Hot Italian co-owners Andrea Lepore and Fabrizio Cercatore reflect on five years in business

On their fifth anniversary, Hot Italian owners Fabrizio Cercatore and Andrea Lepore celebrated simultaneously with Sacramento Beer Week. Hot Italian, as many who have frequented its immense, black and white dining room must by this point know, is the combination of modernist, Italian aesthetic and locally sourced, Californian quality. It is the Old World delicacy made modern in the best state of the West. It is fitting, therefore, that for Beer Week, Hot Italian brought in Birra Peroni from Italy and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company from Northern California, and showcased their pizza-centric acumen with local cheeses and The Center for Land Based Learning, a non-profit that focuses on educating and growing the next generation of farmers here in the Sacramento Valley.

Hot Italian wants to pay homage to its longstanding love affair with the two Mediterranean climates, one seaside, one landlocked. Cercatore learned the restaurant trade in La Spezia, a small province on the west side of the Italian peninsula. As the owner of a restaurant and bed and breakfast, he came to realize his love of cooking all things Italian, but most importantly pizza.

In the early aughts, Cercatore met Andrea Lepore, a second-generation Italian-American ready to make a leap from sports business into the restaurant industry, and together they decided to give Sacramento something it had largely been missing—straight, simple, Italian pizza.

In building their new restaurant, Cercatore and Lepore caught the rising wave of green construction and design. They fused this together with the renovation of a longstanding retail and warehouse space. The building was gutted, and the new pieces were fitted together with a conscious decision to minimize the restaurant’s carbon footprint. At the time, Hot Italian was celebrated as one of the first LEED businesses in Sacramento.

While the New York Times has since canceled its Green Business blog, and the ambitions of a green business revolution have been checked by economic turbulence and the “realities” of international trade, the owners of Hot Italian continue to think green. Their tradition of thinking locally first is evident in their recent Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) certification, a national initiative that looks to promote quality ingredients that are locally sourced, fair trade and non-GMO. The idea is, if the stuff we put into our food is healthy, we should be healthy too. This premise, as Cercatore and Lepore highlight, is the basis for the quality of Hot Italian’s eats, and had been long before national certifications started encouraging food businesses to consider their customers’ well beings before the bottom line.

In short, Hot Italian has been filling the bellies of its patrons, in both Sacramento and Emeryville, Calif., for the last few years. The pizza, salads, and calzones are as simple as the business plan itself: Do something consistently and well while utilizing the plethora of local ingredients available to our region. If the crowds over the weekend are any indicator—the lunch service was still packed at 2 p.m.—Cercatore and Lepore are doing simple, and doing it quite well.

Tell me about your first experience here in Sacramento. What did you think of the city?
Fabrizio Cercatore: I was stuck for six days in Elk Grove, in August, and I tried to walk. I almost died.
Andrea Lepore: I took him to Midtown immediately. There’s things to do here!

Tell us about the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certificate. Why did you decide to go green when you were building the restaurant?
AL: We were the first LEED restaurant. There were other buildings, but they were government buildings. It was the first public building that was LEED certified, that you could just walk into…This was a cold shell. It was retail and a warehouse. Basically everything was new: new storefront, new roof, new plumbing, new electrical, new sidewalks. When you have to do that much work, you might as well build it green if you’re going to rebuild something.

Why did you decide on a modernist design?
AL: When we designed this place in 2007, even when we traveled, there weren’t many Italian places that were modern. A few in LA, a handful in New York. We want to celebrate Italian design. We’ve paired that with local Californian design. Mike Wilson, who’s a local furniture maker, has built a lot of the furniture pieces here. I think it’s an intelligent way to design. It’s very functional. It’s not ornate like French Country. Good modern design is designed to be functional. We wanted this place to be warm. A lot of people think of modern as steel and hard edges. We wanted to combine elements.
FC: I like modern design for its simplicity. I like when modern is combined with the natural elements: wood, iron, stone, marble.

Tell me about the REAL certification.
FC: Technically, we didn’t do anything. They showed up, and said, “You need to do that.” And we said, “We already have that, have that, have that.” It was really simple. It helps that we have a lot of combinations with vegetables and pizza. It’s one of their points: eat more vegetables. It helps that we’re in California.
AL: They send a nutritionist and a certification person to the restaurant and check how you source your ingredients. They make sure that things aren’t processed, that the ingredients are local, sustainable, that there aren’t GMOs…If people aren’t buying local here, then where are they buying from? I was in Boston; I went to the market, and it was all stuff from California. We are, I guess, the farm-to-fork capital.

Why has Hot Italian been so successful? How have you made it to your five-year anniversary?
AL: It’s a simple concept. The quality has been there since day one. We’re not gonna do pasta, or osso buco, or have a huge menu. If you want pizza, we want you to come here.
FC: I think people really like the consistency and the quality. The quality is in the food and in the brand. In the beginning the quality might look expensive, but it’s in the meal. We had a new kind of pizza here, in Sacramento. People were used to really thick crust and a lot of cheese. It was more about quantity and not about quality. People responded well [to our pizza]. We have a smart customer.
What we do is real Italian style. There’s a lot of pizza around, but we keep the Italian way. Not a lot of chicken or pineapple. If you want to experience real Italian pizza, you can come here [to Hot Italian] or you can buy a plane flight and go 11 hours that way [pointing east].
AL: It’s a lot cheaper, eating here.

Some restaurants only care about good food, others care about ambiance. What’s the focus for Hot Italian?
FC: We want to give an experience to the customer. The experience is not just in the food but it’s also in the environment. That’s why we have the modern look. When you talk about an Italian restaurant it’s the old Tuscany style, with the red and white table cloths.
AL: We really wanted it to be just like in Italy, a community gathering place, where people come and have an espresso, or stay and meet friends. We wanted to have that same feel. With pizza being such a communal food, it’s the sort of perfect platform for this concept.

What’s your best memory from the last five years?
FC: Before we opened there was a lot of work we did to raise money, when Hot Italian was just an idea. I remember I was putting together events and making everything at Andrea’s house, preparing all the ingredients. Then going to investors’ houses and making pizza in their own ovens. It was crazy. They were like, “How did you make that in my house?” The moment we opened, people understood it, Hot Italian and the concept.
One time we did this big event at the airport. Our first big event as Hot Italian. We made 100 pizzas. We didn’t have enough refrigeration. I was trying to figure out where to store the dough. We had to ask our friends, neighbors.
AL: Bella Bru actually stored the dough for us in their large walk-in.

What’s the big difference between Italy and the United States?
FC: Weeks ago, two of my good friends came to visit me from Italy. I hadn’t seen them in so long, and they stayed for three weeks. They reminded me how my life was in Italy. We were laughing all day, sometimes about stupid things, but we were laughing all day. We were happy, you know. Enjoying the little things of daily life, and I’ve kind of lost that. It’s a different way, easy to get lost in. You forget about that. They reminded me that I’m Italian.

We have a lot of defects in Italy; we are a mess, a beautiful mess. We have nothing. But we have food, we have the family, we have each other and then there’s the next day.

If you haven’t visited Hot Italian in the past five years, where the heck have you been? It’s located at 1627 16th Street in Sacramento.

This year, don’t wait until March to finally switch out that old calendar on your wall! Snag one of Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s brand new 2014 calendars featuring the epic photography of Nicholas Wray, whose name you might recognize from our masthead (he’s shot countless Submerge covers over the years). Each month features a unique photo of a downtown Sacramento location. Trust us, it’s great eye candy and it’ll make you proud to be a Sacramentan! Snag yours for free at one of many downtown locations; for example, Crocker Art Museum (and most other museums downtown as well), Esquire IMAX, the Downtown Ice Skating Rink, Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, numerous hotel locations and plenty of other spots. Visit Downtownsac.org for more info on DSP and Nicholaswray.com for more info on the man behind the lens.

Andy’s Candy Apothecary Has Just What the Doctor Ordered

Photos by Nicholas Wray

Most kids daydream about owning their own candy store—an unlimited supply of sugary treats, the euphoria of a candy-induced sugar high, the unadulterated bliss that comes from the cornucopia of lollipops, gum drops and gummy bears at your complete disposal.

For Andy Paul, that childhood dream came true when he beat out nearly 50 other budding entrepreneurs after the Downtown Sacramento Foundation, a sister organization to the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, announced him as the winner of its Calling All Dreamers contest in July.

“I’ve always been interested in good food and I’ve always kind of been a sweets freak,” Paul says. “So, growing up, I was probably a little more into candy than your average kid and then even as an adult I’d always find myself looking for a candy shop wherever I went.”

Winning the competition (a prize worth $135,000 that includes free rent for a year; business support assistance including advertising, contractor build out assistance, graphic design, strategic marketing support; and legal and accounting services) allowed Paul to realize his confectionery aspirations and open Andy’s Candy Apothecary.

“It had been sort of a little pipe dream, so the contest was perfect,” Paul says. “What actually happened was one of our friends mentioned it and then we applied. Somewhere in the middle [of the process] we were like, ‘Even if we don’t win, we’re going to start this business,’ but it was really because of this one person.”

At the apothecary, Paul’s vision is to be a candy curator of sorts. By providing a wide variety of confections to suit the young, as well as the young at heart, he is able to prescribe the perfect remedy for his customer’s sweet tooth based on their preferences. The only side-effect is happiness, he says.

“We do have a wide variety, we’re really not just one thing, and that’s really important to me,” Paul explains. “There’s kind of something for everybody, and that’s probably how we happened upon the apothecary theme. We didn’t happen upon the word prescribing right away, but we realized that’s kind of what it is.”

The shop, which opened Dec. 13, 2013, lures you in with the promise of high-quality yet fun candies. The design aesthetic is a bit like Willy Wonka meets an upscale chocolatier, with a sprinkling of old-world apothecary touches: The entryway wall is lined with chocolate bars—a wall of chocolate that would make Wonka proud. The centerpiece of the store is a large counter where most of the homemade premium chocolate lives. And behind the counter, a display of shelves housing clear jars is filled with all the different kinds of colorful candy that Paul has sourced from all over the world—the design inspiration of which came from a present he received from his wife.

“I started gathering all of this candy in my house and it started filling up all the room in the pantry and my wife was like, ‘Let’s take care of this,’ and she gave me as a Christmas present a little candy cabinet,” Paul explains. “It sort of looks like a wood medicine cabinet and when you open it up there’s this mirrored back with all of these little jars.”

Paul’s concept favors quality and moderation. Specializing in handmade goodies from local candy makers and packaged treats from around the globe, his future plans include implementing an online component and adding an old-fashioned candy cart that will be available for events and parties—this isn’t your run of the mill mall candy store.

“There’s been more candy around the house, but there’s always been candy around the house. The other whole side of it is eating healthy and eating well. Which is ironic because I’m a candy store person, but if you’re going to eat something sweet make sure that it’s worth it,” he says. “We joke about how we’re against eating boring candy… I’m not totally against [Snickers bars] but there’s better things than it, and Snickers isn’t even technically made with real chocolate. I don’t want to be a snob, but it’s not even real chocolate.”

Another feature of the shop is a kid-friendly section that received the seal of approval from his own little candy lovers, proving his love for quality sugary goodies runs in the family.

“We have two daughters who are 9 and 6, and my kids have been loving [being involved in] this process,” he says. “We go to this store called the Candy Store in San Francisco and they gravitate toward certain things that I didn’t realize were that great or kids would even like that much. There are these gummy chicken feet, it literally looks like a chicken foot, but they get them every time we go, they think it’s hilarious…and they’ll definitely be in this store, we have a big bag at home, it looks kind of weird.”

While the candy man says winning the contest and opening the shop was a mind-boggling feat—from entering the contest to conception and creating a solid business plan, the process took a mere five months—he’s thankful to the Downtown Sacramento Partnership for allowing him the opportunity to tear the wrapper off of his very own candy shop.

“We won July 8, almost five months ago, which is nothing to go from like ‘maybe we’re going to have a business’ to ‘we’re going to have a business,’” he explains. “And they’ve been really supportive, even more so than just, ‘Oh you won the contest and see you later,’ they’ve been super hands-on and they’ve even thrown me some work already.”

Paul says while the backbone of the business will be the large selection of affordable, yet unique gift baskets, he is most excited about the kid’s section.

“There’s going to be a lot of candy,” he says. “For me, the important part of it is that there’s a lot of stuff low to the ground and that there’s a lot of little tiny stuff. We’re going to have a big section where it’s all priced the same, like ten cents or a nickel. There are these baskets and there are all of these little different types of candies that are cheaper, but they’re still good and a lot of them are still a little more unique, they’re from different countries and stuff like that, but they’re not so weird that little kids won’t love them.”

Andy’s Candy Apothecary will open its doors at 1012 9th Street, Sacramento, in the very near future. Stay tuned to Facebook.com/AndysCandyStore for more updates.

I tested my newfound, post-cancer fearlessness by skydiving with the Red Bull Air Force

The life-changing question from my good friend and publisher arrived during one of our regular back-and-forth editing email sessions:

Melissa: Would you, if I could even set it up, be interested in skydiving to write a story with the Red Bull skydivers? They could possibly send one of our writers to fly with them at the Capital Airshow kickoff, and it’s all filmed and stuff. I’m guessing you might have to see if you could get off work and I don’t know if that’d be a problem… but it might be TOTALLY worth it.

Me: Um, I am SO down to skydive! Like WAY down. I probably wouldn’t have been before cancer, but I’m way into saying yes to everything these days. 🙂

And that’s how I found myself, on Oct. 3, just one year and 16 days after finishing treatment for Stage IIB cervical cancer, strapped to Red Bull Air Force pilot and Skysurfing world record-setter Sean MacCormac as we prepared to make a tandem skydiving jump above the California Capital Air Show.

Six of us, including the plane’s pilot, another tandem team and fellow RBAF Pilot Jeff Provenzano, got real close real fast as we crammed into a teeny-tiny Cessna and began climbing to 8,000 feet over the Sacramento Mather Airport. Before I knew it, the pilot was giving us the five-minute warning. “OK,” Sean said from behind me, as he tightened the straps connecting us and handed me my goggles. “Now you can’t go anywhere without me.”

Can we talk for a minute about what these guys actually do? The RBAF essentially travel the world looking for the next airborne thrill. Jumping out of a plane in a kayak, parachuting into stadiums, BASE jumping off buildings, zooming across the sky at 125 mph in a wingsuit—it’s all in a day’s work. In fact, while doing a little fact-checking for this story, I stumbled across my tandem partner’s IMDB.com page, which credits him with stunt appearances in Iron Man 3 and The Hangover Part III. Not only that, the RBAF was instrumental in this little event known as dropping Felix Baumgartner from the edge of space last October. I wasn’t just jumping with the best-of-the-best; I was putting my life in the hands of some of the most fearless dudes on the planet!

Still, by all rights, I should have been scared out of my mind. This is the same girl who, at 8 years old, insisted on riding the county fair Tilt-A-Whirl alone, against everyone’s better judgment. I could handle it, I insisted. I was no baby. But once I was strapped in and experienced the first whirl-and-tilt, I screamed bloody murder and the gruff carnie had to stop and let me and my utter embarrassment off the ride.

I hadn’t thought of that experience for more than 20 years, but I was sure it would play itself out again at some point on this skydiving adventure—maybe when I was stepping into the harness, or climbing into the plane, or creeping up to altitude, or shuffling to the open door and “dangling” (Sean’s words) my legs over the ledge—and I’d call the whole thing off, riding the plane safely back to Earth, my embarrassment trailing behind me like a spent parachute.

But I never once wanted to turn back. Not even as my legs dangled out that open door over nothing but blue sky and a few brownish-green squares of Sacramento Valley farmland. Or when Sean expertly leaned us out, then in, then heaved us out the door.

Our 30 seconds of free-fall went something like this: Wind. FEAR. Wind. Can’t. Breathe. HOLY SHIT I’M FLYING. There’s Jeff with the GoPro on his helmet—reaching out his hands? OK! I’ll grab ‘em! I AM TOTALLY DOING THIS! Can Jeff see that I can’t breathe? Seriously, I can’t breathe, but this is fucking amazing! Sudden inhale. I can breathe! What are those hand motions between Jeff and Sean? Jeff’s letting go! Oh! Right! It’s time to pull the chute! I’m supposed to reach behind to his right hip and find the pull…where’s the…oh! Got it!

A slight upward jolt, and…

Poof. The two of us were floating in the most serene, silent, bluest sky.

“Holy shit I just jumped out of a PLANE!”

The 20-year skydiving vet with about 18,000 jumps under his belt (who probably does jumps like these as warm-ups) chuckled as he expertly navigated the chute.

“Reach up,” he coaxed. “Pull down on that cord there, see it?”

We made a slight downward-right turn as I pulled. Then he took over, and my hands returned to the straps on my shoulders.

“You know, you’re fully supported, so you can let go of your straps. Put your arms out. Fly!”

My arms shot straight out to the side as if I were a 5-year-old playing “airplane” in my living room. “Woooooooo!” I yelled (even though I promised myself I wouldn’t). I could tell he was focusing on our descent. The winds were a gusty 23 mph. Once they reached 25, the team would call off the rest of the day’s jumps.

“Do you want to try a hard turn?” Sean asked. I hesitated for a second then acquiesced. With one quick, fluid movement, we swooped in a downward, stomach-dropping radial arc.

In a rush of adrenaline, I found myself blurting, “So, I had cancer last year. And I figured if I could make it through treatment, I could probably jump out of a plane. I mean, I kind of faced anyone’s worst fears and lived to tell about it, right? So, um, thanks. For making this experience so incredible.”

It was the truth! For adrenaline junkies, these guys were some of the most relaxed, genuine, fun-loving gentlemen I’d ever met.

Soon we were landing—a bit harder than planned, due to a wind gust that dragged us a few feet in the dry field—and Jeff was pulling me off the ground and throwing me a high-five. “Mandy! You just jumped out of a plane!”

Hell yes, I did. And I was ready to go again. Maybe this time I’d even attempt those flips Sean tried to talk me into while he was suiting me up.

Who was this fearless carefree adventurer, and what did she do with the girl who couldn’t ride the Tilt-A-Whirl? The girl who always volunteered to stay in the boat and man the flag during wakeboarding sessions?

I guess while I was showing cancer the door last year, I just decided it was time for her to go, too. The thrill of overcoming each new challenge—every scan, every eight-hour chemo session, every trip to the hospital for the latest scary procedure—made jumping into the unknown seem not only manageable, but empowering. Transformational, even.

Right before we jumped, I felt Sean take in a deep, yoga-style breath. I leaned back and yelled the only question I could think to ask.

“Do you still get nervous?”

“Sometimes,” he yelled back. “But not today. Not for jumps like this.”

See? Even fearless daredevils get scared sometimes. But that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? If the last year has taught me anything, it’s that it’s not about whether you live with or without fear, but that constantly rising to the next test is what matters. That going for the challenges that will make you feel like a total badass just for attempting, whether you land on your feet or on your ass in a dry field, is what makes life worth living. And how freeing is it to let go, especially when you have the support that will let you spread your wings and fly? Even if you yell “Wooooooo!” when you promised yourself you wouldn’t.

Follow the Red Bull Air Force’s adrenaline-fueled antics at Redbullairforce.com or Facebook.com/redbullairforce.

Ready to test your daredevil mettle? Check out the following skydiving centers in our area:

Parachute Center Skydiving
23597 N. Hwy 99 | Acampo, CA
(approx. 4 miles north of Lodi)
209-369-1128 | Parachutecenter.com

“The Parachute Center is one of the largest and oldest drop zones in the United States, serving the sport since 1964,” according to its website. No reservations necessary; the Parachute Center is open daily and can accommodate jumpers who arrive between 9 am and 3 pm. For a list of fees and more info, visit parachutecenter.com.

SkyDance SkyDiving
24390 Aviation Ave.| Davis, CA
530-753-2651
Tandemskydivingschool.com

The recently closed Skydive Tahoe directs all interested parties to SkyDance SkyDiving in Davis, a facility open since 1987. “We have worked tirelessly for over 25 years to provide our customers with the safest aircraft and parachute equipment, along with a capable staff of highly trained and experienced instructors,” SkyDance’s website says. Visit Tandemskydivingschool.com for loads of information, pictures, online price specials and more. Open Wednesday – Sunday 8 am – sunset; Monday and Tuesday 8 am – 5 pm.

Skydive Sacramento
1020 Airport Road | Lincoln, CA
916-434-7700 | Skydivesac.com

Skydive Sacramento in the Lincoln Regional airport is a full service Drop Zone offering rigging services, coaching, training, tandems and more, according to their website. The center offers all kinds of rates and packages, plus training in myriad skills. Open Wednesday – Friday, 9 am – 8 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 am – 8 pm.

Plates 2 Go

1725 L Street – Sacramento, CA

Comprehensive sustainability—we’re talking beyond going green. Yes, Plates 2 Go uses local, sustainable and organic ingredients for its menu items. And packages it all up neatly in biodegradable take-away containers. But beyond those appreciated, environmentally conscious endeavors, Plates 2 Go offers social sustainability in the form of true welfare reform, an opportunity for mothers in crisis to garner on-the-job training and regain their independence following homelessness.

St. John’s Shelter Program for Women and Children doesn’t just house women and their children who are down on their luck. They offer free drug and alcohol counseling, GED and educational assistance, therapy, life skills coaching such as resume writing help, and most importantly, an employment training program that has child care and transportation needs covered. In fact, they’ve created three businesses that serve the community while teaching these women the skills they will need for job placement after they leave the shelter program: Plates Café and Catering, First Steps Child Development Center and most recently, Plates 2 Go.

Plates 2 Go is a brand-new restaurant that caters to busy professionals on their lunch breaks in the heart of Midtown. Expounding upon the concept that has its full-service predecessor, Plates Café and Catering, already in the black, Plates 2 Go operates out of a donated church space at 1725 L Street and offers grab and go eats that are healthy and sustainable. The profits from both endeavors feed into other programs at St. John’s Shelter Program for Women and Children.

The women of Plates 2 Go are mentored by Mulvaney’s B&L, and after learning the ropes, are often hired to work for Mulvaney’s, one of Sacramento’s finest dining establishments, or other local restaurants. In fact, St. John’s Employment Training Program has facilitated job placement for 93 percent of its program graduates.

Upon entering Plates 2 Go, which had its grand opening on Aug. 13, 2013 a friendly attendant greeted us cheerfully. The space was clean without putting on frills, and photo collages of women and their families were posted throughout, telling the stories of women whose lives had been transformed by St. John’s program. There were tables for those who wished to dine in, and a conference room available for business lunches and meetings.

With such a credible and impressive affiliation as Mulvaney’s B&L, you probably don’t need us to tell you that the food was good. Real good. And in keeping with the benefits of locally sourced, seasonal fare, it’s affordable, too. They even make all their sauces and dressings from scratch.

Nicholas Wray (who was taking photos while I took notes) split lunch with me so we could try a few items. We had the spicy Greek vegetarian sandwich, a careful assemblage of marinated eggplant, roasted red peppers, English cucumbers, feta cheese, arugula, balsamic vinegar and homemade hummus on Grateful Bread’s lightly toasted nine grain bread. We also tried the CalMex salad, a colorful and crisp menagerie of hearts of romaine, sweet corn, black beans, avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, radishes, Cotija cheese and tortilla strips, all tossed with a fire-roasted pasilla chile ranch dressing. The salad was so fresh I wanted to slap it.

To top it all off, we ordered a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. Everything was frigging awesome, and even more awesome were the attitudes and exceptional service shining brightly from the ladies behind the counter. They seemed so upbeat and happy to be there you could hardly imagine what obstacles they’d recently surmounted to hold a position at Plates 2 Go.

I briefly chatted up a worker by the name of Stepphanie Nevin, the mother of a 5-year-old son, who lost her home to foreclosure in 2010. She informed me that some of the women that work at Plates Café and Plates 2 Go are still in the program, while others have graduated but still work there. “When I was [at the shelter] we were like a family. It’s more of a sisterhood. It’s nice seeing people who were on the bottom come up to the top. It’s life-changing,” she explained.

Nevin now has her own apartment in Midtown and her son attends kindergarten. After working for Mulvaney’s B&L and the Sacramento State University restaurant, she returned to the Plates family after being offered the position of Front of House Manager at the newly opened Plates 2 Go. She loves helping to train new co-workers from the shelter and proudly beamed, “We get to help people who were in the position we were once in.”

Get out your tissue boxes. The story on the back of the Plates 2 Go’s menu about the sous chef of Plates Café really moved me and undoubtedly serves as an inspiration to many men and women who have lost their independence by loving an abuser.

Mary Scott, pictured as standing tall in her clean white chef’s coat, was the victim of a 25-year abusive relationship. She recounts, “I was to be seen, not heard. I was not allowed to have an opinion.” Finally escaping the cycle of violence, Scott sought refuge and the reinstatement of her self-esteem in St. John’s Shelter Program and with its help, she fought her way back to a firm stance on her own feet. Today, she takes pride in her work, and moreover in her self-sufficiency.

Every woman offering up delicious, ethical fare at Plates Café and Plates 2 Go has a story like this one behind their hard-won smiles. It is because of these amazing stories that a growing number of local businesses and patrons are taking notice and finding ways to help.

Every first Thursday of the month, Plates Café hosts a Guest Chef Dinner, which exposes program participants to local wineries and restaurants, furthers the farm-to-fork movement and educates the community about how Plates is reshaping individual lives, as well as the financial health of our society by helping to reduce welfare dependence.

Sacramento, it’s a no-brainer. For roughly the same amount of bread that you would throw down to have lunch at Subway or Togo’s, you could grab an equally convenient sandwich or salad at Plates 2 Go. Money well spent, since supporting this inspiring and meaningful community endeavor empowers families, contributes to the success of local farms…and its nourishing dishes just taste better.

Got an appetite for change? Dig in.

Plates 2 Go is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visit plates2go.org to place orders online or read more success stories of program participants.

Eli and the Sound Cult works within established tropes to push the possibilities of pop music

If you think that the modern universe of pop music is composed of a homogeneous parade of sexed-up, music-industry drones, you’re probably not alone. Like an army of tongue-wagging, good-girls-gone-bad, some artists seem intent on pushing the boundaries of popular music to the brink of triviality.

For Elijah Jenkins and Jason Bove, the two members of Eli and the Sound Cult, their allegiance to the ethos of pop just might save the genre from a scourge of banality, just as long as it doesn’t interfere with their other shared passions: skateboarding, rock climbing and bread-and-butter pickles.

Drawing on a variety of sonic influences from Prince to Ween, the band’s debut album Best of Pop is an opus of sound that marries rock, soul and, of course, pop music.

“It’s kind of an amalgamation of all that stuff that we grew up listening to.” Bove says. “That spanned punk rock to metal to radio music to everything that inspired us as kids, you know, skateboarding culture and music culture.”

The two Sacramento transplants—Bove hails from Illinois and Jenkins is from Bakersfield, Calif.—realized after a chance meeting at Sacramento Pipeworks Climbing and Fitness gym that their combined talents and shared interests made for the perfect pop experiment. However, the duo isn’t looking to forge new musical trails, but rather to put out an album that provides their audience a visceral and engaging musical experience that celebrates the pop ilk.

“There are definitive things that it is not,” Jenkins says. “It is not post-anything, it’s not post-punk, it’s not trying to do anything new as much as it’s trying to exist within the walls of stuff that already exists. We’re not trying to push boundaries on this album, what we try to do is make waves within the walls that already exist.”

As a genre, pop music is exceedingly broad-based, often assimilating elements from other genres like hip-hop, dance, rock and indie, featuring accessible songs written in the verse-chorus-verse construct awash with melodic tunes and catchy hooks, and Best of Pop delivers exactly that.

“I think we push boundaries insomuch as we feel like it’s OK on one album to write a funk song, and an indie song, and a blues song, and a rock song,” Jenkins continues. “But we’re not trying to push genre lines, we’re just trying to say you can do whatever you want, you don’t have to be genre-specific in your music.”

“I go back to Prince as a good example,” Bove adds. “He’s pop music, but he’s not limited by pop music. That guy can do whatever he wants, so we kind of want to do whatever we want.”

Like a lot of pop music, much of the album’s inspiration draws from facet of the human condition: Love.

“We’re all chasing around boys or girls. I mean, I think that’s a large part of the pop element, too,” Jenkins says. “There’re no songs on this album that aren’t love songs, and they’re either [about] running toward it, running away from it or struggling with it. The fact that we wrote an album that’s eight love songs about five different women should be indicative of something.”

“Well, a lot of it, too, is love lost, right?” Bove adds. “We’ve all kind of been through relationships that haven’t worked but that have brought you to a different space in life. And then it’s trying to figure out why you’re in that space, and it’s because of your choices and your path. I wouldn’t be in Sacramento if it wasn’t for relationships.”

Continuing on this lyrical path, having recently concluded a successful Kickstarter campaign that helped the duo procure a van to take their pop party out on the road and preparing for an upcoming tour that kicks off with an album release party on Oct. 18 at Sacramento Space, Jenkins and Bove are already looking toward the future, without being bound by the trappings of their work.

“We’ve already started talking about the next project, which will involve us throwing everything out in a very Ween style…throwing the entire aesthetic out and going, ‘OK we’re going to create something totally new,’” Jenkins explains. “Then we’ll throw that out, then do whatever we want to do next, but I’ve always wanted to be in a band where we don’t feel pressure to play old stuff.”

Part of the band’s current aesthetic involves an engrossing live show that incorporates multi-media elements, including dynamic light installations and projected images drawing from popular culture figures syncopating in time with the beats emanating from their speakers.

“This movement is closer to a high-energy art installation,” Jenkins says. “That’s really the only sense where I feel like we’re pushing boundaries, this is an art piece, this is not a jazz ensemble.”

“Pre-Bitches Brew Miles, rather than post-Bitches Brew Miles.” Bove chuckles.

The duo’s genuine esteem for one another is evident, from their quip-y offstage banter to their keen ability to synthesize a singular message onstage and in the studio. Their meticulously crafted shows, like their music, is a catalyst for sparking a combustible reaction that explodes through the audience like a volcanic eruption.

“We want people to have a weird, amazing experience and walk away feeling a little changed. I want them to come away with the idea that they’ve been to a show that was well-choreographed, that was made to make them feel something emotional,” Jenkins says. “I want people to walk away with an emotional experience, where they feel like something has been added or taken away from them.”

“I’ve definitely seen people with their mouths hanging open like they were watching somebody be killed or something they didn’t expect to see,” Bove adds.

From skateboarding around town to scaling craggy peaks, on and off tour, their personalities complement rather than collide—as the frontman and singer, Jenkins’ vociferous nature is engaging and jovial while Bove’s quiet, introspective reserve reverberates perfectly in time as softly caresses the strings on his bass.

“I think we like the constraints of having to work within what two people can do. Essentially we have eight limbs that we can work with and that’s it,” Jenkins explains. “But the nice thing is that we only have to deal with two people’s egos, two people’s schedules, two people’s desires, and we get along. Like, I’ve never been in a band where everybody gets along. We butt heads plenty of times on vision and all that, but neither one of us are purists. We never go, ‘It has to be this way.’”

The twosome’s frenetic energy, undeniable bond and surging creativity is the perfect recipe for musical harmony, but it’s their boyish charm and quirky sensibility that may find their empire expanding into Vlasic’s territory.

“Pickles are fantastic. I might start pickling everything,” Jenkins beams. “Apparently you can pickle grapes; red wine vinegar, Sriracha and grapes. I had them at Total Wine; they were fantastic. The sweetness of the grape against the vinegar made them savory and the Sriracha made them spicy. Imagine a savory, spicy fruit.”

Eli and the Sound Cult’s Music and Pickle Emporium, now that has a nice ring to it.

Prepare to get your pants charmed off when Eli and the Sound Cult celebrate their record release at Sacramento Space on Oct. 18, 2013 at 8 p.m. Sun Valley Gun Club will also perform, all for a suggested donation of $5. This is the first show of the band’s winter West Coast tour, so give them a proper send off. Learn more about the band at Facebook.com/eliandthe.

All-female improv troupe, Lady Business, set to perform at second annual Sacramento Comedy Festival

When James Brown belted out the words, “This is a man’s world, but it would be nothing…without a woman or a girl,” he could have very easily been talking about the world of comedy. It’s a scene so dominated by men that just last year Adam Carolla was quoted in the New York Post as saying, “The reason why you know more funny dudes than funny chicks is that dudes are funnier than chicks.”

For about as long as people have been telling jokes, there have been detractors peddling the notion that women can’t tell them. Looking to annihilate this perception, the ensemble of all-female improvisation performers, Lady Business, takes the stage at the Sacramento Comedy Spot in Midtown one Saturday a month to lead the audience through a bawdy, and yes, funny, comic romp.

The troupe originally formed in 2010, and now improv-ers Mel Gelbart, Micaela Pettigrew, Michelle Daubner, Tiffany Hart, Mignon Foster, Jennifer Whelan (not pictured) and Christiana Dominguez constitute this uproarious and ribald troupe that celebrates a point of view that women can relate to and men can appreciate.

“If you go to any comedy show the ratio is usually 2-to-1 for guys to girls, and I remember every once in a while there’d be a show of almost half and it was exciting,” Pettigrew says. “I’d go see Christiana and Tiffany and other people that are in our group now who were just students, and at that time the only show was ACL (Anti-Cooperation League), which is our main stage show, and so we wanted to put a group together of just girls to perform together.”

The troupe’s moniker is quite the contradiction. These comediennes certainly aren’t “ladies” in the conservative, Miss Manners kind of way, and it’s this bawdy sense of community that inspired many of its members to join its raucous ranks.

“I joined the group about a year afterward, I think, and it just seemed like such a cool thing to see a whole group of female comedians being able to get together to do improv,” Foster says. “Improv is such a rare thing, but to have such a large community that we do have at the Comedy Spot to pull all female comedians together to do a show, I thought was really the point. From an audience perspective, it was really attractive because I remember going to the shows and seeing them perform and every single time it was so smart and so witty and just real supportive and it just seemed like so much fun.”

Incorporating suggestions from the audience, Sacramento’s only all-female improv troupe blend true stories from the audience and cast members to provide the vehicle for their brand of the long-form improv show with sharp-witted humor, characters that defy stereotypes and guaranteed yuks. After the cast and audience share stories centered around a monthly theme, the cast of Lady Business does a series of improvised group montages inspired by the stories.

“The thing about Lady Business is that we’ll take that word [or story], and we can make smart scenes from that. Everyone comes from different backgrounds on our team; we have two lawyers, I work in real estate, everyone has a different background and does totally different things,” Foster says. “We can all come together and share in this art form that is really unique but really big now in Sacramento at the Comedy Spot.”

While many of the Lady Business members also participate in regular ladies’ nights at the club, which feature all-female comedians and improv sketch teams, they’re quick to say that their routines are for everyone, not just those with ovaries.

“It’s not all menstruation jokes and babies,” Dominguez says. “It makes it different for us in the group because sometimes, if you’re one of two girls out of 10 people on stage, you’re going to be the girlfriend in every scene, you’re going to be the prop item in every scene and so you definitely are your gender, but in our shows we don’t have that role. It’s a lot more open than that.”

For Sacramento transplants Pettigrew and Dominguez, they’re in the right city to forge their comedic dreams. According to real estate blog Movoto.com, Sacramento is the ninth funniest city in the nation—based on a ranking of factors that included the number of comedy clubs and comedy festivals, where comedians were born or currently reside, settings of sitcoms and the number of improv groups per capita.

“I’ve been performing at the Comedy Spot since probably about 2007. I started as a student there in 2006 and I wouldn’t leave,” Dominguez says with a wry grin. “I started taking comedy classes kind of on a dare with a friend of mine. We pinky swore that we were going to do this. He went to Los Angeles and did classes with The Groundlings and now he does TV. So, when I moved to Sacramento in 2006, I literally Googled Sacramento comedy classes and came up with the Sacramento Comedy Spot.”

As the women, all veterans in improvisation and regular players at the Sacramento Comedy Spot, gear up for the second annual Sacramento Comedy Festival running Sept. 13 through 21, they’re a tight knit group of girls who say they just want to have fun on the fly.

“It’s like playtime. It’s like make-believe. Let’s go to the playground again and run from hot lava monsters,” Dominguez jokes.

“How I explain improv to people, it’s like a really fun adult camp. It’s super fun. It’s imaginative and creative in a way that you don’t have to memorize lines,” Foster adds. “I loved being in drama in high school and I love that community and I love the creativity, but man, I hated memorizing lines. I could not do it, and then I found improv and it was like funny and enjoyable and physical and all this great stuff and I just got to make it up off the top of my head. It is scary when you think about it that way, but you’re in a group with such supportive people that it’s easy, and they’re the ones that make it easy.”

The troupe will be performing on the closing night of this year’s comedy festival with the “I’m Sorry! Lady Business Apologizes to the One That Got Away,” show, which they describe as a comedic exploration of making amends with someone they want to go back and say sorry to. A catharsis of sorts, something they say fuels their creative process on stage.

“I find it oddly relaxing, the practice of [doing improv]. It is very freeing because the point is to not think and just react and it takes you back to childhood play time,” Dominguez says. “I tell people it’s relaxing and they’re like, ‘You’re weird, that sounds terrifying,’ but there is really no wrong way to do it if you’re just reacting and in the moment.”

Lady Business will perform at 8 p.m. on the final night of the Sacramento Comedy Festival, which runs until Sept. 21, 2013. A full festival pass costs just $45, and all events will take place at the Sacramento Comedy Spot. For a full schedule and for ticket information, go to Saccomedyspot.com. Catch up with Lady Business at Facebook.com/ladybusiness.

If Sacramento’s City of Vain looks like they’re having the times of their lives, that’s because they are

Words by Danny Secretion • Photos by Nicholas Wray

At the risk of sounding like one of those guys who hasn’t been to a local show since 1989, regales in days of yore and constantly reminds “the kids” about how shows were better back in the day at some venue that closed during the Reagan administration, I’ve seen a lot of bands from our local punk scene. Some good. Some not so good. When a band leaves you in such awe of what they present with both their live show and their music that it inspires you to the point of doing something you’ve never dreamed of doing (say, write your very first article for a magazine), that band is beyond good. That band is great. The band I speak of is City of Vain.

Just spending two hours with half of this band left me feeling rejuvenated and hopeful. The gratitude I have for them is immeasurable. Before this interview, I was fortunate enough to listen to rough mixes in Steve’s car. Set list standards like “New Helvetia,” “To You My Friends” and “Stuck Here With You” are delivered with all the power and glory of their live performances. Newer songs like “Moving Up Moving Forward,” “Out on an Island,” “Lessons in Social Class” and “Backs Against the Wall” will more than satisfy those of us who have been listening to this band for nearly two years. Fans of The Clash, Rancid, Bouncing Souls or The Specials who have yet to see this band perform live should hang their heads in shame. Your penance is to pick up two copies of Shaking Hands With Yourself and get your ass out to a show.

Your band consists of musicians from a variety of groups. What was it about this band that you wanted to do differently from your past music projects?
Newell Dunn: For me it was enjoyment. I wanted to have fun. After my last band, I had a long hiatus, so I was itching to play.
Steve Ross: I’m with Newell on that. I’d gone through relationships, had children and I realized I hadn’t done this [play music] in a while and that was my life’s blood before all that.

So did you approach music differently this time around than you did when you were younger?
SR: I appreciate it more!
ND: I appreciate that I get to play music again. I’m still playing music.
SR: I feel like to be able to get up there and for people to give you 30 minutes of their time regardless of where you’re at and who they are, to sit there and even sit through a song is still a privilege to me.

How did the different facets of our local music scene (the hardcore scene, the street punk scene, the pop-punk scene) react to you initially?
ND: I’ve played in hardcore bands and street punk bands before, and everyone I knew in this town from the hardcore scene were like, “You’re doing that? It’s so outside what you’ve done before.” But they all liked it. It was all positive. As far as the street punk scene, I played an early demo for Kenny Beasley [of Pressure Point] way before we even played a show, and he really liked it.
SR: Kenny is one of the most supportive people. He’s an icon that we hold dear. I’m blown away that he’s interested in what we’re doing.
ND: There’s a wide range of people who come to our shows. I’ve seen metal heads, hardcore kids, punks, people you look at and say, “normal.”
SR: I don’t think we ever stopped to think about who was coming to the shows. We were just extremely fortunate. Our first show was one of our best-attended shows, and we were just surrounded by good friends who were excited to see us up there and were intrigued because they hadn’t heard it. To this day, that show is ingrained in my mind as one of my most favorite times ever playing.

Because of the message you send through your music and live performances, I’m not alone in saying City of Vain is one of the must-see bands in Sacramento. Did you ever feel like you were on to something special and unique when you started playing bigger shows?
Minh Quan: I felt so, but it wasn’t because of the size of the show. We could play for one person or 1000 people, but for me it’s that I love playing the music and I’m up on stage with five of my best friends.
SR: When we go up there, we go up there as a unit. I make it a point to outwardly exude the fact that we are a family. You’re watching friends that hang out outside of this. We go out to shows together, because that’s just what we would do even if we weren’t in a band. If it looks like we’re having fun onstage, it’s because we’re genuinely are having fun.
ND: Having so much fun! I love it!

You’ve toured with bands that aren’t even from the same time zone as us. What’s your reasoning for touring with bands from across the Atlantic?
SR: Mike Bolado from the band Old Glory has done more for us than we’ve done for us. He’s quite possibly the seventh member of our band. He sees something in us that we often don’t even get, but he’s willing to go out there and book all these tours; he’s forged these relationships overseas with these bands. It’s honestly the best vacation you could ever spend going out with somebody from another country who is just as intrigued in your culture as you would be going over there.
Explain your experience in touring with this band. What are some of the more challenging aspects
of touring?
SR: 11 people in a van.
ND: Who is going to stay sober to drive.
MQ: Sitting between two huge guys, being wedged between Drew and Mike Bolado in the heat of the summer with a barely functioning A/C in Arizona. But it’s my high school dream to be in a band like this, to be able to tour and make good music and be with five other guys who are just as passionate as me. Honestly, the hardest thing about tour is jobs. Every time I would come back to a new job in a new place.

What’s something you think our local music scene has over other scenes you’ve experienced through touring?
ND: Passion. Heart.
SR: When we go out, we let it be known that Sacramento is where we’re from. We may malign our city sometimes, but we’re definitely proud to be from here. There’s an inherent amount of respect we get from people in other cities because of some of the bands that have come out of here.

What’s something you think needs to improve with the local music scene?
ND: Venue accessibility and more all-ages venues. When some of these bigger bands come through, I think some of these local venues need to step up to the plate and say, “We want to do this show, but we need to put some locals on.” Sacramento has its own amazing music scene that needs to be exposed to these bigger bands.
SR: You look at a promoter like Sean Hills [Punch and Pie Productions], who really has his ear to the ground experiencing what this city has to offer. He brings touring bands in and makes it a point to put them with quality bands from Sacramento. It boosts the Sacramento bands’ reputations and gives them an opportunity to roll out the red carpet for the touring bands, and in return have those bands reciprocate when our bands come through their towns.

Let’s talk about the new music. Your past music has been heavy on melody, positivity and accessibility without losing any musical aggression. What can people expect from new City of Vain?
MQ: More of the same…it’s just better. We put in more time and a greater effort. I think Steve’s songwriting is even better than before.

How did the musicianship of your band members inspire your songwriting for this album?
SR: This record was written after the decision to bring in Minh full-time. I’m extremely privileged to be in a band where everyone has the ability to contribute to make the songs better. As a songwriter, I can listen to other styles of music and hear something that intrigues me and then incorporate that into our songs because we have the keyboard, the two different guitar styles and that backbone of a strong rhythm section. It doesn’t take long for a song to take shape when everyone is open to collaborate.

How did the songwriting for the new album influence your musicianship?
MQ: Keyboards aren’t traditionally in punk rock. I had to do my research to figure out what’s right to play in the music. It’s definitely influenced the way I play a lot.
ND: It’s pushed me to play better because I enjoy it more. I’m able to “let go” and “have fun.” With Steve’s songwriting, we have a solid foundation from the get-go. I believe in this music like it’s my first band.

What style of music inspired this album?
SR: We all have our staples that we go to. The Clash is obviously a huge influence for me. The Specials were my favorite band from junior high to this day. That goes back to having keyboards in this band which links us to having the ability to do things like that in this band.

Tell me about two of the new songs, “Lessons in Social Class” and “Backs Against the Wall.”
SR: It’s all stuff that’s important to me that I wouldn’t hesitate to have a conversation with someone about. The goal is to provoke thought, not to propagate or profess any sort of stance or make people choose. There’s two sides to every story and if you’re intelligent enough to question something and make an educated decision, that’s what this country is supposed to be about. It’s not about hating or dismissing someone because they don’t agree with you, but really celebrating that fact. Also, telling both extremes to fuck off. You guys are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but you’ve gone so far one way or the other that you’ve forgotten the rest of us right here.

If this new music doesn’t get over with your fan base, what will keep you positive?
SR: We love doing what we do. There’s always going to be the critics, but I won’t lose any sleep over it.

If this new music takes off and sends this band to the next level, what will keep you grounded?
ND: Each other. We feed off each other as a group.
SR: We built this band on honesty and being genuine. To do an about-face would just be suicide. None of us would let the other person do that. This is about the six of us and the people who really enjoy this music.

It’s a safe assessment to say that 50 percent of the audience of any local punk show consists of your colleagues; many of them younger musicians in their first bands. What I’m trying to say is…Do you have any words of advice for the kids?
ND: Keep going! If you love it and you’re passionate, keep going.
MQ: Keep doing what you love.
ND: That’s the biggest paycheck right there.
SR: Learn from every experience you have. If you’re not having fun, you need to take a step back and not be afraid of having that open line of communication.

What about words of advice for musicians in their twenties, thirties, forties or beyond who are struggling with finding the joy that you have in playing music?
MQ: If they’re in their fifties and playing Eagles cover songs, they can go fuck off [much laughter].

OK, favorite song on the new album?
ND: “Backs Against the Wall.”
MQ: My favorite song on the record is “Lessons In Social Class,” but my favorite song to play live is “Stuck Here With You.”
SR: It’s tough for me because I’m critical of them all. I think lyrically I base it on that. I’m most proud of the lyrics on “Stuck Here With You” and “Backs Against the Wall.”

City of Vain’s release show for Shaking Hands With Yourself is on Thursday, June 13, 2013 at The Press Club. Crashed Out, Old Glory and Union Hearts will also perform. For more information on City of Vain, look them up on Reverbnation or on Facebook.

The Gillilands celebrate their 10th anniversary by giving back to the city that has given them so much

Words by Joe Atkins • Photos by Nicholas Wray

Nestled neatly on that delicate transition between downtown and Midtown, Lucca Restaurant and Bar is already, as of our print date, halfway done celebrating a decade of success. Longtime restaurant workers, the Gillilands, opened Lucca with two paintings and an idea: large plates with locally farmed food.

The blue goose and the red bull still hang on the walls of Lucca today, and the aspirations of locally sourced meats and produce has inspired the Gillilands to open Lucky Dog Ranch in Dixon, Calif., producing pasture-raised beef. While this holistic vision might not seem all that original in today’s farmers market, farm-to-fork atmosphere, it is worth noting that this wasn’t always the case. No one wants to admit that they’re sacrificing quality for price, but this is a primary obstacle for restaurants. And not all wind up making the right decisions. The Gillilands have been able to sustain their vision with Lucca, open the equally successful Roxy Restaurant and raise their own cattle to supply their restaurants and others, and this speaks volumes.

Lucca is successful, hands down, but Terri Gilliland is quick to note they’ve been successful because of Sacramento. “We’re so grateful to be at this point,” says Gilliland. “We’ve weathered it all, especially the last five years. We’re incredibly grateful to the Sacramento community for the support.”

It’s clear that Terri enjoys being a restaurateur, in all its capacities. Before our interview begins, she lets me know that she has to travel to the family ranch in Dixon to aid some of the newborn calves—Terri serves as the de facto caretaker for new calf additions at Lucky Dog Ranch. One employee even told me in passing that it can be trouble, because once she’s named them, they’re no longer available for slaughter.

It’s this sort of devotion, not only to their livestock but to the details of their restaurants that have made the Gillilands, and Lucca in specific, profitable. “We got off to a great start,” explains Terri. “We had a lot of community support and friends.” She contributes the early success of Lucca to three factors: “Ron and I were experienced restaurant people; we’ve worked all aspects of restaurants. We have an exceptional group of people at our restaurants, especially our management. They walk the walk. And we were embraced by Sacramento.”

Over the last 10 years the Gillilands have fostered many relationships, the most famous being ex-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the Governator did have a large influence on their early success—many cigars have been smoked on their back patio—this relationship is not the most important. Terri mentions a boy who decided to celebrate his eighth birthday at Lucca, and his family has returned every year since. Terri mentions a couple who had their first date, their wedding and their child’s baptism all at Lucca. On rare occasion, Terri and her husband Ron will even hug patrons, mistaking them for friends.

“We’re both really affectionate people,” she laughs.

But when we talk about restaurants, what actually matters is food. This brings us to head chef, Ian MacBride, who has been at Lucca for seven years, shopping local markets, planning salads and entrées, plating dishes. Thinking about it, as a local, I can say that Lucca is unexpectedly one of the restaurants I’ve most frequented in the last six years, meaning MacBride has overseen a significant amount of my meals. And I’m sure I’m not alone. As MacBride states, “On a good Saturday, we’re putting out 500 dinners.”

That’s a lot of entrées, yet Lucca faces different obstacles in today’s economy. “There are so many more seats, and not necessarily that many more people downtown,” says MacBride, quick to list a handful of restaurants that have both opened and closed in the last seven years. The pivotal economic shift in 2008 brought a new set of challenges to the existing restaurant scene. “The dinners are the same,” says MacBride, “the lunches have slowed.” He points out that even the traditional high-end eateries have done most anything possible to lure more customers during the day. In 2013, even Ella has a happy hour.

Looking over Lucca’s menu, I think I’ve had almost every item, stealing bites from friends and family, as I’m wont to do. Lucca’s zucchini chips are my favorite appetizers in Sacramento. But until my most recent visit, I’d never tried the Lucky Dog Ranch hamburger, with cheese. This burger comes undecorated, with the accompaniments on the side: pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato. The produce is fresh, and the fries are nicely seasoned with a touch of salt, but the patty is unique. It doesn’t have that greasy, fat dripping everywhere quality so inescapable in most burgers. The meat is cooked nicely with just a touch of pink showing, and the seasoning doesn’t overpower the actual taste of beef. Clearly the burger is thought out from top to bottom, and for that alone I’d recommend it. Especially paired with a nice Ruhstaller 1881 Amber Ale.

The other surprise from my visit: roasted beet and citrus Salad. The bed of baby kale with olives, almonds, and ricotta, gives the beets a complimentary pairing. The beets themselves are smoky and sweet, and the flavor is rounded out with a coriander citronette, a dressing made of olive oil and lemon. If you’re a fan of beets, this is a must try dish. Likewise, the cheese flatbread with chickpea hummus, olive tapenade, and red pepper romesco, will disappear from one’s table immediately. These two small dishes couple together nicely. Also, for the more adventurous, Lucca might have the best escargot puff pastry in town, when it’s available.

For dinner, I’m a fan of Lucca’s spicy sausage. The Spicy Penne, with baby artichokes, olives, capers, roasted tomato, garlic, chili flakes and sausage; or the Paparadelle, with said spicy sausage and mushroom ragu, are both highly recommended. The pork chop with apple and dried cherry chutney is always rewarding. It’s moist, flavorful, and the apples and cherries provide a delicious sweetness to this entrée.

While I’ve never had a bad experience at Lucca, I’d describe the restaurant as good, specifically consistent, but not quite excellent. This seems to be the general consensus from my community as well. The atmosphere is open and inviting, the lighting well placed, the patio inviting, the bar easygoing and conversational. There’s no specific quality that seems to be lacking exactly. Lucca does what it’s been doing for the last 10 years well. While it’s not always the restaurant that pops to mind when we’re looking for a bite, it’s never disappointing.

It’s also clear that both Terri and head chef MacBride are conscious of this to some degree. In passing Terri mentions that it’s good to just realize what the restaurant is, what its strengths are and figure out how to take advantage of those in pursuing growth. MacBride is excited about the upcoming anniversary events, where he will show off all new items, moving completely away from the staples of Lucca’s menu.

It is, after all a celebration, as MacBride notes, “The 10th year is a benchmark. You know you’re doing something right.”

And owner Terri Gilliland is happy to give back to the city that has so long supported her restaurant: “We want to make a small contribution back to the community.”

For the next two Wednesdays, Lucca will be hosting the final pair of 10 year anniversary events, the previous two benefitting Verge Center for the Arts and Mustard Seed Spin.
On April 17, MacBride will reveal his “Eating Like a Kid Again” menu, and guests will enjoy a recycled fashion show; the proceeds for this event will benefit Sacramento Children’s Home. On April 24, the five-course fixed menu will have a farmers market focus, emphasizing locally sourced edibles; proceeds will be donated to Sacramento Farm-to-Fork. Both dinners start at 5:30 p.m., and seating is limited but available.

Instagon

Marilyn’s on K, Sacramento – Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013

No two shows are ever the same, and the band has been around the Sacramento and Southern California areas as long as Lob’s ponytail. Lob being the only consistent bass player and founding member of the amoeba that is the band Instagon.

Instagon is a free-form, experimental jam band that has performed more than 600 shows to date and has logged an equal amount of intentionally rotating band members. So, how does that work, exactly? Lob extends invitations to a wide variety of local talents, like guitarist Ross Hammond or Leticia Garcia of Ghostplay to join in; he’s even included Greg Ginn of Black Flag and Rikk Agnew from The Adolescents and D.I. during past performances. However, this past weekend at Marilyn’s on K, Instagon celebrated its 20th anniversary with a one-of-a-kind live show including more than a dozen musicians featuring eight guitarists, a drum circle at the foot of the stage, two drums sets, lots of brass and the list continues.

“When [Instagon] first started it was kind of like, let’s invite everybody out to make noise at once. Then, it kind of evolved into more of a band like it is now and it’s gone through many phases,” explains Lob. “In the early days, I would show up with a hand drill. We even did a show once where it was the Instagon Tool and Appliance Orchestra where there was even a blender section.”

Lob describes Instagon in many words, but two will do just fine—noise art. And it was certainly noisy at Marilyn’s this past weekend with audience members staring at the cluster of musicians before them.

Just before Instagon’s performance, Lob calls all participants outside for a few quick pointers, and there are only two guidelines to his improv orchestra, if he brings the tone low, go ahead and feel free to introduce a solo or take the music in a different direction. But, if the tone of his bass is louder or higher, then that’s the signal to just jam along with the rest of the band. After a bit of reefer is passed around and all was said and done, the 20-year rendition of Instagon shuffles one-by-one back inside the venue, some extinguishing their last cigarette before finding a spot on stage.

“It’s really an escape for me. I’m going to invoke this demon and ride it. It’s really like a voodoo ritual,” says Lob. “I’m going to feel the energy and the power from it. I really enjoy the energy of what Instagon brings to the stage and anybody that’s played will attest to that. To be a part of that is amazing and fun.”

Wails and screams emit from Instagon’s unique, 20-year anniversary performance courtesy of one short-haired woman. A masked man very reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter sits at the foot of the stage aggressively slapping his conga-looking drum, another woman fiddles with her Theremin radiating off-kilter, sci-fi notes while another man dressed in a black top hat and long fancy coat (like something Luciano Pavarotti might wear) gets weird on another Theremin. Then, there’s the saxophonist, who continually wails into a microphone. And then, there are the two drummers, jamming alongside one another toward the back. Plus, the single trumpet player from the band Egg of Winters is dancing about. Oh, and the eight guitarists. Not to mention countless extra musicians hidden behind one another on the crowded stage. In the end, the list of musical instruments goes on longer than “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song and all band members are contributing just about every note scaling the entire alphabet. It’s chaotic. It’s a bit Sun Ra. It’s a bit tribal. And at the center of it all is Lob, a conductor of noise art and his baton, a bass guitar.

Former guitarist of indie rock band Der Spazm and founding member of her newest project Ghostplay, Leticia Garcia, has performed in a couple versions of Instagon and says the music helped her the most at a time when she stepped away from music. She says the improvisational style kept her on her toes and often introduced her to new musicians.

“I really had no idea what to expect,” admits Garcia. “It was challenging and forced me to play a different style of guitar than I was used to. I was also surrounded by other very talented musicians including members of Musical Charis, ZuhG and the Trees. It ended up being a real rush because it was all improv. There was no way to tell what bass riff Lob was going to throw down and how the other musicians would react.”

And it was just that, which kept Garcia accepting Lob’s invites when Instagon scheduled another performance around town.

“You just never know what is going to happen. Sometimes, the music will be so-so, but then all of a sudden you have a moment of ‘Whoa! That was amazing!’” says Garcia. “That’s what [it’s] about, those little moments of amazing, those musical moments that will never ever happen again. It becomes something special for everyone there watching the show and the musicians playing.”

With more than 600 different combinations of musicians and more than 600 shows logged on Instagon’s website, which is like an intricately kept Internet database, one can read all the names Lob’s invited to play alongside him. He’s even attached dates to each name and whether or not the musician performed a second or third time. Yeah, it’s all there.

“I’ll see a player who’s really fluid and I’ll go, ‘Oh, I gotta invite him to [Instagon]’ because he’s gonna get it,” says Lob. “Sometimes, people are standoff-ish because they don’t want to join [another band]. I don’t want you to join my band. I just want you to come experience this on stage jam thing. Instagon’s the mistress band.”

Finally, a band you can cheat on your band with.