Go to The Kitchen Restaurant and Cancel Halloween

A Halloween alternative for those of us with homes in Land Park. Here is another option if you’re ever thinking about a way to cancel Halloween. My husband tacked a note to the front of our home in Land Park. It told visitors that werewolves lived there and we were out because it was a full moon last night. Perhaps you came by and spotted that note? The note also said if you took more than one piece of candy from the bowl on the front porch that zombies would eat your brains. Which reminds me that I have to see if there is a new version out of that Plants vs. Zombies computer game. No, there is not. Not until spring. Darn Pop Cap.

Our idea of canceling Halloween last night entailed going to The Kitchen Restaurant for a 4-hour dinner and a flight of wine. They call it a flight of wine because flying is exactly what you feel like doing after consuming all of that wine. True, you’re also stuffing food down your face to soak up much of that alcohol, but it’s still a lot of wine to drink with dinner. I shared my flight of wine with my husband, but he couldn’t drink much of it because he was our designated driver. This is a reason in itself to get married. Designated driver. Otherwise, both of you would have to take a cab.

The last time we were at The Kitchen was the day after Thanksgiving. My sister was in town from Minneapolis, so we hauled her and my niece out for a 7-course dinner at The Kitchen. As we were sitting at the counter at The Kitchen last night, my husband snapped a photo of me with his iPhone. He took the photo to send with a response to the text message my sister just sent him wishing us a Happy Halloween. He told her we were at The Kitchen. Except she had no idea where we were. I know her. She thought he meant we were huddled in the dark at home in our kitchen, avoiding trick or treaters. Because she knows us.

Nope, we were sitting at the counter at The Kitchen and spooning pumpkin bisque into our faces — followed by butter-poached maine lobster, swordfish, sea scallops, and a main entree of beef tenderloin with black truffle. I really enjoyed the apple pie dessert, with that delicious scoop of butter-chocolate crunch ice cream. All the ingredients at The Kitchen are farm fresh and mostly local. In fact, on Halloween yesterday, Mayor Kevin Johnson proclaimed Sacramento “America’s Farm to Fork Capital.” It’s true, he held a ceremony downtown, attended by all the top chefs in Sacramento.

I tell you the thing that really struck home with me last night was how passionate everybody is about their job at The Kitchen. There is a hierarchy but also a strong team spirit among the cooks and staff. There is distinct honor and respect among the workers. It’s clear that the job is serious business and everybody takes pride in their work. You don’t see that commitment to quality in many other establishments around town. In fact, you don’t see that passion in other professions, either. except maybe that of a Sacramento real estate agent. I care deeply, for example, whether my clients are happy at closing. When people say there is no pride in American jobs anymore, they should check out our restaurants in Sacramento.

When we got home to Land Park, we found our note still stuck to the front door. There were still a few pieces of candy in the bowl on the porch, too. They didn’t take everything. They also did not stomp on our Cinderella pumpkin. Yay! The kids in Land Park are a good bunch of kids.