by Steve LaRosa
photography by Dave Brooks

Jennie’s Palace

At this Folsom Chinese restaurant, the show’s as good as the food.

Poor Gray Davis. In the middle of those pesky rolling blackouts and that irksome energy crisis, there existed a solution. He could have strung a line up to Jennie’s Palace in Folsom and plugged into Jennie Weissmann during one of her show-stopping perfor . . . uh . . . shifts. This dining die-hard has enough juice to power the four-county region. Rumor has it there’s a set of jumper cables hanging in the kitchen.

Rookies are eased into things here. Regulars are used to a shouted greeting from across the room. “I have spicy jalapeño today!” “Want a hot tea to keep you warm?!”

Fortunately for me, my first trip there was with a veteran. Still, I fell for the what’s-that-on-your-shirt, nose-flick (though a gentle one) routine. I should have seen that coming down East Bidwell.

The former Jennie Shieh, born in Taiwan, has dazzled audien . . . uh . . . delighted customers since 1998. The supporting cast . . . uh . . . wait staff includes the Asian Andrews sisters: Jeanette, Karen and Lili. They know their customers’ preferences and, like Jennie, are beloved by those patrons.

The cuisine is Szechuan and Mandarin, adapted to American tastes. As Jennie tells it, she reached deep, then reined herself in a few times until she hit her customers’ comfort zone.

Her food is labor-intensive. Her flavors are taste bud-intense. Sauces are from scratch—she makes her own chicken broth. Vegetables taste good! Take her string beans: She deep-fries them for a half minute before she sautés them in a garlic-based sauce. They turn out crisp and moist.

Her eggplant Szechuan-style is deep-fried, then cooked in a sauce of chicken broth, ginger, garlic and soy sauce, bringing life to an often-boring veggie. Delicious.

Jennie refers to her sesame chicken as “candied.” Her version has a crunchy outside with a sweet glaze. Also recommended are the moo-shi dishes, the black-pepper sizzling chicken, Jennie’s hot-and-sour soup, and the pork and dried bean curd.

When we asked Jennie if this was the first restaurant she owned, she replied, “Uh-huh. And the last, too. Too much work.” We think she was referring to the food, not the show.

1004 E. Bidwell St., No. 400, Folsom; (916) 984-1208; Open 4–9 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturday.

Look for Steve LaRosa's restaurant reviews the first Friday of every month at 11 a.m. on “News10 Midday. “

This article appears in the August 2004 issue of Sacramento Magazine.