It’s easy to find good food in the Sacramento region, but harder to find those memorable, knock-your-socks off menu items. Here are five we can’t forget.
Hot bacon-wrapped Medjool dates
Tucos Wine Market and Café
A sybaritic circus of flavors, temperatures and textures, this stunning (and rich) appetizer pairs the saltiness of well-cooked bacon with the intense sweetness of a Medjool date. Stuffed within the bacon-wrapped date is a creamy, tangy and warm blob of goats’ cheese, pierced by a crisp, chilled slice of Pink Lady apple. Can you say “indescribably delicious?”
130 G St., Davis, (530) 757-6600
Roasted chicken pizza
Paragary’s Bar and Oven
We’re crazy about Paragary’s roasted chicken pizza, with its chewy, crackly, thin crust. Smeared with sage-walnut pesto, and sprinkled generously with spinach, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, chevre and soft mozzarella, this is one pizza you won’t want to share with the kids (or anyone else, for that matter).
1401 28th St., Sacramento; (916) 457-5737
Smoked salmon and potato mezzaluna
Mulvaney’s Building & Loan
Chef Patrick Mulvaney’s luscious “half-moon” raviolis are crammed full of a tasty smoked salmon mixture and napped in a dreamy Meyer lemon cream sauce punctuated with softly sautéed Bloomsdale spinach. Indulgent to eat and gorgeous to look at, it’s one of Mulvaney’s most inspired cold-weather dishes.
1215 19th St., Sacramento; (916) 441-6022
Huevos Divorciados
Ernesto’s Mexican Food
Who says you should stick to eggs Benedict on a lazy weekend morning? Roar your palate to life with Ernesto’s lusty huevos divorciados. Rustic corn tortillas are topped with two eggs—one egg is smothered with the kitchen’s stew-like chile verde, the other with the earthy, red chili-sauced steak ranchero. It’s bold, it’s hearty, and it will keep your taste buds tingling all morning.
1901 16th St., Sacramento, (916) 441-5850
Clay pot fish
Saigon Bay
Saigon Bay’s traditionally prepared clay pot catfish—com ca kho to—is bathed in a deeply caramelized and complexly sweet sauce. The fish, moist and flaky, practically dissolves in your mouth. We suggest ladling this irresistible mixture over a hot pile of rice for maximum enjoyment—and make sure to pair it with a bracing Vietnamese beer.
1407 Howe Ave., Sacramento; (916) 922-1288
