The Coconut Midtown

2502 J Street • Sacramento, Calif.

Throw a rock in any direction in Midtown, and you’ll unfailingly smash the window of a Thai restaurant. Prolific as the shitty romance novels of Danielle Steel, the abundance of Thai food is, however, welcomed by diners in Sacramento’s grub milieu.

A new Thai restaurant predictably became the successor in the vacant space that once housed failed endeavors Negril Island Grill and BBQ Spot at 2502 J Street. The newly opened business quickly garnered a wealth of positive online reviews, and I jumped at the chance to try it out and pen my own review for Submerge readers.

With a mad legit Thai establishment, Thai Basil, just a block away, I questioned how another Thai restaurant could thrive in a location that had the added difficulty of seeing one restaurant after another struggle and go under, and imagined that its fare must be pretty impressive to dare such proximal competition.

My coworker Haley and I ventured out on Halloween, in our Adventure Time Lumpy Space Princess and Princess Bubblegum costumes into the perfect, crisp fall weather of Halloween to verify if such was the case. Given our garb, we were greeted with sideways glances, albeit friendliness.

The specials board by the front door rendered us both instant Pavlovian dogs with saliva-inducing dishes such as avocado yellow curry. For Lumpy Space Princess, that was all she needed to see to decide upon what to order. After sitting down, I comparatively mulled over every word, taking in the traditional options and weighing them against the unconventional ones, such as their Thai herb burger. After much deliberation, I ordered a Thai iced tea, an appetizer of cheese wontons and the “Drunken Noodle.”

The cheese wontons arrived briskly, and I immediately noted that they had been expertly deep-fried to golden brown perfection and served with a sweet chili sauce. The plating was oh so appetizing until I caught a glimpse of strawberries that were on the verge of rotten, like something still passable to feed your rabbit but not your human family, acting as garnishes on the rim of the dish. Carefully averting my eyes from them, I dug into the wontons, drizzling the chili sauce into the center cavity that cradled the warm, herbed cheese. I smiled at the mouthwatering first bite (and every bite thereafter).

Here’s where things got a little wack. Haley’s avocado yellow curry came out several minutes before my Drunken Noodle and was served with a very awkward explanation that they couldn’t use the avocado they had because it had all turned brown. Haley’s lumpy heart sank—avocado was the reason she’d ordered this, and without it, she was left with a run-of-the-mill yellow curry in which floated potato, onion, carrots and chicken.

Then things got even weirder. As she disappointedly dug to the bottom of the bowl, she scooped out a mass of phantom avocado. She was stoked that there was avocado after all, but the whole situation was a little questionable. I asked her how it tasted, to which she replied, “Creamy, coconut-y and sweet.” It was good.

Halfway through her lunch, mine came out of the kitchen—a colorful, steaming heap of my favorite Thai dish, Drunken Noodle. The Coconut Midtown’s take on it used green beans, onion, carrot, Thai basil, green and purple peppers, and my choice of beef. In regards to the vegetables, every bite was cooked differently. Some green beans were overcooked while others were skillfully al dente.

But the mushiness of the noodles made me feel violent. They’re supposed to be a little mushy, but these were so floppy and overdone that they deteriorated in my mouth and had a mealy texture that was not so yummy.

Thai food is like sex. Even when it’s bad, it’s good. So they had that going for them—in spite of being unimpressed over all, I’m not going to lie. I ate it all.

And the space itself was clean, with local art on display. They have a good array of both Asian beer and domestic microbrews. They deliver with a $20 minimum order, which is a stoner’s dream come true. It wasn’t all bad. It just wasn’t that good.

I walked in with high hopes of having nothing but positive things to say about Midtown’s newest Thai food addition, and walked out feeling like I wanted to get a bit Gordon Ramsay on their asses. But all of that said, that was only Princess Bubblegum’s experience, and they do have a lot of good reviews piling up. It’s always tough when you’re a new restaurant to please everyone, and to be consistent as you cut your teeth. I’ll give them another chance after I wash my mouth out with some Thai Basil.

Sacramento’s First Farm-to-Fork Week Takes Root

Sacramento has long struggled with its reputation as a cow town. But with foodies the world over regarding our city as a culinary epicenter because of its proximity to rich harvests and ranches and its multitude of highly rated restaurants, Sacramento has decided to embrace its agricultural ties and plant its cow town flag proudly in the soil by proclaiming itself America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital and hosting its first-ever Farm-to-Fork week.

The festivities organized by the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau involved large-scale events. The week kicked off Sept. 23, 2013 with the Cattle Drive from the Tower Bridge up J Street, followed by Legends of Wine on Sept. 26 featuring local wines handpicked and poured by internationally recognized culinary experts Daryl Corti and David Berkley on the west steps of the Capitol building. The Farm-to-Fork Festival on Capitol Mall followed on Sept. 28, and the event culminated in the Tower Bridge Dinner on Sunday, Sept. 29. Additionally, restaurants all over town hosted their own farm-to-fork showcase events.

This was no easy undertaking, but well worth the effort, said Sonya Bradley, Chief Marketing Officer for the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“For the farmers, ranchers, food producers, chefs and restaurants, it’s their livelihood,” she says. “While our role as a sales and marketing organization is to give this movement some context and push it to the forefront so that one day saying, ‘America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital’ becomes as natural as saying, ‘Sacramento Kings.’”

On a picture-perfect Saturday in late September along Capitol Mall, with views of the Capitol and Tower Bridge flanking the rows of booths and food trucks, the Farm-to-Fork Festival was in full swing. Among the neatly lined-up booths were California Restaurant Association, Lucky Dog Ranch, Del Rio Botanical, Passmore Ranch, Full Belly Farm, Nugget Market, Save Mart (yes, they source local produce, too!), and the Dairy Council of California, who showed up equipped with a mobile dairy classroom.

Among a sea of marketing materials promoting local businesses, Downtowngrid’s booth also handed out a flyer listing all the farmers’ markets in Sacramento. There is at least one farmers’ market cropping up somewhere nearby every day of the week, making it easy for people to buy local, seasonal food directly from farmers and other vendors who produce food within the proverbial stone’s throw. I wondered: did cities elsewhere in the country have as many proximal farms and farmers’ markets available to conscientious consumers?

Josh Nelson, whose stepfather is Randall Selland, owner of The Kitchen, Selland’s Market Café and Ella Dining Room and Bar, says that Sacramento has been America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital long prior to its recent self-proclamation.

Since opening The Kitchen 22 years ago, they’ve always shopped at the farmers’ markets for the ingredients used to create their menu. They weren’t philosophically locavores initially, but he explains that our region’s best-tasting food comes from the farmers’ market due to its freshness. Sacramento is centered within the largest piece of Class 1 soil in the world, in a longitudinal belt running in California from Bakersfield to Redding, while also being uniquely positioned surrounding two rivers. For this reason, he feels that we’re just inherently the capital of farm-to-fork fare.

He believed that to declare Sacramento as such, officially, would cause outsiders to connote Sacramento with world-class dining, while also inspiring its residents.

“Food and agriculture is what we are. The health and environmental benefits of eating locally grown food are now being nationally recognized,” he says, making this a strategic time to make the claim.

Feeling strongly that to tout Sacramento as America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital would promote the region and the already-popular concept in a positive way, the Selland family spent their time, money and resources to create the America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital logo and secure the handles on various social media outlets and the Web address (Farmtoforkcapital.com), wrote the resolution, and with the help of Patrick Mulvaney of Mulvaney’s B&L in the final meeting, pitched the idea to the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau and Mayor Kevin Johnson about one year ago.

They don’t think they deserve full credit for this endeavor by any means, though.

“What makes [the movement] special is that it’s not a single effort— it doesn’t work if it’s one person, one voice, one restaurant,” Nelson explains.

It’s clear the community has shown its support. If you look at the success of the Tower Bridge Dinner—whose tickets sold out by 3:30 p.m. the day they went on sale—or the fact that 25,000 people attended the Farm-to-Fork Festival on Sept. 28, it is obvious that this initiative has an army of locavores backing it.

According to Nelson, becoming America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital isn’t the flip of a switch, it’s an endless walk down an arduous path that involves not just marketing and politics, but grassroots participation. But thanks to the reinforcement of the local government and the SCVB, the platform is in place for the hardworking community to continue to roll out the initiative, the benefits of which are both social and economic.

“It isn’t all about the festival,” he says. “It’s just one week that is part of a year-round effort, and the festival is to celebrate the region.” Sonya Bradley agrees.

“[Farm-to-Fork Week] allows us to tell a very real and authentic Sacramento story,” she says. “This region was built on agriculture—just drive 20 minutes south to the Delta and see the rows upon rows of pear orchards, or north along I-5 and see the acres of rice fields… It’s such an integral part of our heritage.”

All Photos Courtesy of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau

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.