j27 Art Gallery

If you’ve driven through or walked down J Street past the 2700 block lately, you’ve more than likely noticed the new sign outside what used to be Papi’s Pizza that simply says, “Art.” Meet j27 Art Gallery, a brand new gathering space co-owned by area artists Susan Rabinovitz and Michael Shane. Rabinovitz, known for her hand-forged jewelry, met Shane, an abstract painter who also owns a shipping and delivery company, at the Sacramento Art Complex where they both had studios about a year-and-a-half ago. “We’d always discussed doing something together,” Shane said during a recent conversation with Submerge. “So about two months ago when I started looking at commercial space I called her up and said, ‘Are you still in?’ and she said, ‘Yeah!’ so we came over and looked at this space. We signed the lease two days later.” Shane pointed out that they are aiming to break the “Second Saturday only” mold and that they want to be “an everyday gallery.” Every weekend there will be something going on, not just on Second Saturdays, be it a live art exhibition, live local music, meet and great sessions with artists and more. Currently represented at j27 are paintings and jewelry from Shane and Rabinovitz as well as a slew of other regional artists’ work including abstract paintings by Gayle Rappaport-Weiland (June’s featured artist); photography from Monica Lunardi and Allister Oliver; fused glass art by Nicole Krohn; sculpture work by Molly Brown, Paula Swayne and Angela Ridgway; paintings from Donna Marie Sterpe as well as cartoonist Eric Decetis’ world-renowned work and much more. Shane pointed out that j27 is proud to be the only gallery selling Decetis’ original art, whose cartoons have graced the pages of countless publications. All in all, j27 has an excellent mix of art found in all sorts of mediums. It’s easy to get sidetracked when in the space, as there are so many eye-catching things to look at. “We’re trying to be very picky about the art that we hang,” Shane said. “We want to have an upscale environment and we want to be the place where people come to buy fine art. But, we want it to be a fun place too; we don’t want it to be stuffy. If you come in, you’re going to hear music, we’ll talk to you about the art, it won’t be dead cold and quiet. It’s important to carry that real high-end stuff, but you don’t have to make it, you know, cold and museum-like.” Learn more about j27 and the artists behind it at j27gallery.com or just stop in. They’ll be open every day starting at 11 a.m. (1 p.m. on Sundays).
-J. Carabba

La Trattoria Bohemia

3649 J Street | Sacramento, CA

I don’t know about all of you fun, food-curious fanatics out there, but my interest in the food inside any restaurant is dependent upon its outside appearance.

On many a brisk walk to enjoy a cider at the Bon Lair, my interest was piqued by the artwork on the side of La Trattoria Bohemia. Stick with me here. If you head east on J Street, you will see two gorgeous signs on the left side of the road boasting Italian, Czech and Bavarian cuisine within. It wasn’t the somewhat odd combination of cuisines that caught my eye, but the art nouveau copies of Alphonse Mucha’s early 1900s Czech prints. The images are an enchanting (in a non-drug-induced way), inspiring and articulate mixture of women and swirls and swoops of color.
Interest in the restaurant may have stemmed from the Mucha artwork on the outside, but further cyber research led me to a menu with a few dishes that could have actually been tasty. So, off I was to try it.

I admit, the reason I chose to eat at La Trattoria Bohemia had nothing to do with the food. Honestly, judging from the shabby, pub-like appearance from the outside, I probably should’ve stayed away.

Inside the joint, La Trattoria Bohemia’s decor was crisp and clean. The walls boasted modern burgundy lines and borders surrounding pastel hunter green and cream. Mucha prints highlighted the walls with beautiful Czech women and 19th century vision. The open bar was Old World modern. The whole place was like an oxymoron—or like that average-looking person you date who has a stellar personality. Unless you had the courage to be non-judgmental, you’d never receive such a wonderful and unexpected surprise.

The food was even better than the interior. What a surprise. I’ve taken many a culinary adventure—trying new places and ordering the most unusual dishes—but few actually ended in food that was better than expected.
I dragged a foodie friend along to help me taste what La Trattoria had to offer. (Plus, dinning is better with company.) We were both surprised by the freshness, flavor complexity and presentation of the food.

For a starter (it was an appetizer AND dessert kind of lunch), the potato cakes practically jumped out and screamed “Pick Me!” in CzEnglItalian (I don’t actually know what that would sound like). Several Italian starters also looked good, but I couldn’t recall the last time I had a potato cake, much less a good one. The choice was between the slightly sweet Czech potato cakes ($7.75) or the savory Bohemian potato cakes with salmon, red onion and sour cream ($8.75). As per the waitress’ advice, we went for the latter.

When you order an appetizer and it’s actually incredibly appetizing, you should give yourself a high-five or gold star for a choice well-made. The browned potato pancakes were stacked Napoleon-style and sandwiched pink smoked salmon, sour cream and sweet red onion. The gorgeous structure smelled deliciously of basil and oil-crisped potato, well garnished with cured green capers and diced vibrant red bell pepper. The potato cakes seemed to be seasoned with a mixture of basil, oregano and other undecipherable spices. The crispy, potato-y, salty, vinegar-y sweet flavors melanged so well. Texture was fabulous and varied with crunch and cream. The appetizer portion was big enough for a meal (depending on how you grub down), and by far the best part of the meal.

Since I’m kind of poor, but more importantly bloated from heavy holiday foods (yes, still), I wanted to opt for a lighter main dish. If someone offered you an arugula salad with caramelized pears and prosciutto, would you turn it down? No. Exactly. I didn’t either.

In a medium-sized bowl, I received a mound of small green arugula leaves covered—not just sprinkled—with the mildest bleu cheese and prosciutto, a pinwheel of chilled grilled pears and drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar.
The salad was actually much bigger than it looked. As I ate my way through the arugula, the bleu cheese and prosciutto seemed to sink and bathe in the sweet balsamic vinegar pool that accumulated.

La Trattoria Bohemia serves the kind of food that seems to get better as you work your way through your dish. It’s a bizarre and intriguing experience.

My friend had the Bavarian goulash with pork, sauerkraut and Czech dumplings. The only complaints were that the dumplings were too dry—which is typical of traditional Czech dumplings—and more gravy from the goulash would have been nice.

Although we were full, we were enticed to try the homemade tiramisu. The dessert was very tasty. There was a good cream-to-lady-finger ratio and the coffee liqueur and almond flavors really came through. We did eat all of it; but for $5, it was a touch too expensive.

As a wrap-up, I would say that La Trattoria Bohemia deserves a solid rating of 7 out of 10. The food was fresh and delish, but each dish was overpriced $1 to $3 more than it should have been. The restaurant was clean and modern, but the atmosphere was slow and dull.

If you’re ever at the Bon Lair at a decent hour and want some decent grub, head over. You’ll be surprised. But you probably won’t care for the dumplings.

Style Network Sends Hip, Local Stylist to Small Town

By Michaela Pommells

The city of Sacramento is laying its claim to “style fame” on the Style Network. This month the trendy Spanish Fly Hair Garage (on 17th and J) will be featured on Split Ends, a hip show that swaps stylists from big-city and small-town salons. Each participant gets two days to live and work in an environment completely opposite from what they are used to. It often starts out as an uneasy, sometimes pretentious ordeal, and usually ends as a humbling, warm experience. But no matter what, this show delivers on drama, humor, shock and suspense.

Spanish Fly’s episode centers, of course, on the stylist swap. Stylist Jake Desrochier was sent off to the tiny town of Bristol, Va. (pop. 17,593), while Spanish Fly’s Anthony Paganelli opened the salon’s doors to small-town stylist Amy Bland. The pressure was on immediately.

“At Spanish Fly, the stylists are required to constantly educate themselves on the newest trends and styles,” Paganelli tells us. Spanish Fly’s stylists are back and forth from New York City to attend Bumble & Bumble education classes, which keep them as fashion forward as you can get in the world of hair. So when Miss Rural U.S.A. arrived in Sacramento, let’s just say she was hit a little broadside. Anthony says she was an eager participant but undoubtedly a fish out of water, which leads up to a slight twist in the expected outcome. You’ll have to grab a spot in front of the tube to see if she can stack up to the level of some of Sacramento’s flyest hair stylists.

Desrochier was also in for a culture shock. He deserves kudos for trekking across the country and confronting a salon that’s a far cry from the cool J Street establishment he is used to. The first day consists of Jake getting the hang of the new salon’s rules and routines. The second day, he gets a chance to show off his chops to a faithful client. This is always the best part of every show, especially when you have the big city stylist freeing a little old lady from her Velcro rollers and hair dryer cocoon and transitioning to a modern style. Anthony hints at how Jake’s “offbeat” look may play a huge role in how he is received in a town of ladies who probably think style vanguard is a mixture of stirrups, tie-dye and a pair of mules!

Anyone who snickers at the idea of Sacramento being a hip fashion forward city is going to be embarrassingly surprised after watching this episode of Split Ends. As it turns out, Sacramento has more to offer in the world of follicle fashion than most people think. The edgy contemporary décor and the eclectic stylists inside Spanish Fly are your first hints at their trend-setting status.

Spanish Fly team

If you’re a local fashionista, style lover or beauty connoisseur you’ll be proud to check out this episode and see how well your city is represented. [Episode aired Dec. 20, 2008]