The Porch has been my favorite restaurant in Sacramento for the past couple of years, but somehow I had never made it in for brunch. I now know how much I was missing out.
Last weekend some friends and I stopped by for some midmorning munch and drinks at The Porch, and the end result was me taking a big post-brunch nap due to the delicious food-coma that ensued.
The Porch’s classic Southern chicken and waffle plate.
This is probably some of the best Eggs Benedict I have ever eaten with crispy yet fluffy potatoes on the side. Note The Porch’s Snickerdoodle cocktail in the background – it’s as if they took a white Russian, added a cookie and made it somehow lighter and more refreshing.
Our epic spread at the table. And that’s not a mimosa we’re drinking, it’s a Champagne Julep. Made with Buffalo Trace Bourbon, simple syrup, mint and champagne, this morning cocktail will make even non-bourbon drinkers ask for seconds. I did.
The Porch Restaurant and Bar
1815 K St.
Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 444-2423
www.theporchrestaurantandbar.com
Sacramento Food Film Festival Launch
Last Thursday I had the delicious opportunity to attend the launch of the Sacramento Food Film Festival at Goldfield Trading Post, presented by the Food Literacy Center. It was a fun evening of unique bites provided by Jay Veregge of Ten 22, Aimal Formoli of Formoli’s Bistro, Michael Thiemann of Mother, Brian Mizner of Hook and Ladder and Hank Shaw, a James Beard Award-winning author. With such great names collaborating, the food definitely shared center stage with the film. By far, my favorite dish was the spicy cauliflower from Mother, a spicy Asian-inspired creation so full of savory flavors and satisfying texture that I didn’t even miss the meat.
On the film side, the selection of shorts shown throughout the evening was an eclectic and entertaining mix, but the kicker bit of entertainment for me was having each course served by a mini chef in uniform. It was great to see that the Food Literacy Center gave the children they provide services to a role in the event as fledgling foodies themselves, doling out each delicious bite as they balanced a full platter above their stiff white hats.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Sacramento Food Film Festival’s events, running through March 29. Get the full schedule here or check out our March 19 SacFoodies post with the events roundup.
My favorite bite of the night. Spicy cauliflower from Mother.
A mouth-watering, sweet berry and wafer concoction I could have eaten a platter of.
Attendees enjoy film shorts presented at Goldfield Trading Post.
Employee Appreciation Day + Hock Farm Craft & Provisions
Tomorrow is Employee Appreciation Day, and here at SacFoodies we know there’s no better way to say thanks to your loyal staff than offering up the chance to enjoy some top-notch food and spirits.
Yes, you CAN become the most beloved boss of all time tomorrow – simply invest in some tickets to Hock Farm Craft & Provisions’sRuhstaller five-course dinner with beer pairings, running through Saturday. Dole these coveted tickets out with all the grace of the benevolent leader you are, and your gift of grub will pay you back tenfold with all those hours of extra, happy productivity.
Tickets run $65 a pop, but what expense is too large when it comes to showing appreciation for your fellow man? With each ticket comes a delicious showcase of the best local fare, punctuated with delicious items like beer risotto and beer-braised Angus beef (you see the Sacramento Beer Week theme here).
So get your tickets now, and go down in history as the favorite CEO, “Culinary Experience Offer-er.”
I know. I challenge you to come up with a better acronym.
Dawson’s
I had the opportunity to hang out with Jason Poole, the executive chef of Dawson’s last week, and learned that his restaurant is anything but an industry cliché. Located at 1209 L Street, Dawson’s is the Hyatt Regency’s in-house steakhouse. But don’t call it a “hotel restaurant.” Dawson’s stands on its own.
“We’re not a hotel restaurant. We’re better than that stigma,” Poole says. “Yes, we have rooms here, but we’re so much more.”
Unlike some hotel chains that implement uniform menus across all locations, Poole has free rein over 99 percent of everything that comes out of his kitchen. That translates into a delicious menu chock full of local items like SunFed Ranch grass fed beef from Sutter County and asparagus and other fresh veggies from the Delta.
With fresh local ingredients, Poole’s Chef de Cuisine Michael Grande has a wide variety of foods to work with, and he does so masterfully. The grass-fed beef bone marrow appetizer we sampled was luscious and buttery. We ordered the SunFed Ranch grass-fed flat iron steak and a California corn-fed flat iron from Brandt Beef for comparison. Both were delicious and cooked just to perfection, with sides of crisp asparagus as well as lobster mac-and-cheese. All these great flavors were delivered with incredible service (arguably the best I’ve had in Sacramento) courtesy of our awesome waiter, Ardy.
Beyond the great wait staff and cuisine, one particular source of pride to Poole is what used to be a cascading hotel fountain that’s now brimming with a variety of edibles like fragrant lemon thyme and ripening tomatoes. This is Poole’s vegetable garden, retrofitted by the hotel just for his use. Poole’s favorite plant is a hardy pepper plant that he likes to call, the “Charlie Brown pepper tree.”
“It’s the lone survivor of the garden’s first iteration,” Poole admits with a smile, touching the leaves of the plant. “It took some tweaks to get it right.”
To get the ingredients needed for Dawson’s beyond what his garden and the Charlie Brown tree provide, Poole says the best local foods are always just a phone call away.
“In Sacramento, it’s so easy, you just have to put in a request for whatever it is you want and it’s here,” Poole says.
Easy sourcing makes it even more fun for Poole to participate in the abundance of Sacramento Farm-to-Fork celebrations he enjoys, like BLT Week in July, Offal Day in August, Farm-to-Fork Festival in September and Baconfest in January. Poole says the events are great opportunities for him to showcase what Dawson’s has to offer Sacramento foodies.
“We’re out in the community,” Poole says. “We’re letting people know we’re way beyond just a hotel restaurant.”
Dawson’s
BAR: 4:00pm – 10:00pm Monday – Friday
5:00pm – 10:00pm Saturday & Sunday
Happy Hour: Monday – Friday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm
DINING ROOM: 5:30pm – 10:00pm Daily