Looking for some great places to dine in Davis? Here are five of my top choices
Davis’ answer to Sacramento’s Tower Bridge Dinner is celebrating its 20th anniversary next weekend.
The Village Feast, a landmark dining experience in the college town west of Sacramento, will return to downtown Davis’ Central Park from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday for the first time since the pandemic began.
Organized by Les Dames d’Escoffier’s Sacramento chapter and Davis Farm to School, the Village Feast is hosted in the style of a Provençal Grand Aioli, a relaxed, celebratory feast that centers around the region’s bounty. Guests bring their own table settings (plates, napkins, utensils, etc.) in keeping with that spirit.
“The Sacramento region and Provence share a rich agricultural bounty owing to our Mediterranean climates,” organizer Rachael Levine wrote in an email. “All that is needed for a feast — olives and olive oil, vegetables, nuts, wines, lamb and more— is cultivated from the soil of our region.”
There are still a handful of $165-per-person tickets available at https://bit.ly/DavisVillageFeast.
I was born in Land Park, but moved to Davis at 3 years old and spent the rest of my youth there. With some family and friends still living in the “dirty 5-30,” as we regrettably called it in high school, I’m back there relatively often to eat at old haunts and try new ones.
Here are five of my recommendations for dining in Davis:
Hikari Sushi & Omakase (110 F St., Suite A): Why not start at the top? This pint-sized omakase sushi bar is only open for 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. seatings on Friday and Saturday. It’s $175 per person before drinks and gratuity, and reservations must be made in advance. But Hikari is as technically excellent as any sushi spot around the region, and owners Sithu Tu and Zin Khine provide an education in Japanese cuisine over nearly 20 courses of nigiri, sashimi and small plates.
Paste Thai (417 Mace Blvd., Suite I): Opened a year-and-a-half ago in a south Davis shopping center, Paste Thai’s fresh produce and flavorful bases made dishes such as the ginger stir-fry and panang nuer curry stand out on my July visit.
Dos Coyotes Border Cafe (1411 W. Covell Blvd. and 2191 Cowell Blvd.): Dos Coyotes has 10 locations across the region but is most beloved in Davis, where Bobby Coyote founded his Southwestern concept nearly 33 years ago. Try the blue corn chicken nachos, seasonal specials or my personal go-to, the paella burrito filled with mahi-mahi, shrimp and New Mexican chicken sausage.
My Burma (500 1st St., Suite 11): One of only two Burmese restaurants in the Sacramento region (Green Elephant in Loomis being the other), My Burma delivers a beautiful tea leaf salad, a gem full of contrasting flavors and textures.
Guads Tacos & Beer (231 3rd St.): A student-friendly outpost near UC Davis’ campus (brothers Rigo and Chris Hernandez also own both of Davis’ Taqueria Guadalajera concepts), Guads’ strong local selection of local brews pairs well with vampiro barbacoa tacos or 3-pound pollo adobado burritos.
What I’m Eating
I’m frequently surprised how many contemporary eaters I speak to that leave Canon off their tip-top upper echelon of Sacramento restaurants — like, Top 5 in the city. Each time I go to the East Sacramento restaurant, I entrust chefs Brad Cecchi and Sean Rumery to fluidly warp unusual ingredients together, and each time, it’s an absolute hit.
It’s a special occasion type of place, to be sure. But unlike the prix-fixe menus of, say, the Kitchen or Localis, Canon can be enjoyed in a way that doesn’t break the bank. Most dishes are small-ish shareable plates, a business model that’s helped owners Cecchi and Clay Nutting retain its Michelin Bib Gourmand (an award for excellent budget eats) every year since the California-wide guide began in 2019.
The menu changes frequently, but a couple of house standouts never come off. That includes Sacramento’s finest tater tots ($10), rigid-crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside and covered in a 60-ingredient mole negro, and a pair of fall-off-the-bone chicken drumsticks ($12) in a smoky, slightly bitter urfa biber chile sauce.
A housemade sourdough loaf ($5 for a half loaf/$10 for a full) came with cheddar butter. If like me, you’ve never heard of that, it’s when cheddar fat is separated and whipped into room-temperature butter, then topped with chives and crunchy potato bits. Don’t miss it, or the caramelized Jerusalem artichoke ($19), flavorful tubers served with rainbow chard, pancetta bits and clumps of poppy seeds.
A handful of meat or fish “platters” are intended for sharing as well. Cross-hatched charred Pacific swordfish ($56) steaks came with halved figs, crumbled merguez sausage and a beurre rouge sauce on my visit, making for a delicious savory/sweet/spicy combination. Alas, it was gone from the menu two days later, though it could well be back in the future.
Canon
Address: 1719 34th St., Sacramento.
Hours: 5-9 p.m. seven days a week.
Phone number: (916) 469-2433.
Website: https://canoneastsac.com/
Drinks: A long wine list and excellent cocktail menu, as curated by beverage director Jack Winks. Craft sodas for those avoiding alcohol.
Vegetarian options: Marked on the menu. Present options include a radicchio wedge salad with goat Gouda and caramelized onions, heirloom tomatoes on sourdough and Middle Eastern-inspired roasted summer squash with muhammara, pickled raisins and candied walnuts.
Noise level: Medium.
Our cookbook countdown
Want to get “Sacramento Eats: Recipes from the Capital Region’s Favorite Restaurants”? This is my cookbook coming out Nov. 17, order at https://bit.ly/45r9Rng for a selection of restaurant recipes from around the Sacramento region.
Sacramento Eats: Recipes from the Capital Region’s Favorite Restaurants and Bars
Pre-order your cookbook here to get recipes from 60 of the Sacramento region’s top restaurants and bars, plus photos and descriptions of what makes each business so exceptional.
Openings & Closings
Omakase-only sushi spot Okesutora held its ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning at 1801 L St., Suite 70 in midtown Sacramento’s Handle District. It’s owned by Mymy Ngyuen-Voong and Jimmy Voong, the couple behind neighboring Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Alley Kitchen & Bar, and chef Hieu Phan previously ran Nobu locations in Palo Alto and Las Vegas.
Halal Italian restaurant Pasta Crush just opened at 1300 E Bidwell St., Suite 145 in Folsom’s Trail Creek Crossing shopping center. Housemade pastas and sauces eschew pork for other meats, as seen in spaghetti with beef meatballs or Cajun creamy chicken over penne.
New-school doughnut shop Milk Money shut down its storefront last Friday at 1715 R St., connected to sister concept Beast + Bounty in midtown’s Ice Blocks development. It’ll still be available through sporadic pop-ups, according to a closing social media post.
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