On a Pale Horse
Philadelphia post-hardcore five-piece mewithoutYou will celebrate its 15th year together this year, continuing to log thousands of miles touring across the United States. Vocalist Aaron Weiss, alongside brother and guitarist, Michael Weiss, started the band in 2001, signing with Tooth and Nail Records later that same year. The band—which also includes drummer Rickie Mazotta, bassist Greg Jehanian and guitarist Brandon Beaver—continues to craft dramatic, sometimes experimental, soundscapes that echo the singer’s trance-like vocal angst. Over the past 15 years, mewithoutYou has toured alongside bands such as Coheed and Cambria, The Blood Brothers and dozens more. The band has also worked with producers like Brad Wood (Sunny Day Real Estate, Smashing Pumpkins) and Dan Smith (Sufjan Stevens) on albums including 2004’s Catch for Us the Foxes and Brother, Sister, released in 2006. The band’s recently released sixth album, Pale Horses, not only challenges mewithoutYou to revisit the band’s natural tendency toward the more theatrical, aggressive musical performance, but also revives the emotional honesty found in past albums. Submerge recently caught up with mewithoutYou vocalist and founding member Aaron Weiss to discuss how he developed his eccentric, spoken-word vocal style, what inspires the band’s performances night after night and mewithoutYou’s religious-based labels.
Where do you find lyrical inspiration?
I can point to certain authors where I take a line either word-for-word from Rumi or, more recently with this new album, James Joyce more than anyone else. But, there’s also whatever I’m experiencing, whatever I’m fed by my surroundings and by media, or billboards, or my cats, or my relationships. In this case, my wife and being married, and having a whole new family; those things, of course, shape what I’m writing even though I don’t necessarily consciously incorporate those things.
Screaming and shouting night after night must take a toll; do you have any vocal remedies you turn to in a pinch while on tour?
No. I have not had any success with any remedies. Only time. Only rest. That’s the only thing that’s worked for me: keeping quiet. If I get real bad, I’ll make a little sign, or if anybody comes up to me I just point to my mouth, or point to my throat and give a thumbs down, and hopefully they’ll get the point. For me, of course, even better than that, is the preventative maintenance. For one thing, staying hydrated and another is proper vocal technique. I’ve learned a few techniques and ways to direct my voice and use my body that can prevent that kind of fatigue. If I just go shouting without remembering the correct way to do it, I could lose my voice in a single song.
How did you develop your spoken-word vocal style?
If I remember right, it mostly came from what a bad singer I was. I was in a musical in high school. I got a good role, but I really couldn’t sing the song. So, they literally made me speak the song in rhythm with the music and when I listen back to that, I have a recording of it, I think, “That’s pretty similar to what I do now.” It’s probably where I got the idea to do that. And, just hearing other artists, or vocalists, who have done likewise like Sean McCabe from Ink and Dagger, or Ian MacKaye from Fugazi, or Henry Rollins.
During mewithoutYou’s live performances, you often wrap flowers around mic stands, what’s up with that?
I used to do it more often, but the reason was just to make something pretty and to make it smell nice, and make it look nice, or to have something new to interact with. We play shows night after night, and we try to mix up the set list or do something different each time. But, in some respects, it’s very homogenous. So, anything that we can do to make every night something special and unique, and the flowers are just one more version of that. It’s just one more element of the show that could be memorable or enjoyable for people.
MewithoutYou’s lyrical content contains Jewish, Muslim and Christian imagery. Do you use music and poetry to explore spirituality?
Sure, that’s such a big part of who I am. There’s no way I could do anything where I could do anything where I could seriously try to explore or express meaning and significance, and identity and trust and reality, without drawing on all those sources. They’re just kind of part of my DNA. At the same, I don’t feel a compulsion to force that in or make anyone else believe anything about religion. There’s no way for me to write with any real intensity while bracketing all that, so it’s going to be there and if that turns people off who aren’t religious, or who are anti-religious, well that’s OK. But, at the same time, religion and spiritual context can be used in such harmful ways that I’m reluctant to endorse any of them.
When bands are labeled under a religious light, do you feel they trudge through stigmas with
an audience?
It’s hard to even pin down what Christianity means; multiply that by five. When you have five members of a band that someone’s trying to shoehorn into this one label, it just doesn’t make any sense. To me, it’s an incoherent concept. If someone were to say, “Oh, those guys are a Christian band, or they’re a Muslim band, or they’re a religious band,” none of those labels stick because not everyone in the band can be put in any one of those labels.
After all these years, is there a favorite album, or song to perform that still ignites deep emotions?
When I think about performing and what brings out different emotions, that really changes from one night to another, and it surprises me. There’s a song that might not mean a thing to me one night, and then the next night we play it and it really hits me in a new way. When we play, I try to really dial into the content. What am I saying to people right now? What message am I conveying and where is my attention right now? Am I locked with this moment and this particular dynamic of who’s in the room with me, or am I just rehashing what I did yesterday? To me, it’s always a constant struggle when I’m on stage performing to try to let these songs still be new and still be meaningful.
See mewithoutYou live at The Boardwalk in Orangevale on June 24, 2015, with Foxing and Lithuania. This all-ages show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased through Theboardwalkpresents.com.
The Music Matters
Instead of kickin’ it poolside during the hot Sacramento summers, two sisters gladly choose to be on the road, sharing their music night after night with new audiences.
With 25 states logged over the course of four U.S. tours, Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles of the rock ‘n’ roll duo Dog Party, say a typical evening for them on tour consists of two, sometimes three, sets per night. Still, this pair of die-hard musicians says tour is what they look forward to every year.
The music started as mini-jam sessions in their living room at ages 9 and 11 years old with both chords and lyrics scribbled on paper. As the sisters grew from girls to young women, so did their music. From the debut, self-released album Dog Party in 2009 with its more innocent, yet catchy punk rock attitude, to their Asian Man Records-backed third album Lost Control, Gwen and Lucy continue to evolve their garage and punk rock styles. Now, the sisters look forward to their latest release, Vol. 4, due June 16, 2015, on cassette through Burger Records, and LP and CD through Asian Man.
On the cusp of her 17th birthday, Lucy says she can’t wait for Vol. 4’s album release show at Harlow’s with fellow Burger Records pals Pookie and The Poodlez on June 15, 2015. Gwen, now 19 years old, and away at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she majors in graphic communications with a minor in music echoes her sister’s excitement.
“We just took all the good stuff from Lost Control and we made it better,” says Gwen about Vol. 4 during an interview at a recent Dog Party show at 924 Gilman in Berkeley.
Lucy, with her signature bright pink locks and leather jacket adds, “It’s just like real big sounding. The drums are loud, the guitar is super powerful, and we have the third [band] member, Jimmy, our Fuzz War pedal by Death By Audio.”
The two sit in the back of their week-old, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter passenger van. A vehicle the two say will soon gain mileage this summer as Dog Party and Pets plan another U.S. tour. Despite their time spent in more familiar territories, Gwen and Lucy have also traveled overseas to Italy and Berlin alongside Kepi Ghoulie to perform their music and reach new fans.
Still, with dozens of cities and a fair few countries checked off their musical bucket lists, the two have outgrown one thing: the age stigma. They both loathe to be called “cute” or even worse, to be told they’re so talented “for their age.”
“It’s both things, it’s the age gap and [gender],” says Lucy.
Gwen adds, “Teen show is also annoying or, oh you’re so cute. Or, that’s so great that you guys are doing this at such a young age, or you’re so good for your age.”
Lucy continues, “Basically, the last record we put out was really angled that we were young… Our age was put into everything. This record, we’re trying to not include our age as much. It doesn’t matter about anything: age, gender, race anything like that. Where you come from, none of that matters. It’s all about the music.”
On that note, Dog Party hop out of their van and onto the stage to support Burger label mates, Swimmers, at Gilman on a Friday night. The venue is packed. Swarms of music hungry fans, varying in age from 10 to 30-plus, all huddle around the stage as the sisters check their mics and respective instruments.
A bold “NO STAGE DIVING” sign clearly outlaws such live music antics, but once Lucy counts off Dog Party’s first song using her drum sticks, the crowd can’t help but to push and jump to the music and even crowd surf during their performance.
The first song, “Cry,” off Lost Control, kicks open the door to Dog Party’s set and leaves it wide open. Gwen’s fast-paced, jaunty guitar pairs with her Go-Go’s-like vocal talent and quickly sparks the crowd’s energy.
After the song ends, Lucy, from behind her kit says, “All this dancing is fine, but I just want people to be respectful to one another. So, that’s the message I have to say.”
Instantaneously, the sisters dive back into what they came to Berkeley to do: perform.
This night is simply one live performance versus the multiple sets they’re accustomed to, but Dog Party is out to make the most of their weekend. The next day the two were off to San Luis Obispo, Gwen’s new home away from home, to perform alongside Shannon and the Clams.
Since Gwen entered her first year of college, practices are understandably scarce, yet the two still find time to get together and play a few shows throughout the school year despite distance.
“We get along and every now and then there are few times where we squabble,” says Gwen between laughs as Lucy pretends to grow devil horns. “But we’re closer than most.”
Lucy, sans horns, adds, “Yeah, we’re way closer than most siblings. Sometimes, I look at most siblings and I’m like, ‘Whoa, you guys are so far away from each other.’ We get along really easily and we know what we’re thinking. It’s kind of like a psychic thing and we just play really well together. Sometimes, obviously, we get mad at each other because that’s what we do, we’re sistas.”
With Vol. 4’s release weeks away, Gwen and Lucy both agree that they’re eager to perform with more Burger Records bands, which also includes their affinity for Ty Segall. Through their new record partnership, the sisters aim to reach a wider age demographic that also includes the younger crowds. It was eight years ago that the two first picked up a guitar and a pair of drum sticks, now they hope to check off all 50 states and even rock audiences in Japan.
The album’s single, “Peanut Butter Dream,” describes Lucy’s current relationship and how from an outsider’s perspective, the two appear to be a modern-day odd couple.
“You see me, I’m like this little kid with pink hair and leather jacket and he just cruises around in normal clothes,” says Lucy jokingly. “We don’t seem very compatible by just looking at us, but he made me see things differently. [The song’s] really catchy with the ‘Oh’ part and the harmonies, and Gwenny’s shredding guitar solo.”
Although Gwen and Lucy say the songwriting process has changed since the days they lived together, and practices are limited, the two remain professionals, and continue to adapt to growing up as women and as musicians.
Welcome the Giles girls home when they play Harlow’s in Sacramento on June 15, 2015 with Pookie and The Poodlez. Doors open for this album release party at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are just $8 in advance. They can be purchased through Harlows.com.
Streets of Color
Pump up those tires and grab a few homies because the annual Submerge Bicycle Mural Tour is back again. This time, we feature pieces so fresh the paint fumes still kick. Some murals stretch across entire alleyways, like the sideshow circus at 23rd and S streets that showcases the incredible tattooed lady and a pair of magnificent gray elephants dressed in red-and-gold garb.
While on the hunt for worthy destinations, this writer discovered that several locations featured in past issues of Submerge received fresh coats of paint. So much, in fact, that a few familiar murals that once hugged the sides of corner stores, like Royal Market on 17th and T streets, have completely transformed and taken on a new identity.
Unfortunately, artistic expression is not always accepted. On April 28, 2015, a multitude of Sacramento artists like Few and Far Women founder Meme, tattoo artist Jenn Ponci, muralist Shaun Burner, and more, saw their $2,000 mural that beautified an otherwise vandalized building on the corner of 28th and U streets, completely erased with gray paint by the city. Submerge shot some of the last photographs of this piece before it was defaced. Although it no longer exists, we wanted our readers to be able to appreciate and support the work of these artists.
Whether a mural was scarred by tags, or simply begged for a new perspective, these walls do talk, and speak to the creative minds of Sacramento artists who answer with cans of paint. So, plan for a leisurely and artistically pedal-driven bike ride through the ins and outs of Midtown and its surrounding areas. Discover the latest, most eye-catching urban street art created by some of the best artists in the city and beyond. More importantly, May is Bike Month, so log some easy miles through the hidden alleyways and bustling streets that lead to more colorful destinations.
Surfside
S.V.Williams, Ernie Upton, Lopan
2505 Riverside Blvd., Sacramento (Target parking lot)
Majestic sea turtles float freely in this oceanic masterpiece filled with crystal castles, colorful coral reefs, tropical fish and sunken ships. This collaborative piece was commissioned by Surfside Dental and showcases the allure and mystery of deep sea life.
Electric Wizard
Cyber Punk
1701 T St, Sacramento.
Submerge featured Royal Market’s original mural three years ago by artist Shaun Burner, but now it seems market owner Haripal Singh caved into another creative mind’s need to paint and, once again, allowed the side of his business to act as a rotating canvas. An old wizard with a wooden staff rides on the back of a green wolf; electricity fills the air around the two as they travel onward to an unknown destination courtesy of local artist Cyber Punk.
Life’s a Ball Enjoy the Circus
Few and Far, various artists
2333 S St., Sacramento (Rice Alley)
Just around the corner from Addison’s Bicycle Repairium (fitting) is the newly coated, circus-themed mural by Few and Far Women, a group of gals who specialize in street art with the help of various artists like Meme, Jenn Ponci, Melissa Uroff Millner and more. See majestic elephants with deep expressions, the incredible tattooed lady, and a golden palm that waits for its fortune to be told.
California Pride
Begr, Kove Sole, Jenn Ponci, Meme, Shaun Burner
28th & U streets, Sacramento (No longer exists)
Despite being hassled by the anti-graffiti authorities, these five artists finally wrapped up the side of a building at 28th and U streets. A frame of golden California poppies surrounded a menacing grizzly bear with its busy magenta, forest green and burnt orange brush strokes. Toward the end of this mural, a cold, blue face struggled to break free from its canvas.
A Level Beyond
Lord Pawn
2419 K St., Sacramento (Jazz Alley)
Behind City Bicycle Works, a starry night sky glows as a robotic wolf growls in the face of a gray and blue bionic woman, her wispy long hair adorned by a single, pink carnation.
Rest In Peace mural for Justin Mayo and Selecta KDK (Kevin Kinnard)
Shaun Burner, Bdank, Ernie Upton
1017 24th St., Sacramento (Jazz Alley)
Justin Mayo snagged a large-mouth bass and proudly shows off his catch of the day sailing away on his small, wooden boat. A healthy forest stretches across a steady flowing river as Selecta KDK scratches on some wax that gives off electricity.
United Passion
BAMR
1330 H St., Sacramento
Behind Chaise Lounge (former Bulls bar), artist BAMR gained broadcast news attention with his mural “United Passion.” A large and lengthy busy-colored sleeve reaches across a gray building, its open palm holds a red and yellow rainbow, and at the center a blue heart splashes with water drops.
Garden to Grill
2315 K Street • Sacramento
From Turkish-style kabobs and baklava, to German-imported brews and old-fashioned frankfurters, the corner of K and 23rd streets is quite the new Midtown hotspot for a quick bite to eat, or even a more relaxed and slower paced destination to seek Sunday brunch. The area recently welcomed the comforts of soul food with Sticky Gator slapping a new coat of paint on the old Rick’s Dessert Diner building, but there’s also a new color scheme on the block located across the street at Garden to Grill, a place known for its vegan and gluten-free burgers.
Once classic white in color, the structure’s new lively paint job boasts yellow and green hues, which radiate brightly amid the tall shady trees of the surrounding neighborhood. Behind the newly painted face of this familiar Midtown building is a house of history. Over its lifetime, former businesses like the True Love Coffeehouse poured an immeasurable amount of hot coffee for guests who often occupied the covered back patio for hours lost in board games and conversation. Next, the Sugar Plum Vegan Café opened its doors and offered hungry customers sweets, paninis, burgers and an all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch, but with a healthier and sometimes gluten-free stance.
This time around, the 100-year-old building continues to host vegan and gluten-free customers, now under the new ownership of Rey Ortega and his business partner Ron Russell. The two inherited Sugar Plum Vegan in May 2012 and quickly shortened the name to The Plum. Yet in order to establish their new business venture’s identity amid the crowd of restaurant choices on the grid, the two ultimately settled on Garden to Grill, inspired by Sacramento’s farm-to-fork movement.
“For [Sacramentans], I definitely think if they want to try something that will make them feel better about themselves, this is the place to be,” says Ortega of his restaurant’s plant-based menu. “We’re really sort of a transitional burger joint for those people who want to get healthy [and] who want to try something new… I think we really fill that gap.”
Ortega, a 21-year vegan with 22 years’ experience in the baking industry, also owns the Sun Flour Baking Company, a wholesale vegan and gluten-free bakery located on Marconi and Fulton avenues. So, it’s no coincidence that all the colorful pastries filling the glass case inside the restaurant are his gluten-free creations made with oat flour. At $3.50 a cupcake, try the chocolate cherry, a rich and dense chocolaty cake with a deep red cherry-filled center, topped with a lightly sweetened whipped cream. Dozens of other flavors that also line the pastry case include: caramel crunch, lemon coconut, birthday cake and even seasonal choices like pumpkin and caramel apple.
Garden to Grill still serves familiar items on its menu that former Sugar Plum Vegan customers will quickly recognize, like the sweet potato avocado panini or any of the risotto sunflower seed burgers. Yet, Ortega stresses that although he inherited these items, he used his “food formulating” skills to spice up each recipe after he solidified his 15-member staff.
“I’m very familiar with the food business. So, I took it upon myself after I got rid of the chef to refine everything here and make it better because it was really suffering for the longest time. It was really inconsistent and it was driving me crazy,” admits Ortega. “I’ve done it a gazillion times for a lot of people, I food formulate. I take the recipes, break them down into grams and I make adjustments.”
His new formula for the restaurant’s risotto sunflower seed patty caught the attention of Buzzfeed’s 21 Juicy Burgers that will Change Your Life list last November. Now, although this Internet media company is more known for their quizzes that match users to their celebrity doppelgangers using questionable algorithms, they’re apparently self-proclaimed foodies as well.
Nonetheless, Garden to Grill’s Veggie Burger is listed fourth sandwiched between the Hatch Burger at Umami Burger of Los Angeles and any meat patty found at Hodad’s Burgers located in San Diego.
When the ache for a fatty burger is undeniable, but undoubtedly goes against your waistline’s better judgment, the more guilt-free choice is obvious: try veggie! The California Burger at Garden to Grill is crowned with thick slices of avocado and tempeh bacon, dressed with pickles, lettuce, tomato and vegan 1000 island all housed between sesame seed buns and priced at $12.85. Or, if the more classic burger is more your style, try the Basic Burger or Gardein Vegan Burger at $10.95 with shredded lettuce, tomato and pickles. All burgers are served with garlic and herb fries.
In honor of National Sandwich Month, the sweet potato avocado panini inherited from Sugar Plum Vegan made PETA’s Top Five Vegan Sandwiches list in August 2011. The sandwich, described as a “mouthwatering” choice, is still on the menu at Garden to Grill. Thick cuts of sweet potato, avocado layered with roasted onions and tomatoes and a vegan poppy seed aioli between toasted ciabatta costs $11.25.
With a blend of fresh and familiar menu items, Garden to Grill looks forward to new changes like vegan soft serve ice cream in chocolate-vanilla swirl, and a faster style of food service.
“In the next two weeks, I’m going to change it to more like a Chipotle-style service to where you can get your food immediately instead of having to wait for it,” describes Ortega. “That’s what we’re heading toward right now, like literally. So, when you come in you order it right as you’re standing there and then you can go. We’re trying to cut out about 30 to 45 minutes of your time with the new, faster service.”
Despite the more efficient changes in the works, Garden to Grill is still open to customers every day of the week with its burgers, soups and salads, or even the more sweet treats topped with the new vegan soft serve ice cream because Ortega says you can’t have savory without something sweet.
Garden to Grill is open seven days a week! For hours and more info visit Gardentogrill.net or call (916) 706-3302.
Chicory Coffee & Tea
1131 11th Street • Sacramento
During the busy hours of the work week, the baristas behind the counter at Chicory Coffee and Tea also double as hosts. Located just across the street from the capitol, the small coffeehouse welcomes a number of guests at 11th and L streets when 7 a.m. dawns and the eclectic coffee rush begins. But once all has settled and the espresso grinder falls silent, the Chicory staff begins to prepare for what is known as the “soupocalypse.” Not only does the locally owned business receive fresh, roast-to-order coffee shipments from their head roaster in Portland, they’re also known as the go-to lunch hotspot for a good bowl of soup in the downtown area.
Like clockwork during the winter season, Chicory customers order and consume anywhere between 18 to 20 gallons of soup per day. So routine, in fact, that according to longtime manager Katelynn Williams, the building’s breaker system experienced electrical troubles keeping up with soup demands during one period. But, not to worry, the staff now has the lunch rush down to a science of balance, rotating huge cylindrical pots between burners to ensure each spoonful is served piping hot.
“We specialize in soups, salads and sandwiches, kind of capitol downtown basics, and we really don’t gouge on the soup prices. It’s $3.50 [for a bowl],” says Williams.
Chicory lists between six to eight soup choices on its specials board that alternate daily, many prepared from scratch in-house and always ready by 11 a.m.
The temperature is cold and crisp on a Monday morning with sunlight sporadically breaking through an overcast gray skyline, a fitting day for soup.
Deep red in color, Chicory’s roasted tomato is just one of many soup varieties handcrafted by executive chef Melissa Candela. A rich and hearty spoonful is tactfully balanced with sweet tomato chunks, savory carrot and onion pieces, a hint of oregano and warm spices. It’s instant comfort in a bowl.
“My love of cooking and feeding people really came from my mother,” she explains.
Candela’s culinary education began at 8 years old and, in addition to her mother’s influence, she also hails from a family of master bakers. As a young girl, she grew accustomed to a fully stocked pantry lined with several selections of flours, sugars and yeasts. This was very much the norm. Now, Candela is the woman responsible for all the aromas that permeate from the Chicory kitchen and she prides herself on fresh, top quality ingredients layered in the dishes she creates.
“Our chef does a daily special that incorporates a lot of locally grown produce. I hesitate to say ‘farm to fork’ because that’s become so cliché, but it’s true,” Williams admits. “We often take trips to the farmers market.”
What’s more, reasonable prices are found at Chicory. A cup of soup is only three bucks and the slightly larger bowl is priced at $3.50, both served with sliced baguette and butter. Salads range between $6 and $7.50, while the hefty, twice-baked potato with bacon, green onions and cheddar-jack cheese in every bite costs $5.50. Trust that it will combat any level of hunger, but set aside at least 15 minutes for a nap because you’re about to experience the itis*.
*Itis: the drowsy, sleepy feeling you get after eating a large meal. Usual meals like big Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Defined by Urbandictionary.com.
A long line quickly forms during Chicory’s soup hour. Yet, one almost wishes for more time in line to decide between the day’s particular soup specials: French mushroom, vegan southwestern corn, chicken pot pie, turkey and sweet corn chowder, cheesy Angus beef stew or how about chicken artichoke Florentine?
At the register, my indecisive nature finally boiled down to a bowl each of vegan southwestern corn and French mushroom soup, a “bottle rocket” sandwich, the chef’s special twice-baked potato and an Asian noodle salad with sweet chili dressing. Bring it on, hunger.
A filling and tasty vegan soup is a hard gem to find and usually packs in the sodium as if it’s a healthy meat replacer or flavor enhancer. Thankfully, none of these novice factors are found in a bowl of Chicory’s southwestern corn. Instead, a light veggie broth features an assortment of black beans, roasted corn, red bell peppers and onions, each taste packed with an enjoyable spiciness that gently builds over time and covers the entire palate.
The French mushroom is a delightful and creamy offering that doesn’t skimp on the main ingredient: mushrooms! Cremini, shitake and white button burgeons, soft in texture, swim in an earthy and herbal-infused cream base. The sliced baguette served on the side is the perfect vessel to soak up the last bits of mushrooms left at the bottom of the bowl.
With Boar’s Head cracked pepper turkey, the chef’s special bottle rocket sandwich invites its consumer to enjoy the finer ingredients in life. Chef Candela says the brand is usually found only at most specialty grocery stores like Nugget or Sprouts, but she has the hookup on this premium brand of award-winning deli meats. The sandwich is layered with grilled onions and red bells, pepper jack, cheddar, mixed greens and a light chipotle mayo all tucked between a soft-baked roll.
Although my stomach was more than full at this point in my afternoon smorgasbord, my soft spot for Asian noodle salads could not be tamed. Chicory’s version is chilled linguini noodles, fresh broccoli florets, sliced red bell peppers, crispy snow peas and thick strips of chicken breast. Served in a big, white bowl, Chef Candela’s rendition is then paired with a sweet chili dressing, a family recipe courtesy of her sister-in-law. Light, crunchy and oh-so filling, this salad’s components also make for a great grab ‘n’ go meal when in a rush.
The warmth of Chicory’s indoor quarters is credited to its lounge area, where many customers take advantage of the four leather armchairs that sit in front of the burning fireplace. At the time of my visit, employee stockings hung from the mantel as warm flames danced within the cobblestone frame. The ambience reads as a cozy, almost grandma’s house comfort for guests to experience and enjoy.
Chunky wooden tables host important business meetings nearby, while other more intimate booths house private and friendly conversations. Because Chicory is a not-for-profit business, customer purchases go toward Fostering Futures, a foundation that provides scholarships and grants to foster youth in California.
By 1 p.m. the soupocalypse is over, signaled by the now bare specials board. One hurried man in a collared shirt quickly pops in to inquire about any leftover soup; unfortunately, there’s none. Eighteen gallons gone within two hours—until tomorrow afternoon, when the clock resets and the staff prepares for the day to routinely start yet again.
Chicory’s business hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Give them a call at (916) 444-5107.
Cookies & Milk is an epic (and tasty) win for your late-night munchies
After-hours food delivery services are limited when it comes to the proverbial cuisine pyramid, especially in Sacramento. When hunger strikes after a long shift at work or the munchies demand to be fulfilled with salty, crunchy nourishment, two choices appear to be consistent: a 10 p.m. craving for last resort chow mein most likely from a third-string Chinese restaurant, or the typical, medium-temperature pepperoni pie ordered somewhere down the pizza chain. The choices are slim. Do they really satisfy? No. If anything, after consumption, you recite a solid oath in your studio apartment never to order from such establishments again—or at least, until the next late-night shift occurs, the refrigerator is empty and the cycle resets.
Enter Cookies and Milk. A convenient-mom-and-pop-style business that answers the calls and online food orders of late-night crowds with its warm, freshly baked cookies packaged with cold cartons of milk right at home. Is this real life? Yes. And it’s delicious.
Co-owners and longtime friends Nick Altman, 26, and Will Countryman, 24, grew up together in Modesto, California and eventually reunited at UC Davis where they both graduated with bachelor’s degrees. With an appreciation for the entrepreneurial spirit, the two decided Sacramento’s sweet tooth lacked in terms of late-night delivery needs and in turn, opened Cookies and Milk with its online and phone-in order system.
“Sacramento didn’t have a late-night type of business like ours. So, Will and I created the business that we wanted to order from,” Altman explains. “Plus, everyone likes a cookie.”
Cookies and Milk opened its online doors in March 2013 as a two-person bakery and delivery team solely consisting of Altman and Countryman completing a few sporadic orders per night. Now, with their two-year anniversary approaching, the two friends estimate they’ve baked and delivered more than 30,000 cookies to downtown, Midtown and surrounding areas.
“It used to be just the two of us scrambling to get five, six orders out. But now, it’s four or five of us trying to get out as many as 30-plus orders a night,” Countryman says of the company’s growth so far.
Altman agrees and admits, “We’ve cooked a lot of cookies by now, and we’ve burned a lot of cookies and learned a lot along the way.”
What began as simple, family recipes eventually evolved into their current menu featuring seasonal and rotating cookie specials. Choices include: spiced snickerdoodle, classic chocolate chip, sugar and peanut butter, or the chocolate crinkle, a brownie-like cookie dusted with powder sugar. Still, the guys find time to bake their seasonal additions like their Thanksgiving-inspired cranberry thumbprint, a shortbread cookie with cranberry jelly center; or pumpkin spice cookie with cream cheese middle.
Other rotating specials Cookies and Milk offers its customers: An Oreo cheesecake cookie with its cheesecake-like dough rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs; and the Fruity Pebbles cookie, cake-like with Fruity Pebbles cereal baked right inside. Altman says it’s comparable to Funfetti cake.
Cookies and Milk operates out of a cozy, commercial bakery called Sugar and Spice located in the downtown area. The kitchen contains long, wooden and stainless steel prep tables, a large oven and endless stacks of cookie sheets, muffin tins, piles of mixing bowls and dozens of whisks, ladles and large spoons for any baker’s creative desires.
The space is cute. Paper tissue ornaments hang from the ceiling and accent a pastel yellow wall with metallic silver swirls comparable to icing on a frosted cake. Pink and white polka-dot curtains shield the outside hustle and bustle of downtown, while inside the aroma of fresh-baked goodies wafts from the oven as it hums quietly.
On any given Tuesday or Wednesday (or dough day), Altman and Countryman are found here, mixing and rolling cookie dough in preparation for the weekend. On this particular Wednesday, Altman, wearing a pair of plastic gloves, presses chocolate cookies into balls and rolls them in a bowl of powdered sugar before the tray is placed into the hot oven.
“The cookies are delivered warm. They come hot and fresh to your door with cold milk. Some people are surprised,” Countryman says. “Baking is definitely a science as much as a cooking skill.”
His advice for the novice baker with less than 30,000 cookies under his or her belt: “Wets before dries and cream your butter and sugar before you throw in your eggs.”
As Altman first described, “Everyone likes a cookie,” and over the last two years in business, Cookies and Milk has delivered sweet treats to the doors of a wide spectrum of regulars.
“Our demographic is across the board. We get a lot of the late-night crowd like stoners, people that are coming back from the bars [and] a lot of college students,” Altman describes. “But, we also get families, couples, [and] we’ve delivered to little kids’ sleepovers. Fresh-baked cookies really appeal to anyone and everyone.”
The two friends and business partners plan to expand their cookie delivery business within the next year with visions of a retail space with late-night walk-in orders and expanding the Cookies and Milk delivery hours, which currently operate on a Thursday through Saturday basis.
With the holidays quickly approaching, Altman and Countryman say they’ll also be looking more toward office delivery and expanded hours.
“This is definitely a labor of love for us and something we have a lot of fun with,” Altman says. “Sometimes, we even deliver in a Cookies and Milk costume. If it’s not fun, we won’t do it.”
We’re not sure why you’re still reading this: Dude, cookies and milk you don’t even have to leave the house for! They bring it right to you! What are you waiting for? … OH YEAH! You need the number. Cookies & Milk’s hours of operation are Thursday through Saturday, 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Check out their delivery area map and place your order at Cookiesnmilkdelivery.com or call (916) 539-3205.
Coriander Vietnamese Restaurant
1899 Alhambra Boulevard • Sacramento
When an insatiable craving for Vietnamese cuisine strikes, many turn to Stockton Boulevard with its dozens of restaurants serving hearty bowls of pho, savory spring rolls and enough bánh mì to fill the bellies of any hungry customer with a taste for Southeast Asian flavors. Now, those who seek to broaden their palates with traditional herbs and spices should look no further than Midtown for their next fix of bánh bèo.
Coriander Vietnamese Restaurant (1899 Alhambra Boulevard) opened its doors across from the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op in April with a simple mission: to introduce customary Vietnamese flavors to the state Capital. The eatery’s simple, one-page fixed menu focuses on a handful of familiar dishes in addition to its homemade touches like its noodles, which are prepared fresh daily.
Still, with a selection of restaurants serving up Vietnamese staples like beef or chicken pho, or any variation of spring rolls packaged in clear, chewy rice paper, co-owner of Coriander Kristi Ng felt a variety of Sacramento eateries lacked fresh ingredients, overall cleanliness and the true flavor profiles her culture embodies.
“Ninety percent of the dishes on the menu were made within our family. My favorite is the Bún bò Hu, which is the spicy beef noodle soup,” Ng says. “Hue is the city in central Vietnam, that’s where we’re from. It’s got a spicier flavor to it than other dishes. It’s packed with lemongrass flavor, which is very healthy, ginger and a bunch of herbs and dry and fresh spices.”
Ng co-owns Coriander with her husband Kevin. She wanted to open the restaurant in honor of her cultural heritage, but more so to pay homage to her mother Gai, who passed away 11 years ago. An 80-inch oil painting Ng custom-ordered from Vietnam hangs near the back of the restaurant. The image shows her mother on a beach, watching over customers who dine within her daughter’s eatery.
“To be honest, growing up I didn’t appreciate the food she made for us. As a kid, you tend to take it for granted,” Ng admits. “As I grew older and went to college, I missed my mom’s food. Through the years of traveling and trying to find my culture and identity I really wanted to do something to pay tribute to my culture and the food growing up.”
FLAVORS OF VIETNAM
Whether in a spoonful of spicy broth or the textures of thinly sliced meats, Vietnamese dishes are peppered with essential herbs, spices and often times, roots. Ng shares the key components found in many dishes on Coriander’s menu.
“Lemongrass, ginger [and] we also use a lot of coriander,” she happily explains. Ng adds that the spice found in many entrées is credited to Thai chilies and habanero peppers. She often grows Vietnamese dragon peppers at home and uses them in personal meals, but says they’re not only seasonal, but highly spicy and not for customers with a sensitivity to heat. Looking for a palatable kick to clear the sinuses? Ng recommends the coriander fried rice: wok-fried jasmine rice, sausage, bacon, spam, seasonal veggies, garlic and habanero; priced at $8.50.
Coriander’s menu features a variety of meat-friendly dishes, but the cooks haven’t forgotten about Midtown’s vegans and vegetarians. Leaf eaters, look to the jackfruit lotus vegetarian salad found in the appetizers section: fried tofu slices, young jackfruit, lotus roots, banana blossom, onions and fresh herbs tossed in a tamarind sauce topped with peanuts; priced at $7.50. This colorful dish, earthy in flavor, is served between two wavy rice crackers speckled with black sesame seeds. Break off a piece of cracker and use it as the vessel to give this savory salad a try.
“With the ripe jack fruit, we would eat or would make smoothies out of it. The young jackfruit, in our culture, we do a lot of salads or stir-fries. With banana blossoms or lotus roots, too we do a lot of salads. Our salads are different from American salads, where you have a bunch of greens and a dressing,” Ng explains.
Another unique item on Coriander’s home-inspired menu is its chrysanthemum-jasmine iced tea, only $2.50. The floral beverage is refreshing and perfect for cooling off the palate between bites.
“I grew up drinking a lot of oolong tea as a family. So, I combined a little bit of ginger with jasmine and chrysanthemum flowers for this tea and my kids, love it,” Ng says.
HANDMADE SECRETS
Besides Ng, there are only two people at Coriander who know the recipe to the handmade noodles featured in the restaurant’s seafood banh canh: Ng’s husband Kevin and aunt Linh Nguyen, her mother’s youngest sister.
Soft handmade noodles, fresh crab, shrimp and fish cake culminate in a hearty seafood broth priced at $11.50. The peppery broth wraps the body in a warm, savory blanket and is topped with a bright-green hill of fresh coriander. The noodles, chewy in texture, radiate with the flavors of each seafood component.
“The noodles are a combination of rice and tapioca flour. In central Vietnam, tapioca flour is more commonly used. It’s more like a gummy bear texture, so it’s chewier,” Ng explains. “If I were to make that dish at home, it would be a lot chewier in texture, but because of the area we’re at in Midtown, we made it a little bit softer with half tapioca and half rice flour. At home, we would use 60 to 70 percent tapioca flour.”
GUILT-FREE EATING
In other cuisines, it’s easy to pack on the calories with fried options dipped with sweet sauces, or even fill up on carbs and starches only to leave the tummy in hunger pangs an hour later. With Vietnamese fare, Ng says it’s a well-balanced meal and a more health-conscious choice that incorporates the right amount of carbs, meats and vegetables.
“We pride ourselves with the ingredients we use and the way we cook them,” Ng says of Coriander’s menu. “There’s a lot of love that goes into each dish and it pretty much speaks to the basics of Vietnamese food. When you put it all together it’s just very healthy, yet very savory and delicious. It’s actually a pleasure and you feel good eating it because it’s light. That’s the key to Vietnamese food.”
Rich with history dating back to the 1870s, Old Ironsides, an old-time bar and venue on the corner of 10th and S streets (the location was originally home to a grocery story owned by the Thomas P. Ryan family) celebrates 80 years of business throughout the month of September. Submerge dives into the pages of Old I’s catalogue with help from the Kanelos family, current operators of the business, in addition to longtime employees, musicians and comedians to bring our readers a collection of memories spanning over eight decades.
1934
Prohibition who?
When Old Ironsides first opened its doors in 1934, it was just a bar. Erase the additional room, stage and restrooms from memory and instead, imagine an ordinary wall. What’s left is a small space that inhabits the corner of 10th and S streets that specialized in cold beers and simple cocktails. Still, Old I sailed through a variety of eras and faced its fleet of challenges, only to remain the unsinkable warship after which it’s named.
As the first business in the Sacramento Area to obtain a liquor license after Prohibition, thanks to proprietor William “Bill” Bordisso, this little bar has its trove of tales.
Bill and Lou, brothers, operated the bar with their wives Lena and Sunny during this time.
“When my dad first opened, some of the [neighborhood] ladies would come over with an empty bucket for beer. They would always say it was for their husbands for when they came home, but the thought was that the beer was probably for her because she’d be here in the afternoon for that bucket of beer,” laughs Billee Jean Kanelos, daughter of Bill and Lena.
1949
Game on
In the 1940s, Old Ironsides rode the tides into a new era with a fresh art deco aesthetic. Billee Jean’s father remodeled the bar and put in smooth, cushioned booths paired with knee-high, cylinder-shaped tables each with individual mood lighting.
This period of time also marked the grand opening of the bar’s bottle shop and game room, operated by wives Lena and Sunny. The shop was located in the back where the restrooms are today, and sold, well, bottles of booze to politicians, business owners, lobbyists and regulars alike. It thrived until the alcohol industry boomed with bulk sales in grocery stores and warehouse settings.
The game room, with its cozy fireplace and piano, also housed shuffleboard, pinball and claw machines that were ever popular during
the evening hours and also helped keep business sound.
“There used to be back in that time, a bar on every corner from 10th Street all the way as far as you can see,” describes Billee Jean. “There would be a bar on every corner. So, the different bars would challenge each other to shuffleboard tournaments in the ’40s and ’50s.”
1960–1970
Liquid lunch
Billee Jean and her husband, Sam Kanelos, joined the family business during the ’60s and at the height of cocktail hour, which many of their regular customers indulged in morning, noon and especially after a long day’s work.
With drinks so reasonably priced back in this decade, the term “happy hour” was nonexistent. Whether it was 50 cents for a bourbon and water, or a few more quarters for the popular lunch cocktail (martini), Old I’s bar was never empty.
“In those days, there were a lot of businesses owned by families. So, in the morning at 6 a.m. this bar would be full and they’d be drinking coffee with brandy, beer with a shot, or whatever before they went to work. Twelve o’clock, they were back for lunch for martinis, 5 o’clock they were back until they went home,” explains Billee Jean.
She goes on to describe modern day lunches, usually paired with diet and regular sodas or iced teas. But, she says, in the ’60s and into the ’70s, “it was always liquor and beer when they came in for lunch.”
“We used to have a long, acrylic trough filled with ice with these little carafe glasses,” she describes. “[The bartenders] lined it up with martinis because they couldn’t make them fast enough when the people came into lunch and, not just one martini, but at least two and many times, three.”
1984
Fifty years strong
By this time, Old Ironsides had been open for 50 years. The bottle shop was still around, although sales suffered with the changing of times, and the kitchen still served hot lunches, such as spaghetti and meatballs or short ribs, to hungry patrons.
“It’s wonderful to believe it actually happened. You have to look back and say, ‘How did we do it?’” asks Billee Jean. “We went through periods where the lunches went down, so we had to make changes, the bottle shop business went down, and thank God through these years we made the right changes.”
The family has worked together in the kitchen, bottle shop and bar throughout the years to ensure the business’s continued success, but both Billee Jean and daughter, Kim Kanelos, also credit having long-term employees that aided in keeping Old Ironsides above water.
Like Art Rodriguez, who’s been with Old I for 30 years. He started in the bottle shop while he was attending Sacramento State University on a scholarship. In the ’80s, the family hired students who needed to make a few extra bucks through the college’s athletics program and these student employees would work the bottle shop during the evenings.
Rodriguez started in this fashion and when he turned 21, Old Ironsides just so happened to need a bartender. So, Billie Jean’s husband, Sam, trained him—and he’s been pouring shots and beers ever since.
“The Kanelos family has been great. They’ve been like my second parents. If I needed anything I would turn to them and they’ve been there for me,” says Rodriguez. “I think business is looking great especially with Mark Gonzalez doing the bookings now. I think we will be here for 100 years. Maybe I won’t be working, but I’ll be there.”
1990
Live entertainment boards the ship
Before dance club nights like Lipstick, or decibels of live music were prominent on 10th and S streets, Old Ironsides used to close at 11 p.m. It wasn’t until Grant Hudson and Danny O’Grady asked Kim if they could run a DJ night called the Voodoo Hut on Friday evenings that the bar received its second wind in the form of live entertainment. From there, Tuesday nights welcomed local bands that performed on the floor in front of the venue’s fireplace and Wednesday evenings belonged to the Moe Better Mann Show. Orchestrated by local comedian Moe Better Mann, the underground talk show hosted psychics, musical guests and performed skits comparable to Saturday Night Live every week from 1991 to 2002.
Kim and her sister Marla Kanelos, both heavily involved in the local music scene, started regularly booking bands at the venue during this time, which received another remodel with the close of the bottle shop in 1992 and the demolition of the fireplace to make way for a stage. With its new platform to entertain crowds, bands like Pavement, Cake, Death Cab For Cutie, Sublime, Oleander and more have all spent time at Old I.
2014
Here’s to another 20 years
When asked about the future of Old Ironsides and a possible 100-year birthday bash, both Billee Jean and Kim admit the family has never looked that far ahead. Instead, they choose to live in the present and roll with change.
“We’ve all been really lucky for this to have been our careers, you really don’t realize it at the time,” says Kim. “I remember waitressing here to cooking in the kitchen and I love being in the creative stages of things and it has afforded me to be able to do that.”
Throughout the entire month of September, Old Ironsides celebrates 80 years as a business with live music provided by Jem and Scout, Tattooed Love Dogs, The Brodys, Ancient Sons and more. The venue also welcomes the return of the Moe Better Mann Show on Thursday, Sept. 25, with Karaoke King Tom Nakagawa, magical accordion player Steve Stizzo and musical guests The Trouble Makers.
Still, for long-time musicians like Tim Foster of The Trouble Makers, the venue will always hold not only first-time performance memories, but he says Old Ironsides felt like home as soon as he stepped inside.
“I’m really excited that it’s still there. There have been so many venues that have been lost throughout the years. It’s really hard to run a club and keep that energy of live music,” says Foster. “The city is not particularly friendly to live music and Kim and the rest of the Kanelos family have kept that going through a lot of challenges. On the 80th anniversary, I want people to not take this for granted. It’s a great resource and it’s a good time to be reminded of that.”
Drop by anytime to wish Old I (1901 10th Street, Sacramento) a happy big 8-0. While you’re at it, thank them for their years of loyal service to the local music scene. To peruse a full calendar of events, go to Theoldironsides.com.
**This piece first appeared in print on pages 22 – 23 of issue #171 (Sept. 22 – Oct. 6, 2014)**
Raw and unfettered, Crude Studs gets it all out
Sometimes, a story is just simple.
As far as Crude Studs are concerned, the four-piece punk band formed organically, inspired by a local music scene that thrives on a do-it-yourself mentality. They gravitate more toward basement or house shows that provide a subcultural safe haven stitched together by one common thread: music as therapy.
Guitarist Bobby Khan met vocalist Sophia Flores through this very happenstance. The two regularly attended similar musical events that danced along the lines of punk, thrash and fast-paced rock ‘n’ roll. Khan eventually introduced her to his band the Sex Killers, a two-piece group that also included drummer JB Thomas.
“I thought he was a creep when I first met him,” laughs Flores, as she recalls how Crude Studs first came together. “I thought here’s this guy with, ‘Hey, wanna be in my band?’ He and JB were an automatic, really comfortable fit for me and still are. We all get along really easily and have fun. It’s like family. We’ve only got mad at each other like once and it was, surprise-surprise, 110-degree weather in the attic we practice in.”
The three started collaborating in early 2012 and by summer, Nich Lujan joined in on bass guitar and the band became Crude Studs. The group’s first performance was at Casa de Chaos, a volunteer-run word-of-mouth venue located in the Midtown area, and a place where all four members feel at home.
“I’ve always wanted to be in a band with a female vocalist. Most of the bands I like have female singers, like I have a Siouxsie Sioux tattoo,” says Khan as he points to his forearm. “I just thought it would be cool to have a different outlet. We weren’t necessarily looking for that, but I’m glad that it happened.”
Crude Studs’ music is twitchy, angry, quick-and-dirty punk rock. Sure, there’s thrash and other influences present, but to keep descriptions simple, Khan says he enjoys the hit-and-run aspect and raw honesty their lyrics provide audiences.
“It’s not macho. You don’t have to have specifically really good equipment to play it,” describes Khan. “You get together and write this raw music. It’s very quick. A lot of the early songs I was writing were basically about being broke, on drugs and an alcoholic. Honestly, that’s what it was about. But, she got in the band and started writing things from her perspective.”
Flores says her lyrics directly reflect her experiences in the workforce. Whether it was a heavy hand in construction, cleaning dirty houses or even the air-conditioned environment of an office, many of these situations inspired the words captured in the song, “Padded Walls,” featured on their self-titled 7-inch.
“It’s about feeling trapped inside of an office with florescent lights and feeling like you’re going to die there. A lot of my anxieties personally revolve around work and the value of labor and how it’s highly undervalued in our society,” says Flores. “In that song, I feel like I’m a caged animal inside of that type of office building and also, I feel like a traitor to my roots as a cleaning lady as a Mexican woman, [and] knowing there’s still plenty of people out there doing really hard jobs that don’t get paid nearly as much as somebody who just sits around and does lunch all fucking day.”
Crude Studs also draw influence from a variety of musicians that includes everyone from anarcho-punk Nick Blinko of Rudimentary Peni to Queen’s Freddie Mercury. The band also lists groups like Zero Boys, Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest as favorites, and even what Flores calls the more embarrassing, childhood memories of Sammy Hagar, which she credits to her mother.
“Nick Blinko is probably the biggest punk singer that really made me want to even help a band come out with that kind of catharsis and that kind of additional sound,” she says. “I don’t really think of it as being a front person. I think of it as another instrument that plays off of what everybody else is doing sound-wise. A lot of times the words don’t come through anyway in this type of music. So, I think it’s more important to have a distinctive style and cadence.”
Flores admittedly uses her time in Crude Studs to “exorcize some demons” and to express herself through song. She takes full advantage of her space, filling the room at live performances with her boisterous stage personality and bending and manipulating her vocals to fit the loud and sludgy moments provided by Khan, Thomas and Lujan.
“I use it as cheap therapy. It’s really rare as adults that we get to scream our heads off whenever we want to, especially in public spaces and especially as a woman.You’re expected to be quiet or you’re crazy. That’s kind of the only options that you have if you do express yourself in a forceful way,” says Flores.
Crude Studs openly credit longtime bands in the Sacramento punk community like RAD and Rat Damage with helping them first gain access to shows. In a scene predominantly male-fronted, Flores says she truly enjoys when young women approach her after shows and express interest in Crude Studs’ music.
“It’s really cool to talk to young women, especially after playing and being able to tell them that I’m not doing anything special. You need to go start a band. Right now, go home, start writing stuff, get your friends together and just do it.”
Khan agrees.
I love punk rock, but I look at it as a style of doing things and like a D.I.Y-culture,” he says. “If punk is all those macho bands with the right tattoos, I have nothing in common with that. I don’t even know what that is. If that’s punk, then I don’t care about punk. But as far as the mentality of doing things yourself, that’s what I love about punk.”
See Crude Studs rock the Blue Lamp (1400 Alhambra Boulevard) on Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, with Decry, MDSO and S.W.I.M.; 8 p.m., $10, 21 and over. Facebook.com/crudestuds.
Sun & Soil Juice Company
1912 P Street • Sacramento
Brought together by a common love for blown glass, metal sculptures and film, friends turned business partners Molly Brown and Tatiana Kaiser discovered yet another area to bond over: health as a lifestyle, not a trend.
The two women opened the Sun and Soil Juice Company in early June with only six part-time employees and a colorful menu of raw and organic juice and smoothie choices to offer Midtown Sacramento. In just one month, the Sun and Soil staff doubled and the demand for healthy and creative liquid nourishment is apparent in the company’s daily glass bottle returns, hundreds of pounds in weekly pulp weight, and its growing number of regular customers.
“We had 75 bottles returned yesterday,” says Brown with a smile. “People are on board for recycling, reusing and cutting down on waste, which is good.”
Sun and Soil operates as a zero-waste business. For every glass bottle returned, customers receive either $2 cash or two bucks off their next visit. Brown, Kaiser and their staff also use a limited number of plastic products, recycle all cardboard and even built a relationship with ReSoil Sacramento, a company that distributes Sun and Soil pulp to community gardens.
Despite diet trends like the Paleo “caveman” challenge, the Atkins “no-to-low-carb” regimen, or even something called the “Beyoncé cleanse” with its strict conditions of cayenne, honey and water (seriously) recipe, Brown and Kaiser simply aim to provide customers with choices, rather than restrictions.
“Health is not a fad. It’s your health,” says Kaiser. “Everybody is dealing with different situations all the time. You should do your own diet, as in the food that you eat, and listen to your body.”
For Kaiser, organic juice is an essential part of her daily diet because it directly improved her overall health and quality of life. She lives with colitis, a digestive disease that makes it difficult to eat a variety of solid foods and absorb essential nutrients. Brown, with her longtime taste for raw and organic sustenance, met her new friend and future business partner in a glass-blowing class. It wasn’t long before she gifted Kaiser a juicer and the seed was planted.
“At first, I was just making green sludge,” jokes Kaiser. “It was just to get nutrients down. With colitis, it makes it almost impossible to eat anything or even digest it because it’s incredibly painful. Juicing really helped.”
In 2012, she found this liquid daily routine helped her condition tremendously. She not only started to feel better and heal, but at the time of the interview, was slowly weaning herself off of Prednisone.
For customers interested in giving their own digestive systems a little breather, Sun and Soil offers a juice cleanse. Still, Brown and Kaiser encourage each customer to decide what their body craves, whether it be juice, smoothie or a one-day cleanse.
“We didn’t want to start out with a cleanse because it did become a fad, but that’s not what it’s about for us,” explains Kaiser. “It gives your digestive system a break because we understand it’s not always convenient to eat healthy.”
Sun and Soil offers its customers organic, cold-pressed, raw fruits and veggies blended, spiced and sweetened naturally without processed sugars. The store is located a few doors down from the corner dive bar, Zebra Club (an almost satirical comparison), but once inside, it’s easy to forget. High ceilings, lively succulents and earthy colors decorate the space. A low volume of music paired with a steady rhythm of blenders gives the room its café-like vibe. Customers order at the counter, where a chunky, antique register painted gold conceals a much more modern system.
A glass case displays dozens of multicolored bottles that read, “pure, organic, love” in white. Each container holds a variety of juice recipes that naturally emit light shades of yellow, pink and green. Recommended from the menu by Brown, The Iron Giant is a $7 smoothie blended with spinach, almond milk, banana, mango, almond butter, honey, cinnamon and ice. Its green color, sweet taste and creamy texture, not to mention protein content from the almond milk, make this a great breakfast choice.
Beet Lemonade, a 16-ounce juice fusion priced at $8, includes apple, beet, filtered water and lemon. Deep purple in color with a bold beet flavor, this drink is immediately tempered by the tart lemon notes and provides a full-bodied mouthful.
Both the recipes and drink titles reflect Brown and Kaiser’s personalities and interests. For example, Kaiser’s background in film and animation inspired The Royal Turmeric Bomb and V for Vanilla.
“Molly loves spice, and I love tangy and tart,” says Kaiser. Brown agrees.
“We thrive in creating all the new flavors,” says Brown. “We’re trying to take ingredients that have health benefits so people don’t mind drinking a cinnamon, spinach and honey-flavored drink.”
It all begins with the ingredients. Brown and Kaiser buy seasonal, organic fruits and veggies from local companies like Full Belly, Watanabe and Riverdog farms. They then use the cold-press method to juice the produce and also hydraulically press its pulp to gain up to 30 percent more juice. Zero waste.
“The cold-press method is awesome because it uses a slower rpm blade. So, it doesn’t heat up the produce as much as a regular juicer would,” explains Kaiser. “It also reduces oxidation, which means you retain more of the nutrients in the process. That allows us to be able to bottle [the juice] for three to five days.”
Sun and Soil also provides its customers with access to the store’s “Ingredient Profile” that conveniently sits at the juice bar, which lists the reasons and health benefits behind each fruit, vegetable and spice blended into a juice or smoothie combination.
“We just want to help people feel good, and show that it’s not unattainable. It’s not a crazy, drastic process,” says Kaiser. “We’re not a program. We’re just a different option for your daily routine. Just know we’ll be here for you.”
Sun & Soil is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday—Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and Monday. For more info, visit Sunandsoiljuice.com or call 916-341-0327.
