A soft opening this weekend for friends and family is planned to give the staff at Blackbird Kitchen & Bar some hands-on experience and feedback before opening to the public on Wednesday. “It’s been a lot of work, but everything is turning out really nice,” said Kevin O’Connor, chef de cuisine for the restaurant. Housed in a pair of connected buildings at 1015 Ninth St. dating back to the early 20th century, much of the extensive work to the interior of the gourmet seafood restaurant involved carefully exposing and highlighting what was already present. Fluted panels on the walls and an intricate ceiling are a couple of the details that were preserved from the original structures. “It’

More than 20 restaurateurs are joining forces to promote Sacramento’s dining scene and edge away from the image of the city being a barren “cow town” with a dearth of good restaurants. “One of our main standards is to raise the level of the Sacramento dining scene and how we are viewed from the outside,” said Adam Pechal, co-owner of Tuli Bistro and Restaurant Thir13en. “We feel like we have almost a bad rap – cow town and all that,” he added. “We have a bunch of great chefs doing great stuff.” The group, called Sactown Dining Collective, was started by Amber Turner, a marketing specialist with a love for Sacramento’s restaurant scene. “It started back in November, and there were sever

River City Brewing Company, located in Westfield Downtown Plaza, is gearing up for spring with two seasonal beers debuting May 1 and the barbecue on the patio set to return April 14, weather permitting. “Our head chef will be out there barbecuing oysters on the half shell, chicken and shrimp, and sometimes artichokes,” said General Manager and co-owner Beth Ayres, 35. The patio barbecues have been held on the patio for about 10 years, and Ayres said Head Chef Ignacio “Nacho” Sanchez enjoys taking the time to socialize with the customers, barbecue and share a beer. Held from 5:30 p.m. to about 8:30 p.m. on Friday nights, the barbecues are popular with the after-work crowd, Ayres said. “

A family from China with a successful restaurant on Watt Avenue is opening a new Chinese eatery at Fifth Street and Broadway later this month. Tan’s China Bistro will open once inspections are completed in the 2,400-square-foot space formerly occupied by Hong Kong Cafe at 501 Broadway, said Andy Tan, whose family owns the new business. “The concept is really modern,” he said Wednesday. “All the food is prepared freshly – our goal is freshness” Originally from Taishan, China, Tan, 25, came over with his parents, brother and sister about 14 years ago. His parents owned a restaurant in Taishan and opened Wong’s Canton Chinese Restaurant at 5811 Watt Ave. about a decade ago, he said. Openi

Sacramentans are gearing up to go hairless next week as this year’s St. Baldrick’s Day events aim to add to the $4 million raised locally in the past decade to fund research for childhood cancer. “The event itself is something to be witnessed,” said Henry de Vere White, co-owner of de Vere’s Irish Pub, located at 1521 L St. “We’ve had women do it because their kid has cancer, we’ve had siblings do it and we’ve had Little League teams show up and shave their heads in honor of their teammates who had cancer.” De Vere White said Friday that shaving heads began in pubs on the east coast when some lawyers decided to try to raise $17,000 on March 17. Since then, it has snowballed to the point

Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa has promoted Ashurina (Rina) Younan from Sous Chef to Chef de Cuisine, effective immediately.  In her expanded new role as Chef de Cuisine, Chef Rina will oversee the entire food services division at the Resort that includes event/banquet catering and two on-site restaurants -- Mangos and Sprouts Natural Foods Cafe. Chef Rina joined Arden Hills in March 2011 with an extensive background working in food service positions in resort environments throughout the greater Sacramento area. Previously, she worked as Sous Chef for Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln; as Lead Chef for Scott's Seafood on the River (that also serves Le Rivage guests); and as Lead Cook

For 12 hours on Saturday, food will star in the inaugural Sacramento Food Film Festival at the Guild Theatre at 35th Street and Broadway in Oak Park. Organized by foodie and blogger Catherine Enfield, the festival is the end result of her searching the Internet for food-related news and seeing a number of documentaries ranging from organic farming to school lunches. “I had never seen these documentaries coming to Sacramento, and I had just finished (co-organizing) SactoMoFo, so I had a lot of contacts, and I called Whole Foods, who said they’d sponsor a film festival,” Enfield said. Eight films will be shown starting at 10:15 a.m. Saturday. They include “Lunch Line,” which is about scho

A pair of Sacramento restaurants entered the local brunch scene in February, adding to what owners said is a strong market for weekend eats. Both the newly opened Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar and Restaurant Thir13en are working to finalize their brunch menus. Restaurant Thir13en, located at 1300 H St. downtown, opened eight months ago, and Sunday will mark its third week of doing brunch, Chef and co-owner Adam Pechal said Friday. Pechal is also the chef and co-owner of Tuli Bistro. “It was something that we always planned to do,” he said. “It’s proven at Tuli to be one of our best shifts, and I always heard that Chanterelle, our predecessor, had a really successful brunch.” Currently, the

A specialty grilled cheese sandwich shop called Cheese Louise is slated to come to Ninth Street between J and K streets downtown as early as the beginning of April. Ron Berger, a local veteran of the hotel industry, will be running the shop, and he said the idea is similar to a shop called The Melt in San Francisco, but will be expanded with the addition of soups and a salad bar. “We’ll have various types of grilled cheese, with Spanish, French, Italian and American cheeses,” he said. “We’ll also have soups every day, and we might do specials with a lasagna or something.” Opening at 7 a.m. and closing by 6 p.m., the store, located at 1009 Ninth St., will serve a breakfast selection of h

Ruhstaller, a local brewery in operation for about eight months, launched its newest beer this week, called Captain California Black IPA, and owner J-E Paino said Friday that the company is working on another brew, which should be available by summer. Bottles went on sale in local stores by early December, after a launch party for the brewery in November, Paino said. To read more about the launch party and the story behind the beer – which recalls Sacramento’s pre-Prohibition-era history, click here. The brewery, which produces its flagship 1881 Red Ale and seasonal Hop Sac, originally offered its beers on tap at local restaurants such as Mulvaney’s B&L and Selland’s Market-Cafe. The exp

A line of people patiently waiting for a hot meal on a cold day might be common in some areas, but the line expected in front of Mulvaney’s B&L Feb. 19 will likely be full of the kind of people who are used to being waited on – and the $25 they fork over for a bowl of soup will help those in need. “The $25 they spend for their bowl will go entirely to the kitchens at Loaves & Fishes and St. John’s Shelter,” said Lead Pastor Michael Mervine of the L19 Community Church, which is partnering with the charities and Mulvaney’s B&L for the event. Mervine added that each $25 purchase will pay for a cauldron of soup that can be used to feed 25 to 30 people in the shelters. He said that he, the M

The locally owned Willie’s Burgers plans to launch a food truck – the Willie Wagon – in Sacramento this week, carrying burgers, chili burgers and fries. “We’ve always thought a food truck was a good way to get the product and what we do out to people,” said Bill Taylor, owner of Willie’s Burgers. “I’d started developing the idea of a Willie Wagon since 1995, but it’s been in the back of my mind.” Willie’s Burgers opened at 16th and Broadway in 1991, and a second location opened in Carmichael in 2004. Now, taking the burgers to offices and events with the food truck is proving a good addition to the business, Taylor said Friday. “It’s been terrific,” he said. “We follow basically the sam

The Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar is now open in the space that used to hold Red Lotus in Midtown, and a grand opening is scheduled for Friday. The restaurant and bar aims to bring affordable food and drinks with an international flair to the block and see the same successes that other businesses – Harlow’s, BarWest Burgers & Wings and Centro Cocina Mexicana – have seen, said co-owners Matt Nurge and John Bays. “We’re going with the globally inspired concept,” said Bays, who is the restaurant’s chef. “We’ve got a little Vietnamese, a little American – a lot of braising going on, and we’ve got some Hawaiian.” An assortment of cheeses – including Spanish Manchego – will be on the menu, and whi

The Republic Featuring Drewski’s opened downtown Friday, bringing a combination lounge, sports bar, video arcade, pool hall and food truck menu to one location. “I’m excited we pulled it off,” said Andrew “Drewski” Blaskovich, owner of the popular food truck Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen. “I’m 100 percent confident in our staff here, and I know our kitchen crew, wait staff, bartenders and everyone will help make this happen.” The 6,500-square-foot space opened at 5 p.m. Friday, and it is scheduled to stay open until 3 - 4 a.m. on the weekend nights. Customers filtered in the doors – including a glass-paneled garage door that opens onto a patio – from 5 p.m. onward Friday, and they quickly t

Replacement of a gas line is postponing the opening of the downtown seafood restaurant Blackbird Kitchen & Bar from Valentine’s Day to Feb. 21, but the restaurateurs are still able to work inside, and the iconic graphic on the front is complete. “The buildout is being done right now, and the menu will be available in a couple of weeks,” said General Manager Shayne “7evin” Iles. “We’re going to open when PG&E finishes the work, so hopefully it’s sooner, or at least on time,” he said. Officials from Pacific Gas and Electric did not return messages left on Friday. Blackbird Kitchen & Bar is located at 1013-1015 Ninth St.

Influences from the Andalusia region of Spain such as Moorish arches and water features will be the architectural highlights of a Mediterranean/American restaurant coming to 925 K St. The restaurant does not yet have a name and won’t be open until at least June, but Gene Hopkins, the superintendent in charge of the buildout, said it will be a combination buffet and full-service restaurant that will feature Mediterranean cuisine as well as some American dishes. Formerly Farley’s Soup and Salad, the building has been vacant for about six years, and work began on the new business at the end of last year, Hopkins said. Customers entering the 4,200-square-foot ground floor will be greeted by

Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar will celebrate a quarter century in business May 15, and co-owner Taro Arai said that after the touch-and-go nature of the first five years, the business has come a long way. “The first five years, the more we worked, the more money we lost,” he said. “I still cannot believe it’s been 25 years. We’re so lucky to have all the support we’ve had.” Now with nine restaurants in the greater Sacramento area, Arai said the business will be expanding in 2012, and while more brick-and-mortar restaurants are likely in store, the next thing people will see is a food truck. There is no set timeline for rolling out the food truck yet, but Arai said he and his

Original PoBoys will open Friday at Broadway and Alhambra Boulevard, bringing what owner Eric Crawford said will be an “oasis for anyone from New Orleans.” Crawford said the restaurant will offer authentic New Orleans food served in a fast food setting, and everything served – from the signature shrimp po’boy sandwich to the beignets – will be something found on menus throughout New Orleans. “It has that smell you only get in mom-and-pop shops down south, and it has a Mardi Gras ambiance,” he said. Three generations will work at the restaurant, as Crawford and his wife, Zena, have six children of their own, and Crawford’s mother, Alice Thiel, will help out. Eric Crawford’s background i

2012 marks the tenth anniversary of our region’s premier culinary competition the Sacramento Chef Challenge, and organizers are inviting local restaurants, wineries, breweries and specialty shops to showcase their fare at the June 23rd event. The Sacramento Chef Challenge is a culinary extravaganza featuring two live cooking competitions, lavish food, wine and beer sampling, live music, raffle prizes and more. The event is expected to draw a crowd of over 1000 guests in celebration of INALLIANCE, a local nonprofit that has provided support to people with developmental disabilities for 60 years. “Our vendors draw a huge crowd each year by providing a variety of samples to our guests,” say

After less than a year on Sacramento’s streets, local food truck Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen is adding a brick-and-mortar establishment at 908 15th St. that blurs the line between sports bar and food truck. The Republic Featuring Drewski’s is set to open the week before the Super Bowl (Feb. 5), and Drewski’s owner Andrew “Drewski” Blaskovich said he’s excited to be part of the growth in downtown Sacramento and to offer a late-night food and entertainment spot, closing around 3-4 a.m. on the weekends. “It’s going to be a sports bar,” Blaskovich said. “We’re going to have 12-15 TVs, pool tables, video games and – we’re hoping – skee ball.” The four pool tables will complement old-school vid