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Chef Michael Tuohy (standing) has brought his expertise to bear at Grange, in Sacramento's Citizen Hotel. (Courtesy photo)
A destination hotel deserves, if not outright needs, a standout restaurant -- both for guests and for the community at large. Grange, in Sacramento's Citizen Hotel, is just such an example. (See the entire Citizen Hotel review here.)
Chef Michael Tuohy, formerly of Atlanta's Woodfire Grill, and a native Northern Californian, has returned to Cali with a robust, well-executed and signature resto. (He sold the Woodfire restaurant to a group that included his then-chef-de-cuisine Kevin Gillespie ... who is now executive chef and a challenge winner on this season's Top Chef.)
Sacramento provides an ever-expanding palate for Tuohy to garner his ingredients, as well. California's bread basket actually has more than one city deserves when it comes to its farmer's market. Olive oil from Italian purveyors Bariana --
The house-made charcuterie starts at a nearby farm, winds up on Grange's prep table and then makes its appearance in the dining room. All in a day or so. (Courtesy photo)
"Farm to table," in Tuohy's hands, never saw a better match. The artisinal/local/organic/seasonal/sustainable movement is embodied in Grange's approach. And it shows in a sense of pride in the staff that goes beyond high-end-restaurant expectations. They believe in the place and the space and it shows on the plate.
Menus are continually updated, but include a house charcuterie plate, house taliatelle, delicious roasted Capay Valley figs (stuffed with Point Reyes bleu and a bacon vinaigrette drizzle), trimmed duck breast with maitake mushroom confit and a Chai creme caramel that'll make you convert back to big finishes at dinner.
Shipping his 22 years experience back to Sacramento came just in time for the city's self-imposed makeover. The expectations are rising and chef's menu and footprint work hand-in-glove with the urban goals.
Butcher-block tables, a banquette in a glass enclosure that jut into sidewalk space and a soaring, industrial-feel ceiling give Grange a contempo feel without any sense of poseur. The semi-open kitchen sits back far enough to not cause kitchen clatter but allows diners into 'the process' a bit. There is a private dining (or meeting) area "upstairs" that overlooks the 1,000-square-foot, atrium-like main dining space.
The 2,000-bottle, two-story, glass wine tower adds an aesthetic punctuation to the minimalist space, as well. It also houses personal wine lockers for Sacramento's oenophiles. Of course filling the tower and lockers is rather easy with the abundant wines and wineries nearby. The wine list includes a remarkably useful graphic representation of Grange's proximity to some of the world's best vineyards and vintages.
With Napa and Sonoma valleys so near, Grange needs merely turn its head and there's an updated wine list (sample pages are in the slideshow at right).
On the corner of J and 10th streets, Grange and Citizen Hotel vie for 'signature' and 'destination' tags -- it's only a matter of which you use for each.
