Localis

Localis?  What the hell is that?  How do you even pronounce that?  I was on Yelp one day and was about to start writing more reviews on places I’ve visited and Localis popped up on the main page.  I saw a picture of a beautiful looking octopus dish and had to click on it.  You see, when octopus is cooked correctly, it tastes amazing.  If overcooked, it can become rubbery and disgusting.  I know I have been reviewing a lot of restaurants that are not located locally here in Sacramento and you’re probably thinking, thanks, but I have kids which makes traveling a little more difficult, how will I ever check this place out if it’s not in Sacramento?  Well, surprise, Localis is located in Sacramento and it is a restaurant that is well worth visiting!

Localis is located at 2031 S Street, Sacramento, CA 95811 to be exact.  Making reservations is easy.  I just used my OpenTable app on my phone and with a couple taps, the reservation was made.

Upon arriving to the actual restaurant, there is no actual parking lot.  There is only street parking and with our luck, we were able to park literally just across the street from Localis.  There was a chalkboard sign outside the restaurant saying, “Trust Us To Feed You Well.”  Challenge accepted.  We will see about that.  I am a fatty on the inside.

When the bf and I stepped foot inside the restaurant, we were immediately greeted by a man behind the kitchen counter.  He asked if we had reservations and when we responded, “Yes,” he immediately found someone to help us.  At this time, I had no idea who this gentleman was until we were seated.  I soon found out that this young man was actually Chris Barnum, the executive chef of Localis.

The inside of the restaurant is small.  It was dimly lit with candles all over the place as well as on the tables and had a romantic atmosphere to it.  There is an open kitchen, kitchen counter, and a separate room with dining tables.

For our first time being here, we were seated in a cool spot and that was the kitchen counter.  The kitchen counter not only allowed us to watch the chefs cook in the open kitchen, but it also allowed us to personally be served immediately when the dishes were done and by the chef himself. It was like having your own personal chef.  It is also nice seeing how your food is prepared and how fresh everything is.  Lined along the top of the kitchen counter are fresh herb plants still in their pots/jars that the chefs use to garnish the dishes.  Yep, you can’t get any fresher than that!

 

 

 

 

Localis does offer a 3 course or a 5 course Chef’s Tasting Menu with wine pairing for an additional cost.  They also have items on the menu that you can order separately in case you don’t want to do the whole Chef’s Tasting Menu.  The dishes range from $10-$32.  As for the Chef’s Tasting Menu, the 3-course meal is $47 and the 5 course is $77.  The wine pairing is $40.  When I go to a restaurant that has a chef’s tasting menu, usually I will almost always go with the chef’s tasting menu.  You see, why go to a restaurant and just be able to sample one dish?  How boring.  Why not sample all the varieties and dishes that the chefs are capable of making?  Not only is it fun, but you will be exposed to “exotic” ingredients as well as surprised with the unique dishes that are created right in front of you.  The reason why I put exotic in quotes is because I grew up eating foods from all parts of animals and seafood so it’s kind of hard for me to be grossed out by certain ingredients.  If you get squeamish over ingredients that you’ve never heard of or tried before, then definitely stay far away from the Tasting Menus until your palate has matured a bit and you’ve become a little more open minded.  Just kidding.  Kind of.  🙂

We ordered the 5 course Chef’s Tasting Menu as well as the Fire Roasted Octopus.  Localis is known for the Fire Roasted Octopus and that is not a part of either tasting menus so we had to order it on the side.

The first item that was served came on a piece of wooden block and we were told by Chef Chris that it was deep fried squash on the bottom with a quail egg on the top, covered compound butter & miso, and topped off with duck egg shavings.  Huh?  Say that again?  We were too busy eyeing the dish that we had to ask our waiter what that was again after we had devoured it like we hadn’t had food in days.  Who would’ve know that squash could taste so good?

 

 

The next dish was all about carrots.  It was basically carrots prepared in different ways.  I don’t know what was in that carrot puree, but that was delicious!  I could totally go for a whole bowl.

 

 

I know I am going to sound like the worse blogger ever, but the next course that was served… well I’m not even sure what that was, but it was damn good.  It was seared fish, with seasoned caviar, green puree of some sort, and what appears to be scallions, and a flower blossom.  All I could think of while eating it was whether or not the flower blossom was edible.

 

 

 

Chef Chris decided to serve us the Fire Roasted Octopus that came with Nantes carrot, oranges, and piquillo pepper pearls next.

 

 

 

The octopus had so much flavor and surprisingly all the flavors went very well together.  The octopus was cooked to perfection.  You technically didn’t need a knife to cut it because it was so tender that it melted like butter.  I would have to say that this is probably my second top octopus dish I’ve had.  The first one would be at Sage located inside Aria in Las Vegas, NV.  The dish was so good that I was looking for the rest of the octopus.

The next course consisted of a mash, with house made chorizo, a blackened prawn on the top, as well as yellow puree.  Chef Chris explained that since he is part Spanish, he decided to make chorizo to go along with this dish.  Boy, am I glad that he did!  It was probably one of the best chorizos I’ve had.  The prawn had a kick to it as well with the spices.  Overall, the chorizo was hands down the winner of that dish.

 

 

 

The next course consisted of slices of beef tongue, hollandaise sauce, veggies, and a piece of rye cracker.  This is supposed to be Chef Chris’ version of a hot pastrami sandwich.

 

 

 

All I have to say was that the beef tongue was so tender and flavorful that I felt as though the portion was too small and I wanted more to make a sandwich out of it.  The hollandaise sauce was just as amazing.  I had no shame, I took my butter knife and scraped the plate clean.

Next, we were served a sorbet that acted as a palate cleanser before we moved onto the dessert portion of the course.  The sorbet tasted like it had a mixture of citrus and lemon grass.  It had a unique, but pleasant taste.

 

 

Before the dessert was served, Chef Chris came by and asked if we wanted to try two different desserts instead of each one of us receiving the same dessert.  Um…  hell yeah!  He then brought out a carrot dessert that contained a carrot sorbet in the middle, and two creamy sides (one was cream cheese), and what tasted like carrot crumb cake as the base.  I’m not a fan of sweets or desserts, but that was probably the best carrot dessert I’ve had ever.  The cream cheese was very tart and had the right amount of sweetness.

 

 

The other dessert was made out of fritters, chocolate, caramel ice cream, shavings of nuts, and coffee.  Again, coming from someone who doesn’t like sweets, this dessert was amazing.  I wanted more!  I apologize ahead of time if I am completely off when it comes to the ingredients.  Everything was a blur, I am simply going off of what my taste buds told me at the time.  🙂

 

 

The last treat that we were served was a cube of strawberry and thin chocolate bark.  This was probably my least favorite dish out of the whole night.  I didn’t think it was sophisticated nor creative.  It simply tasted like strawberry jam with a whole bunch of preservatives in the shape of a cube and served on a wooden board.

 

I have to say that the service started off a little slow in the beginning when we were first seated and waiting for our food to come.  After the food started coming, I blame it on us inhaling the food and finishing everything in seconds and the kitchen just couldn’t keep up with us.  Even the waiter said that every time he came back, our plates were empty.  I mean, like, licked clean.  Hey, the food was seriously that good!  The chefs were very friendly and interacted with the customers.  Chef Chris was great at cooking, entertaining the customers, and greeting new customers all at once.  He was very personable and approachable.  He said that he loves food and refuses to be one of those restaurants that only serves people who dress up and come in to dine.  He said he doesn’t care.  All are welcome.  You can wear jeans and flip flops and he will still serve you some amazing upscale food.

For the food and quality you are receiving, I feel that Localis is fairly priced and very affordable.  The restaurant reminds of a more casual version of the Kitchen with the open kitchen concept as well as the kitchen counter.  The prices are way more affordable than the kitchen though.  I highly recommend checking this place out!