I have mentioned before in my review on Guy Savoy that there are no restaurants in Sacramento, California that have been awarded any Michelin stars. I was surprised with a birthday outing/celebration last year on Halloween at a restaurant called The Kitchen. I’ve wanted to check the place out for a while, but it’s even better when it is a surprise! The Kitchen is owned by Chef Randall Selland and his family. This restaurant really focuses on the “Farm-to-Fork” concept which is awesome! California has so much to offer and sometimes I think we are so used to having things at our fingertips that we tend to forget how lucky and fortunate we are to have our foods be fresh!
I did not actually make reservations at this restaurant since I have mentioned above that it was a surprise birthday outing for me, but I am sure it is pretty easy. The telephone number to call them is on their website. I’m sure you can also make reservations using the app Open Table which is what I use when making reservations for most restaurants. This restaurant will require that you put down a deposit as well just because they only do dinner service at 1900 a night and that’s it. What?!? What kind of business runs on just one dinner service you may ask yourself. Have patience, young grasshopper. You will understand once I tell you all about the wonderful experience of dining at The Kitchen. 🙂 In addition, I think if you make reservations to a restaurant and you don’t show up, there should be consequences on your side. It’s only fair. They’re trying to run a business here. The Kitchen only seats a small number of customers. I’d say about 50 or even less so if you flake, that’s an empty seat that could have gone to someone else. If they’re losing money because of you, then you should lose your money.
On Halloween night of 2014, I had just gotten back to Sacramento from the Giants parade in San Francisco, Ca. I mean, who can miss that?!? The Giants won the World Series again and there was no way I was going to miss the parade. The Boo and I weren’t sure if we were going to make it to The Kitchen on time at 1900 so we called the restaurant and told them that we might be running a little late. They were very accommodating and understanding.
We had the address to the restaurant, but have never actually been to the restaurant before so we were driving around thinking, where is this place? The Kitchen is literally hidden behind a Taco Bell. You will not see the front of the restaurant on the main road. You will need Siri’s help for this one even though at times, I don’t trust her directions. In fact, I don’t recall seeing a huge lit sign in front of the restaurant with the name. I just remember thinking, this looks like a scary dark abandoned business building. We had to get out of the car and walk up to the door to make sure we were at the right place. The parking lot to this place is tiny! I’d say you can only park about 15 cars or so and it is not very well lit.
The Kitchen opened up right at 1900. We were not late and were immediately greeted at the door and seated. The interior was nothing like the outside. I also noticed that the guy who greeted us at the door looked at his watch, immediately locked the front door and closed the curtains. I thought that was pretty cool. It was almost like we were in our own world for that moment. If you were late, you were locked out and could not interrupt the dinner service. The inside had a couple of tall tables, a wine section, and a bar area. It was tastefully decorated and had a romantic vibe to it. Randall Selland himself and his chefs started making rounds and personally introduced themselves to us at our tables. They were very personable and made small talk. I was impressed that they remembered all of our names too! What the hell?!? Like I said, they were very accommodating and would ask if we were allergic to anything or had any dietary restrictions. I’m a pig so hell no I don’t have any dietary restrictions.
We were then given our Playbill/Menu which listed what we were having for that night. For those who have never been to this restaurant before, the menu and the foods that are served here change pretty often depending on the season and what is available to cook with. If you’re curious as to what is being served the night of, I say give them a call or check their website out. The menu is also prix fixe so you pay a single price for multiple courses. Of course there are additional costs depending on what kind of a diner you are. If you’re a wine drinker, that’s an additional charge. They also have a sommelier who comes around the tables providing their knowledge of what wines go best with the courses. Can you imagine being a sommelier by profession? That’s almost like you’re being paid to drink every night at work. The sommelier also provided us with wine samples so that he could help choose the wine that we enjoyed the most. Plus, providing samples is probably the best and easiest way to sell something, right?
This dinner service literally was like a cooking show and fine dining all rolled into one. Even the playbill showed us exactly what would be happening that night.
The layout of the place is pretty much an open kitchen with the bar seats around the kitchen. You can see the chefs cooking and working hard while preparing your meals right in front of you. Even the back of the kitchen is open. You are encouraged to go back there and look around and sample whatever you’d like! Moreover, Chef Randall told us that if we wanted any seconds of any of the courses to let them know and they will bring out a second helping. WTF?!? He literally said that his kitchen was our kitchen too and that we were his guests just like any family get togethers. Whatever you want, just ask.
Act I:
The chefs came out and introduced themselves to the whole crowd and explained to us what we were having that night. The whole kitchen was led by Chef David. Chef David was very thorough with how each dish was prepared and where the ingredients came from! The majority of the ingredients are obviously fresh and local hence the “Farm-To-Fork” concept.
I also must mention that this restaurant does not have waiters/servers. All the dishes are brought to you personally by the chefs themselves right after plating so you know you are getting something that is fresh and hot! Like I said, you can see the chefs preparing and plating your food right in front of you. If you’re a cook or enjoy watching cooking shows, this is a delight!
Act II:
Early fall squash bisque which had smoked ham hocks, fresh pear, and crispy chickpeas.
Soooo good! Yummy! I was looking forward to the next courses after this! 🙂
Act III:
Liberty farms duck cassoulet with swiss chard, rancho gordo beans, ‘grape nuts’ and sauce beaujolais. Chef David explained where the duck came from and how it was prepared. He said that every part of the duck was used and nothing went to waste.
Usually I am not a big fan of duck because of the texture. However, this duck was amazing! I was really contemplating on asking for seconds! 🙂
Taking pictures with your phone is okay at The Kitchen, but just don’t be rude and text while the chefs are talking. Chef Randall straight up had to call this young lady out who was sitting at the front and texting away as he was talking. Chef Randall is very blunt and outspoken. He will go all political on you and he’s not afraid to let you know what he thinks so please don’t be dumb and text while the chefs are talking at the front.
Intermission:
We were encouraged to walk around and check out the garden patio, relax by the fire, and sample food at the chef stations.
While on break, we overheard this woman a table over complaining about the food. She said she didn’t like it and the chefs were quick to offer her a substitute. They offered to make whatever she wanted in the kitchen right then and there. The woman refused and later mentioned something about not being able to eat certain ingredients. Umm… that’s why they asked you in the beginning if you had any dietary restrictions! Maybe you should have been upfront and honest. Also, you need to be very adventurous and open minded when eating at a fine dining restaurant. They will use ingredients that you’ve never heard of or tried before.
Act IV:
After we stuffed our faces in with snacks in the back kitchen, we all went back to our seats because the break was over. Chef David came back out and explained to us in details what Act IV was all about. Act IV included a smoked wild salmon with fall vegetables, parisian gnocchi, and fennel soubise.
Act V:
Act V was a wood grilled prime beef with maitake mushrooms, young leeks, potatoes, carrots, creamed fresh horseradish, and sauce bordelaise. Chef David explained to us how the meat was cooked and that it was done through a cooking method called sous vide. I’ve seen this before on TV, but never in real life so that was pretty exciting. The sous-vide method is basically vacuum sealing the meat in a sealed tight plastic bag and placing it into a water bath where there is a device that is placed in the container to control the temperature of the water. Depending on what you are cooking, it may take hours for it to be ready to eat. Also, the meat will never be overcooked even if you keep it in the water bath for longer than it is supposed to be in there because the device controls the temperature of the water. It is almost like a crock pot, but better! You place your food in the water bath and leave.
The prime beef came out so juicy and tender! It was soooo good! During one of the breaks, we were talking to one of the chefs about sous vide and he explained that you can actually buy the device for just a couple hundred bucks on the internet to use at home. He said that the industrial version obviously would be a couple thousands. When Christmas round around, guess who I bought a sous vide device for? 🙂 Boo has used the device a couple times now and the meat always comes out perfect! The meat is never dry! It is also always cooked perfectly and evenly.
There are breaks in between where you can sample and buy other things. For example, they had a sake sampling station and if you wanted to buy something extra, that would be added onto your bill in the end.
Act VI:
Tea service and freshly brewed coffee.
The food was so good and I wanted seconds of certain dishes, but at the same time, I was so full! There was one act left!
Act VII:
Pear tart, praline mousse, almond brittle, butter pecan crunch ice cream, and caramel.
Dinner service was coming to an end and the chefs brought out a little something extra for all of us.
In the end, the chefs all came back out and made announcements in front of the whole group explaining what each of us were here celebrating.
I was so impressed that they remembered all of our names and what each one of us were here for! I was here to celebrate a birthday, another woman was here to celebrate selling her home, an older couple was at The Kitchen to celebrate their anniversary! It was so cool. The atmosphere was very intimate.
The dinner service lasted about 2-3 hours long so make sure you don’t make any plans afterwards!
The play has come to an end. Let the curtains close. I hope you enjoyed this blog entry and pay a visit to The Kitchen if you get the chance!
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