Iron Horse Locomotion

Iron Horse Tavern – 1800 15th Street, Suite B, Sacramento

Sacramento has a new laid-back and mouthwatering place where happy hour dreams really do come true. Specialty cocktails, pint-sized brews, wings, wood-fired pizzas and fried goodies are only some of the options at Iron Horse Tavern. Being an unhappy and starving artist, I had a ripe $20 bill burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided that this had to be the place. Plus, I don’t think there’s anything better than drinking somewhere on a patio at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Wisely, the originators of Cafeteria 15L and Firestone Public House have exacted a classy yet casual establishment located at the railways of 15th and R for all my midday noshing needs. Their recent offering to the Midtown restaurant panorama is innovative in design. The tavern is steeped in historical hipness, with a model locomotive on display above the coppered bar, button-tufted booths and décor boasting the archetype of industrial engineering. Inside, the combo of hexagon tile and old wooden flooring almost looks speakeasy-esque.

A self-diagnosed claustrophobe, patio seating looked quite inviting—surrounded by hanging succulent baskets, giant candled lanterns and big community-style picnic tables. I had brought a tagalong that also opted for the outdoor experience. The soundtrack of old-school favorites like Ray Charles, Bill Withers and Etta James was outwardly calling my name from the open-aired terrace. Soul music always makes for a groovy experience while feasting.

With half-off appetizers and delicious pizzas, $1 off big beers, $2 off wines, $3 off specialty cocktails, and flat-out $4.50 well cocktails, needier happy hour goers (like myself) should be enticed to have their satieties met.

It was immediately clear that Chef Christian Palmos has created an amusing menu to incite much lip-smacking. But what’s a dude to order with a 20? Well, I did what any impulsive human being would do and ordered a bevy of the greasiest food possible. Upon delivery of said grub, I was surprised to see that the portions were large and in charge.

Knowing a thing or two about my own health trajectory, I ordered the hand-tossed margherita pizza, beer brined-chicken wings, and fried pickles and onions. Yet, lo and behold, this had already cost me slightly over $15, and my dining companion and I would need drinks. Maybe if I went alone, I could have achieved my goal. But there’s no fun in that. Mass consumption should be shared.

Sadly, the joint’s mac ‘n’ cheese bar—featuring the gauntlet of bacon and egg to jalapeño to lobster mac—was not included as part of their happy hour special, but that wasn’t going to stop me, either. I had a credit card that wasn’t maxed out, so I couldn’t resist requesting the Tavern Mac. In retrospect, Asian-style street tacos and a Bavarian pretzel were close runners-up. Juxtaposed were Loco Moco Burgers, Korean fried chicken and Hawaiian style ribeye steaks as entrée options. They sounded supremely delectable, to say the least, but I should probably get a day job if I want to live in the lap of luxury.

A medley of craft cocktails was available, in particular the trademarked Iron Lady, comprised of Charbay Blood Orange vodka, Pallini limoncello, Aperol, lemon juice and grapefruit peel. It quenched my lush cohort’s sweet tooth nicely. For the winos, Californian, French and Italian varietals by the glass are served in tumblers. And for beer drinkers and hell-raisers, there was a vast selection from Track 7 to Firestone, and old standbys like Blue Moon and Bud Light. I, of course, chose the Bud, because I’m poor and from the Midwest.

Iron Horse had a leniently fine-dining feel to it, made possible throughout by good ambience, great service and a genuine vintage vibe that’s true to Sacramento’s roots. The crowd was a mix of unpretentious city denizens who were as diverse as the food served there. The restaurant apparently doesn’t have a “type,” and very well-staffed with friendly faces, knowledgeable of the cuisine and libations. The servers easily convinced me that working on the railroad wasn’t so bad.

So I spent more than $20. I’m a creative-type with no self-control. You can do better than I did. Shakespeare once wrote, “Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour,” and weekdays from 3–6 p.m. is worth a venture out to Iron Horse Tavern for that precept alone. It’s by and large a fitting addition to the ever-developing R Street scene in Midtown, set to bring in happy hour droves, brunch crowds and late-night urbanites. Owners of the enterprise most likely sleep well, knowing they’ve created yet another hotspot on the grid, and indeed have proven that the entire experience is much more than just drinks in the afternoon; it’s a lifestyle that you should probably start participating in. Go on, get happy!

Tree House Dinners are Truly a Movable Feast

Words by Adam Saake – Photos by Debbie Cunningham

The sun went low, and at a touch before seven, a light breeze swept over the Midtown Victorian porch, cooling guests from the belated summer heat. Small, natural artifacts of sticks, kumquats, found rocks and candles were scattered on overhangs and railings. On a table in the corner, a bottle of Sommariva Prosecco was submerged in an ice-packed watering can and flutes were filled at leisure while brown paper bags of popcorn with fresh dill were passed around. A total of seven guests, strangers, were quickly sharing stories and salutations over ceviche and cucumber. This was the beginning of chef Kevin O’Connor’s underground dinner he whimsically calls Tree House.

“The name Tree House came to me at 4 a.m.,” says O’Connor. “Tree House evokes juvenile thoughts and I aim to do the same with my style of cooking.”

O’Connor himself might be the only thing juvenile about what goes on at Tree House (which by the way is at a table in his dining room). The talented young chef of Ella, and most recently its sister restaurant, The Kitchen, is a mere 22 years old. A clean-cut red head who looks more relaxed in a cut-off Iron Maiden t-shirt than he does in a chef’s coat, this cooking star in the making worked his way from dishwasher up–sans culinary school. As a teen, he hopped around different restaurants like Masque and Bistro 33, but things took a sharper turn when he moved downtown and began cooking at Mason’s, now Cafeteria 15L.

“I helped open MiX and shortly after the opening I moved to the South of France for a few months,” says O’Connor. “After culinary enlightenment dans la sud, I came back home to Sac and joined Kelly McCown at Ella shortly after he came.”

It was this trip to the South of France that would later become the inspiration for his monthly underground dinners.

“Tree House began after I moved home from France. Every Sunday for a month and a half I would make dinner for my host family and their friends while I was in France,” O’Connor remembers. “These dinners were coursed out and showcased my creativity that was flowing while I was exploring food Mecca. I used produce from the farm, the town market, neighboring farms, hunting, foraging, and wine from their winery.”

The Tree House dinners are something to that effect, except O’Connor doesn’t have France or a farm–in spirit, sure, but he did have the winery this time. Craig Haarmeyer of Revolution Wines supplied all the wine pairings for the latest dinner, including the current vintage of their award-winning port.

Guests were leisurely enticed inside to sit at the table, well lubricated with Prosecco and conversation and ready for what O’Connor had up his sleeve. Once seated the night began with an amuse bouche, a small introductory appetizer that literally translates to “mouth amuser,” which consisted of prosciutto, pan-fried quail egg and a house-made hollandaise sauce. It was served simple and elegant in a Chinese ceramic soup spoon. Down the hatch. This single bite immediately excited the table and was a clear window into O’Connor’s cooking philosophy; one in which breakfast was clearly fair game for his introduction. Revolution’s Verdelho port, a sweeter white, paired beautifully, and we were on our way.

O’Connor’s plates have a touch of seriousness mixed with a pinch of brilliance and are lathered thick with humor. He grinned as he described courses like the pistachio encrusted foie gras with roasted peaches, calling his concoction “a foie gras candy bar.” His time in France came out in this dish too. He explained to the table one of the first and most memorable meals he had that was simply a bowl of pistachios, some peaches and a bit of foie gras. This was his translation–and what made each course so fantastic. He cooks off the pure joy of his memories with a little help from random musings.

“I’m inspired by the strangest things sometimes. A walk by the river, a 2 a.m. junk food binge, my food-filled childhood,” says O’Connor.

That “food-filled childhood” that O’Connor attributes to his father introduced a standout dish that was a play on mustard chicken. O’Connor’s father would make him a comforting plate of mustard chicken with a panko crust when he was a kid. To do honor, the most visually attractive plate of the evening arrived. Chicken rillettes with a half-moon toast was presented on a square, gray stone slab, dusted with an orderly stripe of honey mustard pretzels and garnished with a circle of pepper and mustard flowers. Rillettes is like a pate where the meat is slowly cooked in fat, duck fat in this case, and then is cooled and served like a spread. O’Connor “marinated the chicken, cured it for a day and braised it for about four hours,” to give it the texture and consistency he desired. This plate stood out the most and really showcased O’Connor’s creativity and technical execution.

An eight-hour sous-vide pork belly with barbeque beans, compressed watermelon and a salad of pickled watermelon rind (an ode to summer, perhaps) was followed by a simple offering of local goat’s milk cheese, Bing cherries and thyme flowers. Simple and to the point; elegant and delicious. Each course offered a new idea, an interesting thought or an adventurous leap to take (O’Connor encouraged guests to suck the brains from a fried prawn head during one course). The Tree House dinner finished with a mind blowing dessert course of cinnamon sugar toast, maple blueberries and a cereal milk anglaise for dipping that was inside of a hollowed-out egg shell. Guests enjoyed port to pair and moments of silence swept over the table as plates were literally licked clean.

A satisfied Tree House assembly took refuge on the porch, enticed by 15-year aged Glenlivet scotch being poured from a transparent globe decanter. O’Connor emerged from the house, sans chef coat and ready to be part of the conversation. His left arm is tattooed with a crude chef hat, crossbones and knives with the mantra, “Cook to Live, Live to Cook.” “It’s being covered soon,” he said. But, there’s no hiding his passion for food and for the people he cooks it for. And as hidden as the underground dinners might seem, there is a Facebook page and O’Connor has special wording that keeps him out of trouble–for now.

“We aren’t a real underground restaurant…we are a ‘private dining cooperative’ where like-minded foodies pitch in for dinner that happens to be at a residence,” says O’Connor.

Where he takes these dinners is up in the air for now, but there’s talk of catering, pop-up events and cocktails in alleyways. Ideas are flowing and O’Connor’s love of Sacramento will keep him right here for those adventures.

“I’m inspired by the people that say Sacramento sucks and by the people that have faith in it becoming a food city at the same time. I want to start forming a Sacramento cuisine,” says O’Connor.

One Tree House at a time.

Tree House dinners happen once month at an undisclosed location in Midtown. For information on how to register, visit Facebook.com/treehousesacramento or Treehousesacramento.blogspot.com

Newfangled Fooderies

With over a year of food serving experience tucked nicely into the check presenter in the middle pocket of my black apron, I’ve learned things about the commercialized consumption business.

The most enduring information is that weekends equal workworkwork for those employed at eateries. When “normal” working folk are enjoying their weekends of brunching, lunching and dining, I’m waitressing away.

Ultimately, my wait staff workmates and I miss out on all things weekend (and most things holiday).

So when the Petit Pedlar opened at 3011 Franklin Boulevard Feb. 27, I was stoked for a new charcuterie/patisserie to visit morning or noon. But upon further exploration down Franklin last Tuesday, the small wood-framed windowfront of Petit Pedlar was unpeopled. I came to learn that its visitation hours were as limited as the “pen.”

Learning that early afternoon that my yearning for the possibility for a pain au raisin (a flaky, swirled French pastry with macerated raisins and pastry cream)—which I’ve yet to find in Sacramento—would just have to wait, I was disappointed.

When that gorgeous Saturday or Sunday morning when I’m free between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. happens, I will do what is important for you, Submergists.

In the words of Submerge co-creator Jonathan Carabba: “You eat. And you write,” he said. “You drink. And you write. That’s all that matters.”

I’ll be sizing up the Frenchie-ness of this petite place soon. Perhaps it’ll have to wait for the patio expansion of dining space slated for April 15, according to owner Tod Bullen, at which time hours will expand and possibly carry over to the weekdays. You’ll certainly want to check back.
In other rising food news: New fooderies to come to Sacramento!

Being fairly impressed with House Kitchen & Bar (555 Capital Mall) on my lunch visit in January, I had expectations for a marvelous breakfast. A hearty, home-style and sophisticated breakfast is to be expected on the table of this house—when they start serving it. A killer biscuits and country gravy dish with a delicate twist MUST be on the menu. Although late February was the food forecast for breakfast available at House Kitchen & Bar, acquiring a liquor license has held up weekend brunching. But they expect to start serving breakfast in early April.

Speaking of home-style food, Sacramento culinary culture seems to be taking a downswing. To accommodate the economy, many restaurants are offering larger portions of food, more filling food and at lower prices to help diners feel like their money is well-spent. The days of expensive, individually created and crafted delicate elfin eats are over.

Restaurateur Mason Wong is smartly seeing the trend and will be done transforming the haute restaurant Mason’s into the more approachable Cafeteria 15L (on the corner of 15 and L streets) in April.

Offering lunch to late-night eats and questioning, “What is better than chocolate milk and square pizza?” Cafeteria 15L will feature more casual “American comfort cuisine.”

The Cafeteria 15L grand opening will double as a charity event April 6, benefiting the Hope Productions Foundation, which provides resources for children and youth. Tickets are $45 to $55 and more info on the event is available at www.cafeteria15l.com.

I first had Pinkberry frozen yogurt in March 2008 in New York City. It was winter and my green tea yogurt with blueberries and kiwi, topped with a dusting of matcha powder, was purely wondrous. Having never seen the swirls-y treat store in Northern California, it seemed to be an East Coast company. But alas, Pinkberry is a Los Angeles convention, one that will share original, green tea and seasonal flavor mango fro-yo with Sacramento soon.

The first of six branches to open in the Sacramento metro area opens at the Howe ‘Bout Arden Shopping Center April 9. Nordstrom’s Rack and Pinkberry in one complex will be a treat, indeed. Discount designer dresses and mango Pinkberry—what an excellent way to welcome spring.
There’s tons to look forward to, culinarily speaking. And having a weekend off to enjoy it would be ideal. But fro-yo is available often and Pinkberry is a more than acceptable substitute.

In the words of Notorious B.I.G. (who clearly was a newfangled food fan), “If you don’t know, now you know…”