Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "kru"

2nd annual Sacramento Food Film Festival a hit

2013-03-23T00:44:06Z

The second annual Sacramento Food Film Festival was held last weekend at the Guild Theater. Presented by Slow Food Sacramento and supported by a slew of local sponsors, this year's festival was better than ever. Founder and event organizer Catherine Enfield – who also blogs at Munchie Musings and was one of the originators of SactoMoFo – did a stellar job with both the planning and execution of the festival. In addition to lining up two films on Friday night and a whopping five films Saturday, Enfield organized a series of fun events to complement the films: discussions with filmmakers, a sushi tasting and a scavenger hunt, among others. Below are some scenes from Friday night at the festival.

The first film of the evening was "Quest for Local Honey" – a documentary film by two nascent Nevada County filmmakers. After the film, movie goers engaged in a Q&A with the producers while tasting some local honey. Audience members also took home boxes of organic honey graham crackers from Attune Foods, the same company that donated a beautiful wooden bee hive to the lucky winner of the night's raffle.

When the discussion with the "Quest" filmmakers ended, we made our way to neighboring Old Soul to enjoy a generous sushi tasting with Mikuni and Kru, a fitting match for the next film of the night, the highly acclaimed "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." Beer from Hoppy Brewing Company, Hakushika Sake tastings, and cups of delicious, effervescent kombucha accompanied the innovative sushi dishes.

I consider myself a fairly experienced sushi connoisseur, so was pleasantly surprised to see two types of sushi I had never tried before: chef Taro Arai offered "oshizushi", also known as Osaka-style or "pressed" sushi, made with ocean fish varieties from Sunh Fish. In contrast, the lovely, mild fresh-water fish from Passmore Ranch incorporated in Chef Billy Ngo's nigiri was an unusual and tasty change from the traditional salt-water sushi most of us are accostumed to.

As guests munched the last pieces of sushi and sipped their choice of beverages, Enfield opened up a conversation on seafood sustainability with guest chefs Arai and Ngo.

The discussion was informative, but also entertaining... as you can see!

Enfield seems to have mastered the recipe for a successful food film festival. Current and relevant movie selections? Check. Fun, food-centric events? Check. Healthy theater snacks from Whole Foods? Ticket sales supporting great local organizations such as Slow Food Sacramento and The California Food Literacy Center? Priority seating for VIP ticket holders? Check, check and check! From start to finish, this was a high quality, well-organized, and thoroughly enjoyable event. Although you'll have to wait a year for the next Sac Food Film Fest, I would suggest marking your calendars now with a reminder to check the event's Facebook page and website. Trust me, you won't want to miss it when the festival returns in 2014.

Dawn Balzarano is a local freelance food photographer, blogging at KitchenTravels.com.

Editor’s note: The “News Digest” goes out every Tuesday morning and highlights our best stories, photos and videos from the week prior. Sign me up.

Disclosure: Sacramento Food Film Festival provided the author a press pass to the Friday night films and tastings. Dawn's opinions are her own, always will be.

Local chefs open new eatery in Natomas

2011-10-25T01:03:18Z

A group of central city restaurateurs is teaming up to branch out into Natomas, but in a more casual setting than their full-service Midtown and East Sacramento locations.

Pork Belly Grub Shack is scheduled to open this week and is a collaboration between the owners of Kru, a Japanese restaurant at 2516 J St., and Formoli’s Bistro, which recently moved to 3839 J St.

“It’s going to be really casual – burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads,” said Billy Ngo, owner of Kru. “It’s going to be simple, good food, and it’s going to be cheap.”

Menu items will feature a lot of pork, with a pork belly grilled cheese, sandwiches built around pork, and burgers such as the Notorious P.I.G., a 10-ounce beef patty with a slab of braised pork belly and pork rinds on a bun.

Suzanne Ricci, wife of Formoli’s Bistro Chef Aimal Formoli and one of the partners along with Formoli and Ngo, said pork was the obvious focus because all of them enjoy it so much.

“Everyone’s had bacon, but best part of the pig is the belly,” Ricci said, explaining that the savory area will be the restaurant’s focus.

“It’s super-basic, super-simple stuff,” she said. “It’s got lots of pork belly, which is really the best part of the pig, and it’s heavier, comfort food with competitive prices.”

Also on the menu will be some Asian-inspired dishes, most notably banh-mi sandwiches with meat selections.

Pork Belly Grub Shack, located at 4261 Truxel Road, will have items ranging from $4 - $9 and will primarily be a lunch place and sell take-out for early dinner. Hours are planned to be from about 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., though they may change.

Ngo said he, Ricci and Formoli thought the deal on the space it was too good to pass up and decided to bring a local independent eatery to an area dominated by larger chain businesses.

“There’s a lot of chain restaurants out there, so we want to bring some Midtown-style cooking to the area,” Ngo said.

Ricci said that while they all have traditionally operated full-service restaurants, the new place, which is looking to do a lot of catering and takeout as well as counter service inside, is more appealing in a down economy.

The approximately 1,600-square-foot space can seat about 30 people and used to be a specialty chocolate shop, so food-service necessities such as floor drains were already installed, Ricci said.

Outdoor seating is planned for the future, once the restaurant gets up and running.

Interior décor will feature pig paintings by locals Liz Miller and Matthew Byrd.

“We want to bring some of a Midtown artistic, creative feel to (the restaurant),” Ricci said.

Opening amid fears of a second recession, Ricci said the economy is always a consideration, but she believes the restaurant will do well.

“With Billy (Ngo) and Aimal (Formoli), I know the food is going to be good,” she said. “If the product is good and the pricing is reasonable, then it’s definitely going to be a place people can bring their families.”

General Manager David West was previously a bartender at Red Lotus, and he said he sees the restaurant growing in popularity and turning into a small chain if it does as well as he expects.

“There’s two amazing chefs behind it,” he said. “It’s gonna be good.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Sacramento chefs take on the Vegan Chef Challenge

2011-10-01T06:08:31Z

Ten chefs in the Midtown and downtown area have agreed to take on the Vegan Chef Challenge starting Saturday. Throughout the month of October, each restaurant will feature special vegan items including soups, appetizers, entrées and desserts.

Cafe Capricho, 58 Degrees, Bombay Bar and Grill, Tower Bridge Bistro and Michelangelo’s are just a few of the participating restaurants.

Restaurant guests who order these specialty dishes will be asked to go online and vote for their favorite dishes. Those who vote will be entered in a drawing to win prizes. Diners who visit all 10 participating restaurants will be asked to score their overall favorites in each category and will be entered into a drawing with even larger prizes.

Each restaurant will be competing in categories for best appetizer, soup, main entrée, dessert, most creative and best presentation.

“There will also be a ‘Vegan Favorites’ and a ‘Heart Healthy’ category but these are special categories based on vegan voting participation and some of our local vegan nutrition/health-focused experts,” wrote Bethany Davis, an event organizer for the Sacramento Vegan Society who is in partnership with California Vegan Restaurants.

Each of the dishes at all10 restaurants have been specially crafted and prepared by the restaurants’ chefs.

Vegan cuisine contains absolutely no animal products so chefs have had to challenge themselves to think outside the box and get creative with their dishes.

The participating restaurants include:

1. Aioli Bodega Española: 1800 L St.

Aioli has a menu packed with Spanish/Basque items and Executive Chef Hernandez Pablo said the restaurant will remain consistent with those flavors in its new vegan fall menu. Serving vegan items is no new task for Pablo; he said he has been making vegan dishes for many years and is confident in his ability to cook with only vegan ingredients.

Chef Pablo is offering more than a dozen vegan options for this fall.

“I am most excited about serving the veggie paella,” said Chef Pablo.

Aioli is serving everything from Gazpacho – a classic Spanish cold tomato soup with cucumber, celery, red onion, cilantro and mint – to Pan Catala con garbanzo y higos, a Spanish-style bruschetta with garbanzo bean purée and caramelized black figs.

2. 58 Degrees: 1217 18th St.

58 Degrees is a wine bar and restaurant with a menu that includes dishes from around the world that pair well with its wines. The new vegan dishes are “Asian-inspired and bring new flavors to the restaurant,” said Executive Chef F.J Villalobos. “We are looking at this as an opportunity to challenge ourselves,” he added.

58 Degrees has never served Asian-flavored dishes before and with a sparkle in his eye, chef Villaloboslooked inspired as he talked about the upcoming challenge. He said the restaurant’s wine experts are working to see how they can best showcase the ingredients’ flavors and pair the dishes with wine from their wine collection.

“We are serving a pho for the soup, a trio of mushrooms as an appetizer, smoked tofu served with seaweed rice with Korean BBQ flavors for an entrée and for dessert we are making caramelized banana plantains, peanut butter gelato and chocolate mousse,” Chef Villalobos said.

3. Capitol Garage: 1500 K St.

Capitol Garage has an American menu that incorporates local and seasonal ingredients. The new vegan menu remains consistent with the restaurant’s traditional flavors, though the new vegan menu items will allow the restaurant to exhibit more creativity.

“Being vegan helps me have an edge in the competition. I know what flavors pair really well,” said Raphael Kendall, sous chef at Capitol Garage. He said that he makes vegan food for his family everyday and is excited to show people that vegan food can be delicious and also offer a well-balanced meal.

Capitol Garage is serving a black eyed pea hummus, Southwest barley risotto and a coconut chai chocolate cake for the competition. A variety of vegan truffles will also be served.

4. Tower Bridge Bistro: 100 Capitol Mall

The Tower Bistro serves a California-Tuscan cuisine and will expand the palate for the challenge to incorporate new flavors and explore new options.

According to California Vegan Restaurants’ website, Executive Chef Clay Purcell will be serving roasted pumpkin soup with zucchini ribbons and parsley oil, cous cous and vegetable “chili” with housemade harissa sauce, cilantro and pita chips; and buckwheat blini’s with raspberry coulis and chocolate dipping sauce.

5. Hot Italian: 1627 16th St.

Hot Italian is a pizza and panini bar and Italian vegan food is on the menu for the competition. Chef Fabrizio Cercatore will be serving mixed olives from both Italy and California as an appetizer, a house specialty pizza with the option of Daiya cheese, and sorbet for dessert, according to the California Vegan Restaurants’ website.

6. Cafe Capricho: 3269 Folsom Blvd.

Cafe Capricho has a menu full of home-style Mexican dishes. For the competition, Marina Winchester, owner of Cafe Capricho, will incorporate many different cultures into her vegan menu, according to the California Vegan Restaurants’ website.

7. Michelangelo’s: 1725 I St.

Michelangelo’s is a classic family owned Italian restuarant. Jaqueline & Lauren Barton are mother and daughter and combine to make a dynamic team. The two chefs will approach the Vegan Chef Challenge as an opportunity to take classic Italian dishes and recreate them for vegans and vegetarians to enjoy, according to the California Vegan Restaurants’ website.

8. Bombay Bar and Grill: 1315 21st St.

Bombay Bar and Grill specializes in North Indian Cuisine and for the competition, Chef Sanjeev Singh Sanjeev will remain consistent with the flavors he incorporates into the dishes, according to California Vegan Restaurants’ website. The menu at Bombay Bar and Grill already has many vegetarian options but there are new dishes that will be added for the Vegan Chef Challenge.

9. KRU: 2516 J St.

Kru serves contemporary Japanese cuisine. For the competition Chef Billy Ngo will try to maintain the flavors and texture of his regular menu items while making sure that the dishes are delicious, according to California Vegan Restaurants website.

10. Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe: 2315 K St.

The Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe is an honorary participant and partner in the competition. The cafe specializes in making a variety of vegan dishes.Chefs Melissa Sugar, Antwan LaShay and Marshall Massa created a menu that spans from paninis and vegan burgers to sandwiches and tacos. The cafe has a vegan bakery where vegan sweets are available. The Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe will continue serving their vegan menu items for the competition.

Vegan food inspired by places around the world will be prepared in Sacramento this October. When diners vote online for what dishes they liked best they will be asked to report if they “liked it”, “loved it” or if the dish they tried was “over the top”, according to Davis.

To place your vote or learn more about the Vegan Chef Challenge, visit California Vegan Restaurants’ website here.

Sacramento Zoo's 10th annual King of Feasts

2011-06-20T04:49:48Z

If you’re a fan of Hula-Hoops and a variety of local food, wine and beer, then the Sacramento Zoo’s 10th annual King of Feasts Wine and Food Luau – which will be held Saturday at the zoo – is for you.

“The luau is held all over the zoo,” Tonja Swank, public relations coordinator for the Sacramento Zoo, said of the 21-and-over event. “We line the different restaurants, wineries and breweries along different areas of the zoo. Some will be lined along Big Cat Row where the hyenas, snow leopard and where the larger cats are.”

Participating restaurants include local favorites such as Zocalo, Taylor’s Kitchen, Kru and Chops Steakhouse. Swank said attendees can expect to find sample-serving sizes of food since the luau is a tasting event.

John Ruffaine, co-owner of Giovanni’s Old World Pizzeria, said this is the fourth year his restaurant has participated in King of Feasts. He said his business will be providing three pizza options.

Their meat-lover’s option is the Don Giovanni, a pizza topped with homemade Italian sausage and red roasted pepper. Their vegetarian option will be pesto pizza, topped with fresh tomatoes and pine nuts. They will also be serving a traditional cheese pizza. He added that all their pizzas will be topped with extra virgin olive oil.

“We always have a lot left over, and we give it away to people at the end (of the night),” Ruffaine said. “There is no better marketing than being generous,” Ruffaine said.”

Desserts will be provided by Vic’s Ice Cream and Cupcake Craving, among others. Mulvaney’s B&L will be serving a seasonal fruit sorbet, said general manager Andy Kingsbury.

The Hoppy Brewing Company, will be providing beer, including Liquid Sunshine Blonde Ale, Hoppy Face Amber Ale, Stony Face Red Ale and Total Eclipse Black Ale, said marketing manager Scott Patterson.

Amador Cellars Winery will be pouring their 2008 petite sirah, the 2008 syrah and two styles of zinfandel.

Shaun Kelish, tasting room manager of Bogle Vineyards, said their winery will be furnishing four types of wine for the event: the 2010 sauvignon blanc, the 2010 chenin blanc, 2009 merlot and the 2009 cabernet sauvignon.

Kelish said Bogle Vineyards is also donating a 2008 merlot 3-liter, 3-magnum bottle of wine, equivalent to four regular bottles, for silent auction.

The Na Aikane Ukulele Club will be performing, along with the Kaulumele Polynesian Dance Group who will also moderate the adult Hula-Hoop contest, Swank said.

It is the second year in a row that organizers of King of Feasts have gone with a luau theme, Swank said.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $60. Pre-sale tickets purchased during zoo hours or by phone are $50. Zoo members pay $45 pre-sale.

All proceeds will got to the Sacremento Zoo’s general fund.

The K Street Plan: Local, Green, Historic and Affordable

2010-07-02T06:09:33Z

Disclaimer: This article is my opinion, given as a central city resident and board member of the Sacramento Old City Association. I am not an employee of any of the firms involved, nor the city of Sacramento. I am enthusiastic about this project because it represents the best combination of historic preservation, new development, downtown infill, fiscal responsibility, and promotion of local business, culture, and heritage.

In December 2009, the city of Sacramento asked local developers for plans to revitalize the 700 and 800 blocks of K Street. The project area occupies about one city block, around 2.5 acres, on two half-block lots. Four teams submitted proposals, and a five-member committee met three times to review the responses and select a recommendation to the city council. Their recommendation was based on experience, quality of vision and concept, relationship to local goals, proposed tenants, financial feasibility and delivery schedule. Based on these criteria, the committee chose elements of two proposals: the Promenade on K, proposed by D&S and CFY Development, for the 700 block, and a proposal by David Taylor, CIM, Zeiden Properties and Domus Development for the 800 block.

The Recommended Plan

The proposal for the 700 block includes 136 apartments along the alley side of K Street in a new mid-rise structure, with underground parking at Sacramento’s original street level. The apartments range from 450 to 1200 square feet, studios to 2-bedrooms. 37,840 feet of retail will occupy the ground floor of the existing structures on K Street. The front 90 feet of each building will be retained, and the two landmark buildings on the block retained entirely. The second floor of the historic buildings will also become apartments, and the building basements will be retained for storage or retail use. Because the 700 block has abundant street space, outdoor patios and kiosks will surround the walkway on K Street, creating an expansive outdoor room adjacent to the newly-remodeled St. Rose of Lima Park.

The 800 block will include new buildings on the corner of 8th & K and 8th & L, and the historic Bel-Vue Apartments will be restored and returned to residential use, a total of 110 market rate and mixed-income units, including three-bedroom units intended for families. Parking will be accessed via the alley and L Street, and will not be visible from the street. All buildings will have ground-floor retail, totaling 32,530 square feet. This project team is also considering acquiring the historic Kress and Montgomery Ward buildings, for conversion to mixed-use residential, but because these buildings were outside the project scope (the city does not own them) they were not included in the proposal.

Keep It Local

The proposal for the 700 block includes Letters of Intent from retailers interested in participation. Rather than seeking chain or out-of-town tenants, the D&S proposal sought local businesses. These include popular local eateries, like Old Soul Coffee, who plans a French bistro and wine bar, or Kru, who plans a ramen/yakitori restaurant and sake bar. Three of these potential tenants (Crepeville, Shady Lady and and Burgers & Brew) each plan live music venues in addition to a restaurant and bar. The Shady Lady letter points out Sacramento’s lack of mid-sized music venues, and suggests that this project could fill the glaring need for venues larger than small Midtown bars but smaller than the Memorial Auditorium or Crest Theatre. But it’s not all about music and drinks; the owner of “Top This” Frozen Yogurt wants to create a late-night dessert diner, adding cakes, pies and sundaes to their product mix. Rima Boutique and Muse Salon want to open boutiques selling clothing, accessories and artwork. Specifics on the 800 block’s retail mix were not available, but their team includes Z Gallerie’s Joe Zeiden, who has extensive experience bringing retail to downtowns throughout the state. Because all of these businesses can also operate during daytime business hours, they are useful to the tens of thousands of downtown commuters for lunch, daytime shopping, or after-work dining and entertainment.

Local business is complemented by the local residences included in the project. Affordable housing means employees of a yogurt shop or boutique can live in a nearby unit instead of commuting to work from the suburbs, and downtown office workers can walk from office to home, utilizing local retail options in their own neighborhood. Housing directly above K Street on the second floor, and along the alley, means greater safety through “eyes on the street,” complemented by evening activity in restaurant patios and street vendor kiosks. Many of K Street’s problems take place on vacant, disused properties where there are no residents or tenants. Bringing more housing and late-night business back to K Street means more safety by design. In many ways, this plan is a larger, more ambitious version of D&S’s recent success at 14th and R Street, where a dark, unused warehouse was turned into 12 residential units and a row of eateries and mixed retail, using a historic building, local businesses, and green design.

Keeping it Green on K Street

“Green” is a word that gets used a lot, so much that the meaning is sometimes obscured. This proposal for K Street is green in several important ways. It proposes using green and sustainable methods, plus solar and wind power generation on rooftops. Both blocks include green roofs as inner courtyards for tenant use. Adding downtown housing and the units’ proximity to transit means less driving and consumption of gasoline. Restoration of the existing buildings, instead of demolition, saves those buildings’ embodied energy, uses less energy than new construction, and reduces the load on our landfills.

This project is located at the nexus of both existing Light Rail lines and the Green Line to Richards Boulevard now under construction, with local bus access on both side streets. Recent changes allowing bikes on K Street, and proposed additional bike parking on the street and in the buildings, encourages biking to and from the project. Enhancing the streetscape, adding dense residential and greater security by design promotes walking and transit use. Project residents who work nearby, instead of in distant suburbs, won’t have to drive to work, and won’t have to go far for entertainment or dining.

“The greenest building is one that’s already built” is an old adage of the preservation community. Construction of a new building requires tremendous energy, an amount equal to decades’ worth of the building’s annual energy consumption. Old buildings, especially those built prior to 1940, were built when energy was more expensive, and were designed for more efficient use of energy. They are generally built of durable materials like brick, stone, and old-growth timber. They required less energy to create than high-energy materials like concrete and steel. Their energy cost has long since been paid. Demolition of old buildings is also energy-intensive, and sends most of those irreplaceable building materials to landfills, where they are joined by new buildings’ construction wastes (which makes up about half the contents of our landfills!) Saving old buildings is about more than aesthetics; it is the greener, cleaner and less wasteful choice.

Restoring K Street’s Legacy

K Street has been the heart of Sacramento since the Gold Rush, and it has played many roles over time. Younger people know it as the home of Light Rail and the Downtown Plaza mall, those in middle age remember the old pedestrian mall with its “tank traps” and fountains, and the older generation recalls the era of cruising K Street in hot rods in the 1950s and 60s. But all of these eras took place while K Street was in decline, and represent desperate efforts to bring suburban visitors back downtown. The era of K Street’s greatest vitality was during the early 20th century through the 1940s.

American downtowns boomed during this time, and Sacramento was no exception. K Street was a shopping street, home to every department store in town, with small specialty shops ranging from herbalists to bookstores. It was also a place for entertainment, including theater, vaudeville, movies, dining, live music, and dancing, although even then it was not Sacramento’s only entertainment district. It was also a place that thousands of Sacramentans called home, living in apartments above retail storefronts. These included modest rooms with a bath down the hall for working people, efficiency apartments for middle-class professionals, and elegant “palace hotels” for wealthy businessmen and legislators who wanted close access to the capital and the city’s financial district. Public transit reached through the city and the region, bringing visitors to K Street, but many called it home.

Teenagers and adults walked downtown on summer evenings, enjoying the respite from the heat, knowing that even at midnight, something was happening on K Street. Because people were always there, it was a safe place to visit. In the mid-20th century, this changed as suburbs grew, shopping centers and malls appeared, and redevelopment emptied the central city. Highways intended to bring people back downtown only made the central city easier to leave, and expensive redevelopment plans brought a few visitors during the day but the city still emptied at night. Sacramento’s legacy as an urban place was ignored, suppressed, and almost forgotten.

This project brings K Street back using a proven method: provide an experience and a place that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the region. Residential options and transit means that the automobile takes a back seat—you can have a car and live here, but you don’t need one. Unique entertainment and local retail means that shopping and dining and music is different than what you find in any suburban shopping center. Preservation of historic buildings means that K Street’s true history as a vibrant, urban place is apparent to visitor and resident alike, not simulating the past in Disney style, but using the lessons of the past to shape Sacramento’s urban future.

Putting the “Fun” in Funding Sources

In these cost-conscious times, many criticize the use of public subsidy for downtown reinvestment. However, when compared to the costs of subsidized suburban sprawl, subsidizing downtown infill levels the playing field. The “free-market” solution would mean allowing downtown Sacramento to decay entirely, until property values became lower than undeveloped rural land—a nightmare scenario. However, those calling for frugality have a valid point. City resources are limited, and any project on K Street must make the best use of public funds.

For this project, the city provides the land and existing buildings on the site. The recommended project utilizes the buildings, instead of demolishing them, making use of these valuable resources. For the 800 block, the project team has asked to use $16 million in funds that were set aside for a future redevelopment project by David Taylor’s company, and about $6 million in local, state and federal funds for the south half of the 800 block, including rehabilitation of the Bel-Vue. On the 700 block, the project team asks for two $8 million loans, one forgivable upon completion of the project, and one that would be repaid with interest.

One consideration when cities fund public projects is local benefit. Construction projects create jobs, but not all construction projects create the same number of jobs. New construction projects spend about half on materials and half on labor. Rehab of existing buildings spends closer to two-thirds on labor and one-third on materials, because fewer materials are needed and rehab is more labor-intensive. This means more local jobs per public dollar spent. Those dollars directly benefit the local economy, because workers spend the money they earn in their community. Materials for preservation rehab also tend to come from local sources, rather than materials from outside the community, so more of the construction costs also benefit the local economy.

Really Good, But Not Perfect

While the project has many strengths, there are some weaknesses. Downtown Sacramento lacks a grocery store. Existing corner markets and drugstores have limited options, and farmer’s markets do not operate in winter, creating “food deserts” for downtown residents. The closest market is Safeway, accessible by light rail, but downtown needs a more complete neighborhood market offering fresh meat and produce. The development team should consider a market as part of this project.

While transit is close by, service ends after 9 PM, making transit useless for late-night visitors. While transit budgets are outside the scope of the project, better public transportation would complement a transit-oriented project like this.

Finally, while developer David Taylor is well-known for his ability to complete a project, his projects are often criticized as being architecturally conservative and plain. The 800 block plan includes only volume sketches, not detailed renderings, so we do not know how it will look. Similarly, the 700 block’s new residential units must measure up architecturally to the historic buildings they will complement. The eclectic existing architecture of K Street, from Gold Rush brick to Art Deco terra cotta to 21st century high-rise steel and glass, means an unlimited palette for a talented architect.

On July 13, Sacramento’s City Council is scheduled to select a project for K Street. The recommended project is an excellent choice for Sacramento. It embodies and builds upon our city’s history and culture, promotes local business, and brings more housing across all income levels to K Street at a reasonable cost.

For more details about each of the four proposals for K Street, check the city of Sacramento's website:

www.cityofsacramento.org/econdev/development-projects/700KStDevelopmentProjectConcepts.cfm

Christmas Party Benefit Will Feature Local Sacramento Restaurants

2009-12-11T17:57:06Z

The 23rd Annual Christmas Party Extravaganza will feature free food from a multitude of hip Sacramento restaurants and establishments. Tuli, Zocalo, Hot Italian and Kru will all be at the party serving delicious appetizers plus, Rail Bridge Cellars will offer wine tastings.

This is heaven for the gastronomically inclined! If you just want to fuel properly before you hit the dance floor, that can be easily accomplished too. Do not miss this unique opportunity to sample so many culinary creations in one place, knowing its all for a good cause. Food is included in the ticket price ($60 in advance, purchase online) and proceeds benefit at-risk youth in Sacramento.

To top it all off, Mix Downtown will host the official afterparty and is offering FREE COVER to those attending this year's Christmas Party Extravaganza!!

Purchase Your Ticket Online Now

Red Lotus expected in January

2009-12-02T04:54:26Z

Midtown diners and residents who have been awaiting a new Asian-fusion restaurant will have to wait a bit longer.

Red Lotus Kitchen & Bar — the newest addition to the 2700 block of J Street — isn't likely to open until January, said chef Buu "Billy" Ngo, who is partnering again with Peter Kwong after their Japanese restaurant Kru has become a success just a few blocks down the street. Kru opened in 2005.

They plan to open their new restaurant at 2718 J St., where G.V. Hurley's closed its doors in September. Ngo and Kwong bought the business from Hurley's owners, who had conflicts with neighboring residents. The liquor license transfer is holding up the opening of Red Lotus, Ngo said Tuesday morning.

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's (ABC) Sacramento District is waiting for signed paperwork from Red Lotus. One of the most crucial documents that's missing contains the liquor license conditions, which must transfer with the license, said Jeff Gregson, a supervising investigator with the district.

"It's just a matter of getting us what we need," he said. "Then we can process the application."

Ngo and Kwong's attorney submitted all necessary paperwork more than a month ago, Ngo said, adding that they've been trying to figure out what was holding up the process. Later Tuesday, ABC contacted the attorney to say paperwork was incomplete, Ngo said, who was surprised.

"Everything is turned in," he said. Ngo said he has already read and initialed the license conditions document.

"We agree with those conditions," he added. The attorney will now resubmit the documents.

Liquor license transfers usually take 45 to 60 days once an application is filed. Applications must be forwarded to the city council, planning commission and police department, which then have a chance to weigh in, said ABC spokesman John Carr.

The transfer is not being held up by complaints, unresolved issues or red tape from the city or another outside entity, Gregson said.

Three protests were filed in September against the liquor license transfer. At least one protest was filed by a neighbor active with the area's resident organization, the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association.

Those three people were notified that they can't protest a "person-to-person" transfer because there will be no change in the business operation, Gregson said. However, their concerns were alleviated once they learned the liquor license conditions also will transfer, he added.

Hurley's liquor license required the business to sell at least as much food as alcohol, based on quarterly sales records that had to be maintained. Residents complained to ABC that Hurley's was selling more alcohol than food.

While acknowledging alcohol sales will be important to the success of the restaurant, Ngo stressed their emphasis will be on food. Only dinner will be served at first. Lunch and a weekend brunch are expected to be added. Red Lotus will be open until midnight except on Fridays and Saturdays, when hours will extend to 2 a.m., Ngo said.

Minor renovations and creation of a menu must still be planned, Ngo said. But Red Lotus will open, he said.

"It's going to happen," Ngo said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for the Sacramento Press.

Local entrepreneur is first to bring exotic fruit wine from Thailand to the states, and Sacramento

2009-05-11T06:19:17Z

Meet 34-year-old local entrepreneur Makiko Yamashita from Kobe, Japan. Makiko has been living in the United States since 1999 and is freshly graduated from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Traveling, business smarts and networking have inspired her to incorporate her exotic fruit wine business, Radee Wine, Inc. She is not only the first person to introduce the wine from Thailand to the United States and is the only distributor in the country—she has brought the exotic potion right here to Sacramento.

Yamashita incorporated Radee in August. However, she said she just received her first shipment of the products and began operating just over two weeks ago. As of last week, she said Tower Cafe, Kru, Azul, the Cellar Wine and Cheese Bar in Folsom and Corti Brothers Italian grocery store are now carrying Radee wine.

Yamashita had been studying at Kellogg until last year and said she was especially interested in social entrepreneurship and economic development. Her interest led her to participate in a 2007 summer internship with the NGO One Acre Fund in western Kenya managing a passion fruit-growing program with farmers.

"That's where I first really got to know passion fruits, and I loved it...It's hard to get in the U.S., but I wanted to do something with those fruits," she said.

In December, 2007, she embarked on an exchange program to Bangkok, Thailand, where she met Dominic Rivard—a French Canadian winemaker and founding director of the Fruit Wines of Canada Association—through her business professor. Rivard is an award-winning winemaker with more than 15 years of experience in Canada, the United States, Italy, Korea and China, and moved to Thailand to make exotic tropical fruit wines, according to Yamashita.

Yamashita seized the opportunity to introduce Rivard’s wine to the United States, and before graduating from Kellogg in June, Yamashita created her business plan to import and sell Rivard's wine in conjunction with her graduate work.

"We kind of partnered up. He knows how to make good wine, and I know how to make business plans," Yamashita said. "We were both really excited about this new concept and these new products."

After graduating from Kellogg, Yamashita moved to Sacramento last year with her fiancée and incorporated Radee wine.
As she states on her website, “Radee means ‘passion’ in Thai. Radee is our passion to transform a variety of delightful exotic fruits into distinctive and exquisite wine.”

So far Yamashita has imported three kinds of fruit wine from Rivard’s winery in Thailand: mangosteen ambrosia, pineapple ambrosia and passion fruit. The wines are sold at $25 to $35 retail. In her future shipments she hopes to import dry mangosteen and dry pineapple, as well as a sweet lychee wine.

According to Yamashita, mangosteen ambrosia is the most sophisticated of the three wines due to the fruit's delicate flavor. She said that although fresh mangosteen, also known as the "Queen of Fruit" in India, is common in Southeast Asia, it is difficult to grow anywhere else, making it otherwise a very rare fruit. Yamashita also said the fruit is perceived to have antioxidant properties.

The pineapple ambrosia, Yamashita said, is "so obviously pineapple that when you smell it you know it," and is nicknamed "pineapple lover." Since Azul is a Mexican food and tequila bar, she said she is trying to promote a mixture of the wine with tequila.

While mangosteen ambrosia and pineapple ambrosia are sweet dessert wines, Yamashita said the passion fruit wine is drier and the most exotic. She described it as sweet with a strong taste of citrus and said it mixes well with sparkling wine.

Yamashita said those who have sampled Radee wine so far "loved it."

"It's sweet so people who like fruity types of wine love it...but its not syrupy so it finishes really smoothly," she said.

"I was especially anxious about Darrell Corti [co-owner of Corti Brothers] because he knows wine. But he said it’s a great flavor; he likes it a lot," she added.

As of Friday, Azul co-owner Jose Ulloa estimated that the bar had already gone through five bottles of passion fruit and two bottles each of mangosteen ambrosia and pineapple ambrosia.

Yamashita intends to travel to the Bay Area and southern California in the next few weeks to introduce the wine. In five years, she said she wants to go to the major cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to sell Radee wine. She hopes to also eventually sell it in wine bars with retail stores and possibly create an online purchasing system.

"This is a new concept. It's high-quality premium wine but not many people take fruit [wine] that seriously...[because] wine means grape wine," Yamashita said, adding that she plans to focus on clientele who are interested in Asian fusion and are "eclectic, diverse groups of people."

"Potential customers have to open up a little bit," Yamashita declared with a smile. "They don't have to like it, but I hope they will at least try it."

Rivard began producing exotic fruit wine in Thailand last year and uses all locally produced fruit near Bangkok to make the wine, according to Yamashita.

Although the exact technique Rivard uses in making Radee wine is a trade secret, Yamashita said he applies techniques similar to those used for ice wine, a type of dessert wine mainly made in Canada and Germany that he also specializes in.

Yamashita said she is also looking into producing fair trade wine in the future.

Yamashita is participating in two wine tasting events this upcoming week. She will be providing samples Tuesday, May 12, at The Cellar Wine and Cheese Bar from 6-8 p.m., and Wednesday, May 13, at Selland's on H Street from 6-8 p.m.

For more information about Radee wine and the company, visit www.radeewine.com

Note: Accompanying photos were taken by John Onate. Promotional Radee advertisement borrowed from Makiko Yamashita.