The Ins and Outs of Nailing Thanksgiving in Sacramento

Regardless of its sordid connotation with American Indian displacement, it’s hard to deny that Thanksgiving is one of the most enjoyable holidays. It is a prime opportunity to slow down, contemplate and express gratitude, spend quality time with family and loved ones, show off your culinary skills and stuff your face.

Turkey Day has also come a long way from its Norman Rockwell-era canned green bean casseroles and cranberry sauces, stuffing from a box and overcooked frozen turkeys. These days, and in America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, Sacramentans have a cornucopia of resources close at hand to make this year the best Thanksgiving ever. The list below is limited by word count constraints, and is by no means inclusive of the many other inspired local businesses, for which to be thankful.

FOR THE CHEF

This is the year: you’re going to prepare a feast for the record books. But your carefully concocted provisions are only as good as the ingredients with which they were prepared. Here are some places to stock up or learn something new, so you can bust out a meal that will put Suzy Homemaker herself to shame.

Branigan’s Turkey Farm
39621 Co Rd 24A, Woodland
Braniganturkey.com

In addition to the obvious fact that fresh, local food just tastes better, did you know that big business meat-packing companies use shady ingredients like saline to beef up weight so they can further profit from a cut of meat, while upping your sodium intake? And utilize low doses of arsenic, which is a poison, to make the color of the meat appear fresher? Play it safe, get a better tasting bird and keep your money within our local economy by supporting Branigan’s Turkey Farm. Family-owned and operated since 1942, their turkeys are available at stores throughout the area, or you can order from the farm directly.

Preservation & Co.
1717 19th Street, Suite B, Sacramento
Preservationandco.com

Originally launched into the limelight with his award-winning Bloody Mary recipe, Jason Poole is no one-trick pony. His sauces, seasoned salts, pickled goods and cocktail mixes put the special in specialty. Preservation and Co. also carries other regionally made goods for spicing up your kitchen cupboard, offers cooking classes and sells cool aprons so you can look the part while giving your guests the performance of a lifetime.

Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op
1900 Alhambra Boulevard, Sacramento
Sacfoodcoop.com

If you ain’t got time for shopping around all over the place and need a one-stop market to get everything you need for Thanksgiving, the Co-op is your go-to. Boasting the first 100 percent organic produce department in the nation, SNFC also has a no-GMO, all-natural food buying policy. The robust meat, cheese, wine, beer, bulk, grocery, deli and kitchenware sections cover all your bases, while natural medicines in the wellness section will help you digest after overeating. Additionally, fun and affordable cooking classes broaden your skillset in the kitchen.

FOR FRIENDSGIVING (OR THE LAZY)

Invited to a Friendsgiving potluck or a family Thanksgiving where you aren’t responsible for cooking the whole shebang? Show some manners and bring something fancy, but effortless. Or maybe you’re not interested in getting out of your pajamas, socializing, cooking or washing dishes, but still want to feast? That’s cool, we’ve got you covered.

Corti Brothers
5810 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento
Cortibrothers.com

You can hardly call yourself a Sacramentan if you haven’t paid a visit to this local main staple. Famed for their beer, wine and specialty foods selection, Corti Brothers is a homegrown grocery store and deli in East Sacramento founded in 1947. Their aforementioned deli is killer, and makes for a great place to order a charcuterie or veggie tray that is far and away on another level than what you’d get at Safeway. Impress friends, family or yourself with your good taste, and shop Corti Brothers’ unique craft beer and artisan wine offerings.

Selland’s
5340 H Street, Sacramento
Sellands.com

Selland’s is, in this writer’s opinion, Sacramento’s best place to get breakfast, lunch or dinner without going for broke. And—shut the front door—they have a full Turkey Day catering menu. You can sit on your ass while you piece together your perfect meal from the catering options menu, get off your ass and go pick it up, then go right back to sitting on your ass the whole holiday while you go in on the top-notch cuisine Selland’s serves up. Orders must be placed by the Friday before Thanksgiving at 3 p.m., and picked up by appointment the day prior. Bonus! Thanksgiving catering orders entitle you to 15 percent off all bottles of wine in Selland’s Wine Shop, too.

Ikeda’s
26295 Mace Boulevard, Davis
Ikedas.com

My best friend turned me on to Ikeda’s by appointing it our pre-hike meeting spot in Auburn this summer on our way to Stevens Creek Trail. I was so impressed with their pie selection—I mean, they have every kind of pie you can think of—that I made a mental note to stop at one of their regional locations prior to Thanksgiving. I like to cook on Thanksgiving, but I leave the baking to someone else. The expression “easy as pie” is a lie and must have been coined by some smug asshole. You can plan on Ikeda’s selection of well-executed pies getting picked over leading up to the holiday, but the good news is that they welcome you to call ahead early in the day, order your favorite, and they’ll bake and hold it for you.

BEST WAYS TO EARN THOSE EXTRA CALORIES

Turkey Day doesn’t have to mean your pants aren’t going to fit anymore. Pig out, guilt-free with these two annual events. In fact, research shows that aerobic exercise curbs appetite, so you’re less likely to overeat if you start your day by getting your juices flowing.

Run to Feed the Hungry
Register at Runtofeedthehungry.com

Entering its 22nd year, this annual fundraising event is now the largest Thanksgiving run of its kind in the country—around 30,000 people participate each year. Managed by and benefiting Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, this 10K run or 5K run/walk will make you feel good spiritually as well as physically as you race through East Sacramento.

Sacramento Appetite Enhancement Thanksgiving Bike Ride

Friend “Sacramento Appetite Enhancement Thanksgiving Day Bike Ride” on Facebook

Celebrating its 28th year, the Appetite Enhancement Thanksgiving Day Bike Ride is as much a party as it is a workout. In fact, it’s usually wrapped up with many of its participants plunging into the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers. Rad bikes, raffles, ciders from local brewer Two Rivers and more are part and parcel of this grassroots ride.

TIME TO DITCH THE FAMILY

OK, we love our families, but after a while, they get on our nerves. That’s why we all moved out. You’ve paid your dues, suffered through your dad telling the same damn story for the umpteenth time, lied through your teeth that you adored your grandma’s fruitcake and appeased your mom by watching the passage of oversized, inflatable banal that is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Now, it’s time for a drink. These few bars below are known for staying open on Thanksgiving. A lot of bars play it by ear each year, so we suggest asking your favorite haunts what they have planned for this Thanksgiving.

The Porch
Grange
Ten22
de Vere’s Irish Pub
Capitol Garage

If people started eating a little more like cranes, nature and the economy might be a little better off for it.

This is what prompted the naming of Feeding Crane Farms, a small farming operation with a big vision that sits along a bird grove on the East Levee Corridor in Natomas.

“Cranes are a really wonderful example of what we’re doing with Feeding Crane Farms,” says general manager Shannin Stein. “Cranes eat locally, they eat seasonally.

“They will actually create habitats for small bugs where they live, they’ll tend to those areas and actually cultivate the bugs,” she adds.

Stein oversees Local Food Done Right, an umbrella company that owns both Feeding Crane Farms and Lulu’s Kitchen. The vision behind the two operations is to promote local, sustainable food production, from “farm to fork.”

She, alongside company owner and visionary Brian Shaad, farm manager Antonio Garza, and operations manager Dylan Keith, are part of a team of less than 10 keeping Lulu’s Kitchen and Feeding Crane Farms alive. Needless to say everyone wears a lot of hats, Stein says.

This is a very new operation. After prepping and plowing three-and-a-half acres, and adding all natural amendments like bloodmeal and oyster shell to the soil, the organic farm “broke ground” last September. They began selling crops to local restaurants and grocery stores early this year.

Beyond providing fresh produce for grocery stores, local restaurants and farmers’ markets in Oak Park, Natomas and Cesar Chavez Park, the small team has come up with some really innovative ideas along the way, like Farm to Fork dinners, where locals who already support farmers’ markets and buy organic can experience the talent of chefs in the community who are committed to using local, organic ingredients.

The company recently purchased Steel Magnolia, a commercial kitchen in Sacramento, which they are renaming Lulu’s Kitchen after Shaad’s grandmother, Mary Lou Cayocca. Lulu’s will be accessible to local producers who have recipes but don’t have access to a commercial kitchen or some of the logistics needed to get their products on grocery shelves, Stein says.

The team has its own products it is developing to sell, too. By the start of 2013, you can start looking out for things like arugula pasta, pepper pasta, handmade butternut squash ravioli, squash bread, arugula pesto, and roasted pepper chutney on store shelves. According to Stein, the recipes are being developed as you read.

They also plan to expand into two more properties along the East Levee Corridor, putting an additional 12 acres into production by January and quadrupling their production capacity.

And last but not least, if you’ve caught wind of the first annual Harvest Sunset Celebration, yes, they are planning that as well. But with all the events already happening this fall, they’ve decided to postpone it until the spring.

With so much going on, it’s hard to believe Stein has a moment to breathe, let alone talk through an interview. Yet Submerge somehow managed to catch up with her while she was on a drive through the Midwest.

You guys said you are along the East Levee in Natomas?
Yeah, we’re in North Natomas, and basically it’s called the East Levee Corridor. So it’s a levee bypass system that comes off the Sacramento River out in Yolo and Sutter counties.

Gotcha. There’s a fair bit of ag activity in that region, right?
Yes and no. A little bit further to the west of Sacramento, closer to I-5, there’s a lot of commercial rice production, there’s a lot of big ag. But along the East Levee Corridor, the majority of the land is fallow; it’s not in any form of production.

And so, you guys are trying to cultivate some of that land out there…
Our goal is to basically try and reinvigorate that entire East Levee Corridor, and to create a system and create farms that are duplicate-able. We want to be able to take what we’ve learned in starting our first small three-and-a-half-acre property and we want to be able to basically duplicate it on other properties along that corridor. Then we will create an actual, thriving agribusiness along that corridor to make that area two things: one, less susceptible to development, and two, to basically make Sacramento far more sustainable in regards to food production.

So what kind of stuff do you guys grow?
We have upward of about 30 different varieties of items in the ground at any given time. For this winter, we’ll have a full-crop harvest, we’re not going to take a break this winter. So we have salad mix, head lettuces, arugula. We did tomatoes this summer, eggplant, okra, lots of root vegetables, we grew beautiful beets and radishes, turnips. As Antonio, our farm manager, likes to refer to it, our main property right now is really kind of a salad bowl. There are carrots, onions. Amazingly for our harvest season, part of it has really been experimentation and learning what does well in the soil that we’re working with and getting a feel for crop rotation and our product demands by community.

What’s the plan with Steel Magnolia [now Lulu’s Kitchen], and why did you guys decide to buy it?
Well, as I mentioned, our motto is basically the same thing as our parent company, “local food done right.” And we really believe that “local food done right” doesn’t just mean growing the food locally, it means producing food locally… We want Lulu’s Kitchen to be an incubator kitchen for local producers to come work on their recipes [and] work on their processes. We have fully trained chefs on our team who can help mentor them… At the same time we want to help those producers navigate the often confusing and sticky system of working with the County Health Department and working with the city and learning how to do labeling so it’s FDA approved and how to get your ingredients improved, you know, all of that process. We want help small producers so it’s easier for them to go from concept to the shelf.

I thought I read something about you guys developing your own products to sell in stores, is that right?
We will be, yeah. Absolutely. In fact, you can go to the GOOD market and you can try some of our value-added items. You’ll hear us talk a lot about [value-added items] with small farms in particular. Farming itself is not necessarily a lucrative business. It’s a cash-heavy investment business, there’s a lot of investments needed to really get a farm going and keep a farm operating. Small producers, small farmers really need to have the opportunity and the outlet for additional revenue streams, and so creating value-added products: jams, jellies, breads, sauces, pastas, things along those lines, where the primary ingredients are from your farm, is a great way to do that. So we have a ton of summer squash still out in the field, so one of the chefs on our team is making squash bread.

Now Farm to Fork Dinners, whose idea was that?
Well, actually, that was a joint discussion. It started out where once every two months or so, the farmers and myself, just kind of our core team, we were going to one of the restaurants for dinner and we provided food, because the farmers work their butts off, and they deserve the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labor occasionally. But in doing that, we also built these really beautiful relationships with the chefs we work with. They have given us fantastic feedback. It started out, actually, with Mama Kim, of Mama Kim Eats, who said almost immediately, “I want to do a brunch.” So we started out with a brunch at Mama Kim Eats, and she said, “I want to do a brunch and I want to focus specific dishes around your produce and your products.” And I was like, “That’s fantastic.” And so Farm to Fork was born. And now we work to do at least one Farm to Fork event each month with our partner restaurants to help bring in business for them on an off-shift. Like at Michelangelo’s, it was on a Sunday night, and we basically helped them triple their sales on a Sunday night.

Do you have an estimate of about how much you produce per season?
You know, we’re putting those numbers together, to be honest [laughs]. But what I can say is we have been able to sustain upward of about 20 to 25 restaurants, the Natural Foods Co-Op, Corti Brothers and three farmers’ markets for this entire season, so since January basically, off of three-and-a-half-acres. And that’s pretty amazing, to begin with.

To learn more about what Feeding Crane Farms and Lulu’s Kitchen have in store, follow Feeding Crane on Twitter @FeedingCrane or like it on Facebook.

Bartender Andrew Calisterio on why Sacramento should be proud to be a “cow town”

Words by Anthony Giannotti

Sacramento has been labeled by many in larger metropolitan areas in California as a “cow town.” While this may or may not be true on many levels, the fact that we are surrounded by some of the best and richest farmland in the country is undeniable. Andrew Calisterio, bartender at Grange Restaurant and Bar, thinks we should embrace this “cow town” label.

“I grew up in rural Elk Grove before the whole tract home thing,” he says. “We had cows in my back yard. My family always had a garden and fresh food. Farm to table has always been a part of my life.” Growing up with a garden has definitely helped him know exactly what to do with the amazing produce we have around here. Calisterio continues, “We have tons of fresh ingredients. Look at all the citrus here. Don’t just put it on the side of the glass to make it look pretty, put booze in it and shake it up!”

Not only has Calisterio devoted his life to Sacramento and the fine local produce, but he is a big advocate of knowing what to do with it. He is one of the founding members of the Sacramento chapter of the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild–a national organization “of beverage service professionals dedicated to the continued refinement of [their] craft,” according to a mission statement on the USBG website. Calisterio makes no illusions of how important he thinks keeping up and furthering industry people’s knowledge is, “The education is what helps create and expand our creativity.”

It’s not just cocktails and shakers for Calisterio. He is also one of the key members in the resurrection of the Sacramento brewery Ruhstaller. “Ruhstaller was a brewery in Sacramento 130 years ago, started by Captain Frank Ruhstaller. I get to sell a really good beer to people in the industry, my friends.”

I got to catch up with the local advocate over a glass of whiskey, which of course he blended, to talk more about Sacramento and cocktails.

How did you start bartending?
I started this whole thing with coffee. I really enjoyed making things. I was 16 working at Starbucks. I liked making the things they had set for us, but I always wanted to make something different, something special. The guests wanted the same thing every single day, and to me that was just insane. I would try to work something in that was around what they liked, but pulling them toward something new or different. Eventually I got picked up by Java City, worked my way up the ladder there and came to a point where I could do anything I wanted with coffee. I really wanted to get into spirits. I’ve always been a fan of nice food and cocktails and experiencing flavors. I pride myself on having a good palate.

How did you start at Grange?
I went in applying for a bartending position, and they looked at me like I was crazy because I had no experience. So I asked what was available and they let me be a bus boy. There was no bar-back program there, so I would go behind the bar every chance I could to help, polish glassware, anything I could do to get in. I’d ask way too many questions and bother Ryan Seng, interrupt his conversations with guests to find out what he was doing and how he made that drink. I basically declared myself a bar-back position. One day a bartender didn’t show up. Since I knew how to make all the drinks–I even had two of my own drinks on the menu, and I was familiar with our wine list–I finally got to start bartending.

Grange is known for its affiliation with the slow food movement. Do you try to incorporate any of those principles into your cocktails?
Absolutely. I grew up in rural Elk Grove on four acres. I was in FFA [Future Farmers of America] as a kid, which ended up being beneficial for me when applying at Grange because I had this agricultural background. I knew the farmers that the food at Grange was coming from. When it came to building my cocktails, I wanted to represent the local Sacramento area.

You recently won a couple of cocktail contests. Can you tell us about that?
The big one was put on by Hangar One Vodka. It was a California-wide cocktail competition. I was already familiar with the brand because it is a farm to bottle spirit–right up my alley. A rep came in to ask me to join the competition but said they weren’t stopping in Sacramento. They were going to be in different major cities around California–Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose. I was a little offended that they weren’t going to be representing the capital city of California, where so much of California’s produce and agriculture comes from. So I came up with my cocktail and started networking, using social media to let my friends and peers know what I was working on and trying to represent Sacramento.

You are one of the co-founders of the Sacramento Bartenders’ Guild. What is that and what do you guys do?
As bartenders, we go visit other bars or bartenders that we respect and like to see what they are doing and learn from them. It started as this kind of informal gathering and eventually some of us decided to get together and make it formal and official. We wanted the education of bartending to be brought forward. It’s $100 a year, and if you go to just a couple meetings, you’ve already gotten your money back in products and education. We have tastings and training with brands that share their products but also teach us about spirits and what the differences are and help us learn how to use them to our best ability. We are using our connections to gather and share brands and ideas with our coworkers in town. Bar owners and workers get a chance to meet, so whether someone is looking for a job or needs a bartender, it’s just a great way to communicate. All of us are career bartenders, not just some guy who pours shots. We are trying to raise the bar around Sacramento. We have a great cocktail scene here; we just want to always see more out of it and let it shine.

So you think it’s important for bartenders to have extra education, to be able to do more than just give a shot or a beer?
Well even with that, there is a proper shot and a beer pairing, it has value. Sometimes you don’t want a cocktail. Sometimes you just want a shot or a beer. Dickel is a whiskey brand that has become really popular as a shot. Someone decided that that was a good shot to pair with a beer. And the beers aren’t Budweiser anymore. North Coast Company Blue Star is the inexpensive beer on tap now. So the bar is being raised even for just a shot and a beer. Having a vast knowledge of spirits and cocktail ingredients helps you to attract more guests and give them that experience they are looking for when they go out to eat or have a drink. I love when someone comes in and says “Make me something.” My next question is what do you usually like? And I will try to avoid that.

You’re not just a cocktail guy. You are also involved with Ruhstaller Beer…
I was brought on early with this company. I am honored to be able to help with the resurrection of the old Sacramento brand… They asked me to help build the brand because they know I am a social guy. I lug around kegs and talk to people and help with sales. I’m doing the same thing I do every day, but on the other side of the bar. I’m getting the bartenders to try this beer, telling them how good it is and then they buy it for their bars. The company has grown a lot and I help when I can, mostly with social networking or helping pour at events.

Do you ever try to combine your knowledge of beer and cocktails to make a beer cocktail?
For beer week, we had a beer pairing dinner at Grange with some big names from Sacramento. I put together a cocktail that was in the fashion of a shot and a beer, with a twist. I took [Ruhstaller] 1881 and made syrup out of it and made an Old Fashioned using Woodford Reserve. I even used local Sacramento oranges in it. I served it with a shot of beer on the side to help represent the beer. Darell Corti [gourmand and co-owner of Corti Brothers] said it was the best aperitif he’d had in Sacramento. I was so happy, I couldn’t stop smiling. It was a great boost.

What’s involved in a great cocktail?
Balance, first and foremost. I try to balance where the flavors hit on your palate. I generally start with a great spirit or an end result flavor. Or I try to pick out flavors that will work well in the cocktail and pair with the food. Sometimes it’s hard when I really like a certain spirit that has so much great flavor on its own because I’d rather just drink it neat.

Midtown Cocktail Week is coming up. What sort of blowout is Grange doing this year?
Blowout is a good word. Last year was such a success that it was too busy to accommodate everyone in the hall. So this year we will be using the dining room. Grange’s dinner service will come to a screeching halt and be replaced with amazing cocktails and appetizers. The band The Silent Comedy will play. The theme this year is Sacramento, so a little politically driven. At Grange, we are doing the anti-prohibition act. We want people to come out and vote for the cocktails. We are also going to have hometown hero Jayson Wilde come back and guest bartend the event.

Is there anything you’d like to see out of the Sacramento food and cocktail scene?
Sacramento has had a lot of successful people start here and make names for themselves, but they always end up leaving. It’s great when they come back around and visit, but Sacramento needs some talent to stick around. If Sacramento is going to grow or be more successful, we need these people to stay and be a part of this city. I would like to see some of the people from Sacramento that have been successful elsewhere be successful in Sacramento. I enjoy other cities and traveling, but this is my home. I have a lot of friends and inspiration here. We are the capital city in the largest state.

Midtown Cocktail Week will take place at various venues from Aug. 19 through 26, 2012. See what Andrew Calisterio comes up with at the “Repeal Prohibition – High Styled 1920’s Political Rally” event at Grange on Aug. 24, 2012. The event will run from 5 p.m. to midnight. To keep track of other Cocktail Week happenings, go to http://midtowncocktailweek.org/.