We appreciate the vibrant food blogger community in Sacramento and recently hosted a soup recipe contest with some of our favorite bloggers. Chef Ridgeway thought a great way to connect with the online community was to open up the Grange menu for one lucky winner – something we’ve never done before! We invited a handful of writers to submit a soup recipe with this basic premise: create a soup that celebrates the abundant, fresh and local ingredients the Sacramento area has to offer. Six delicious recipes were submitted and it was a tough choice for Chef and his staff to pick the winning soup.

After much deliberation, it was the scrumptious Panade (Bread Soup with Chard and Wild Mushrooms) by Ann Martin Rolke, co-founder of the California Food Literacy Center. Her winning recipe will be featured on our 2012 Dine Downtown menu from January 9-15! Congratulations Ann!

All of the participating bloggers were invited to a special meet-and-greet tasting event this past weekend to sample some of Chef Ridgeway’s creations with the grand finale being a bowl of the winning soup. Thank you again to everyone who participated! We hope to see you in Grange again soon!

• Dawn Balzarano, Kitchen Travels
• Ann Martin Rolke, Tasty Bits newsletter, California Food Literacy Center
• Kimberly Morales, Poor Girl Eats Well
• Melissa Vanni, Pretty Yummy Foods
• Garrett McCord, Vanilla Garlic
• Stephanie Nuccitelli, 52 Kitchen Adventures
• Amber Stott, Awake at the Wisk,

Each Friday night, the menu will be completely different. Taking input from the table, Chef will create a gourmet tasting menu on the spot. Chef Ridgeway has exceptional experience, cooking in top kitchens like the Carlyle Restaurant in New York, Anasazi Restaurant in Santa Fe and K-Paul’s in New Orleans. He knows his stuff and is excited to share it with Sacramentans.

The Chef’s Table is offered on the following dates: November 11, 18, 25, and December 2nd. Seating will be at 7 p.m. and limited to the first 10 people. The five-course meal will cost $75 a person (beverages not included) or enjoy the dinner with custom wine pairing for an additional fee. Make your reservations for this exclusive evening by calling 916-492-4450. We can’t wait to see you there!

Call off the search parties—we’ve hired a new Executive Chef! After an extensive search with more than 100 qualified candidates from across the world, the best man was left standing. Meet Oliver Ridgeway: an international classically trained chef with a passion for fresh, local ingredients.

Chef Oliver developed his passion and honed his craft working in his father’s restaurant, studying culinary arts at a prestigious cooking school in England and working under legendary world-renown chefs at exclusive kitchens worldwide. He continued his career at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City serving as the Chef de Partie and assistant Sous Chef for the VIP boxes.

Later becoming the Executive Sous Chef at The Carlyle Restaurant in New York, Chef Ridgeway worked at the James Beard House under the mentorship of Consulting Chef Christian Delouverie. He also worked in renowned kitchens including The Verandah restaurants at Jumby Bay, Antigua, the top Zagat-rated Seafood Restaurant in Deer Valley, Utah, and most recently with Mobil 4-Star rated Anasazi Restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Are you impressed? So were we.

After 17 years of experience perfecting his passion across the globe, Chef Ridgeway, his wife and young family (Camden, 2 and Ella, 5 months) are thrilled to now call the Sacramento region their home. Oliver brings a collaborative approach to Grange’s menu and is motivated to build relationships with local growers and work with them to create delicious, fresh and seasonally infused cuisine.

We hope you will welcome him with open arms! Here’s a sneak peak of some of the dishes he’s been working on…

Food photos by Holly A. Heyser

All photos by Sarah Maren.

August 19th, 5:00pm at The Citizen Hotel

Show starts at 7:00

Dress your best

Look for the tent

$99 rates available with promo code COCKTAIL

www.citizenhotel.com

It’s hot outside.

We repeat: it’s HOT OUTSIDE.

What better way to cool down than with a handcrafted, refreshing summer cocktail? Check out the latest and greatest drinks on the Grange menu!

Zarzamora

Don Q rum, Veev acai liquor, blackberry-vanilla syrup, lime, mint

Cucumber

Junipero Gin,St.Germain, cucumber, basil, lemon, prosecco

Wormwood

Woodford Reserve bourbon, Gran Classico, Carpano Vermouth

Cooler

Bulleit Rye, african nectar tea infused Dolin Blanc, lemon

 Also, for the month of July, be sure to order a Big Brothers Big Sisters cocktail (vodka, blueberry lemon verbena syrup, lemon and soda, served tall with lemon and blueberries on top) – 50% of proceeds will go straight to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sacramento! Cheers to helping a good cause!

Thank you to everyone who came out for our Hunt, Gather, Cook event with Hank Shaw! The night was a huge success, and we want to wish Hank the best of luck with the rest of his book tour. All photos are by Holly A. Heyser, Field to Table Food Photography – www.heyserphoto.com.

First

Chilled Asparagus Soup

crème fraiche / mint

Grüner Veltliner, Dancing Coyote, Clarksburg, 2009

Next

House Made Tagliatelle

english peas / pancetta / spring onions

La Grande Cote, Rose of Mourvedre / Syrah / Grenache, Paso Robles, 2010

Main

Grilled Masami Ranch Bavette Steak

fingerling potatoes / braised greens / chimichurri

Tempranillo, Irwin Family Vineyards, Piedra Roja Block 22, 2008

After

Frozen Lemon-Blueberry Souffle

Port-Style Syrah, Lord Nelson, Victory

4 course meal – $35

Wine Pairing – $15

No Substitutions, No Special Requests

Our dear friend and fellow Sacramentan Hank Shaw is embarking on a national book tour and we are honored to host his homecoming book launch party! Join us on June 16^th for a wild food tasting menu and book signing.

A message from Hank about the book and tour…

“Hunt, Gather, Cook” is part cookbook, part primer on how to take a more active role in how you feed yourself and your family. It is a food-centric guide to foraging, fishing or hunting intended to introduce novices to the pursuit — and to help those who already hunt, or fish, or forage, expand their skills with wild food. Not only will this book help teach you how to find game, or fish, or wild plants, but it goes through what you need to know to once you have it, and how to cook with it in a modern, serious way. This is not campfire cooking, it is a celebration of largely forgotten ingredients that live all around us.

A major part of the tour to promote the book will be a series of restaurant-based events where the chef and I collaborate on special menus featuring wild food special to that region’s cuisine. These events tap into the frontier beyond fresh-seasonal-local and show diners the potential of wild ingredients, whether they’re wild mushrooms and plants, local wild fish or game. Expect to see mesquite and quail and prickly pears in Arizona, wild rice and walleye and wild berries in Minnesota, and clams and game birds and wild beach plums in New England. I am teaming up with award-winning chefs from around the country to showcase the kaleidoscope of flavors native to North America.

Menu and more details coming soon. For reservations, call 916-492-4450.