John L.'s Profile

From time to time, one will have a meal that surpasses most, if not all, others. This meal will make ordinarily timid people send compliments to the chef, will make those same people secretly wish that the chef would come out among the diners so that others may kiss his or her feet. This is an experience beyond good food; this is something where a particular combination of tastes, the wine, the service, and the atmosphere all mix to create something truly extraordinary.  Waterboy is the place, for me, to find this kind of meal in Sacramento.

What follows is a description of my second (of four, so far) meals at Waterboy.

The evening started with a couple of Maker's Marks at the bar and a fun discussion with three ladies also waiting for a table. Our appetizer was a perfectly good bowl of feta-stuffed olives, and we had a glass each of the Ceaderville Syrah (2000? 2001?), a surprisingly good, even-handed, and flexible wine. After hearing the specials we both chose to start with the potato-leek soup.

Potato-leek soup is something of a staple in our kitchen. My wife makes it pure style and I make what is really more of a stew. We have definite opinions of what makes a good potato-leek soup. We both agreed this soup (pured) was phenomenal, and argued over what gave it the sweetness. My wife argued it was the onions; I could have sworn there was a little corn in it. Much to my chagrin, it was the onions. Nevertheless, I would have been satisfied had the kitchen brought out the entire soup pot and put it in front of me. I never expect much from restaurant soups, but this one threw my general opinion on its head.

For our main course, my wife had the skirt steak, which was cooked well (that is, medium, and probably with a stick of butter) and a gratin that I did not get to try, but which she insisted may actually be better than hers. Maybe. I had a Riso alla Onda, basically a non-tomato-based bouillabaisse with rice. The fish was a tad overcooked (dry), but the squid, clams, shrimp, mussels, and scallops were all perfectly done, and the broth was easily as good as anything else I've had short of cioppino, which doesn't compare.

Quote of the evening: "Yay! I have tentacles!"

For the second time, dessert at The Waterboy was the low point of the dinner. That isn't to say that the bread pudding or the apple crostino were bad - they were quite good, but they didn't compare to the other courses. Often, a restaurant will make up for lackluster food with good desserts (or at least desserts that attack your sugar craving head on); The Waterboy has no such need to do so.

I do need to talk about the service: impeccable. The hostess made sure to let us know that, even though the seating was running late, we were on her radar; the bartender was chatty but efficient; the busser was always there to fill my water glass; and the waiter clued in early that we were the kind of people who talk to our waiter, trust his judgment on food, and consider our waiter to be an integral part of the dining experience.

Waterboy has yet to let us down.  I suppose it is just a matter of time before they do, but until then my wife and I will continue to list it as our number one choice for a "celebration" restaurant.

Places like Temple and the new Coffee Garden on Franklin Blvd. give the lie to the idea that Starbucks is putting independent coffee places out of business.  Maybe it's because Starbucks has expanded the awareness of premium coffee and the desire for alternatives.  Maybe it's because Starbucks aren't exactly comfortable places to linger.  Maybe people are just tired of that particular green and khaki color scheme. Whatever it is, I'm glad because now I've got independent coffee places close to both work and home.

Coffee Garden is just this side of "quaint."  The name refers to the fact that, in addition to buying your latte or your cappuccino, you can also buy stuff for your yard.  Don't worry, you won't find stacks of fertilizer blocking the view of the big flat-screen TV (the one really annoying thing about the place).  But you'll find various kinds of yard art and maybe some plants - to be honest, I haven't spent much time perusing the yard stuff.

The main room is long and narrow with a few short and a few tall tables, a couple sofas, and a couple recliners for sitting.  There is substantially more seating outside in the back - I could imagine spending hours in the back on a warm summer evening.  There is also seating at the counter, but you might have to contend with people placing their orders.

Service is neighborly.  This means it might be a bit slower than you're used to if you spend a lot of time at a chain coffee place.

The coffee is excellent.  It is from Coffeeworks, so if you like their coffee, you'll like Coffee Garden's.  The pastries are from Freeport Bakery, need I say more?  They also have a small lunch menu and offer a couple kinds of smoothies and the ubiquitous cooler of bottled water and sodas.

Coffee Garden has become a regular stop for me on Saturdays.  It is a comfortable place to read or write if you can get away from the television.