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.
Sunday’s solstice isn’t June’s only marker of seasonal change. This month is the restaurant industry’s awards season, when both James Beard Awards and Michelin stars offer cities like Sacramento a shot at a national audience.
The Beards have come and gone, with only a semifinalist nod for Restaurant Josephine in Auburn to speak of around this region (though if you fancy a day trip, Quince and Pacific Cocktail Haven in San Francisco both won awards). Michelin honors will be revealed Wednesday night at a ceremony in San Diego; Localis and The Kitchen will hope to hold onto their stars — or even gain a second — while Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, Allora and others look to join that rare air.
These national awards can have a tangible impact on a business’ revenue and success — or not, as Keyla Vasconcellos explored in an article published this morning. “The Bear” enters its final season Thursday with the survival of its namesake restaurant effectively tied to receiving a Michelin star; if that is the business plan of any real-life restaurant out there, good luck!
As with most people, I don’t usually agree 100% with the awards committees’ selections (even during my time as a James Beard Award judge, which came to an end last year). Sacramento, it seems, is often left playing in our favorite position of underdog. Sometimes it feels like restaurants in larger cities garner a disproportionate number of honors because they truly represent a cultural precipice; other times, it feels like that’s where judges were already mostly looking. But every time one of our restaurants gets that level of shine, it solidifies Sacramento’s culinary reputation and offers another bucket list item to locals.
In today’s City of Treats, I’ve supplied my own list for people to disagree with: The Sacramento region’s 11 signature drinks. One of them is at Scorpio Coffee, which also makes a killer mushroom toast. And if you like jerk chicken or oxtails, don’t miss a Caribbean festival happening this weekend in a park along the Sacramento River.
Let’s eat!
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Benjy’s Bites
Scorpio Coffee | 1905 16th St., Sacramento
Scorpio Coffee’s matcha latte has become a signature Sacramento drink (read more on those below!), but don’t sleep on the food program at Sam Balean’s trendy Midtown roastery with Japanese influences. While indoor seating is often at a premium, an outdoor patio is welcoming before temperatures rise too high, particularly with an iced drink.
The mushroom toast’s ($18) umami scent hits your nostrils as soon as you walk into Scorpio, and it should be tasted as well as smelled. Oyster and beech mushrooms, bright shallot aioli and a togarashi-flecked onsen egg cover seedy sesame-miso sourdough, baked in-house like all of Scorpio’s offerings. For something lighter, try the stone fruit salad ($14) while it lasts. Perfectly ripe yellow peaches own the spotlight there, backed up by torn lettuce, sourdough croutons, a bottom layer of goat cheese and a tart mint vinaigrette.
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.
Locally-famous drinks aside, my household has been on an out-there beverage kick over the past week: banana water. Manufactured in Thailand but rapidly gaining popularity in North America, it’s solely made from bananas, which are about 80% water. An “enzymatic process” separates the water from pulp, the Los Angeles Times reported, leaving a smooth, slightly viscous canned drink.
Every couple of days, my partner Abbey, some house guests and I split a 500-milliliter Woodstock Foods can, which are available at Raley’s, Sprouts, Nugget Market and the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. The taste is somewhere between banana bread and banana pudding to me, with the holistic refreshment of coconut water when chilled. It’s got electrolytes, no added sugar and (perhaps) some staying power inside our fridge.
In the news
My list of the Sacramento region’s 11 signature drinks spans from Davis to El Dorado, with cocktails and craft beer alongside third-wave coffee and a surprisingly nuanced root beer. How many have you tried, and what do you think is missing?
Longtime Downtown Sacramento lunch favorite Bud’s Buffet is back after being closed for nearly six years, but loyalists may not recognize much beyond the sign. New owners have remodeled the neglected interior and swapped hulking sandwiches for a halal Tex-Mex concept, which will also power weddings and quinceañeras at their banquet halls.
With the 2026 California Michelin Guide set to release Wednesday night, Keyla Vasconcellos talked to several local restaurateurs who have won (and lost) honors from the tire company’s dining critics. One reported a 30% surge in business after earning a Bib Gourmand, while another didn’t see a sizable uptick based on a mere mention.
Happening this week
- June is National Caribbean American Heritage Month, and locals will be celebrating at the Caribbean Currents Festival on Sunday afternoon at Robert T. Matsui Waterfront Park. Hosted by the Caribbean Basin Institute for Education and Culture, the family-friendly festival typically has vendors serving foods of Cuba, Jamaica and more. Adult admission is $10, while kids 10-18 are $5 and little ones get in free.
- Bai Cebu Lechon opened its first area restaurant last Thursday in Roseville’s Harding Plaza shopping center. The Filipino restaurant known for its roast pork belly began with outposts in Hayward and Suisun City.
- Yada Thai Cuisine just finished its soft opening (June 12-19) in Fair Oaks Square Shopping Center. Look for familiar curries and stir-fries plus a range of lesser seen noodle soups, such as yen ta fo (pork, fish balls, tofu, pork blood and mixed seafood in a pink bean curd broth).
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.