Are you staying in the Sacramento area this weekend, and looking for a way to keep your foodie side busy? The Sac Foodies are here to help! Here are just a few events to check out this weekend:
Zinfest in Lodi: The annual ZinFest festival showcases more than 50 Lodi wineries across three days of various events in and around Lodi. The main festival happens Saturday at Lodi Lake, where you can taste 250 wines from more than 50 Lodi wineries while sampling food from area restaurants, listening to live music and shopping for wine-themed arts and crafts. Don’t forget to visit the ZinFest Wine School and come away with enough wine and cooking knowledge to dazzle your friends. Check out our recap of last year’s ZinFest and be warned – the forecast is calling for temperatures to flirt with the century mark again this year, so be prepared!
Cheese Loves Beer – Mastering the Marriage: UC Davis’ Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science is hosting this unique workshop on Saturday from 12:30 – 5:00 p.m., where you’ll learn all about pairing cheese with beer. Discover how beer can pair with your favorite cheese, hear about different varieties of cheeses and sample beer and cheese pairings. Admission is $75 at the door. For more information, visit the Mondavi Institute Web site and contact Kim Bannister to RSVP. Don’t forget to tell them you heard about it here on Sac Foodies!
Cajun Crawfish Broil: It’s no secret that a few Sac Foodies are fans of Cajun food, so when this event came across our desk, we took notice! Slow Food Sacramento is hosting a special Crawfish Broil on Sunday, May 17 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. at The Supper Club, 1616 Del Paso Blvd. in Sacramento. Chef Matt Woolston’s menu includes authentic Southern foods such as Southern fried chicken, pork spareribs, succotash, and of course, crawfish boil with corn, potatoes and special Cajun spices. Tickets are $40 for Slow Food members and $45 for non-members and may be purchased on the Slow Food Sacramento Web site or by calling Brown Paper Tickets at (800) 838-3006.
Staying around the house this weekend? With the soaring temperatures, the last thing you want to do is slave over a hot stove preparing dinner. May is National Barbecue Month after all (full disclosure: National Barbecue Month is promoted by our client, the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association), so what better way to celebrate than moving the kitchen outside and getting in some grilling practice ahead of the big Memorial Day weekend?
Happy eating!
Archives for May 2009
Tightwad Tuesday: Tokyo Fro's Happy Hour
I heart sushi. And when I find a good sushi place, I like to shout it from the rooftops. KRU! MIKUNI! I bet they can hear me all the way in Davis…where I love ZEN TORO! (It’s common knowledge that when you type in all caps it’s yelling, right?)
So what’s the latest sushi spot to which I’ve been referring friends? TOKYO FRO’S! Haven’t heard of it? Well you should check it out, and here’s why: Every weeknight, Tokyo Fro’s offers diners half off sushi rolls and cocktails! And that’s not all – the midtown location, which is situated inside Dream night club on 15th Street, has this happy hour offer from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m., so even workaholics can join the fun! Tokyo Fro’s also has a location in Fair Oaks, which boasts happy hour Monday through Saturday from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Now it’s confession time. Since discovering Tokyo Fro’s happy hour, I have been three times in three weeks. I’ve loved everything I’ve tried, but have to gush about the Fro So Def roll – it’s to-die-for.
According to a fellow PR pro, @Lesley3fold, the asparagus roll is also amazing. If you’ve been to Tokyo Fro’s, please let us know what your favorite menu item is by leaving a comment below!
Grange: A Sacramento Hot Spot
Last week, I was lucky enough to celebrate a special occasion with dinner out at Grange, the new restaurant adjacent to the trendy Citizen Hotel. I’d heard a lot about it, including the chef’s affinity for local ingredients, so I was eager to see what Grange had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised on arrival – it was a Thursday night and the restaurant and bar were lively and packed with diners. The restaurant has a warehouse-feel with huge windows facing out onto 10th Street that give the space a very open feeling.
We decided to start by sharing a bowl of Alfredo’s Spicy Tortilla Soup. The soup was creamy with just the right amount of spice and topped with a lime crème and cilantro. It was the perfect lead-in to our meal and paired well with the Oregon Pinot Noir we were sipping on.
For my entrée I decided on the Black Pepper & Lemon Gnocchi with morel crème sauce, pancetta, peas and porcini oil – after reading the description, how could I resist? The gnocchi were melt in your mouth good and I had no trouble cleaning the plate and using the French bread on the table to sop up the extra sauce – yum! However, if you’re not in the mood for pasta or risotto as your entrée, a great option that Grange offers is a half-size portion that can be ordered for an appetizer.
My dining companion had the Grilled Free Range Chicken with soft polenta, braised local greens and salsa verde. I had a bite (or two) and I don’t know if I’ve ever had chicken so juicy – it was truly delicious.
Great food, ambiance and service make Grange a spot that I definitely plan to return to – I’ve already got my eye on the Tuna Tartare and Fritto Misto appetizers for next time. Grange also offers daily three course featured meals for two for $45 which include a set entrée, soup and salad. You really can’t go wrong with the seasonal and fresh ingredients that Grange is known for – if you give it a try, I’d love to know what you think!
Grange Restaurant & Bar
926 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 492-4450
Mother's Day Foodie Event Round-Up
If you’re looking for ideas to treat Mom this Sunday, look no further because we’ve got the scoop on all the fun Mother’s Day offerings around town!
The Good Life Garden at UC Davis is offering “A Very Special Mothers’ Day Brunch with Suzanne Ashworth” this Sunday at 11 a.m. Suzanne Ashworth is the owner of Del Rio Botanical Farm and the brunch will feature exotic produce as well as spring crops. The cost is $65 and tickets are available here.
Celebrate Festa Della Mamma at the Hot Italian – if you bring in Mom for lunch or dinner, she gets a free prosecco cocktail or scoop of gelato on the house! Buonissimo!
Paragary’s Restaurants are offering a special deal this Sunday – buy your Mom a bottle of California wine at Whole Foods and bring it into any Paragary’s restaurant location to receive free corkage! In addition, each restaurant will be offering special Mother’s Day menus – visit their Web site for more information.
Ella Dining Room will have a three course Mother’s Day menu for $60 per person. Food choices will include grilled prawns with artichoke ravioli, potato and ricotta gnocchi, Alaskan halibut with poached Maine lobster and an herb stuffed grilled leg of lamb. Call 916-443-3772 for reservations.
Paul Martin’s American Bistro will celebrate Mother’s Day with signature dishes that start at just $12 including halibut, mahi-mahi, prime rib and much more. Reservations are available by calling 916-783-3600.
Looking for something for the kids to do this weekend? Drop them off at the East Bay Culinary Supply Center on Saturday so they can whip up a batch of Mother’s Day cupcakes in your honor! The class costs $25 per child and begins at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Call 916-440-0623.
Finally, if you still need more ideas, visit Open Table and you can view a complete list of Mother’s Day specials and open reservations times – it doesn’t get any easier than this!
A Craving for Wedding Cupcakes
For the last few months, my nights and weekends have consisted mostly of checklists, song lists, guest lists, invitations, veils, showers, programs, dress fittings, menus, rings, flowers, bicep curls and push-ups (the boy kind!). You guessed it – I’m planning a wedding. Event planning generally falls into the PR umbrella, and is something we do for our clients on a regular basis… so in theory, planning an event for my personal life should be a breeze, right?
I actually have been having a blast planning the big day, together with my soon-to-be “other” half, Will, and our families. With May 24 right around the corner, one of the items we had to check off our list was the infamous wedding cake. Now, I’m not one of those girls that has been planning my wedding since the age of twelve, however, I will say that one of the first decisions that was made was that we’d be serving cupcakes instead of a traditional cake on our wedding day. What can I say – my priorities often revolve around food!
When I saw that one of Sacramento’s top gourmet cupcake bakeries opened a store front in Davis (where we live) I was intrigued. I called Cupcake Craving to set up a tasting, and they recommended I come into the main location (on Arden) to taste.
The people behind the counter were so friendly (I mean, they are surrounded by cupcakes, the happiest thing on earth) and they got us set up for the tasting in the back bakery. With a menu that includes flavors such as Mint Meltdown, S’More Galore and German Chocolate Wish, we had a tough time even deciding what to taste. We tasted several cupcakes, went through a jug of milk and discussed design and presentation. In the end, we decided on four flavors for our cupcake tower: Koo-Koo for Macaroon, Chocolate Brownie, Italian Rum Delight and the 10K Craving (carrot cake). Together with the folks at Cupcake Craving we designed the frosting and glazes that kept within the colors of our wedding, and even worked out a deal for a Davis delivery which would will make for one less thing for this bride to worry about on our wedding day. We walked away happy and awkwardly full, with a take-home container of half-eaten cupcakes. It was such a fun afternoon, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. I’ll be sure to post a few post-wedding photos.