Pork Belly Grub Shack
4261 Truxel Road, Sacramento
Words & Photos by Adam Saake
I really miss Red Lotus. Chef Billy Ngo’s dim sum-inspired restaurant featured some of my favorite dishes that I often crave like the kung pao chicken wings, seafood soup and the pork belly buns. Ngo was onto something great that unfortunately ended prematurely, and after the closing of the restaurant in September 2011, I was sure there were still some great ideas up the young chef’s sleeve. Ngo had been scheming with two other local restaurant owners, Aimal Formoli and Suzanne Ricci of the popular East Sacramento spot Formoli’s Bistro, to host monthly Slow Beer Movement Dinners, where the two chefs collaborated on dishes that local beer buff Mark Neuhauser then paired with tasty suds. Some very memorable dishes came from these dinners including a squid ink pasta with baby octopi, hop-smoked chicken and of course, more pork belly dishes that the two chefs seemed to always include in their creations.
It was no surprise that after Formoli’s was finished getting settled in their new location a bit further down J Street and Ngo had his feet back on the ground, comfortable again behind the sushi counter at Kru, that the three would embark on their next food venture: Pork Belly Grub Shack. The Natomas restaurant opened in early November 2011 with an introductory menu, casual seating and décor and the same kind of friendly faces you might find at Kru or Formoli’s. It seems to say, “Welcome, come in and eat something good.”
The menu that consists of salads, burgers, sandwiches and other items like fries, tacos and fish and chips is just a start for Pork Belly. Natomas is still getting acquainted with them and vice versa.
“We’re just trying to feel out what people like and what kind of neighborhood this is so that we can adjust to what their needs are,” says Kim Vu of Pork Belly. “The neighborhood is definitely new to all of us.”
Vu is no stranger to Ngo’s restaurants, having worked at both Kru and Red Lotus, and she knows the importance of first impressions as well as changing to meet the needs of customers. But so far Vu says business has been great. “We definitely have good reviews and good feedback when people come in,” says Vu.
Pork Belly has a great balance of simple and tasty comfort food combined with Asian influences that make for a very approachable menu. Don’t let the name mislead you into thinking that there’s going to be heaps of pork belly on every plate. Many of the dishes like the Catfish Po-Boy ($7.50) on a French baguette with housemade slaw and tartar sauce or the Porkless bella Burger ($7.00), a portabella mushroom burger with jack cheese, tomatoes, greens and truffle oil, don’t have pork belly on them at all. The ones that do however, like the Asian Street Tacos ($1.75 each) with pork belly in corn tortillas with pickled carrots, daikon, cilantro, spicy teriyaki sauce and lemon pepper aioli, are absolute home runs and showcase the fatty cut of pork in all its glory.
Part of Natomas getting to know Pork Belly is, well, getting to know pork belly.
“This area, people don’t know what pork belly is. It’s a little different with the food scene in downtown. Everybody knows what it is, it’s on everybody’s menu,”
Often the best way to describe pork belly to someone is to let them know that bacon comes from this same cut of the pig. But pork belly isn’t bacon in that it’s not seasoned and cured. With pork belly, you see a thicker cut of meat with a delicious portion of fat that can be prepared in many different fashions and incorporated into many different styles of dishes. Chefs tend to really love working with pork belly and, in the past five years or so, there’s been more and more menus with dishes showcasing its range.
Chef Formoli’s touch makes its way into the burger selection, an area he’s proven to be quite proficient in. If you haven’t tried the much-raved about Whiskey Burger at Formoli’s Bistro, then I recommend you run, not walk, to eat one now. Pork Belly throws a little hip-hop homage into the mix with burgers like the Notorious P.I.G. or the Big Piggin’ (Pig Pimpin’? No?). But when I visited, these tempting burgers were trumped by a behemoth of a burger called none other than the Hot Mess. I had to order it. Not because its alluring name conjured memories of my romantic life’s past (I like classy broads), but because the sheer curiosity of what this “mess” might look and taste like was too much to bear. Two patties of beef with melted jack and cheddar, piled with sweet caramelized onions, a heavenly fried egg, barbecue sauce (oh my!) and roasted garlic aioli on sourdough. I had finally met my match. The Hot Mess is delicious in all its heart-stopping glory, but I recommend you might want to split yours with a friend.
Items I must return to try are too many to mention; but the banh mi is amongst the ranks, and certainly the French Pig with melted brie cheese, roasted tomatoes and truffle oil on sourdough is a must try. Specials rotate throughout the week and, knowing the chefs, inventive pork presentations will continue to be offered. And progressive still, there is talk of introducing a dinner menu along with a beer and wine list. As far as I’m concerned, pork belly needs these two components to seal the deal in my mouth.
“It goes hand and hand with this kind of food. The food is good in the winter time because it’s nice and heavy and it warms you up, and in the summertime it’s paired well with beer,” agrees Vu.
Pork Belly is already off to a great start, so whatever additions Ngo, Formoli and Ricci make, they will only be building and working toward a better version of what they have now. I recommend you make the trip to Natomas if you haven’t already; your belly will thank you.
Photo by Monica Lunardi
Two of Sacramento’s most talented chefs, Billy Ngo (of Red Lotus) and Aimal Formoli (of Formoli’s Bistro) have teamed up on their “Slow Beer Movement Dinners,” and Submerge contributor Adam Saake has been raving about them ever since they started a few months ago. On May 23, 2011 the fourth dinner will take place at Red Lotus (the location alternates between there and Formoli’s) and it will feature Anchor Steam beers paired with five incredible courses plus a dessert. You’ll get a taste of Summer Ale, Anchor Steam, Liberty Ale, Brekle’s Brown, Anchor Porter and Old Foghorn. They will also have specials on Anchor Bock at the bar. Although the food that will be served is sure to be amazing (and under wraps as to keep guests surprised by what they are served), Saake mentioned to Submerge recently that their focus is more on the beer than the grub. “These dinners are something special that I haven’t really seen here in Sacramento,” he said. “60 some-odd people take a whole Monday night off to sit, relax, enjoy the beers and food and each other’s company. It’s really something of beauty.” Tickets are $55 per person and space is limited so act fast if you want in on the goodness. Get tickets in person at Red Lotus or online at Slowbeermovementdinner4.eventbrite.com, but be prepared for a service fee if you’re purchasing online. Follow @sactownslowbeer on Twitter for frequent updates on upcoming dinners/pairings or find them on Facebook by searching “Slow Beer Movement Dinners.” “What’s cool about these events,” Saake continued, “is the juxtaposition of the French, clean plates with the tattoo culture that all the organizers have participated in heavily. This has made its way to T-shirts that are made for each event and Liz Miller over at Relentless Tattoo draws the designs. They’re way badass.”
-J. Carabba
Formoli’s Bistro
3260 J Street – Sacramento
Words & Photos by Adam Saake
Eating is a special experience. Food at once entices our senses with glorious smells, vibrant colors and curious textures while filling the basic human necessity of calming our hunger and nurturing our bodies. The experience continues with our journeys into cooking and learning how to feed ourselves and others in a way that makes meals memorable landmarks in our lives. And the final movement is to be fortunate enough to watch masters at work in their kitchens. When a dish is masterfully prepared right before your eyes, epiphanies occur and all of a sudden it all makes sense.
There are few places in Sacramento that can deliver an experience that encompasses all of those elements, and that’s OK. Sometimes we just want to be to ourselves and enjoy the company we’re with or maybe just grab something and go. But for the whole experience, for the spectacle des spectacles, there are places like Formoli’s Bistro in East Sacramento that, from the moment you open the door, you are drawn into all things exciting about dining out.
The brief hallway leads you into a bistro alive with kitchen sounds and smells and neighbors dining elbow to elbow for the sake of good cuisine. For those intimate nights or celebratory get-togethers, the dining room is just big enough to accommodate your fancy. But the best seat in the house is at the bar, sitting across from chefs Aimal Formoli and Joseph Contreras, watching the plates unfurl in a flurry of spices and demi-glaze. Hands fly in the air as seasonings fall and the pans in motion add a percussive backbeat to the chatter of the bistro.
But I digress. We’re here to talk about the food and what a mouthful there is to say. Out came the stuffed dates, a small offering that reflects Formoli’s Persian heritage mixed with his French training from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Stuffed with goat cheese and crispy pancetta and served on top of Belgian endive (an interesting white, crisp vegetable that grows from the roots of chicory) and topped with Champagne vinaigrette ($12), this dish is the flagship of Formoli’s cooking and is a gateway to the rest of his remarkable dishes.
The bruschetta arrived next, and I was excited to see what Chef Formoli was going to do with this classic Italian appetizer. Thick slices of bread with a perfectly toasted crust were topped with the cool, acidic sweetness of the cherry tomatoes and rounded out with a nice salty, olive oil tapenade. Each of Formoli’s dishes have such an incredible color palette that your eyes light up as they arrive. The brown, white and soft green of the dates or the yellows and reds of the bruschetta are nothing short of dazzling. Even purple makes an appearance in the blue cheese smashed potatoes that accompany the filet.
“As a chef, I try to be an artist too. That’s kind of my thing. I just love when a plate pops out at you. The colors are big for me on the plates,” says Formoli.
Upon my first visit, I was thankfully introduced to the whiskey burger that knocked my socks off. Formoli sears his blended, pepper encrusted patties in whiskey before finishing them in the oven. A perfectly toasted bun marries the cheddar cheese and habañero aioli to complete one of the best burgers in town. But while I ate, I watched a number of dishes being prepared including a pasta dish with medium rare flat iron steak sliced thinly on top. A white wine cream sauce with fettuccini noodles is one thing, but then to top it with such a great cut of beef that is cooked carefully and arrives tender is a whole different ball game. The fresh herbs and tomatoes make this dish pop, and you have the creaminess of the sauce with the savory texture of the beef–a real entrée.
Formoli’s is approaching its third year of business and not without its share of blood, sweat and tears along the way.
“What me and my wife [Suzanne Ricci] had saved is what we dumped into it and then halfway through, we ran out of every resource; every dime we had,” says Formoli.
Their dream was so big that these obstacles didn’t stand in their way. Quietly throughout the years, tucked away in the non-descript East Sacramento shopping center, Formoli’s Bistro built an outstanding menu that developed just as Formoli and Ricci wanted.
“Not being in the limelight too soon was good, because I was able to fine tune everything in the restaurant,” Formoli says. “That’s the last thing I wanted was hype.”
Then there’s the service. Front of the house experience is overflowing from servers like Patrick O’Neill, Sarah Heimann and Christina Gonzales, the latter two recipients of the Sacramento Bee’s “best server” accolade. The best word here is genuine. Customers aren’t talked “at” but rather delicately handled and the focus is on enhancing the meal rather than up-selling. With such a high turnover rate for servers in the restaurant industry, Formoli has found a team he calls his “family” that has been with him since the doors opened.
Look out for some cosmetic work being done on the inside and outside of the bistro this year and if you haven’t let the Formoli’s family wow you yet, there’s no time like the present.
