Jennifer Fergesen is senior editor for Comstock’s magazine. She writes about food for publications around the world and has received awards for her reporting on the restaurants of the global Filipino diaspora. See her work at jcfrgsn.journoportfolio.com and globalcarinderia.com.
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Free Concerts Return to Downtown Sacramento
A photo-forward look back on the first two Concerts in the Park
After two quiet years, concerts and music festivals are thumping through the Capital Region once again. While the COVID-19 pandemic has not ended, many are ready to see live music at outdoor venues.

The California Honey Festival Is Buzzing Again
After a pandemic hiatus, Woodland reprises its annual celebration of bees
The California Honey Festival returns with vendors, music and neighborhood restaurants celebrating the state’s sweetest product.

The Might of Mycelium
How fungi is changing food, agriculture and the environment in the Capital Region
Companies and researchers are finding ways to use mycelium,
the vegetative body of fungi, to solve problems including
plastic waste, greenhouse gas emissions, antibiotic residue in
water supplies and more.

Drawing With Light
For Sacramento Photography Month, take a look back at local photographers featured in Art Exposed
We’ve rounded up some of our previous Art Exposed interviews with photographers to learn how local artists make a living out of drawing with light.

Neighborhood Favorite: Tupi Coffee
A Sacramento coffee shop aims to introduce Brazilian snacks to all 50 states
The Boulevard Park corner cafe serves Brazilian baked goods such as cheese bread and fried dumplings, as well as an assortment of sandwiches and beverages.

Squaring Up With Aggie Square
As construction begins at Aggie Square in Sacramento, UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May reflects on the project’s evolution
After five years of planning, Aggie Square has broken ground in Oak Park. We chat with Chancellor May about how the project’s partners are responding to concerns and what Aggie Square aims to bring to the region.

Status Check: ‘COVID Bump’ Deals Meal Prep Company a Lucky Hand
Citrus Heights-based MealPro purchases former Lucky Derby Casino building
The frozen meal company expands its operations following an increase in demand for delivered food options.

Art Exposed: Nancy Sayavong
The Roseville-based sculptor uses woodworking techniques for both art and remodeling
As a woodworker and metal fabricator, Nancy Sayavong uses her
training both for art and remodeling jobs. Her work is
interested in the contrast between the romantic ideal of the
home and its lived reality.

Lawmakers on a (California) Roll
California government leaders participate in sushi competition to promote the state’s rice industry
State government leaders take a break from making California laws to make California rolls for the Capitol Roller Competition, part of a recent summit for rice industry stakeholders.

Women in Leadership: Gloria Salazar
Our annual salute to extraordinary women breaking barriers and rising to the top
Gloria Salazar is preparing to ride off into the sunset as she
retires from a robust career in public
transportation.

Women in Leadership: Sarah Hemly
Our annual salute to extraordinary women breaking barriers and rising to the top
Sarah Hemly is the president of Hemly Cider, an
award-winning cider company that uses fruit from one of the
oldest family-run orchards in the Capital Region.

Neighborhood Favorite: Every Little Thing Jamaican
A Suisun City grocery store and takeout business serves Caribbean nostalgia
The market-kitchen hybrid offers Afro-Caribbean favorites like jerk chicken, curry goat and oxtail.

Comstock’s Talks: The New Fusion Food
PODCAST: Young restaurateurs in the Capital Region are rewriting the definition of authenticity.

The New Fusion Food
Young restaurateurs in the Capital Region are rewriting the definition of authenticity
Capital Region restaurant owners with mixed backgrounds are
channeling their points of view into creative dishes.

Neighborhood Favorite: Smile Market 2
The second branch of a longstanding supermarket serves Korean Chinese food
After more than 20 years selling Korean specialty items, the owners of Smile Food Market opened Smile Market 2, which serves fresh dishes like spicy seafood noodles and sweet-and-sour pork.

A Bright Outlook
Business leaders say they expect growth in 2022
We interviewed a local banking expert about how optimistic
national trends are being reflected in the Capital Region.

Our Top Stories of 2021
From an homage to a burned Delta restaurant to a history of Cornish pasties, here are this year’s most-read stories.

Neighborhood Favorite: Chulla’s Cafe
A political-scientist-turned-restaurateur brings a globalist approach to African fusion
The Chulla’s Cafe menu borrows influences from African,
Asian, Latin American, South European and Pacific coastal
regions.

Neighborhood Favorite: Kehaulani’s Cafe
French technique meets Hawaiian and Filipino comfort food
At Kehaulani’s Cafe in Vallejo, the loco moco starts with short
ribs braised for 12 hours.

Neighborhood Favorite: Manchurian Indian Cuisine
A West Sacramento restaurant takes a gamble on Indian-Chinese fusion
This fast-casual restaurant serves a cuisine that germinated in
Kolkata’s Chinatown and is now popular across the
subcontinent.

How ‘Sewer Credits’ Are Bringing New Life to the Old Campbell Soup Manufacturing Plant
A first-of-its-kind credit program is helping to fund the
redevelopment of a former soup factory in south
Sacramento.

Following the Grapevine
Family business close-up
From the corporate world to a rolling piece of land, a
husband-wife team runs Bella Grace Vineyards in Amador
County.

Neighborhood Favorite: Taiwan Best Mart
A homemade sausage business grows into a popular restaurant
“It all started with the sausage,” says Christine Chang, the
second-generation owner of Taiwan Best Mart.

New Sacramento Wine Bars Highlight the Capital Region’s Natural Winemakers
Small, iconoclastic wineries, vineyards and bars may be set to impact the California wine scene in the same way the microbrewery boom challenged “Big Beer.”

Status Check: University of the Pacific Reopens After Major Changes
The University of the Pacific’s three campuses in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco have reopened — with COVID-19 vaccinations required.

Encouraging Economic Equity
Deneva Shelton, the Sacramento community manager of JPMorgan
Chase, wants to use her expertise to increase Sacramentans’
financial opportunities.

Neighborhood Favorite: Konditorei Austrian Pastry Café
How a ballerina and a baker built a Viennese pastry shop in Davis
Anyone who has visited the coffee houses of Vienna will see the
resemblance between those venerable institutions and Konditorei
Austrian Pastry Café in Davis.

How an Expert in U.S.-China Trade Adapted to the Pandemic
Margaret Wong, a leader in U.S.-China trade for over three
decades, used to travel between the two countries up to eight
times a year. Here’s how she shifted gears when the borders
closed.

Neighborhood Favorite: Gaspachos
Four siblings bring a Michoacan specialty to Franklin Boulevard
Gaspachos in south Sacramento does not serve gazpacho, the
Spanish chilled tomato soup. Here and in Morelia, Michoacan,
gaspacho is something else entirely.

New Life for Iconic Sacramento Spaces That Closed During the Pandemic
A new generation of entrepreneurs is bringing fresh concepts to restaurant and bar spaces that shuttered in 2020.

On the Rise: Juliana Almanza
Meet 12 young leaders who are shaping their industries and the Capital Region
Juliana Almanza is chief of staff of the West Sacramento-based construction trade association Associated General Contractors of California.

This Food Box Helps Families and Small Farmers
Growing the Table is a statewide initiative that connects farmers
from underserved communities with families in need.

The Oldest Opera House in the Sacramento Valley Reopens (Again)
The Woodland Opera House reopened June 15, 1896 after a fire destroyed the original building. On June 15, 2021, it reopened after a different crisis.

Neighborhood Favorite: Amazon Grill
A nonprofit serves Brazilian takeout out of a former school cafeteria
Amazon Grill is operated by the nonprofit Brazilian Center for
Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, which serves as a hub for the
Capital Region’s Brazilian community.

A Culture of Deeper Learning
Mary Wardell-Ghirarduzzi, University of the Pacific’s inaugural vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, on her plans for the role
Comstock’s spoke to Wardell-Ghirarduzzi about what she plans to
achieve at her alma mater.

Incubator Lab for Food and Ag Tech Startups Opens in Woodland
A startup incubator aims to bring a new generation of food and
agricultural technology innovators to the Yolo County
seat.

Neighborhood Favorite: Elena’s Kitchen & Catering
A Carmichael deli offers a culinary tour of the former Soviet region
To walk along Elena’s deli counter is to explore the diversity of
the former Soviet republics.

Comstock’s Wins 14 California Journalism Awards!
All our winning stories, designs, photographs and illustrations from 2020
Comstock’s stories, designs, photographs and illustrations won
awards in 14 categories in the California Journalism Awards,
hosted by the California News Publishers Association. Here’s a
list of all our awards, with links to the winning content.

How Cornish Pasties Got to California
Grass Valley’s Cornish pasties are a remnant of the town’s mining history
Cornish pasties are an edible trace of the gold rush, connecting
Grass Valley to a global history of migration and
extraction.

Neighborhood Favorite: Aria Afghan Restaurant
A former translator brings Central Asian flavors to North Highlands
Aria Afghan Restaurant in North Highlands serves a cuisine that
hails from the crossroads of South and Central Asia,
including one dish that takes over 10 hours to make.

Neighborhood Favorite: Chévere
A Salvadoran restaurant in Arden Arcade attracts a vegan fanbase
One year into the pandemic and two into its existence, Chévere
has managed to hang on with a combination of flexibility and
dedication to its craft.

Women in Leadership: Mary Paasch
Our annual salute to extraordinary women who are shaping our future
The Capital Region depends on water resources engineers like Mary Paasch, principal engineer and vice president of Stantec.

Changing the Skyline
How the National Association of Women in Construction is attracting women to a historically male-dominated field
Women make up less than 10 percent of workers in the construction industry. NAWIC sees opportunities in that gap.

Women in Leadership: Elizabeth-Rose Mandalou
Our annual salute to extraordinary women who are shaping our future
Elizabeth-Rose Mandalou is a partner and cofounder of the restaurant group WM Restaurants and holds the title of Advanced Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Art Exposed: June Steckler
A painter and curator learns it’s easier to manage other people’s art and finds gifts in aging
June Steckler is optimistic about the Capital Region’s art scene
and her role in it as both artist and curator.

Neighborhood Favorite: Naija Cuisine
Sacramento’s only Nigerian restaurant gets a boost from TikTok
Fufu is a West African staple food made from boiled, pounded
cassava or other starches, and it’s trending on TikTok.

Comstock’s Talks: Game of Skill (The Next Chapter)
PODCAST: In December 2019, a few months before the fastest drop in global stock markets in financial history, Mark Otero launched Alice Capital, a hedge fund designed to bypass emotion. This profile is part of The Next Chapter, in which we check in with Capital Region professionals who moved into new pursuits or retirement after successful careers.

Game of Skill
The Next Chapter: Mark Otero uses his gaming background in algorithms to program his quant hedge fund
In December 2019, a few months before the fastest drop in global
stock markets in financial history, Mark Otero launched Alice
Capital, a hedge fund designed to bypass emotion.

Comstock’s Talks: The Next Chapter Series
PODCAST: Listen to a six-part series about Capital Region professionals who found new pursuits after successful careers.

Hooked on Hot Chicken
A confluence of food-business trends is behind Sacramento’s fried chicken fad
Sacramento has been invaded by Nashville-style hot chicken.