Local Business

Deep Yoga becomes Yoga Shala

2011-07-23T01:01:37Z

After six years at the helm of Deep Art and Yoga on H Street, the first yoga studio in Midtown, owner Christine Sukhbir Kaur Collins is passing the space on to Tyler Langdale, owner of Yoga Shala.

Though she won’t own the space any longer, Collins will continue to teach Kundalini yoga, which emphasizes focused breathing, meditation and chanting, at Yoga Shala two nights a week.

Citing her desire to live a freer, “more relaxed life,” with time to travel, Collins explained that she is ready to relinquish some of the responsibilities that have come with owning Deep, specifically those having to do with finances.

“I just won’t have the stress and the responsibility of numbers, which is not something I enjoy or am really that good at,” she said.

For someone who has watched the yoga scene in Sacramento grow from its infancy, Collins’ decision to close has not been an easy one.

“Letting go of anything that you love is really challenging,” she said.

But she said her new life path has brought to her a sense of relief, and she will continue to invest in the Sacramento yoga community.

“Now I get to do what I really love, which is build community through teaching,” she said.

Letting go of Deep will also give Collins more time to focus on Dad’s Kitchen on Freeport Boulevard, which she co-owns.

Yoga Shala will continue Deep’s model of specializing in Kundalini and Yin Yoga, as well as 5Rhythms Dance, a music-centered workout taught by Bella Dreizler, but will also incorporate Vinyasa, a physically intense form of yoga that emphasizes posture, physical strength and power.

Dino Misenti, a longtime student at Deep who is currently traveling in India, said via email that he was surprised and saddened by the news of the studio closing.

Misenti remembered Collins’ “profound” knowledge of Kundalini chakras and energy locks and her “mystical” appearance, in white garments and head wrap.

He said that taking a class with Collins is “akin to being told how to breathe properly for the first time and getting a healthy dose of intoxicating oxygen.”

“After every class, you feel gentler, lighter, more at peace,” he added.

While she is aware of her students’ sadness about the closing of Deep, Collins said she is confident in the resilience of the community.

“Part of being a yoga practitioner is that you learn how to adapt gracefully to change,” she said.

Lunch and Learn discusses "Photosynthetic Restaurant"

2011-07-08T05:39:02Z

Imagine how a rose bush might respond to the heart-racing effect of spicy food or the cleansing experience of an end-of meal “digestif,” and you will begin to understand Jonathan Keats’ “The Photosynthetic Restaurant,” a temporary art installment at the Crocker Art Museum and the topic of discussion at the museum’s most recent Lunch and Learn talk.

Crocker representative Rika Nelson said that the point of Lunch and Learn, held every other Thursday at noon, is to “get people together to have a conversation about one selected work at a time” and to examine a piece’s “intricacies and details from the perspective of a visitor.”

Nelson led Thursday’s 15-person group in a discussion of Keats’ outdoor exhibit, which consists of 2-by-3 foot red, yellow and blue rectangular panes of glass mounted on tall metal rods and positioned to reflect colorful light onto the plants that live outside of the museum’s entrance.

She asked visitors to think about why Keats used the material he did, what the colors of the glass represent and the effect of mixing man-made materials with organic subjects.

Keats previously told The Sacramento Press that since sunlight is the equivalent of plant food, filtering it to create a variety of wavelengths is like preparing a kind of multi-course meal for a plant, a topic Nelson explained.

"The Photosynthetic Restaurant" is meant to get visitors to look at the human experience of dining out through a non-human’s point of view, thus creating a degree of cultural perspective.

The exhibit is accompanied by Keats’ “recipe book,” a hardback consisting of glossy pages with vibrant blocks of color rather than text.

After an examination of Keats’ work, Lunch and Learners were free to tour the rest of the museum and dine at the Crocker Cafe.

Nelson noted that when she first heard about “The Photosynthetic Restaurant,” she imagined flowers sitting before place settings at tables made for humans, but once she understood Keats’ approach as an “experimental philosopher,” his interpretation made more sense.

Quoting Keats, she said: “The look of a restaurant depends on who’s doing the looking.”

A San Francisco-based “artist, fabulist and critic,” Keats has done a number of artful “experiments” involving natural life, including orchestrating a “bee ballet” and creating a “TV dinner for plants” by videotaping sunlight and then projecting it onto the leaves of flora.

Lunch and Learn attendee Betsy Inchausti said she liked the 30-minute talk’s “quick and informational” format, as it gets people to take a closer look at something they “might otherwise casually walk by.”

Here is list of Lunch and Learn events scheduled to take place through September:

July 21: Franz A. Bischoff's Red and White Roses." To read about Bischoff and the Crocker’s “Summer of Impressionism,” click here.

August 4: Claire Falkenstein's "Body Centric Cubic."

August 18: Childe Hassam's "An Outdoor Portrait of Miss Weir." Some of Hassam’s work is currently on display in the Crocker’s temporary Impressionism exhibit.

Sept. 1: John Singer Sargent's "Dolce Far Niente." Some of Sargent’s work is also in the temporary exhibit.

Sept. 15: Bruce Beasley's "Arpeggios IV."

L Street Goodwill opens its doors

2011-06-24T19:22:03Z

A new “boutique” Goodwill store has opened its doors on L and 16th Streets, offering area shoppers a well organized, eco-friendly retail experience and deals on merchandise like books, lamps, shoes and purses.

Store manager Noelle McCrea said the L Street location is unique in that its stock is handpicked from Goodwill locations across the country. While other Goodwills accept and sell most all donations, a “boutique” Goodwill strives to feature name brands, high-quality and vintage goods.

Clothing is centrally located and sectioned into garment-specific, labeled racks, like: women’s plus size tops, long sleeve knit tops, lingerie, men’s jackets and men’s dress shirts.

The women’s section is stocked with summery skirts and sleeveless blouses in the $5 range, along with vintage Levis cut-off shorts and skirts for $20.

The “Goodwill Fashionista” racks, located on the store’s front left wall, are targeted toward younger, more trend-conscious shoppers and feature an array of knit tops and juniors-sized jeans from brands like American Eagle, DKNY, Gap and Ralph Lauren, priced in the $20 range.
Susan Finnerman, who came out to the opening in search of skirts, said she enjoys shopping at thrift stores that are well organized, noting that the Goodwill’s women’s shoe section is arranged by size, each shelf labeled with a corresponding number.

Mother of eight, Lisa Farnworth, whose youngest son tipped her off to the opening, said that she has tried to teach all of her children to appreciate the money-saving advantage of thrift stores.

Farnworth added that she’s not necessarily a “big green person,” but that recycling clothes makes sense to her.

“If I can (be eco-friendly), I will,” she said

Shopper Charlie Hamdeh, for whom “style is more important than brand name,” was pleased to find a pair of shiny, black leather loafers in a hard-to-come-by size 13, noting that elsewhere the same pair would have cost him a lot more than Goodwill’s $13 price tag.

Tony Coelho was driving by the store and decided to see what its DVD section had to offer.

Coelho said he “loves the surprises he finds in Goodwill,” and appreciates its selection of “classic movies” not always available in movie retailers like Blockbuster.

Having already found a few candles and a striped blouse, Barbara Wood was on the hunt for a Brandy glass amongst the store’s several shelves of glassware.

“Why pay 50 dollars for a glass when you can pay 50 cents,” she said.

The store’s glassware is slightly more expensive than at some other thrift stores, ranging in price from $3-$5, but the selection is sturdier and more attractive than what one might expect to find second-hand.

The shop’s book selection is vast and varied, housed on four curving, wooden shelves towards the back of the store. Hardbacks and softbacks are organized according to genres including: fiction, fantasy, women’s studies, history, cooking and self help.

Atop the bookshelves sit like-new lamps, in a variety of sizes and styles, from bulbous glass bases to sleek, muted shades, priced around $15.

According to Goodwill employee Nick Hammom, the sales team has been at work gathering stock for the 5,000-square-foot space since February. The team visually assessed every CD and DVD, checking them for scratches and misplaced discs before putting them on the sales floor.

The store’s employees gave soft goods donations the same critical treatment, discarding any items with holes, stains and even fuzz balls, Hammon said.

In addition to its supply of quality goods, McCrea said that the shop’s Midtown locale will likely made it a good source of revenue for Goodwill Industries, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide “gainful employment and job training” to under-served communities.

“Everyone knows retail is more pricey in Midtown, so we could capture a higher dollar value here,” McCrea said.

McCrea added that she was “thrilled” with the turnout for the store’s opening.

“Goodwill has a huge following. We’ve seen a lot of familiar faces today, and we hope to create a following in downtown Sacramento,” she said.

Tequila tasting in Sacramento

2011-04-30T06:52:47Z

Cinco de Mayo celebrations are just around the corner, and Sacramento has its tequila bases covered.

Made from the blue agave plant, tequila is a beverage whose journey to the table is not a speedy one. The agave plant must grow in the soil for 10 years, enduring drought, wind and pests, and, once harvested, must mature for an additional five years.

But thanks to area restaurants, Sacramento won’t have to wait quite so long for a taste of the sweet spirit.

In the coming week, there are plenty of opportunities in Sacramento to grab a margarita, check out a tequila tasting or indulge in the pairing of traditional Mexican cuisine and fine tequila.

ZÓCALO

For the chance to sample boutique tequilas from family-operated distilleries in Mexico, Zócalo on Capital Ave is the place to be Monday night for its annual tequila festival.

Joe Anthony Savala, tequila aficionado at Zocalo, will host the event. The festival will feature seven brands of tequila made in distilleries in Mexico.

The featured tequila list includes: 7Leguas, Herencia Mexicana, Fortaleza, El Tesoro, Herradura, Corzo and Cazadores.

Zócalo’s team of tequila connoisseurs travels to Mexico each year to visit distilleries, taste their products and bring the tequila brands back to the States to share with Sacramento.

Many of the distilleries they visit have been family-run operations for 60 years, Savala said.

He said he hopes to offer an alternative to the mass-produced “big boys” of the tequila industry, who add things like sugar and caramel to their tequilas, by showcasing only 100-percent agave tequilas made by families in Mexico who spend a great deal of time and effort on their products.

His mission is to educate people not only about the tequila itself, but also about where it comes from and the story behind the family that produces it.

You can tell if tequila has been poorly made when there is a “green” taste to it, which indicates the agave plant was harvested prematurely, Savala said.

Another indicator of a poorly executed product is an oily taste and feel, the result of the addition of glycerin, an agent that gives the tequila a “smooth feel.”

Those mass-produced varieties won’t find their way to Savala’s bar. Zócalo features only sip-worthy tequilas.

“I cringe when I see people getting out the lime and the salt to drink tequila,” he said. “You use those when you don’t want to taste the tequila.”

Monday night, guests will receive a “tasting passport badge,” have the chance to sample all seven of the featured brands, meet representatives from each distillery and be guided through the tasting by Savala.

Half of the restaurant will be closed off for tequila tasters, and guitarist Edson will provide the evening’s entertainment with some Spanish pop-rock. There will be roving appetizers at the event to keep guests sated between samples.

The event begins at 6 p.m. and costs $25.

And if you can’t make it to the Tequila Festival on Monday, you can still learn about fine tequilas of Mexico on the first Monday of every month at the restaurant’s tequila tasting dinner, also hosted by Savalo.

During the tastings, which have been happening since Zócalo opened its doors seven years ago, Savala engages guests in comparison tasting. For instance, he may provide tasters with a sample of the original family-made Patrón and have them compare the taste to that of modern-day Patrón, which is produced by beauty supply big-wig Paul Mitchel.

Attendees of the tequila dinner learn proper tasting technique, which hinges on what Savala calls “the only vehicle to taste tequila,” a special champagne flute-like glass by a company called Reidel.

“You smell from the top of the glass, and open your mouth to let the alcohol vapors move through your mouth,” he said.

For $25 a person, you can partake in Joe’s tequila lessons, sample some of the finest tequilas Mexico has to offer and enjoy a three-course meal.

The meal, which consists of an appetizer, main course and dessert, gives Zócalo’s Chef Ryan “a chance to really express himself and try things off the regular menu,” and promises to be an effort in creativity, Savala said.

But don’t expect a lot of heat during the Monday night meal.

“I’m not a fan of pairing tequila with hot foods, because the alcohol in tequila really gets ignited by spice,” Savala said.

GRANGE RESTAURANT AND BAR

If you are interested in sampling unique and eccentric cocktails, you might want to spend your Cinco de Mayo at Grange Restaurant and Bar at 926 J Street. The restaurant is offering a four-course meal paired with four hand-crafted tequila cocktails, courtesy of the event’s bartenders, Ryan Seng and Jose Aguilar.

The cocktails will be crafted using a Reposado tequila called Joie de Vivre from the Casa Herradura distillery in Mexico.

“It’s the kind of quality we wanted to partner with to express our passion for tequila,” Troy Christian, director of food and beverage at Grange, said about the Casa Herradura brand.

Grange’s tequila team visited the distillery in Guadalajara, Mexico, and sampled several tequilas before settling on Joie de Vivre, a variety that Christian described as “well-rounded, not hot, with notes of vanilla and cinnamon.”

The 180 acre Casa Herradura compound has been making fine tequila for more than 100 years, Christian said. The families who make the tequila have lived and worked within the compound’s walls for as many as five generations.

“The entire process from the field to the bottling is done at this location, and so the attention to detail is of the highest standard,” he said.

The night’s menu, crafted by Chef Brad Cecchi, was inspired by the “robust” flavor of the tequila. The meal, which will include Baracoa de Borrego and Snapper Ceviche Vera Cruzano, will be kicked off with a shot of Joie de Vivre in order to allow guests to “enjoy it in its purest form,” Christian said.

The night’s cocktails have been tailored to complement the flavors of each dish, like the Tomatillo tequila, made from Tomatillo juice, ceviche juice and lemon, which will be served with Caldo del Mar.

And don’t forget dessert: churros con Rompope paired with Wedo tequila, made with Kahlua and Horchata.

The dinner begins at 5:30 and will cost $65 a person.

TEQUILA MUSEO MAYAHUEL

Lovers of organic products should head over to Tequila Museo Mayahuel at 1200 K Street Tuesday night to enjoy the Mayahuel Organic Margarita, prepared with fresh agave and a wedge of lime on ice, before diving into the restaurant’s four-course tequila dinner.

The tequila dinner is being held as part of Mayahuel’s week-long grand opening and Cinco de Mayo celebration.

The star of the evening and base for the featured margarita will be USDA Organic-Certified Casa Noble brand tequila.

The Casa Noble distillery earned the hard-won organic certification by using natural compost rather than fertilizer in its agave fields, using insects and birds to get rid of pests, rather than pesticides, and hand-weeding crops rather than using chemical herbicides.

Guests will sample several expressions of Casa Noble and learn the best ways to pair the tequila with the flavors of Mexican cuisine, said Alex Trujilo, ~~co-owner and~~ artist at Mayahuel and event organizer.

Chef Ramiro Alarcon will be crafting dishes to fit perfectly with the night’s featured tequila.

The first course will engage the pallet with six varieties of Mexican appetizers. Next, the creamy spiciness of the evening’s soup dish, Crema de Chile Poblana, paired with the sweet agave of Casa Noble tequila, offers taste buds a multi-layered flavor experience. The meal will end with a yet-to-be-announced dessert finale.

The event kicks off with a cocktail hour at 6:30 p.m.

The cocktails offered will be “a mix of items from the menu,” Trujillo said.

Trujilo said he hopes the night is just the beginning for the revitalization of K Street, where Tequila Museo Mayahuel is the newest addition.

Trujillo calls the bar, lounge, museum and restaurant in one the “ultimate tequila experience.”

Mayahuel’s dinner will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased ahead of time at the restaurant.

CENTRO COCINA MEXICANA

If you are looking for after-work refreshment, Centro Cocina Mexicana, located at 2730 J Street, has just what you need. The restaurant offers $5 margaritas daily during happy hour, and $4 margaritas all day on Mondays.

House margaritas combine Sauza Blanco tequila, triple sec and fresh-squeezed lime juice and are served in a martini glass with a half-salted rim.

In addition to offering affordable margaritas, Centro invites guests to save a dollar on drinks made with Azunia tequila, thanks to the tequila of the month special. You can look forward to Corralejo brand as the special for the month of May, bar manager Joel York said.

For late-night tequila lovers, Centro also offers half-off its entire tequila selection from 11 p.m. - 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Of the bar’s 180 tequila varieties, York recommends trying the Fortaleza or the Centenario.

Enjoying your tequila selection with any grilled item from Centro’s menu is sure to please, York said. His personal favorite is a pairing of Maestro Dobel tequila with Camarones y Calamares a la Parilla, Centro’s grilled shrimp and squid plate.

Editorial Note: A correction has been made to this story after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

Behind the scenes at a Sacramento recording studio

2011-04-23T00:48:59Z

Local reggae band Arden Park Roots recently recorded a song called “Under the Sun” at Sanctuary Recording Studio in Sacramento.

The recording session comes on the heels of the band’s recent success: winning the 2010 Your Music Magazine Band Olympics, playing at musical hot spot Ace of Spades and receiving warm reviews from online music blogs and local media sources alike.

Arden Park Roots seems to be enjoying its moment in the spotlight, and for Spencer Murphy, the band’s bass player, the road to musical fulfillment is a labor of love.

Said Murphy of the recording process: “I’ll never be content. I could do this all day.”

Studio A, Sanctuary’s largest recording space, is a home away from home for Dustin Brookshire, one of Sanctuary’s recording engineers. He uses a jumbo-sized computer screen to work with Pro Tools, a software program designed for recording music, and two high-quality speakers to listen closely to an artist’s progress.

Recording music professionally is a lesson in patience and persistence for both engineer and artist.

Peter Cole, owner of Sanctuary Studios, estimated that the band would need 15 hours to record an album that will be less than an hour in length.

“There is a lot of back and forth,” said Peter Cole, owner of Sanctuary Studios.

As Murphy recorded the bass track, Brookshire monitored sound levels. Every few minutes, Murphy asked Brookshire to “punch in” to a certain point in the song so that he could re-record it. He did this 10 times for every 30 seconds’ worth of song, saying, “I don’t think you’ll be able to hear the difference, but I’d like to try to sell it more.”

Brookshire, a graduate from Pinnacle College’s Recording Engineer program, has been recording officially for a year and a half, but has recorded as a hobby for four or five years. Those several years of experience are apparent in his ability to almost telepathically cue up the part of the song that Murphy asks for.

"The sound engineer's job is to have a good signal, clear sound and a strong foundation in audio signal routing," Cole explained.

Recording music is a process that requires clear and specific communication between engineer and musician.

While listening back to his work, Murphy heard a chord that sounded too harsh and asked Brookshire if he could “ease the attack.” Brookshire seemed to know immediately what Murphy was referring to and responded that, yes, he could “fade in that note.”

After the bass track was complete, the band’s guitar player, Nick Ledoux, was ready to record his portion.

From an isolation booth in the next room over, Ledoux communicated with Brookshire through a “talk back button,” which is similar in function to an intercom.

Every few minutes, Ledoux stopped playing to check in with the engineer.

“Can I go back to the second bar of the chorus?” he asked Brookshire. “I’m just going to freestyle over this part.”

Before either guitar or bass tracks could be recorded, the drum track was laid down as the foundation for the song. Each piece of drummer Johnny Snickerpippitz’s kit was individually miked by Brookshire to achieve the best sound quality possible.

The last element of “Under the Sun” to be recorded were the vocals, a task the band’s singer, Tyler Campbell, would take on the following day.

After all the tracks are recorded, they are “mixed,” or fine-tuned by a sound engineer who will add effects like reverb and delay.

As the last step, a mastering engineer will address the "scientific side of sound" by doing things like tweaking decibel levels, Cole said.

Cole summed up the motivation behind the detail-centric recording process in this way: “Artists are the biggest perfectionists you will ever meet.”

And if you’re going to be a perfectionist in the music industry, Sanctuary Recording is a good place to do it.

The studio offers two production rooms, two recording rooms, a practice space, professional photography, and even a place to get T-shirts printed, thanks to in-house shirt designer Seitu.

In operation since September 2009, Sanctuary Studio has recorded everything from Christmas carols to local hip-hop artist Brotha Lynch. Although it is the youngest recording studio in Sacramento, Sanctuary is dreaming big.

Cole said their plan is to be a full-service studio – a one-stop shop where artists can record, mix and master their tracks, take promotional photos, set up a website and essentially leave with a comprehensive marketing package to present to the public.

In addition to being full-service, Sanctuary intends to be an environmentally friendly studio.

At Sanctuary, the staff stays mindful of how much electricity they use to light all 8,000 square feet of their space. Cole has installed servers that have a low energy pull, and recycling is a common practice at the studio.

During a recent remodel, Cole was careful to use materials sourced from sustainable forests and approved by the Forestry Stewardship Counsel.

For Cole, an IT professional-turned-producer who has been composing music under the name DJ Reason for 15 years, “music has always been a passion." He said he hopes to translate that passion into the formation of solid relationships with artists and the community alike.

By building upon Sanctuary's “developing relationships with contributors to the Sacramento music scene" like Shenanigans, Old Ironsides and the Distillery, Cole said he hopes Sanctuary will become a “cornerstone” of the Sacramento music scene.

In tough economic times, it may seem difficult to justify shelling out money to record your art.

"Do one song and see how much better it can sound," Cole said.

Studios in the area, including Sanctuary, range in price from $25 to $65 an hour.

"It's like spending money on a nice tattoo: You get what you pay for," Cole said.

For Cole and the other Sanctuary employees, the studio is more than a day job; it is also the space in which they work on their personal projects. The studio's namesake was inspired by the peacefulness the crew experiences while producing there.

"The most important thing when you choose a studio is to be somewhere you feel comfortable, because that’s where you’ll produce your best work," Cole said.

For more information about recording at Sanctuary, check out their website.