SacFoodies

The Hospitality Industry Helping in the Community

by SacFoodies

Sacramento Hotels Farm-to-Fork Showcase: Challenge of the Chefs
October 30, 2019 (Wednesday)
5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. |Kimpton Sawyer Hotel

The 4th annual Sacramento Hotels Farm-to-Fork Showcase: Challenge of the Chefs is set for October 30, 2019, at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel—as part of Sacramento Hotel Association’s ongoing community service activities.

For 2019, the Farm-to-Fork Showcase will benefit Soil Born Farms, a non-profit 501(c)(3)organization. Soil Born Farms is about growing food, mentoring youth and future farmers, teaching people how to cook and garden, creating urban farms and preserving wild spaces, developing partnerships and improving access to fresh produce throughout our community, and at the core, it is about making a difference. It means transforming a shared vision of healthy food for all into a local reality.

The Sacramento Hotels Farm-to-Fork Showcase: Challenge of the Chefs is sponsored by the Sacramento Hotel Association (SHA).The event will feature:

  • Festive Farm-to-Fork food stations from local hotels/restaurants
  • Friendly competition among the hotel executive chefs—three different awards
  • Craft beer tastings from local brewers
  • Wine tastings from area vintners
  • Silent auction of gift baskets and prize packages
  • Musical entertainment

The Sacramento Hotel Association’s Sacramento Hotels Farm-to-Fork Showcase: Challenge of the Chefs open to the public. Advance tickets are $45 per person plus service fee; tickets are $55 per person at the door. You can pre-purchase your tickets at www.ChallengeoftheChefs.com

If You Don’t Like That, Then You Don’t Like King's Basketball

by SacFoodies

By Cheyenne Cameron-Pruitt
…and, in this case, the “that” is the Sacramento King’s official tequila sponsor, Milagro.
We had the opportunity (thanks Milagro!) to experience the King’s newly announced tequila sponsor during an awesome night filled with delicious food and drinks, once in a lifetime experiences and best of all, a W for the Kings!
We started off our night on the court, Swipa, Bogi and Giles were greeted by the smiling faces of these foodies (we’re pretty sure we were the night’s good luck charms!). Seeing the Kings up close and personal was such a fun experience that we will cherish forever.


After wishing the team luck and sending all the good vibes their way, we headed to the Milagro Tequila Bar on the Plaza level of the arena. Here you can find a slew of delicious libations featuring high quality ingredients and Milagro Tequila. One of the coolest things about the Sactown Margaritas is that they come in cups specially designed by three local artists!

The partnership between Milagro Tequila and the Sacramento Kings officially kicked-off with a local competition in September to choose the artwork for the SacTown Margarita Cup. With Milagro Tequila’s focus on local Mexican artists for content and the Kings’ emphasis on using local vendors, the two sought out to use Sacramento-based artists to bring a different element to the new Sactown Margarita. The three artists (Ernesto Cardens of SAVDESIGNS, Nick Jacoy aka Pasta Nick and Jason Vu of 13th Vision) had their designs featured in a campaign where fans voted on their favorite to be featured on the cup of the Milagro SacTown Margarita. The winner of the competition was Jason Vu of 13th Vision.
 
You might be thinking to yourself, a marg is a marg, there’s nothing that special. But think again, like everything else on the Golden 1 Center menu, a lot of attention to detail went into creating the SacTown Margarita. Our favorite part is that there is an element of Sacramento in the ingredients! Orange Liqueur made with Sacramento Oranges, Margarita Mix from Preservation and Co. pair beautifully with Milagro Silver for a classic drink with a garnish of home. ?

We ended our night with a delicious dinner prepared by the Golden 1 Center’s executive chef. Each course from the salad to the dessert featured Milagro tequila. We still can’t get over how beautiful (and delicious) these margarita cupcakes were.

Milagro is the King’s Official Tequila partner for the next two seasons, which gives you plenty of time to give the SacTown Margarita a try

[Read more…]

An Afternoon of Holiday Cheer at Séka Hills

by SacFoodies

This year, the FleishmanHillard and SacFoodies team left the big city and headed out to the Capay Valley to celebrate the holiday season. Séka Hills welcomed us with open arms for an afternoon of food, drinks and good cheer!
We started our afternoon with a tour of the surrounding Yocha Dehe farm land. The tribe grows 16 crops on over 2,000 acres including almonds, sunflower, olives, and walnuts. Plus, Yocha Dehe has a herd of 700 cattle in the hills and surrounding valleys. The tour was beautiful and a perfect way to kick off the afternoon.
  
We then indulged in a little charcuterie and Séka Hills Voignier on the patio! The weather was perfect and it was a nice treat for the office.
After our time on the patio, we headed inside to our table in the milling room, where olives from the farm are milled and transformed into award winning olive oil. The table was beautiful and the decor was so festive.
  
Yes – that sign says “Deck The Halls with Cheese and Wine”… you can see where our priorities lie!!
The menu was full of delicious local produce from start to finish, plus they were so accommodating to our team members with dietary restrictions. We started with a Tuscan Kale Caesar Salad with Olio Nuovo Dressing, Shaved Local Duck Egg, Crispy Bread Crumbs & Aged Parmigiana. This was served with a Séka Hills Sauvignon Blanc.
Next we indulged in a family-style spread of Red Wine Filet Mignon with Tuluk’a & Pomegranate Demi, Roasted Root Vegetables, Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Chicken Breast with Herb Jus, and Wild Rice Pilaf with Leeks. All of the dishes on the menu were cooked with Séka Hills olive oil and balsamic vinegar products! This course was served with Séka Hills Tuluk’a.
  
Last but certainly not least, we enjoyed some truffles and fromage with Séka Hills Tribal Reserve.
Overall, our day at Séka Hills was perfect. We got to experience the beauty of the Yocha Dehe farmland and the amazing farm to table food and wine that they offer. But don’t take my word for it! Enjoy these words of praise from the FleishmanHillard and SacFoodies team.
“Séka Hills was everything that I love about California rolled into one, beautiful scenery, farm to table food and delicious wine! Not to mention learning a bit more about the tribe and their traditions was amazing. I can’t wait to go back for the sunflower tour and perhaps a bit more of the Tuluk’a ;).”
“Such a beautiful getaway. I will definitely be going back in spring for the bloom tour.”
“The food was incredible with so many amazing local fall flavors, each pairing perfectly with Séka Hills wines. I can’t wait to plan my next visit and tasting.”
For more information on Séka Hills, visit their website.

Fall in Love with Lazy Dog

by SacFoodies

By Cheyenne Cameron-Pruitt and Jessi Gunn
There’s a chill in the air, leaves on the ground and the holidays are fast approaching; it is officially fall!  I don’t know about you, but this weather makes me want to cuddle up and eat good home cooking, but the desire to watch Netflix all day sometimes outweighs the desire to cook. That’s where Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar comes in! You may remember us paying them a visit for brunch with our furry friends in tow this spring. That day we discovered what an amazing hidden gem Lazy Dog is, and our latest visit only solidified its place in our hearts!
We visited Lazy Dog to give the new fall menu a try and haven’t stopped thinking about it since! Their attention to detail with their special menus continues to amaze us, not to mention the quality of their ingredients. All of the Lazy Dog ingredients are sourced from local farmers!  The fall menu is filled with all the best comfort foods but with a delicious twist.

As you can see the menu is AMAZING! So it was pretty hard to pick a favorite dish. If you told us before we went to Lazy Dog that we would have a dining experience where the Spaghetti Squash and Beetballs were among the favorites, we wouldn’t believe you. However, the Spaghetti Squash and Beetballs were truly amazing, all the flavors of one of our favorite childhood dishes and completely vegetarian-friendly!

We also got the chance to try some delicious starters like the Crispy Deviled Eggs and the Winter Veggies with Burratta.

Onto the mains, we indulged in the most delicious and perfectly cooked Cornish Game Hen. Oven-roasted and served with a fantastic stuffing, this was to die for! We also tried a delicious, and different, PB&J Burger! We were skeptical of the peanut butter at first, but the candied bacon and grape jelly swayed us, and it was delicious. Sometimes those unique flavors have a big payoff.


We finished dinner with a delicious gluten free dessert!

Next time you don’t feel like cooking, visit your local Lazy Dog for some truly amazing fall food. That’s our plan!

Mendocino Farms: It Feels Like We're Coming Home

by SacFoodies

by Laurel Harrison
The long-awaited Mendocino Farms is finally making its appearance at the R Street Ice Blocks on December 6th, and we could not be more excited! They already have a cult-like following in SoCal and the Bay Area, and the SacFoodies are ready to drink the seasonal, locally-sourced Kool-Aid.

For those who aren’t familiar, Mendocino Farms is a popular sandwich and salad restaurant that emphasizes premium, locally-sourced ingredients in creative and seasonal dishes. Mendo (as the fans call it) is devoted to partnering with local farmers and food artisans to create tasty food while supporting the local food economy.
Co-founders Mario Del Pero and Ellen Chen (a dynamic husband-and-wife team) wanted to come back to their roots with a Midtown location, inspired by Del Pero’s own childhood experiences with Sacramento’s rich food scene.
Del Pero spent his youth in Sacramento, eating peanut noodles from the now-closed David Berkley Fine Wines & Specialty Foods and taking inspiration from Berkley’s commitment to high-quality, soul-satisfying food. In fact, Del Pero says that Berkley, and his dedication to the community, was a huge inspiration for the Mendocino Farms culture. It seems only fitting that Mendocino Farms is coming back to where it all began – right here, in Sacramento.

“I grew up less than an hour outside Sacramento in Yuba City, so this restaurant opening means a lot to me. It feel like we’re coming home. People here have such a great appreciation for the farm-to-table philosophy we’ve always embraced, and Midtown is such a sophisticated and vibrant community.”
What are the SacFoodies most excited for? Right now, it’s a toss-up between the Pork Belly Banh Mi and the Save Drake Farm’s Salad, but we’re sure we’ll find more to crave as we work through the menu.
Most of all, we’re happy to welcome Mario and Ellen home to Sacramento – we hope you stay a while!