By Becky Grunewald Photos by Scott Duncan and BG
The things about Sacramento that are often referred to as “ghetto” or “busted” are some of my favorite things. On that list are South Sac, the bike trail, and the California State Fair. Topping that list is the much-maligned American River. Read more »
By Becky Grunewald photos by Scott Duncan and BG
It might not be apparent to the casual reader, but beneath the sunny surface of Sacramento’s free publications lurks an intense rivalry. The competition between MidMo and SN&R is particularly intense. It is rife with corporate espionage and backstabbing. I’m pretty sure Nick Miller is tapping my phones. Read more »
By Niki Kangas Photos by Scott Duncan
Damn it, it’s that mint green envelope from SMUD again. When the bills start changing colors, you know you forgot, or weren’t able to make, that last payment. Read more »
By Becky Grunewald photos by Scott Duncan
It started with the bone marrow: a dramatic dish that snapped me to attention. Two caveman-sized beef shanks split in half, resting on a bed of rock salt, topped with rough-chopped parsley and capers, piled with toast points for slathering. Read more »
By Dennis Yudt photos by Scott Duncan
Recently, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson and a few associates made a pit stop at the venerable Midtown watering hole, the Rubicon Brewing Company. While there, he was goaded into singing “Happy Birthday” to Charles Adrian Thomas, a Rubicon regular who was celebrating his 41st year on earth. Mayor Johnson, never one to oppose a majority voice, gamely serenaded the birthday boy, muffing up his name only slightly. By all accounts, the mayor did a half-way decent job, adding one more episode in the life and times of Mr. Thomas, or, as every good denizen of Midtown knows him: ‘Ground Chuck.’ Read more »
By Jackson Griffith photos by Scott Duncan
“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home,” a sign over the door tells you as you’re leaving Art Ellis Supply, a comfortably funky purveyor of artist’s and bookbinder’s materials that has been a fixture on J Street in Midtown Sacramento since 1948. It’s something Sharon Tanovitz, half of the husband-and-wife team that has owned the shop since 1976, found somewhere and decided to share. The source? “Anonymous,” she says. “The other one I’ve always wanted to do was: ‘Remember – everyone was a beginner once.'” Read more »
By Sarah Singleton Photos by Scott Duncan
Jonathon Modrow and Kimio Bazett didn’t know what they were getting into back in 2003 when they decided to open up a neighborhood bar in Sacramento. They had taken over a nineteenth-century building that once housed local hotspots Drago’s, Café Montreal and Café Paris, amongst other incarnations. Little did they know that they had purchased The Money Pit. Read more »
By Tony King photos by Scott Duncan
It’s late afternoon, and the Sun is taking its time setting in the west. As the last rays of light beam through the skeletal trees lining the R Street Corridor, patrons dine out on the patios of the all-brick former bread factory between 14th and 15th streets. At the corner of 14th and R, groups of friends sit around, sipping cocktails and catching up, while Billie Holiday’s “Rain Or Shine” hovers overhead.
Welcome to The Shady Lady. Read more »
By James W. Cameron photos by Scott Duncan
Archives and libraries have often been regarded as musty vessels of dreariness, replete with pinch-faced attendants who either shush visitors speaking in normal voices or seem unable to direct them anywhere but the rest rooms. Not so in Sacramento where there are a host of these institutions that provide stimulating and exciting material and guidance to both residents and visitors alike. Read more »