

Chris Barnum-Dann

I absolutely love Binchoyaki. There’s always a balance of spicy, sweet, savory and sour. All of their skewers are incredible. I also love their Krispy Rice—little fried rice balls with spicy tuna on top. You have crispy, chewy, spicy, salty—all those things that you’re looking for in a perfect bite. And it’s straight-up Sacramento. It’s a husband and wife [chefs Craig Takehara and Tokiko Sawada] who run the restaurant and they’ve been growing it slowly, step-by-step. It’s food made with love—every time, you taste it.

I always, always, always get the shrimp aguachile at Nixtaco in Roseville. I love seafood, and it’s got that perfect blend of spice and salt. Once again, a husband-wife team [Patricio Wise and Cinthia Martinez] who really do an incredible job. [The food] is always tasty. It’s about consistency to me. I like to try new things all the time, but when you can give me a place where I know that whatever I order, I’m going to like it, that’s the place I’m going to often.

My favorite Thai food in the entire area is Auburn Thai Garden. It’s a quaint little restaurant, right on the side of I-49. It’s one of those beautiful things where the culture is obviously prevalent, not only in the food, but the people who work there. There is an insane number of dishes that I always order, but my favorite is the whole fish, the fried basa, with roasted garlic sauce, little fried crispy basil on it and some bell peppers underneath it. I literally dream about it all the time. The flavors are amazing. The texture is also super delicious—the outside of the fish is so crispy and the inside of the fish is moist—and the sauce is always perfect. I go with my family and take a lot of friends there. I always tell people it’s my favorite spot.

Chris Barnum-Dann photo by Jesse Evan Cudworth for Jay Evan Photography

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READ MORE: Both Chris Barnum-Dann and Ernesto Delgado made our Best of the City 2023 list

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Ernesto Delgado

Whenever I go to Bangkok @ 12 at the corner of 12th and K, I get the exact same dish: the green curry with chicken. It’s sweet. It’s spicy. And it’s [especially] delicious with a glass of pretty much any red wine. It inspired me to create my pistachio mole at Mayahuel—the green coconut curry resembles a mole. If I have a bad day, it’s definitely the dish I go for. Once you walk in, you feel comforted—there’s lots of scenery, photos of ancient Thailand with gold frames. It’s subtle but iconic. They just love what they do and it shows in the effort they put forth in the restaurant.

I love going to Hawks because I’m just a sucker for that classic service style and hospitality. Service for me is a very important factor. They even iron their tablecloths. When someone pays attention to all those details, it’s just a great experience. And their food is so creative. I had an aguachile that blew my mind. It’s a form of ceviche. It was the beautiful presentation—a garden scene in your bowl with lots of splashes of color—and then just the uniqueness of the blend of flavors. They rotate the menu, but everything I’ve tried I’ve loved.

And I love having oysters at Camden Spit & Larder. It’s a high-end, luxury experience, with champagne, a nice chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. Then I get the other appetizer that I love, the tuna tartare. From the oysters to the tuna, it’s like jumping into the ocean. Camden has an awesome environment, with modern architecture and a real classic attention to detail. The concept is very creative and original, an exhibition of culture—American with these British touches, different inspirations of what Chef Oliver [Ridgeway] likes, and the story he’s trying to tell us. He’s very pleasant and comes by, and I think that’s part of hospitality—being grateful and generous with your guests.

Ernesto Delgado photo courtesy of the chef

 

Nick Dedier III

In Granite Bay, I love Hawks. I think Michael and Molly [husband-and-wife chef-owners Mike Fagnoni and Molly Hawks] do an outrageously good job. I’ve never been more impressed by a restaurant in our area. Ever. I always like the gnocchi. Somehow they take it to a different level. To have something that light and fluffy be so satisfying is a joy. And being an old French bistro guy, I used to eat pâté like nobody’s business, and they make the best pâtés in Sacramento.

I think Scott’s Burger Shack on Franklin Boulevard has the best burgers in Sacramento, hands down. It’s a shack, and there’s usually people waiting outside for their burgers to come through that little window, and they cook everything from scratch. I pull up on the picnic benches, get a set of fries, and just destroy a bunch of burgers. There’s always good crust on the meat, the buns are good—and I usually get the big fat one with the double burger patty and the pastrami on top. If you’ve had a long morning, or if you’ve had a day, it’s a love bomb. 

Momo’s Meat Market [on Broadway] is outstanding. You’ve gotta get there before they run out, but their ribs are the best ribs I’ve had anywhere. There’s a nice barbecue crust on the outside that’s just crusty enough to know that it was cooked with fire. And they’re the perfect tenderness where you have to bite them off the bone a little bit, and the bone doesn’t just slip out. If you could imagine what a barbecue shack would be like in the South—it ain’t fancy and it ain’t fussy.

Nick Dedier III photo by Jennifer Ingles

 

Brett Bohlmann

I love Camden Spit & Larder. Oliver [Ridgeway, the chef-owner] is from England, so he does modern or American twists on English dishes. His fish sandwich is really good. It’s got a good breading and is crunchy. He does his own pickles too, so they’ve got a good texture and a good bite. But for me, it’s that he’s really into the farm-to-fork movement. And his take on the fresh produce and the high quality that he brings into his place—he’s always discovering new stuff.

I also like to go to Palermo [Ristorante Italiano] here on Elk Grove Boulevard. It’s family-owned, so you get that real family feel. They have a crab ravioli that I really enjoy. They make their own ravioli, so the dough is nice and soft. Another dish I really like is the eggplant Norma, with roasted red peppers and mascarpone cheese that are rolled up in [strips of] eggplant and baked. It’s a ‘warming to the soul’ type of dish. You can tell they do things with love.

There’s an Elk Grove shopping center called Delta Shores, and I just stumbled on an Indian restaurant there called Chaat Bistro. Every dish I had was so flavorful. They did a mixed meat dish that was marinated—the lamb was braised and then charred a little bit on the outside, and the chicken had that red marinade they do on Indian food, and they did yogurt sauce with that. It was just so properly done. We’re talking about it right now and I’m getting excited. I think I’m going to go there tonight!

Brett Bohlmann photo by Megan Mullen

 

Nina Curtis

I could eat a taco every day, and Bambi’s Tacos on I Street does them really well. It’s a Baja kind of feel in their menu. I like their [plant-based] al pastor tacos. They do a pickled pineapple. Some al pastors are grilled, and when you pickle it, you start bringing up different flavor and taste elements. They’re really good at balancing their flavors. And when I walk in, I feel like I’m going into [the coffee shop] on the TV show Friends. The owner, Lizz Gibb, when she’s there, always comes over and says hello.

It isn’t a brick-and-mortar place, but in the past year or more, I found Brown Rice Bakery by Chef J [ Jordan]. She’s vegan and gluten free. [Treats from the Sacramento-based cottage bakery are available at pop-ups and various locations around town.] She does a lot of events. She was a dessert chef at the [recent] Tower Bridge dinner. Her brownies are really moist. I also love her pies. She’s able to use local fruits and she does a lot of seasonal baking. With crust, people are looking for that flakiness—not too thick, and not too thin. And those are the points she’s hitting.

Another favorite of mine is Veg Cafe on J Street above Thai Basil. The ambiance is really quaint. With the décor and the big windows, it reminds me of New Orleans. And I love the consistency of the food. I love their brunch because they do a chicken and waffle takeoff, but they’re using oyster mushrooms. I’ve had friends who are not vegan and they’re like, ‘This is chicken.’ And I’m like, ‘No, it’s not. It’s mushrooms.’

Nina Curtis photo by Francisco Chavira