The atmosphere of every restaurant is so influenced by the people in the kitchen, behind the bar and running between the tables. Grange has come into its own with a level of easy comfort and intense dedication to quality that is reflective of the staff in the kitchen but also feels more like this town. It’s so…Sacramento.

Part of the change can certainly be attributed to the humble yet intense personality of the executive chef. As Chef Oliver sat with us, we were struck right away by his quiet charm, intensity for detail, and his extensive experience. His background is a travel/food lover’s dream – Australia, New Orleans and the Caribbean are just a few of the places he has spent time in kitchens, learning the craft. His last gig was as the head chef at the Anasazi Restauran in Santa Fe, New Mexico – a personal favorite of mine.

Despite Chef Oliver’s impressive global background, he remains dedicated to offering cuisine that highlights the sense of place and is definitively “Sacramentan.” The passion, the demand for the freshest and most local ingredients, and the obsession over detail was evident in every dish the kitchen put in front of us.

Chef Oliver’s approach to regional food is by no means unheard of, but we are excited that Sacramento has another outstanding chef who is passionately dedicated to knowing the growers behind the food, insisting on local and seasonal menus, and is persistent in defining what it means to be Sacramento cuisine. We look forward to seeing what more Grange has in store!

Grange Restaurant & Bar
926 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 492-4450

But that’s OK.

Because while the eatery sits perched caddy-corner to the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op at the tastefully gentrified intersection of Alhambra Boulevard and S Street, its no-frills, laid-back attitude still embodies some of the essentials of Midtown living. And that’s just how I like it.

Opened in June 2011 by owner Butch Plank, the space sits at the foot of the new Alexan Midtown property. In fact, inspiration to open Midtown Deli struck when Butch—a contractor by day—was installing some finishing touches on the chic, semi-urban apartment complex last year. With new storefront space ready for lease, he jumped at the chance to offer area residents and nine-to-fivers access to quick and easy deli fare with a decidedly local flair.

Inside, you’re met with tall ceilings, grass green and stainless-steel accents, plus a super friendly staff. Sacramentans will surely crack a smile with menu items that pay homage to local landmarks, neighborhoods and happenings.

Case in point: The American River Wrap (turkey, hummus, olives, tomatoes), The Light Rail Sandwich (chicken breast, mozzarella, bacon, ranch) and even The 2^nd Saturday Panini (spinach, feta, tomatoes and olives).

But on this chilly, mid-week and mid-winter afternoon, I decided The River Cat is where it’s at. The gist: a wheat panini, featuring chicken breast, gooey pepper Jack cheese, bacon, BBQ sauce, Tabasco and peppers. Truth be told, it was just the kick I needed.

Midtown Deli also offers a generous daily Happy Hour running 4 p.m. till close. Come springtime, I could definitely see myself enjoying the sunny weather on the enclosed patio with a cold pint of Blue Moon, Sierra Nevada or Lagunitas IPA, plus a great view of the comings and goings along the Alhambra Corridor (Al-Co? The AC?).

Free Wi-Fi and a pair of 55-inch flat screens round out the amenities and make this a great spot to catch up on emails or the latest game (go Niners!). Digital denizens would also be well advised to keep up with Midtown Deli’s Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare channels for free sandwiches, soft drinks and T-shirts, too.

All in all, a fun, casual lunch spot bursting with local pride and insouciant charm. Also: Party trays!

Midtown Deli
1899 Alhambra Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 737-5776

I recently discovered this recipe for Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups on Pinterest and couldn’t help but make them for a brunch party. Needless to say, they’re a real crowd-pleaser!

For our second SacFoodies Dine Downtown Restaurant Week review, we were invited to deVere’s Irish Pub in Midtown to check out its special menu for this week, which is $30 per person for three courses. Little did we know we were dining at the pub on its weekly Trivia Night, and it was packed with serious pub quiz players! After enjoying our first course outside due to the crowds, we managed to snag a table inside to finish the meal and check out the quiz.

The meal began with a light and crisp Endive Salad with bleu cheese, toasted walnuts and Granny Smith apples, and a cup of the chef’s soup of the day, which was a creamy broccoli bisque that was not hard to finish!

Next up were the entrées: a roasted half chicken served with mashed potatoes, broccolini and carrots, and a braised pork shoulder served with brown buttered potatoes. The chicken was juicy, both potato dishes were delicious (we had no trouble eating every bite of the taters!) and the veggies were the perfect healthy complement to the meal.

If we weren’t stuffed enough by this point, dessert came next, and it did not disappoint. Luckily, we didn’t have to choose between the Flourless Chocolate Cake and Crispy Bread Pudding. The chocolate cake was served with candied walnuts and was deliciously rich and decadent, while the bread pudding was Irish to the core, served with vanilla ice cream and Jameson caramel.

Fun Fact about deVere’s: all of the furniture and decorations in the pub came straight from Ireland – how’s that for authentic? They’ve also recently opened a location in Davis.

For a list of all participating restaurants for Dine Downtown, click here.

deVere’s Irish Pub

1521 L Street

Sacramento, CA  95814

One of the participating restaurants is Old Sac’s Ten22, and a guest and I were lucky enough to get a sneak peek of its Dine Downtown menu this past weekend. I love that Ten22 has roomy booths and tables with plenty of space between them, so you don’t feel like you’re in on the conversation at the next table over. Its atmosphere feels upscale and classy, yet comfortable at the same time – we sat at a stylish booth near the bar, which had the football game on and an array of beers on tap.

For drinks, I opted for a glass of Fumé Blanc, while my guest sipped on a smoked porter from Stone Brewing Co. I’m usually a red wine gal, but this glass was crisp and mild, the perfect companion for everything on the menu. The beer was smoky and smooth – yum!

For our first course, we tried both options, the Sliced Ahi Sashimi and Roasted Pecan-Smoked Bacon “Chop.” The chop was my favorite – it was like two high-quality, crispy pieces of bacon that coupled well with the smoked porter beer.

Next up was the main course. We tried the Pan-Roasted Salmon and Petit New York Strip Steak Diane. Both were fabulous and flavorful! The salmon was crunchy on the outside and cooked to perfection on the inside – this was hands-down my favorite item of the night. Both dishes came with roasted potatoes, which had a pleasant, simple flavor that didn’t take away from the main courses.

Of course, the evening wouldn’t be complete without dessert! Ten22 has a new pastry chef, so all of its desserts are baked in house. We tried both the Citrus-Scented Crème Brûlée and Chocolate Mousse Cake, and both were a sweet finish to a perfect dinner. The caramelized sugar atop the crème brûlée was delicious and not too rich – just the way I like it. And the chocolate crust on the mousse cake was nothing short of mouth-watering.

I highly recommend you check out Ten22 for its quality food and enjoyable atmosphere. You can view its Dine Downtown menu here, and for a list of all participating restaurants for Dine Downtown, click here.

Ten22

1022 Second Street

Old Sacramento

(916) 441-2211

It’s what we did over the Christmas break one evening with my sister and brother-in-law. The tavern is tucked away, and when you walk in, don’t be intimidated by the fact that every table and booth is filled (this is always a good sign!). Head to the back where the bar is located, place your drink order, and enjoy the conversation while you wait for a table to open up – or buy a group a round of beers in exchange for their table, which is what we did!

The menu is carefully edited, which is another good sign, focusing on a wide selection of beers, burgers, sausages and salads. We started with the bleu cheese bacon fries and beer – for me, it was Red Nectar and for my dinner companions, it was Allagash White (for a list of the latest beers on tap, which changes frequently, check their website). We studied the menu and decided on the Blue Plate Special (Hawaiian burger), the Johnny Cash Burger (a house bestseller), the Sausage Sampler Plate and the Spinach Salad. Everything was fresh and delicious, and we inhaled our dinners, a sure indication of how good the food was.

The tavern itself is beautiful, as are most of the buildings in Historic Folsom. The dark wood and embossed tin ceiling transport you to a different place and time. The tavern atmosphere is casual; in fact, you place your dinner order at the bar, receive a number and then your food is brought to you.

If you’re looking for a great selection of craft beers and good food in a warm atmosphere, head to Sam Horne’s. Cheers!

Samuel Horne’s Tavern
719 Sutter Street
Folsom, CA  95630
(916) 293-8207

We were definitely among some great company, so check out what we had to say about why we think Sacramento is a food town and what our last meals on Earth would be. You can read the article and latest issue of the magazine here.

Plates Café offers full-service catering Monday through Friday, with a wide range of holiday and year-round favorites, including hot appetizers, tray-passed hors d’oeuvres, sit-down dinners and buffet service. Take a look at some of its breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, and you’ll be sure to see something that catches your eye.

Recently, Plates Café catered a local holiday party, which included a three-course dinner with a wine pairing for each course. Here are some of the highlights:

Vegetable fricassee with sweet corn, runner beans, fingerling potatoes, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, pancetta, and Dijon-shallot-basil butter

Fresh pasta (from The Pasta Queen), local and sun-dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, chili flakes, sweet corn, and house made basil-walnut pesto

So keep Plates Café and Catering Center on your radar. After all, eating savory food and supporting such a great cause is something anyone can enjoy, especially at this time of the year.

Plates Café & Catering
Located in Depot Park
14 Business Park Way, Building 149
Sacramento, CA  95828
(916) 381-2233

After a just over an hour of mixing, baking and glazing, I had this “rummy” treat to bring to the festivities. For an added personal touch (if you have time), print the recipe to accompany the gift. Happy Holidays!

Ingredients

Cake:

1 package yellow or chocolate cake mix (note: to save time, get the one with pudding already in the mix and omit the pudding mix below)
1 3/4 oz package instant vanilla or chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup dark or gold rum (use Gosling’s Rum for authentic Bermudian version)

Glaze:

1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark or gold rum

Directions for Cake:

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour 10-inch tube or 12-cup Bundt Pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 1 hour. Set on rack to cool. Invert on serving plate.

Directions for Glaze:

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Stir in rum and remove from heat. Prick top of cake with fork. Drizzle and brush glaze evenly over top and sides.

Source: The Elbow Beach Hotel, Bermuda

It’s no secret the SacFoodies team loves food – especially Sacramento food. So we were all excited to experience a few local eateries in a new way on a walking tour in the midtown and East Sacramento neighborhoods earlier this month, courtesy of Local Roots Food Tours. So, if you’re looking to give the gift of food to someone (not just foodies), I highly recommend giving one of these tours.

Here are some of the highlights from our tour:

Cafe Bernando

Our first stop was a private tasting at the Capitol Ave. location of this Paragary Restaurant Group property, which included a tasting of the eatery’s creamy, flavorful Orrechiette pasta dish. Not only does Cafe Bernardo use fresh and local ingredients, but the restaurant also makes its own pasta at a nearby bakery. The Orrechiette was outstanding—every bite was filled with the flavors of cauliflower, leeks, pancetta and Parmesan cheese.

Paragary Bakery

This private shop services all of the Paragary-owned restaurants, and the SacFoodies were lucky enough to score a sneak peak of the inside. Of course, the industrial-sized mixers and ovens were not much to see, but what came out of those were some of the tastiest morsels of the day—gingerbread cookies with browned butter cream cheese frosting (simply: WOW).

Cool fact: The bakery makes everything from pizza dough to bread to pastries, and it uses an average of 70 lbs. of butter per day.

Coffee Works and Juno’s Kitchen & Delicatessen

Coffee Works, one of the oldest coffee shops in Sacramento that does its own roasting, provided us with a much-needed caffeine pick-me-up. We were shown how the roasting process works, which was a bit more complex than the Keurig Single Cup Coffee Maker I’m used to.

Juno’s was a quick surprise stop on the tour, and while streetside, we got to try their Israeli Couscous with a side of roasted potatoes.

Both Coffee Works and Juno’s are the kind of neighborhood joints that make the Sacramento food scene so great—these gems are a bit off the beaten path but offer delicious options.

La Trattoria Bohemia

What would a food tour be without beer? At this Czech and Italian restaurant, we were able to enjoy a nice cold pilsner on the side of Margherita pizza and tiramisu. It was a refreshing treat, despite most of us already feeling stuffed to the gills.

Centro Cocina Mexicana

Our final stop concluded with another Paragary-owned restaurant, and by this time, we could barely fit another bite in our mouths. Thankfully, there’s always room for tequila! We ended our fabulous tour with one of Centro’s tequila infusions. As we sipped our fruity tequila (which one SacFoodie insisted tasted just like juice—but with a little extra kick!), we all agreed that the Local Roots Food Tours are a great way to experience a taste of the Sacramento dining scene.

Local Roots Food Tours
(800) 838-3006
www.localrootsfoodtours.com