Earlier this month I did an overnight in Sacramento for a bachelor party (my first). Less than 24hrs in our state's capitol to celebrate last days of singlehood of the Groom-to-Be (GTB). I've condensed the celebration's events into a post that highlights the food. No need to share the debauchery (there wasn't any) with you.
After arriving in Sacramento, our first stop was Rick's Dessert Diner. To surprise the GTB, we purchased some cake slices (he loves his sweets). This place specializes in all things sweet. Decorated in neon and bright colors, this diner is located in a former craftsman in Midtown Sacramento. The cakes are huge and slices are equally generous. For the champagne and cake event we purchased a red velvet, carrot, double fudge, and 'the best yellow ever' slices. Plus a caramel napoleon and a chocolate covered cream puff (for the birthday boy of the group).
While all the cakes were delicious, the 'best yellow cake you ever' was the standout. The yellow cake was super moist. And mocha frosting in between the layers was just the right balance of sweet and salt.
The other standout- the caramel napoleon. Imagine perfect puff pastry layers sandwiched with light fluffy vanilla cream and topped with a perfectly sweet and salty caramel. Uh-maze-balls!
Insert disco nap here.
And onto dinner at Hock Farm Craft + Provisions. A farm-to-table restaurant highlighting all the bounty from local farmers in the Sacramento valley area. Interiors were sleek, modern with woods and natural materials to warm up the space. The menu is divided into bites, salads + soups, pizzas, small plates, full plates and sides all designed for sharing.
We decided to share a bunch of things across the menu. 7 guys. 3 rounds of food. Way too much to capture except for the standouts:
Chicken Liver Mousse Bosc Pear & Butternut Compote, Crostini: one of the best examples of chicken liver I've seen since Starbelly in SF. A mason jar filled with 3oz of deliciousness. Smooth. Savory. Creamy. Hits all the right notes. I enjoyed with and without the compote atop fresh crostini. I usually am not a fan of pears, but the compote was a nice sweet contrast to the savory chicken livers. YUM!
Butternut squash, Mushroom + Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza: This was the daily pizza special. Crust was nicely charred and crisp. Toppings were roasted and carmelized. A gourmet vegetarian napoleon pizza. Abodonza!
Roasted Cauliflower, Fennel, Butternut Squash + Sage Breadcrumbs: All the veggies were carmelized in olive oil and butter with red chili flakes. The sage breadcrumbs were a nice crispy note to the dish. The flavors all worked together. I'm taking notes and making this one at home!
Insert after dinner walk to Sacramento's gay town here.
Enter gay bar.
To kick off the night we have some jello shots. I haven't had them since college. My flavor of choice that night was watermelon (the green one pictured below). Funny how these shots mirror the colors in the bar-eh?
Insert the rest of the night here.
And...sleep.
In the morning we head to Cafeteria 15L for the GTB's hangover brunch. A cute little spot in Midtown. Cafeteria offers your standard breakfast fare with specialties like the Skillets: imagine eggs, truffled tater tots, breakfast meats, cheeses all piled into a cast iron skillet. Gut buster! 3 of us had one of these. GTB opted for a Eggs Benedict Florentine. 2 of us (including me) opted for the...
Chicken + Waffles: 2 well seasoned brined chicken breasts are fried to golden perfection (good). I generally don't like white meat fried, but this was quite juicy. The breasts are topped with a country gravy (ok). The belgian waffle was pretty standard (ok). It was served with a pecan maple butter (a bit sweet).
Return to San Francisco...
to watch the 49ers lose to Seattle.
BOO!
