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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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.

Leading With Energy
SMUD CEO and General Manager Paul Lau on reaching zero carbon emissions by 2030
Comstock’s spoke to Lau about leading the country’s sixth-largest community-owned electric utility and about his plan to reach zero carbon emissions within 10 years.

Neighborhood Favorite: South Area Market
Neighborhood Favorite is a new monthly web column that profiles
independent restaurants around the Capital Region to showcase the
diversity and resilience of our local food entrepreneurs. In the
first installment, we visit one of Sacramento’s longest-standing
Lao restaurants.

Our Top Stories of 2020
Look back on 2020 with a list of our top-read stories and our editors’ favorites.

Brand of Brothers
Jonathan and Matthew Burgess are rebuilding a family legacy — and helping other food entrepreneurs start their own
As they talk up their brands from Cambridge to Nashville, the
brothers are working to build generational wealth for their
families — and to reclaim the value that might once have been
associated with the Burgess name.

Bridging the Digital Divide
Sacramento funds free tech-training programs for workers displaced by the pandemic
The City of Sacramento is banking on the relative health of the technology sector and other insulated fields to help displaced workers get back on their feet.

Pellet Pitchers
Family business close-up: Knotty Wood Barbecue Company invents a new use for old almond trees
Tens of thousands of acres of almond orchards are pulled up each
year in California. Knotty Wood is out to put those trees to
better use.

Workforce Woes
Women have been hit harder by the coronavirus pandemic
In September, women made up 80 percent of the people who dropped out of the workforce. We asked the first female president and CEO of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce about the reasons behind the discrepancy.

Great Expectations at UC Davis
University announces a $2 billion fundraising campaign
A wide range of projects and initiatives on and off the Davis campus are set to be funded by the campaign, called Expect Greater: From UC Davis. For the World.

Community Connections
Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Cathy Rodriguez Aguirre on the resiliency of the Latino business community
Comstock’s spoke with Rodriguez Aguirre about SHCC and how it has worked to meet the needs of its members during the pandemic.

Status Check: Culinerdy Cruzer Heads East
Food truck founders Keith and Amy Breedlove plan to open a restaurant in Oklahoma
Culinerdy Cruzer, which was part of Sacramento’s first wave of gourmet food trucks when it opened in 2014, is hitting the highway next month.

Resetting in Historic Folsom
The return of dining is important to the vitality of Sutter Street — but challenges exist
Folsom’s Sutter Street banks on its dining options to draw foot traffic. Now, the community is working to lift restaurants out of record-breaking lows.

Emerging Leaders: Chelsea Minor
We honor 10 young professionals who have made a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic
Chelsea Minor has spent the months of the coronavirus pandemic ensuring that customers are informed about new measures and adaptations at the 126 supermarket locations that Raley’s operates.

Emerging Leaders: Lisandro Madrigal
We honor 10 young professionals who have made a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic
Lisandro Madrigal knew 2020 would be a landmark year for Chando’s Enterprises, the Mexican restaurant group he started in 2010. But after dining rooms closed in March, every taco, burrito and mulita had to be packaged to go.

A Kick-Start for Startups
Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Executive Director Cameron Law on entrepreneurship and its role in the recovery
Comstock’s spoke with Law about the ways both the center and the local entrepreneurial scene are evolving in the face of a crisis.

Prepping for Success
Meal prep delivery services thrive in the Capital Region
In the Capital Region, a homegrown meal prep market has been thriving for years. There are more than a dozen meal prep services in the region, ranging from the home-based and dubiously legal to nationally distributed brands.

Business as Usual in Homebuilding
Construction workers are considered ‘essential’ in California’s shelter-in-place order
Across the Capital Region, construction continues as usual on housing, infrastructure and other projects, even as workers in other sectors shelter at home.

Follow Her Lead: Raksmey Arun Roeum-Castleman
As the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we profile 19 leaders in the Capital Region
Raksmey Roeum-Castleman, administrator at Telecare Corporation, oversees 25 employees in three health care programs at Telecare, teaches health, kickboxing and yoga at San Joaquin Delta College and collaborates with Southeast Asian advocacy organizations around the country.

Repackaging Food Ideas
Davis sets ambitious goals for the future of its food system
In May 2019, the Davis City Council approved the “Food and Economic Development (FED) in Davis” report that urges the city to rethink its relationship with food.

Follow Her Lead: Olivia Kasirye
As the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we profile 19 leaders in the Capital Region
Olivia Kasirye, public health officer of Sacramento County, is often called on to be a stable figure at the center of a crisis.
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Liquid Gold
Placer Valley is home to awarding-winning craft beer breweries — and goat yoga
Placer Valley is classic Gold Country, named for the gold-bearing deposits that run beneath its rivers. Today, there’s another kind of gold flowing through the Valley: craft beer.

Follow Her Lead: Molly Hawks
As the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we profile 19 leaders in the Capital Region
Molly Hawks, chef and co-owner of Hawks and Hawks Provisions and Public House, led a high-end restaurant to success in the midst of the Great Recession.

Follow Her Lead: Karen Bond
As the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we profile 19 leaders in the Capital Region
“If customers believe that you’re passionate about what you’re doing, they feel it,” says Karen Bond, CEO and cofounder of the medical technology company Cedaron.

Follow Her Lead: Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
As the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we profile 19 leaders in the Capital Region
“I do bills that are tough, and I’m not doing the ones that you see on the front page of the papers,” says California Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who has authored or co-authored 49 bills.

Young Entrepreneurs Are Staking Claims in the Countryside
Since the Industrial Revolution, the myth of the American Dream has centered around cities. As the story goes, the most promising rural youth leave their hinterland homes to seek their fortunes in the metropolis, perhaps never to return.
Part of this month’s Rural Living series
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Five Mistakes to Avoid When Planning Your Estate
“No estate plan is bulletproof,” says Michael Hackard, founder of the Mather- based firm Hackard Law, which specializes in estate, trust and probate litigation. In more than 40 years of practice, he’s seen the gamut of gaps in plans: Some are big enough for self-servers to worm through, while others let assets bleed out.

Incubating Ideas, Hatching Success
Alchemist Microenterprise Academy graduates its first cohort of food entrepreneurs
Operated by a local nonprofit, the Alchemist Microenterprise Academy is a business training course geared toward food entrepreneurs from underserved communities.
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It’s OK to Be Not OK
How employers can support mental health at work
At some point in their lives, about half of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental health disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And those issues don’t go away just because they have to clock in at work.

Buzzwords: Disruptor
A company, technology, good or service that is so innovative and widely adopted it disrupts an existing market
In ordinary English, “disruptor” might conjure up images of a kid acting out in class, or someone holding up traffic. Among the startup set, though, disruptor has become one of the highest compliments one can receive — or give to oneself.

Growing Up, Not Selling Out
Even the founders of Kiki’s Chicken Place, Sacramento’s latest temple to the twin gods of tenders and wings, are surprised by how fast their chain has spread.

Designing the Future
Sacramento designers transform architectural materials into future-forward fashion at the International Interior Design Association Northern California Chapter Merge Fashion Show
Outside the Hyatt Regency in downtown Sacramento, tower cranes rise above the skyline, harbingers of the city’s burgeoning building boom. Inside, the designers who are determining the new face of our city took to the runway to envision our future through fashion.

Riding Their Rye
How four women are turning the Legado Whiskey passion project into an international brand
Though Legado Whiskey is a dark American rye, the company is as unaged as moonshine. The owners have leveraged their story — homegrown, women-owned — to reach consumers around the Capital Region, a key strategy in the crowded craft beverage market.

For Food Trucks, a Road to Success
Sacramento food truck owners graduate from nomadic life to traditional brick-and-mortar dwellings
Across the Sacramento region, food truck owners are riding their mobile success into more stationary ventures, from sit-down restaurants like Culinerdy Kitchen to food-court outposts and drive-through kiosks.

Nash & Proper Puts a Sacramento Spin on Nashville Hot Chicken
A “sammich” from the Nash & Proper food truck is not merely a sandwich; it’s a feat of engineering. There’s intent behind every stratum of the structure, from the coarse-cut slaw that props up the top bun to the pickles laid carefully on the bottom so they hit your tongue first.

Three New Restaurants Reach Back to Owners’ Roots
Sacramento is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country, and the metropolitan area’s dining scene is just as varied, due to local chefs and restaurateurs who recognize the connective power of the table.

Foodie Incubator Coming to Sacramento
The Food Factory founders aim to set up shop in Alkali Flat by 2020
Sacramento is on track to get a dedicated makerspace for food entrepreneurs who want to launch and scale their brands.

The Best of Both Worlds
Sacramento restaurants look to capture meat-loving and vegan diners with one menu
How are Sacramento’s restaurateurs appealing to new diet preferences?

A Taste of Oaxaca
Mezcalito Oaxacan Cuisine shares regional Mexican culture with Sacramento diners
At Mezcalito Oaxacan Cuisine in Rocklin, the mole takes two days and nearly two dozen ingredients to complete. The recipe reads like a catalog of the Mexican state of Oaxaca’s agricultural bounty: plantains, green apples and raisins; warm spices and half a dozen kinds of chiles; a liberal dose of sparsely-sweetened chocolate.

How Stroopwafels Helped Sacramento Legalize Food Bikes
Dutchman’s Stroopwafels may be the first business to cook on a bicycle in Sacramento, but local entrepreneurs have been finding creative ways to combine the area’s twin passions for cuisine and cycles for decades.

Sacramento Looks to Expand Mobile Food Codes to Support Sidewalk Vendors
Sacramento’s effort to expand mobile food codes is part of a statewide push to legitimize California’s long tradition of sidewalk vending.

How the Entrepreneurs Behind Cru Chocolate Built their Cottage Food Business
While a cottage food career comes with plenty of challenges, Karla McNeil-Rueda has leveraged it as an opportunity to create her own vision of success.