The following is from City of Treats, a food and drink newsletter by Abridged senior food editor Benjy Egel. Want it sent directly to your inbox? Sign up here.
Last week I had the pleasure of hosting the Sacramento Public Library’s free Q&A “Samin Nosrat: Enters the Chat.” Nosrat, of course, is the Bay Area writer behind the revolutionary 2017 cookbook “Salt Fat Acid Heat,” which was a New York Times #1 Bestseller and resulted in an acclaimed Netflix show.
Nosrat was in Sacramento to finish touring her new book, “Good Things.” Named after a Raymond Carver short story, it’s a book for the heart as much as “Salt Fat Acid Heat” is for the head. In between pages of beautiful photos and mouthwatering recipes, Nosrat gets personal about her struggles with sudden fame, depression and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Community can be a balm for those issues. In “Good Things,” Nosrat writes about the sanctity of Monday night dinners. Begun as a somewhat impromptu gathering shortly after vaccination, they’re now a weekly ritual, always at the same person’s house with a similar crowd (whom, it’s worth noting, aren’t necessarily Nosrat’s closest friends or her dream dinner party invitations). That consistency frees them of advance planning aside from the food, which is rarely fancy and occasionally just means takeout pizza.
Social eating’s benefits are well documented, and I’ll attest that meals with loved ones feel better than shoveling food in my mouth to the backdrop of a YouTube video. The freeing element is that Nosrat, who cooked in world-renowned restaurants before her author turn, gives readers the green light to make her fluffy pork meatballs or creamy spinach lasagna recipes — or simply fill up the kiddie pool and pull out some hot dogs and popsicles. Perfect, as she writes, is the enemy of the good.
Benjy’s Bites
Here’s my favorite item or two from a local restaurant this week. Send me yours at begel@kvie.org.
Stagecoach Restaurant | 4365 Florin Road, Sacramento and 8713 Elk Grove Blvd, Elk Grove | 916-422-9296 and 916-685-7803
Breakfast at Stagecoach Restaurant. (Benjy Egel)
Sacramento County may have no better spot for a traditional Southern breakfast than Stagecoach Restaurant. Albert and Yoshi Stevens founded the original Florin Road location in 1978, and “Big Al’s” son launched the Elk Grove restaurant two years later (granddaughter Melanie keeps it running today). Scratchmade family recipes, blue-plate specials and Sunday evening church services on-site have made these old-timey diners local favorites over the years, particularly among Black families. Today’s operators have kept the treasures but added items such as Beyond Burgers and grilled salmon patties for some lighter fare, with menu differences between the two locations.
Most Stagecoach classics come with sides such as grits, home fries or fried green tomatoes in addition to three eggs and drop biscuits, toast or blueberry muffins. The result is plate after plate supplementing the crumbly chicken-fried steak ($21) or spice-flushed smoked beef hot link ($17), with two entrees enough to feed three hungry people. The Sacramento location also makes its own scrapple ($17 with eggs and sides, or $9 à la carte), a mid-Atlantic diner staple rarely seen out west. The two rectangles of pork mash with interspersed hunks had a light texture, but strong flavor.
Egel’s Nest
I live, play and cook in this community just like you. This recurring section is a window into my life outside of restaurants and bars, always with a food and/or drink angle.
With citrus trees booming, I’ve recently gotten back into one of my favorite winter home projects: making limoncello. The Italian liqueur is easy to make and a lovely coda to a meal, served room temperature during the winter and chilled or as a spritz over the summer.
Simply take a potato peeler to 15 lemons (I prefer Meyers, but any will work), throw the peels in a 32-ounce glass jar, cover with vodka and let it sit for three to four weeks. Once it’s done so, strain the infusion through a cheesecloth, mix it with simple syrup to taste and bottle it for future enjoyment.
In The News
It’s easy to spend a great day in Lodi, as Abridged contributor Keyla Vasconcellos found. Start with ham-and-cheese croissant at Maison Lodi, taste wines from more than 85 Lodi wineries and walk it off on a nature trail along the Mokelumne River.
You’ll still be able to get your morning doughnut fix at Sacramento’s beloved Broadway Donuts after all. The owner, who suffered a stroke in August, said last week that after 37 years in business at 28th Street and Broadway, the shop would close Friday. But since the announcement, a longtime member of staff has offered to take over.
Happening This Week
- Roseville’s third annual Winter Night Market lands in Vernon Street Town Square on Saturday. While it’s built around crafts, there’ll be food vendors, hot chocolate and mulled wine on hand.
- The Oak Park Community Center will host Sacramento’s seventh annual Fortunate Feast on Saturday morning. The free event includes hot to-go breakfast for all and Starbucks coffee or hot chocolate as well as pictures with Santa, new toys for kids and essential supplies for those who can use them.
- Bear West BBQ & Soul Food opened at a new location last Wednesday after shutting down for two months due to a fire. The Southern restaurant has moved from North Highlands to 9011 Folsom Blvd. in Rosemont.
Benjy Egel is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged’s weekly food and drink newsletter, City of Treats.