Foodie Friday – New Sacramento Venue / Home Delights

PUNCH BOWL SOCIAL

Last weekend we did a little b-day celebrating… we were going to cash in a gift card for Frank Fat’s, but felt guilty that we leave the kids home too often (now that they are old enough and do not need a sitter).  So we decided to check out a newer joint called Punch Bowl Social.  It’s located adjacent to Golden 1 arena, aka DOCO (“Downtown Commons – yeah, yeah, yeah – I guess they really needed to change the image of a dying shopping mall from the 90’s).

I’m happy to see change is in the works.  I got a reservation after reading about long waits.  We did a late afternoon, early evening  dinner, hoping to get some gaming in after we ate.  If you have not heard about this place… it’s kinda like Chucky Cheese for grown-ups.  We’ll maybe a little better than that – no creepy characters singing on stage.  Here are the features per their website – Include: 8 bowling lanes, VR, 2 bocce courts, shuffleboard, 80’s arcade, billiards, giant scrablle, 2 karaoke rooms, bonzini, foosball, photo booth.  This place is a cool concept,  which they’ve repeated in many larger cities all over the country.  They tout themselves as “Where scratch kitchen meets crafted bevs.”  We tried the lobster fried to start, which were mighty good!  My wife was actually surprise by the amount of lobster included (know how that goes… “where’s the lobster!” or fill in the blank where expensive item is included in an appetizer).  We did take our kids (12 & 14 yr. olds), so we ordered a bucket of fried chicken, which came with some biscuits and coleslaw.  In retrospect, we should have all ordered separately to give the menu a fair shake.

My oldest, who has become a food connoisseur, said, “This chicken is okay… a bit dry… I tend to like the exterior of the chicken at South better.”[South is a restaurant near Southside Park, featuring southern food, and damn good chicken].  And my response, “When you’ve had the best, you may be continually disappointed in life if you can’t roll with the punches [of mediocre fried chicken].”  After dinner we wandered around a bit, most all of the games were occupied and the boys were poo-pooing bowling.  My recommendation:  Get a reservation.  Don’t be in a hurry.  Go with adults and just have cocktails and chill.  Wait for a game everyone wants to play.  That’s my plan for next time – sorry kids, we will take you somewhere else.

IRON  – Sunday-Funday!

My parents were in town and wanted to go to brunch.  We got a nearby reservation at Iron (Grill).  We’ve been once before just for appetizers and cocktails, and now have some brunch experience.  This place definitely flies under the radar.  Check it out.

DAD’S KITCHEN

I happened to be home Tuesday, which was also my birthday, and my oldest son had a minimum day.  I surprised him and said, “Let’s go to Dad’s for my birthday!”  It’s walking distance to our house and if you go a little before/after the lunch/dinner rush, you will beat the crowds.  They let us sit at the bar!  Good food and good memories were made.  They usually have a pretty good selection of beers on tap too!.  Nowadays, any chance I get to have some special, alone time with the boys, I take it.  Oh, bring your quarters… they have pinball machines.

Where have you dined recently that is noteworthy for their food?  Or where you loved the atmosphere?

AT HOME

This week again was a special week due to my birthday.  My wife made me ribeye steak with a herb butter topper and a chopped salad (if you have a Costco membership, they have a good buy on rib eye).  She heated a cast iron skillet in the over at 500 degrees, then seared the meat on both sides at a super-hot temperature, then finished it in the over until medium rare.  It came out perfect, especially with the herb butter on top.  I think she used garlic, rosemary, thyme, and parsley?  Also we opened a bottle of Mourvedre, which we purchased on our last trip to the foot hills from a winery called Fate.  The big test is always to see if it pairs well with food.  So many times a wine might taste great alone, but then is a bit disappointing with food.  Or, maybe more the opposite… trying a wine without food may be a disservice to the wine?

I’m spoiled to have a such a great wife, who is a fantastic cook and cares for our health!  For whatever reason, we had a back-to-back awesome dinner night.  The next evening  my wife baked some lovely salmon with fresh veggie.  She also picked up some shredded crab and sushi grade salmon, which I used to make hand rolls out of, plus our favorite, lomi-lomi salmon.  Our version of this is nigiri salmon, thinly sliced onions, chili oil, and a dash of soy sauce.  I added some togarahsi for a little extra flavor.

Anything special happen in your kitchen this week?  Would love to hear.

Cheers!

Keith Klassen, Real Estate Broker – 916.595.7900

Specializing in residential sales and property management.