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Friday, April 20, 2018

Date Your Spouse: Chef's Dinner at Zocalo Sacramento

Hi friends!  I hope you're doing well!  I have to tell you that "research" for the Date Your Spouse series has been super fun!  We are really pushing ourselves out of our usual routine and it's a been a great time!  This next date is a location we've been to before but an event we had never attended.

Every month, usually on the first Monday, Zocalo Midtown offers a Chef's Dinner event.  (For May, they are having the dinner on April 30 to kick off a week of Cinco de Mayo celebrations.)  The Chef's Dinner is a 3 course meal where each course is paired with a drink all for only $30 a person!  The drink is usually a cocktail, wine, or beer.  This is a steal!  Usually an entree alone would cost over half that amount not to mention drinks!  (I was given tickets to this event for review.  As always, all the opinions are mine and 100% honest.)


Zocalo transforms their restaurant for the Chef's Dinner.  They block off about half their restaurant for the event.  (The other half is for regular dinner service.)  They set beautiful tables with place settings and floral arrangements.  Menu cards are printed out for each guest.  It's really nice attention to detail.  The restaurant itself is already beautiful and always decorated tastefully but they go a step beyond for the Chef's Dinner.



We got to attend the April 1 dinner and the theme was SPRING!  Oh how I love spring menus!  I love the fresh vegetables and how we start to see fruit again!  This menu was phenomenal!  They even started us with an extra little bite and champagne bellini in addition to the 3 courses.   We were also served chips, salsa, and the house bean dip.



This menu featured an asparagus salad which was so delicious!  We got big but tender stalks of asparagus that was perfectly grilled, topped with arugula salad on top of a poblano puree.  I loved every single bite of this dish!  This was paired with a Heretic Lager since Heretic Brewery was their partner for this month's dinner.


The main course was a lamb in red chile broth with beans, rice, and tortillas.  This was paired with Heretic Evil Twin which is a red IPA.  The lamb was great!  It was really flavorful.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the green rice at Zocalo, it's one of my favorite things about the restaurant.  Their hot tortillas that are a hybrid of corn and flour tortilla are TO DIE FOR.  Needless to say, I cleaned my plate.


The dessert was a strawberry shortcake done "dulce de leche" style paired with a Fresca Sting which was like a spicy strawberry margarita.  Personally, I do not prefer "soaked" cakes.  The texture is not my jam.  I did eat the drier parts of the cake and I really enjoyed it.  I ate all the strawberries and whipped cream.  Other people around me LOVED the cake!


Overall, the whole experience was amazing!  The value was incredible!  I could easily spend well over $60 on an evening of food and drinks and not even get dessert or appetizers.  This dinner is probably one of the best values in Sacramento!  Plus it is a lovely event full of happy people and delicious food!  I will definitely be returning to the monthly Chef's Dinner!        
        


I think a Chef's Dinner is probably a date that suits me best.  What kinds of dates suit you?  Do you have a date idea for me?  Please leave me a comment and let me know!


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