Sacramento Dish Crawl: The Recap

Without getting too wordy, last night's Dish Crawl was amazingly fun. Good food, good folks and an overall good time!

For interested parties, I'm recapping the four stops we made and giving a little info about what was on tap at each.

Stop #1: Sugar and Spice - This was the only place that I'd been before the Dish Crawl. I loved it then, and I loved it now. We had three items to sample: a creamsicle Panna Cotta, a peach pie tart, and a s'more-type pastry. The Panna Cotta was probably my favorite, and actually remained my favorite for much of the journey. Both the peach pie and the s'more were also quite good. Definitely no slouches either. The owner was incredibly friendly and chatted with us about their place, the food, and the use of bacon (!) in their pastries. Overall a great start, and it was an interesting twist to start with dessert.

Stop #2: 524 Mexican Restaurant - I'd heard good things about 524, and it did not disappoint. The food was relatively standard fare, but it was tasty. And SPICY! I sampled a bit of everything, including a burrito (steak, I think?), a carnitas quesadilla, a pork tamale and some rice and beans. There were a few bowls of salsa as well, including one that was what I thought was a standard, mild, pico de gallo. It was pico de gallo, but it sure wasn't mild. Punch-you-in-the-face spicy was more like it. I like it, but I just wasn't prepared! My only problem here was that I ate TOO much. It made the next two stops tough.

Stop #3: Brew It Up! - Not being a drinker, I wasn't sure what I'd make of this place. Frankly, it was pretty cool! I thought the whole concept of being able to create your own beer and then come back later to have it bottled and drink your very own brew-creation was pretty cool. This is coming from someone who bought their father a home brewing kit a few years back, so I suppose I'm a little biased, but still. The food we were served was pretty indulgent pub grub. I sampled panko-breaded onion rings, some kettle chips with basil, blue cheese and a balsamic glaze, asparagus with prosciutto, and a mac-and-cheese pizza. I couldn't finish my portions, so we had ample food to work with. I'm planning on checking the place out again with an empty stomach to fully enjoy it. (Pardon the slightly fuzzy picture, btw)

Stop #4: Blue Prynt - I was a little skeptical of this place for some reason. Maybe it was the location? I've dined right down the street from here many times and had never even heard of it. Whatever instinct it was, it was immediately proven WRONG. My favorite restaurant of the night, which featured my favorite dish of the night as well. We started with a cocktail. It was a caramel apple martini, I believe. Again, I don't drink, but it looked delicious. I passed it off to my lucky dinner partners at the time. That was followed by a crab cake, which was tasty, though I wasn't a huge fan of the texture. Just a me thing, but still, very delicious. Then, it came. Chicken Cordon Bleu and a Thai Basil Ratatouille. Man oh man, I loved it from bite one. Again, I was stuffed at this point, so for me to be into this, the deliciousness had to overcome that fact. And it did. I was especially impressed by the Ratatouille! Well-spiced and perfectly cooked. Yum indeed! So good, that it was the one thing I didn't manage to photograph! Lastly, we finished the night with a Baked Alaska. I'd never had this before, but I really enjoyed the hot-cold dynamic, along with the multiple textures.

Phew! What a night. Good food, great dining partners, and some discussion about Dinner and a Deductible. If you haven't yet tried a Dish Crawl, do it. It's worth it. I'll be back, and I'll be coming hungry.

Want to know more about the fine establishments we sampled? Check out their websites:

Sugar and Spice: http://www.sugarandspice.me
524 Mexican Restaurant: http://www.524mexicanrestaurant.com/
Brew It Up!: http://www.brewitup.com/

Blue Prynt: http://bluepryntsacramento.com/