California Vegetarian

California Cafe was a definite do-over!  Their vegetarian options were great, and my sister, Natalie, enjoyed her grilled shrimp.  So, California Cafe is surely worth a stop if you find yourself in the vicinity of Arden Faire Mall.  I would even say that it is worth a drive to the Arden area if you find your self in Sacramento or passing through on I-80 or I-5 or I-50 or any other road that may take you through Sac.  The dining is almost ‘fine’, but in true California fashion, casual and fine are blurred.  With the colored glass, and nice linens and table ware, you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable dressed up, but being attached to the mall and in northern California, you won’t feel odd in jeans either.  No matter what you wear, you’ll love the food and the service.  Our server, Heather, was knowledgeable and helpful, as well as being fun.  Her sister, Megan, who had just started that evening and poured our water (a random piece of information, to be sure, but a small indication of how much we enjoyed our service that we came to know this little tidbit), was also courteous.  The bar tender, whose name (I’m embarrassed to admit) escapes me, was also great (but I’ll write more about him below when I get to our beverages).  All in all, the environment was lovely, and the staff was wonderful.

(Apparently, California Cafe has six locations, three of which are in California.  You can find more information on their website.  This review is for a dinner at their Sacramento location.)

When we stopped by at the end of July, California Cafe was offering a “Prix-Fix” special menu with three options each in a three course meal (salad/soup category, a main dish, and a dessert) for $32 per person.  It appears that the menu changes weekly.  All three of us decided to order off the Prix-Fix menu to limit our options to make selection easier.  Of course, George and I chose the vegetarian main dish, but we were also delighted that all three salad/soup options were vegetarian as well.  The regular menu contained several other vegetarian options (starter, salad, and main).  George and I are positive that we will go back again.

We did decide to have a starter before our salads came out.  We chose the roasted garlic plate, which came with phyllo-wrapped baked bre, mixed greens, and crustinies.  It was scrumptious!

George and I both chose the spinach salad with reduced balsamic, roma tomatoes, and spicy pecans.  The pecans were subtly warm… just enough for us to be pleasantly surprised but not overwhelmed.  And the salad was not over-dressed. Natalie chose the butter lettuce salad, which came with lemon vinaigrette, sliced almonds, cherry tomatoes and blue cheese.  My taste bite corroborated her claim that it was good.

As our main course, George and I had their Tofu Pappardelle Pasta.  The tofu was perfectly cooked, as was the pasta, and the cream sauce with red onions and carrots was outstanding.  I absolutely loved this dish.  Even so, the portion was so generous, that George and I both took enough home to have it the next day!  Again, Natalie loved her shrimp, as well.

For dessert, George and I had blackberry and raspberry sorbet, and Natalie had tiramisu.  All were delicious.

No good meal is complete without good drink, and here too, California Cafe did not disappoint.  The bar offers a pitcher of sangria for $11.25.  We decided that we would have that rather than a bottle of wine with dinner.  As it turned out, we arrived on the day that the old sangria mixture was running out and the new one had just been mixed.  The mixologist came to our table and explained the dozen ingredients he’d chosen in the chardonnay-based sangria that was the new mix.  As I wrote above, he was great!  He clearly is concerned about advancing his craft and offering customers new and exciting beverages.  We were fortunate to arrive on the day of the new batch.  As a result of the crossover, we each got a glass of the old sangria, emptying the barrel, and a glass of the new.  We enjoyed both even though they were very different.  The traditional sangria was as good as any sangria I have ever had.  And the new was light and fresh, a totally different sangria.  Still very good, and I suspect getting better each day that the mixture is allowed to mellow and marry.  It was a very exciting experiment.  It seems that the plan is for California Cafe to seasonally change their sangria mixture.  I am looking forward to returning when the weather cools off a bit to see how sangria is reinterpreted for the fall and winter.  He mentioned vanilla beans.  So, I am intrigued.

In short, a vegetarian cannot go wrong at California Cafe.  Plus, your omnivorous friends and family will be happy, too.  If you are interested in bold, innovative cooking, that is full of flavor and doesn’t assume that vegetarian means just side dishes, you will like California Cafe.  We did, and will certainly go back!