In addition to the normal drove of city dwellers on-the-go to work or to-and-fro, some approximated 110,000 college students started scurrying about central Sacramento last week. All that movement about town means munchies will be required as part of curriculum to maintain attendance, awake-ness and energy.

We’ve all got to eat, but studying and snacking are practically symbiotic. You’ve got to be at school by 7 a.m., have four classes back-to-back, then a lab before going to work? Well then chomping away on cheesy Doritos in class almost seems acceptable.

Snacks, quick bites, nibbles or treats aren’t new concepts, but consider this a refresher, like food to our bodies, for our mange-ing manners. That goes for any a busy Sacramentan body, but students are some of the worst offenders, perhaps because they don’t feel an obligation to be considerate, either out of fatigue, or just because they don’t care.

For this, I’ve thought about a solution: make the offending party aware of their socially insulting snacking by embarrassing them in a group setting. Good luck if that works. But it probably won’t.

Purchased food, prepared food and produce are all commonly consumed popular snacks. Fair enough. They are generally conveniently located and taste-friendly snack choices, but for the sake of health, convenience, consideration and conserving scrilla spent on snacking, some planning is necessary.

When packin’ for a snackin’, variables like portability, odor, cleanup and long-term effects are important. Stinky, crunchy, crumply, mushy snacks and ones that make you gassy (eeeeww) are annoying and embarrassing.

You may fall victim to vending machine buys and purchases at nearby cafes and fast food joints. You can buy it on the spot, it’s ready, it’s prepared and the garbage is easily tossed when you’re done. But that could be costly for your pocket, health and breath.

Some go-to snacks that come to mind straight away are treats like whole grain Lean Pockets, yogurt, crackers and bananas. But these items, although tasty, don’t provide seamless snackery. Unless you have a refrigeration unit in your bag, perishables like dairy products and frozen foods just aren’t convenient and could spoil. Bananas, like hard-boiled eggs, carry an odor and appearance that can be appalling to others. Plus, smoosh-ability is a factor. Making noise, or trying not to, is distracting and one can’t enjoy crackers as one should.

After careful scrutinizing of the best foods for strategic snacking, I’ve found some great snacks for grazing on-the-go. Most of which can be found locally, and many of which are USDA certified organic and ethically sourced ingredients.

Acai berry beverages. The acai berry has decent recognition. The dark purple, chalky blueberry-tasting fruit makes delicious juice and has great health benefits. With 10 times the antioxidants of red grapes, acai berry also decreases sluggishness, suppresses appetite and helps with hangovers. And what’s more, juice blends like Acai Machine by Naked Juice and Rio Energy acai blends from Sambazon are thick and filling and only about $3 each at area grocery stores. Bottles of juice are self-contained, easily stored, compact in size, light in odor and can survive in a bag all day—if they last that long.

Gummy fruit snacks. Sure, there’s sugar, but we are speaking of snacking for speed here. Sugar gives that burst of energy needed for speed. Aside from all fruit gummies tasting yummy, the little portioned packets are perfect for a mid-class snack when you want spur-of-the-moment sweets. Easy to pack, consume and dispose of, fruit snacks are pocketbook friendly (six packs for $1.50 to $3.50, depending), not messy, not noisy to nosh and easy to offer a to a friend. Fruit Jammers and Gushers are popular choices, but more nutritious gummies are available for snacking. Some have higher levels of vitamins A, B and C, and some pack super sweet power. PowerBar Gel Blasts Energy Chews are super-sized gummies that come in berry sweet flavors like raspberry and strawberry-banana and pack a sugar punch with energy and edibility.

Small, self-contained fruits. Mandarin oranges, tangelos, small apples (Fuji, Golden Delicious and Sonyo are my faves) are in-season and tasty. Such self-portioned, light and healthy snacks require no prep or peeling, don’t bruise very easily and smell nice. Being sure to purchase produce that is ripe, but not overly so, will minimize smooshing, juicy eating and cleanup on desk aisle two, seat five.

Sliced bread, rolls, bagels, buns, and biscuits. Any type of bread can be packed easily, eaten easily, stored easily and be a rather filling snack. Pick up a roll on the go or just plastic bag a slice from home. A slice of whole wheat bread can serve as a light snack and cost about 10 cents, while a cheesy jalapeño foccacia roll will run you about 70 cents but will almost pass itself off for a meal. Bagels are bombastic and don’t need to be sliced, toasted and cream cheesed to be enjoyed.

String Cheese. These little mozzarella munchers are cheap, tasty and nutritious. A single string cheese, light or regular will only cost a quarter to 55 cents and stays cool inside its wrapper for a while. What if you forget it in your bag or the classroom is warm? What will happen to your coveted string cheese snack? Let’s be honest, class, nearly no one will turn down a stick of string cheese, lukewarm or even room temperature. You can use the wrapper to hold the fromage so your pencil-tainted phalanges don’t contaminate the goods. I mean, string cheese!

Keeping these snacking principles in mind, you’ll be sure to snack with the best of ’em, sans snacking faux-pas incidents.

This week’s lesson:
Considerate Consumption = Check+
Socially Responsible Snacking = Check+

Hollar at a snacking scholar.

Bows & Arrows secondhand hipster apparel boutique is not known for its live entertainment, but the dozen or so hip enough to be in the know got a brief, but aurally excitable performance from Placerville’s Pregnant Dec. 3.

Formerly grid kids, Pregnant moved out to the sticks, possibly to their greatest benefit. Their album, Liquidation on Swans, is a complicated experience. Bountiful in picturesque collages, the record will rack your brain in wonderment as to where Daniel Trudeau found these sultry sounds—which is why seeing Pregnant perform is such an enlightening delight.

The Bows & Arrows atmosphere complemented Trudeau and his guitar-strumming assistant, Michael Saalman. The lights were turned off except in the small floor space, cleared for their instruments. The band played in the lighting of kitschy lamps for sale, while onlookers sat on the floor, giving these living room scientists a fitting workspace to kneel among their array of pedals and build each song from scratch.

The joy of watching Pregnant comes precisely from that. Saalman noodled at his guitar endlessly, while Trudeau methodically looped each piece of his instrumentation into the fold. Trudeau beatboxed, pitch shifted his voice into kooky layers and strummed a wooden lizard to complete the steps of “Do That.” He created bass from rhythmically breathing heavily into the microphone, tweaked a kazoo into a swarm-of-bees buzz, and skronked on a saxophone, proving his talents beyond the junkyard noise. The scatter of percussion tools on the floor and the effects pedals were all utilized to steadily bring each song to fruition. The sound was reminiscent of Brooklyn-based noise bands like Say No! To Architecture, GDFX and Zs. However, Pregnant is inherently California freak folk. Those Brooklyn kids are all harsh noise from buzz saw reverb and nose bleeds, while Pregnant is countrified and tender. Birds chirp, wind chimes made of bones jingle and the warmth is candid.

There’s nothing to fear in a Pregnant record and that kindness is present in their performance. The duo never acknowledged the audience, far too engulfed in their process, but once they finished, they thanked us, awkwardly bowed, locked hands and dry humped a lamp.

Pregnant plays traditional venues, but if you have the chance, see them in a living room, a boutique or a basement. Make sure there’s carpet and a place to kneel. It’s best to be as comfortable as the musicians, which means removing your shoes and letting those toes wiggle a little.

Sapporo Grill
1118 16th Street, Sacramento
Words & Photos by Josselin Basaldu

New restaurants pop up around Midtown occasionally. But let’s face it food fans, quite a few new eateries have appeared in the past year. Space is limited on the grid, and we’ve seen restaurant development begin to slow its roll—but not before Sapporo Grill Japanese Steakhouse opened its doors on prime Midtown real estate in the beginning of July.

This Japanese steakhouse, bar and teppanyaki grill nestled on 16th Street between K and J streets is, I learned on my visit through its wide open glass doors last Monday, a premium spot with meticulous attention to detail.

Admittedly, my knowledge of both steak and Japanese cuisine isn’t vast. But my server Erin informed me that Sapporo Grill has some tricks up its kimono sleeve. For example, all of their beef is the highest grade of USDA beef—USDA Prime. Sapporo Grill offers kobe beef that is actually raised in Japan, while most restaurants offer kobe beef raised elsewhere, like Australia, she said. And, many places offer ahi tuna (tuna from Hawaii), but Erin said Sapporo Grill has maguro tuna, also from Japan.

I started out with the nigiri maguro (two pieces for $4.50). The color was a lighter mauve than that of ahi tuna. I found the flavor to also be light, with a slight overtone of citrus. The texture was, of course, melty and the large pieces of maguro were lovely.

I ordered the filet mignon as my entrée. For just $24, which seemed almost too reasonable, the USDA Prime filet was served with yuzu mashed potatoes, a salad and a side. I choose Japanese cucumber salad, sunomono, and asparagus. The sunomono was clearly house pickled; not vinegar-y, quite sweet and wonderfully topped with toasted sesame seeds.

Yuzu is a small citrus fruit in which the rind is often used as a zest in adding flavor to foods, much like lemons. The yuzu mashed potatoes were a fine consistency. I had to reach to catch the flavor, because its starchy texture made finding subtle tastes more difficult. The small, delicate stalks of asparagus were grilled nicely. Plate presentation included a sprinkling of “Japanese spice,” a blend of ground red pepper flakes and white and black sesame seeds. It looked like allspice and overpowered the flavor of anything it touched. I recommend asking for this on the side, or to be removed.

Even with all the great sides, the filet mignon was shining star of the dish. And it was large. No question that it was a whole eight ounces and beautiful, with tasty char grill marks. The beef was well seasoned and prepared perfectly medium rare as per request—just the right amount of melt in your mouth tender meat in the center and just a bit chewy on the grilled outside. I was surprised when it arrived at the table and it was bacon-wrapped. Although filet mignon is often, but not always, prepared with a strip of bacon around the outside for flavor, the menu at Sapporo didn’t say the filet was served this way.

My early evening visit was nice, but I didn’t get to see Sapporo Grill in full sushi roll mode. But based on the quality of the food, service, décor and ambiance, if the buzz spreads about this place, it’ll likely become one of the “it” spots around Midtown.

The high, industrial ceilings and largely slotted, light wood partitioning walls give the restaurant an open feel. With large television screens, open seating couch area, glass VIP room, booth and table seating and facing teppanyaki/sushi bar and liquor bar, Sapporo has everything you could want in a restaurant. Late hours on Friday and Saturday nights with an in-house DJ make Sapporo into somewhat of a venue where Sacramentans can hob-nob until 2 a.m. Too bad there’s no stage.

Yeah, this place isn’t cheap; premium food and atmosphere will always cost you. You get what you pay for. But prices aren’t as pretentiously premium as one would think.

Sushi (nigiri, maki, sashimi and specialty rolls) prices are on par with other comparative area eateries.

Need an impressive place to take a date? Going out for a special occasion? Meeting up for a business meal? Getting dressed up and grab a drink? I do suggest Sapporo Grill. The little details are meticulous and brilliant and make the restaurant a wonderful metropolitan addition to Sacramento. Be prepared for metropolitan prices. But if you’re real city folk, you know it’ll be worth it!

The economy has taken a swan-style jump off the high dive platform. The descent has been gloriously terrible; many businesses have closed up shop for good, and good folks have been laid off. Though any plummet from the high dive can be disastrous, the trick is to make sure you safely resurface. One change that has risen out of the depths is Top Culture, a wonderfully reasonably priced frozen yogurt shop. Kris and Mary Peterson were in real estate until the market crashed and decided to bring some swiveled-up sweetness to Midtown.
Since Top Culture opened in February, I’ve made several trips to enjoy the diverse array of tasty and creamy flavors, matched with healthy and indulgent toppings. Upon every visit, Kris was present to shoot the fro-yo and represent Top Culture.

As we sat in the back of the extremely clean and organized shop, Kris explained why he started a frozen yogurt shop, how he’d chosen a name and why he was excited to be located in Midtown.

After a year-and-a-half of frozen yogurt “research” (I bet that totally sucked”¦not), Kris and Mary decided to own their first retail business. The Petersons chose yogurt because of the state of the economy and the low price point of frozen yogurt, Kris said.

“[You can get] dessert on average of $3 to $4 a person, and that’s not really breaking the bank,” he said.

Kris used Midtown inspiration behind the ambiance and name of Top Culture and accredits the idea based on the “mystique of Midtown” and its pop culture.

“We enjoy it here and we enjoy the people,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Sure, there are many frozen yogurt choices around; the concept is pretty simple: grab a cup, choose your yogurt, choose your toppings and eat. Kris and Mary at Top Culture seem to have discovered the missing link in Sacramento: attention to frogurt detail. The frills really do make all
the difference.

Top Culture offers revolving flavors daily, instead of using a schedule for the same flavors. This means every visit will require a practice in decisiveness. Of course chocolate and vanilla are always standard, but some fresh flavors I’ve encountered include banana cream, tart kiwi, kiwi lime, mango sorbet, white chocolate macadamia nut and tart pomegranate. Kris told me that he creates many of the flavors; he especially likes fruity ones.

You’ll find standard toppings like sauces, sprinkles and whipped cream. But you’ll also find Top Culture raising the bar with indulgences like hot fudge, warm and cool sauces and your favorite cereals (Cookie Crisp!). Healthy options like carob chips, unsalted raw nuts, fresh and ripe fruit and whole oat granola are also available.

On a recent visit, the choices of frogurt included chocolate and vanilla, pistachio, white chocolate macadamia nut, tart pomegranate and orange cream. With all the choices, their self-serve sample cups really come in handy (especially since you don’t have to ask for them and risk embarrassment over tasting each and every flavor).

I then created a concoction dubbed “Pistachio Marshberry Pizzaz,” with half pistachio and half white chocolate macadamia nut frogurt, ripe blackberries, sweet kiwi, white chocolate sauce, raspberry sauce and marshmallow cream. (Great advice from Kris: make sure you strategically plan how you pile on your toppings ahead of time, so no frogurt icy-ness gets compromised and melts while you stand and try to decide.)

The frogurt was creamy and each flavor distinct. The fruit was ripe and cut into appropriately sized chunks. The sauces were of a high quality and mixed encouragingly with the other flavors.

I’m constantly searching for frozen yogurt that stands up to the likes of Pinkberry, since the closest one is in Southern California. There are some “popular” frogurt shops around town, but the flavors, unique toppings and quality offered at Top Culture sincerely surpass all others.

I used to work at a yogurt shop and sampled frogurt/toppings combinations daily, so I think it’s safe to take my word on this one and go try Top Culture. This frogurt place will most likely become a Midtown fave, and is only a frolic from the festivities on the corner of 20th and K.

Emerging from Under the Umbrella of Moguls to Fulfill His Own Blu Kolla Dreams

R&B artist Bobby Valentino has set out to make a name for himself as a musical mogul and has no intention to “Slow Down.” Valentino holla’ed at Submerge while touring through the American “backwoods” of South Carolina where there’s nothing to see but “cows and a lot of grass.”

Valentino has certain name recognition throughout the radio and R&B world. He’s that smooth dude who puts out those catchy hip-hop infused love songs, right? Well yeah, but the dude’s done more than just set the mood for baby makin’ or giving a shout out to your “big baby boi boo” on a Sunday night slow jam radio show.

Actually, this Atlanta-based singer started out with a group named Mista when he was a teenager in the late ’90s. The group had a hit single called “Blackberry Molasses” (featured in the T.I. movie ATL). But the success seemed to subside after that single.

“We were a one-hit wonder. That album was very big,” Valentino says.

Returning to high school meant that Valentino went from “being a superstar to being normal again.” Kids would sing lyrics from “Blackberry Molasses” when he walked down the halls of school, he says. The difficult times for the industry didn’t defer Valentino and he wanted to pursue music after high school, but his parents insisted he get the grades and graduate college.

“Being on top one day and on the bottom the next, they realized how unstable the music industry really was,” he says.

Through his college years, Valentino lived a double life. On top of the normal grueling grind of school, he didn’t give up on his musical career and would pull long days where he’d be in the studio at night and wake up early for class the next morning, he says. Although it was hard for Valentino to stay focused at Clark Atlanta University with a 20 to one female to male ratio, Valentino graduated with a mass communications degree in radio and television.

“More than anything from college, I learned how to multitask, how to be responsible and put the most important things first, and everything else, you know it’ll come later,” Bobby Valentino says.

After graduation, Valentino hit the ground running. With three demos post grad, he got signed as a solo artist by longtime connection Ludacris on his Def Jam imprint, Disturbing tha Peace Records. “When I was in the group Mista, Luda was on the radio. So there were a lot of times when he used to interview me on the radio. It’s just funny how things turn and that’s why you learn not to burn bridges,” he says. “He was interviewing me.”

Somewhere along the way, Bobby Wilson became Bobby Valentino from his affection for ladies and vice versa. The R&B love songs probably didn’t hurt either.

“I’ve always been smooth with the ladies, you know, and somebody just came up with the name and started calling me Valentino. I added it on to my real birth name, Bobby, put it together and BAM! You got Bobby Valentino,” he explains.

Under Def Jam and Disturbing tha Peace, Valentino had U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles like debut “Slow Down,” “Anonymous” and “Tell Me.” After sophomore album Special Occasion reached it’s peak of record sales, the vocal Valentino was released from Def Jam in February 2008. He then met with his team and decided the best thing to do was step out on his own. Valentino asked to leave DTP and officially split in April 2008.

“A lot of people thought I was done. People called me stupid for leaving DTP. People said, ‘It’s over with Bobby Valentino. It’s a wrap.'”

But he wanted to get to the next level as an artist, Bobby Valentino says. “You can’t always be up under the ‘umbrella’ all of the time. You got to step out on faith. If I want to be like Luda who’s a mogul in the game, I can’t be up under Luda.” The only way to do that on his own was to start Blu Kolla Dreams.

Again feeling the inconsistency of the music industry, from February to June of this year was a “real tough time” in Valentino’s life.

“Like I say: A lot of folks, when you’re on top, folks want to hop on the bandwagon, ‘Woo, you’re the best, you’re the greatest.’ But when you’re down, folks they don’t want to talk to you, they act like they don’t even know who you are.”

Valentino used that message to stay focused and started recording his next album. He titled the album Rebirth to “reflect everything that’s happened since he was ‘dropped,’ he’s turned into a new person and he’s humbled.”

“It was tough to actually get things done even though I had a name,” Valentino says.

Valentino kept his head up, kept faith and kept working, insisting, “God works in mysterious ways.” He must have been right because he’s featured on rap royalty Lil’ Wayne’s “Mrs. Officer” joint from Tha Carter III—a song that’s been spreading like California wildfires. Fans are getting a taste of the new album that’s due to drop Jan. 27, 2009 with first release “Beep” featuring Young Joc.

“I couldn’t ask for a better situation or a better set-up,” Bobby Valentino says.

They don’t even know what they’re doing, and they’re loving it! I had the opportunity to have a chat with Jake Desrochers aka Jake D. of Lonely Kings and former Papa Roach drummer Dave Buckner aka d.Black to find out what’s going on with their new collaboration Last Angels.

At the time of our interview, the band’s identity was being developing “hour by hour.” The project is so new that the members aren’t even sure how long they’ve been working on it. “I don’t know. Has it been five minutes?” d.Black joked at Jake D.

It’s a two-man band, man! One man a current guitarist and vocalist of Grass Valley punk rockers The Lonely Kings, hairstylist and father of two. And the other the former drummer of a multi-platinum commercial rock band Papa Roach, celebrity gossip victim and newfound passionate producer.

Though Jake D. and d.Black are just now trying out their musical chemistry, they have known each for more than a decade. In 1997, The Lonely Kings starting playing shows with Papa Roach. They played 10 to 15 shows together before Papa Roach reached large commercial success. Starting in the early months of this year, Jake D. would trick d.Black into playing acoustic and improv shows with him at various locations in town.

“It was all a big sneak attack to try and play music with Dave,” Jake D. admitted.

Last Angels was born out of a Tuesday night jam session at a Sacramento studio that d.Black co-owns with the rest of Papa Roach. Explained logically, the beauty of their musical meshing has a lot to do with experience and respect.
“He’s been on the top, and I’ve been trying to get there,” Jake D. explained. “So we’re right in the middle.”

I guess it’s not a bad musical match if your band mate describes you as the “Dr. Dre of the operation.” Having a “sensibility” as a musician and a director, d.Black is real on the production end of the Last Angels project. In addition to his work behind the drums, he is even writing lyrics and singing backup. Jake D. humbly acknowledged that his talents as a musician are “real natural” and organic and that he’s “doneskiez” with his personal musical scope. But with the production and beats of d.Black, Jake D. seems to have taken his “real natural” talents and put them to some good use giving d.Black something clean to work with.

The guys of Last Angels did a recording test a few weeks ago. They just wrapped up recording of a three song EP last Tuesday. Although the guys can’t quite pinpoint Last Angels’ sound, I can since I had a premiere listen. It’s definitely rock: The vocals are on the harder side, but can be soft at times. But the music is also somewhat experimental with a bit of a European discotheque quality as a result of synthesizers.

Future plans? Who knows. Jake D. and d.Black have no clue what’s next for Last Angels. Tour? Who knows. As d.Black put it, “the uncertainty is what’s so cool.” For sure, the guys have plans to record another three to four song EP before compiling all their songs onto a new album. You can expect an album release show at The Distillery on Aug. 9 where you can get your very own copy of Last Angels’ self-titled debut independent release.

Last Angels digs whatever it is that it is doing. Jake D. and d.Black are stoked that their homie-ship and musical collaboration is “real,” intentionally “super underground” and “stream of consciousness”-easy.

Like true musicians, the members of Last Angels can’t live without their art.

“It’s the first time I’ve been really and truly inspired in a long time. It feels real,” d.Black said.

Jake D. added, “If there’s a stage, I’ll fuckin’ play it. That’s what I do. I got to be busy with music or I’ll go nuts. I’d feel like a normal person [without music] and that sucks.”

These guys could set up shop anywhere to nurture their new project, but chooses to do so here.

Sacramento “definitely has a culture”¦.in and the downtown area,” as d.Black puts it, has become a part of who these guys are.

Last Angels just loves playing music, no matter what it ends up sounding like. They also love living in Sacramento. Lookout locals, because these guys are looking to make you “feel something rather than hear something.”