A "normal" Night Out in Sacramento: Mason's, Mapie, Shady Lady and GOSSIP!

Exquisite Mustard Crusted Duroc Pork Belly with shaved brussel sprouts, apple, and caraway

Tasting notes: Succulent, the best version of bacon - ever

Now I know most people get squeamish around animal fat, when it's not fried,

but this is the best way to eat it, it's a small portion of the most intense smoky, sweet flavor!!

In catching up with a couple of friends the other night at Mason's I caught up on some good food and drinking, and even better gossip! So for those who haven't heard the rumor yet, its true, Mason's is shutting it 's doors on Feb. 15 and reopen in mid-March as Cafeteria 15L, in favor of serving more comfort food such as burgers and mac ’n’ cheese. This is a striking move as this was a very expensive restaurant venture that has been around for only about 5 years, and now their scrapping the whole deal for a new venture built upon the idea that comfort food will be the cuisine of choice for the next 5 years? Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for using the whole animal and making masterpieces from "bad" cuts of meat, but I wonder if this is a trend of recession era food or a lasting foundation for the food of the future.
Well Mason's isn't the only one spending money on the hopeful future of comfort food trends, Chris Nestor, owner of midtown’s Ink, recently opened a restaurant called House in the space at 555 Capitol Mall once occupied by 55 Degrees. Now despite the food (which could be risky considering the high-spending lobbyist nature of the area), this is also a horrible location. Now I don't mean it's not scenic, but when there's that much turnover in a single space in the the matter of 10 years you have to take that into consideration with your business plans...and this is at most, RISKY! I hope all the best for Chris Nestor, but it's not a unheard statement that when the Capital closes down at 6pm the street rolls it up for the night, and the whole downtown shuts down with a few exceptions.

OK, OK Back to the food!



Post drinks we went over to Magpie Cafe, for those of you who haven't gotten a chance to try this wonderful, flavorful, locally-produced, affordable food, you should be ashamed! Every time I get a chance to eat Ed and Janel's food I'm always amazed how good it is. I hope this place maintains the small, word-of-mouth charm, because this place has HUGE blockbuster potential. Above is a picture of their house-made gnocchi with duck confit! Specifically: Gnocchi with Duck
Gnocchi made with organic yukon golds, confit of muscovy duck, arugula from Del Rio and shavings of Vella Aged Jack. Is there a better way to eat duck? if there is, the options are few. The skin is always perfectly crisp, and the meat is always perfectly tender and rich in flavor! I took a staunch chicken-only friend with me on this venture and she couldn't believe how good it was! When duck is cooked well, it's like a better more flavorful chicken!

Oh and not to be overlooked are the (not shown) KILLERGOOD Prince Edward Island Mussels with Vermouth and Fennel, Thyme, garlic, cream and toasted bread. The description does not do these mussels justice (I hate mussels, when not cleaned well they smell like an elephant and taste like urine -sorry!) but these are perfectly clean, cooked and plated the sauce is the perfect combination of cream and acidic cut, the fennel is roasted and the toasted bread to absorb the extra sauce is a must!



Now this was the lemon semi freddo with shavings of white chocolate and herb infused candied lemon, now this was quite good, a bit on the rich side for me (surprised me too), but at the end of the day Ed's chocolate chunk cookies and the famous carrot cake sandwich cookies are where it's at for me!



And what's the point of going out to eat at all, if not going over to Shady Lady and getting a perfectly crafted after-dinner drink, from the soon-to-be Legendary Chris Tucker (insanely good bartender) to the sheer selection of alcohols available this is the place, its not hard to find a well crafted drink at this bar. This is a place is for drinkers, real drinkers - drinkers who don't order vodka if bourbon's available, who sit at the bar instead of a booth (to be closer to the next drink), and tip knowing the craftsmanship that goes into the drink!