Café Lumiere

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." ~ John Gunther

5701 Broadway, Suite B, Sacramento, CA 95820. (916) 456-2679.

Warm, flaky and with a buttery outer layer that just melts in your mouth? Sounds good, right? Well, you if love a well-made croissant as much as I do, I suggest that you mosey yourself down to the family-owned Café Lumiere. Just down the street from the DMV and DOJ in an inconspicuous but well-kept strip mall you'll be able to satiate that croissant jones.

Café Lumiere, owned by Geoffrey Matsuyama and Peter Kuo, opened up quietly in Tahoe Park just over a year ago but has steadily gained popularity with the local neighborhood residents and area workers. The cafe's design is simple and the service friendly. I found the mango and banana colored walls to be warm and welcoming and enjoyed reading past-issues of Dwell and Atomic Ranch while waiting for my order.

The breakfasts at Café Lumiere are what draws the crowds. I decided to pop in last week and try one of their much-talked about breakfast sandwiches. I love that they aim to please the customer and allow you to choose your bread, meat, cheese and how you want your eggs cooked. I went with some sliced ham, scrambled eggs and provolone cheese served on one of their handmade croissants. It was served open faced, freshly made and was quite delicious. Simple but perfectly-executed.

Café Lumiere also does lunch (a juicy Angus burger, fresh salads and sandwiches) and offers various tasty pastries (I was drooling while checking out their display case). My only disappointment with the joint is that they serve Java City coffee (ugh!), which I'm not a fan of. I'd love to see them carry one of the other local roasters like Temple, Old Soul or perhaps Chocolate Fish. With a good cup of joe, I'd definitely be there more often. By the way, I know everyone's pinching pennies these days because of the economy but Café Lumiere's prices are reasonable, they do take plastic and even better-- they offer a 10% discount to state, federal and UCD employees.

Have You Checked This Out? : Egg Cups With Duck Feet

Sometimes you want things for no other reason than that they are just so cute.

 

Stoneware egg cups atop of tiny little duck feet. Set of 4. Dishwasher safe.
Waddle on over to West Elm's website. They are currently marked down from $20 to $6.97 plus free shipping.

Have You Checked This Out? : Cooking With Dog

My good friend Misa, who listens patiently as I babble about food all the time and bravely tastes my cooking experiments, recently turned me onto a quirky web series called, "Cooking With Dog." Now before you get all PETA-crazed on me, let me explain that this series is NOT about cooking a dog...rather, it's about cooking with a dog. "Cooking With Dog" is a super adorable internet cooking show narrated by a cute gray poodle with an accent and wild hairdo, named Francis, who talks you through how to make various Japanese dishes (his trusty assistant does the actual food preparation). Francis' instructions are easy to follow and they have some pretty good Japanese recipes posted. You can check out the series on You Tube or you can click on the screens I've posted below to watch an episode or two.

Have You Checked This Out: Coconut "Toast" Bread

I'm not much for eating ginormous meals early in the morning and I'm even less known for cooking early in the morning. Lucky for me, every once in awhile Mr. S. (who IS a morning person...damn him) will take it upon himself to whip up some gorgeous omelets, fluffy pancakes or other tasty breakfast treats on a weekend morning. He knows that nothing lures me out of bed eventually than the smell of crispy bacon strips and a cup of good, strong coffee. That said, I do love me some breakfast food at odd ball times of the day, like for "linner" (the time between lunch and dinner). Now this isn't a recipe post, mind you, I just wanted to give a shout out to the yummilicious coconut toast at 99 Ranch. I bought a loaf of their coconut toast (essentially a fresh loaf of coconut bread) from their bakery department and have been snacking on it. It's delicious in it's own right but I decided today to use it for making french toast. Oh-em-gee. Get some, make it into french toast (add a little bit of vanilla extract to it), pour some REAL maple syrup on it (none of that fake junk) and tell me that it doesn't make your toes curl. I dare you. It's INSANELY good.

Nopalitos Southwestern Cafe

5530 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95819. (916) 452-TACO (8226).
http://www.nopalitoscafe.com/home

My first job out of college was as an office manager at a athletic mentoring center for youths called CORE. Pretty funny when you think about it since I'm about as nonathletic as they come (my friends and family can attest to this). Anyhow, the daily work involved with the job was pretty mundane but I always loved talking to the students that came in. There was one high schooler, Aaron, that used to come in that was friendly and had impeccable manners. In addition, he always brought the staff these giant chocolate chip cookies that were absolutely divine. Now when someone brings you delicious cookies; good manners dictates that you just say, "Thank you," eat the cookie and be grateful but one day curiosity got the better of me. Nosy Nelly that I am, I broke down and asked where he was getting these wonderful cookies. Turns out his parents owned a small eatery in East Sac called Nopalitos Southwestern Cafe and he was ganking them from there. Armed with this knowledge I was bound and determined to visit the source of these magical cookies. So over the years, I tried on multiple occasions to stop into Nopalitos but as luck would have it, it was always closed. Turns out the restaurant is only open for breakfast (630-1045 am) and lunch (11 am-230 pm) on weekdays, not exactly conducive for serving the working crowd.  But now that my daytime schedule is much more relaxed, I've been able to scoot over there a few times. To date, I haven't been able to get over there for lunch but have had the pleasure of eating breakfast several times there and it's definitely worth rejecting the snooze button and getting up early for.


The restaurant, located by East Sac Bikes, is nothing glamorous but it radiates a warm and cozy feel; which has made it popular with local residents. Don't let the line dissuade you, the counter service moves fast as it's cash or check only (and many people are just there for takeout). You're given a number and your order's delivered to your table when it comes up. During crowded periods, table sharing is encouraged. Now one thing that I love about Nopalitos is that it doesn't suffer from what I call "Target Syndrome." You know, where you're shopping at a Target and there's a million red-shirted employees milling about but there doesn't seem to be anyone available to help you when you need service. Not at Nopalitos. There's one lone busser working the crowded floor and he's on top of it. Coffee's refilled regularly and plates are cleared promptly. Note: If I could make one small change to the service though it would be that the counter staff be as friendly to newbies and infrequent guests as they are to the regulars.


For breakfast, I've had the Little Cactus Special which consists of tortilla chips, eggs, cactus, corn, and cheese scrambled together, and topped with cheese, mild salsa, sour cream and your choice of ranchero sauce or green chili sauce. I went with the green chili sauce and it was quite tasty. I've also had their french toast (which is made from whole wheat-walnut sourdough bread) and their huevos rancheros...both were excellent and the side order of bacon I requested was cooked perfectly. I hope to be able to pop in there for lunch soon and try one of their fat, smothered burritos or maybe their much talked about tamale bowl. Not to mention that those incredible cookies are available at lunchtime!


So if you have a weekday free, throw some clothes on and head down to Nopalitos for a morning bite. Your gullet will thank you- the food is fast, fresh and tasty and there's even several dishes for your vegetarian friends to choose from. In addition, you would be supporting a local small business (gotta love that!).

Movin' On Up

It's spring and things are shakin' up...mark your calendars for these upcoming changes:

- East Sac favorite, Formoli's, is moving to a new location (complete with patio) on Tuesday, May 31st. Check out their news digs on 3839 J Street (former site of Gonul's).

- Yasushi Ueyama's popular ramen-ya, Shoki, will be opening up a 2nd location at 1201 R Street on May 3rd. Shoki II will be open for lunch and dinner, 7 days a week.

Creamed Morels on Toasted Brioche

I'm back! Sorry for pulling a Houdini but April was a hectic month - the parental units came for a visit, I had some stuff that needed addressing in my personal life and then total klutz that I am - I fractured my foot. Anyhow when life gets complicated, it's best to let your food be simple and that's exactly what I did. After a particularly rough week, I decided to indulge myself a bit (calories be damned!) and whip up some creamed morels on toasted brioche...mmmm! Afterall, life is short and so is morel season!

Creamed Morels on Toasted Brioche (adapted from Orangette's Creamed Morels on Toast)

Ingredients

1/4 lb. fresh morels

3 T crème fraîche

2 T unsalted butter

Salt


Instructions

1. Slice morels in half and clean gently with a dry pastry or basting brush. (You can give them a quick rinse in some warm salty water but don't soak them.)

2. In a skillet, melt your butter at medium-high heat.

3. Add the morels and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to release some water.

4. Reduce the heat to medium, let the mushrooms reabsorb their juices, and continue cooking until they are nearly dry.

5. Add the crème fraîche, season with salt to taste, and stir over the heat for a minute or two.

6. Slice the brioche and toast it in the broiler. Serve alongside the morels.