Ella Again

Ella
1131 K Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-443-3772
http://www.elladiningroomandbar.com/

The Sacramento Bee has brief blurb about Ella in their dining section:

"In the heart of Downtown, the family behind The Kitchen and Selland's Market Café brings you the region’s most anticipated new dining destination, Ella Dining Room and Bar. Ella offers warm, welcoming ambiance in an inspiring space that evokes effortless European rustic luxury. Our design team from Amsterdam has created an environment that is visionary yet timeless, dramatic yet comforting. Ella brings together the finest quality ingredients from this bountiful region and all over the world to create authentic and honest fine food that will nourish body and soul. Celebrated Chef and Owner Randall Selland welcomes you into his home, where you can savor the joys of friends, family, and great food and wine. Service is earnest, gracious and refined. Ella has signature handcrafted cocktails, an eclectic and impressive wine list, and a fresh seafood Raw Bar. Perfect for business lunches, celebrations, and everyday. Walking distance from Convention Center, Capital, theaters, and hotels.

Executive chef: Randall Selland"

The concept is the sharing of small and large plates family style so everyone gets to taste a wider array of the deliciousness. There are so many wonderful things on the menu it is tough to know where to start, and a first time diner should be willing to take some guidance from their server.

The Friday after Thanksgiving we decided to reward my hard-working, hard-cooking mom for all her efforts by treating her to Ella.

Now among her peers, Ella has a reputation for poor service for some reason. Most of her co-workers go here for lunch on a work day, her office being just a few blocks away, walking distance really. We, however, had an amazing experience here last spring on the night of out 10th anniversary. I have been dying to go back ever since. Fortunately for us, who should greet us as we walked in the door but Steven our waiter from last time. One of the best servers I have had the pleasure of spending time with. He treated us well and made sure we had everything we needed, that our courses came in the right order and the food pairings were well balanced.

We started with the oysters! D, the oyster newb, has fallen head first down the oyster rabbit hole. He now wants to start with oysters everywhere we go. Tonight Ella was featuring Beau Soleil, tiny beautiful oysters, and even Mom tucked into to a few of these. I am so proud.


We sipped at a half bottle of pink champagne with our oysters and starters. Nicolas Feuillate Brut Rose, one of my faves.

I love the attention to detail at Ella. From the pics it seems really fancy-pants. But you would be equally comfy here in jeans and a nice top as you would be hosting a formal event.


Next out were the meatballs. Probably my favorite dish of the night. Beef, pork and prosciutto meatballs with garlic herbs and crushed rec chili pepper flakes.


The perfect balance of meats, herbs and spices with just a little tomato sauce to add some wetness to the texture. These were roasted in the oven to give the balls a nice crustiness, and a sheep's milk ricotta balanced out the acidity of the sauce.


Next we shared a pasta course. Typically D prefers a red sauce, but Steven heartily endorsed the papparedelle with a poached egg, crispy prosciutto and a lemon butter sauce.


He hand mixed the wide housemade ribbons right at out table.


This was truly sublime. Buttery and rich, yet split between three people did not overpower the senses nor our appetites.

Delicious.


For the next course we shared a short rib on pureed sweet potatoes.

I always love a short rib, and I loved sharing this one with three people so we had plenty of room to indulge in the chef's veggies. Steven suggested we pair the luxurious fattiness of the meat and the richness of the sweet potatoes with the bitterness of a broccoli rabe.


Again, we taste crushed red chili pepper flakes, garlic and Parmesan cheese, a classic preparation.

After we finished the champagne we moved onto a Pinot Noir. The boys chose one from the Santa Lucia Highlands that was perfect. With such a run on overly cold red wines recently, it was refreshing to be served a red wine at the correct just slightly cooler than room temperature temp.

I asked for it to be decanted because I am just that god damned fancy.

Nom.

The last course of the evening was a cod special. I think that is what it was, and since it is not on the menu I cannot reference. However, it was stuffed with crab and accompanied by a few hearty gnocchi.


Just beautiful.

And the last veg was Brussels sprouts with bacon. Oven roasted to perfection, soft on the outside with maybe a trace of caramelization, and firm on the inside.

I have become fascinated with taking pics of bathrooms. I think this started with the bathroom pics last summer in the chaotic Cha Cha room in Echo-Lake.

I have even considered starting a second blog, a bathroom blog.


I toy with the idea.

We had a lovely time and a perfect end to a perfect holiday. Thank you Steve and Ella.

An Anniversary at Ella in Sacramento

Randall Selland is a much needed culinary maverick in Sacramento, Ca. He initially opened the wonderful Selland's market on H Street between mid-town and the Sac State neighborhoods. Selland's has a gourmet deli with reliably delicious prepared foods, a small grocery section and a small but impressive boutique wine shop.

http://www.thekitchenrestaurant.com/sellands/index.html

Next, he spearheaded the opening of The Kitchen restaurant on Hurley Ave. The Kitchen offers demonstration dinners, with only one seating a night serving a maximum of 50 people. The Kitchen is renowned for the quality of its ingredients, the execution of its menu and the attentive and personal service. It is now considered to be the best restaurant on Sacramento, and high on the list of destination restaurant in all of California.

http://www.thekitchenrestaurant.com/dinner/index.html



To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the night we met, the Dear Husband (DH) and I decided to dine at Ella, the third star on Selland's expanding constellation of exciting offerings in Sacramento. Ella is located downtown in the least seediest section of rundown K Street mall, right around the corner from both of Sacramento's nicest hotels, the Hyatt and the Sheraton Grand. Because I knew I was going to be in town on business for an entire week around this special date, I made the reservations more than a month in advance. We were so much more than not disappointed.



The atmosphere and decor of Ella is a cross between a Parisian Street market and the lobby of the Delano hotel in South Beach, Miami. Sheer white curtains hang from the ceiling, imparting a fresh breeziness to the open room and high ceilings.



The upper walls and ceilings are covered in purposefully shabby shutters of various dark shades. Large, stacked work tables at various places are covered with baskets of cutlery, piles of linen, and glass jars of lovely white flowers. We dined close to one of the worktables, and the heady smell of stock was a lovely late-springtime influence on the atmosphere.



To start our meal, we shared halibut, shrimp and scallop ceviche with wild arugula and yucca chips. Wonderful, light and acidic just the way a ceviche should be and well balanced by the sweet starchiness of the yucca chips. You don't see any yucca chips because the DH inhaled them.



The grilled calamari with garlic marinade and potato radicchio salad followed. The squid had some nice spice on the outside which made them ever so slightly spicy, and the potato salad was very very simple. You could really taste the potato, they were not drowned in a vinegary sauce or a heavy mayo. And the dish had a perfect tube to tentacle ratio on the plate.



On to the main event! If there is ever a side dish of artichokes anywhere near a restaurant I am eating in, I must have them. I must. I ♥ artichokes! And this side dish was delectable. Baby spring artichokes with monte olive oil, garlic, thyme and basil. There was some foam. In any restaurant worth its salt these days, there is foam. Foamy, foamy foam.



For a main curse, DH ordered the beautiful halibut. This halibut was served pan roasted with a nice crispiness, with giant rock shrimp, dill and English pea tortellini. This was just a wonderful combination of flavors and textures. I liked it very much.



I ordered the Petaluma chicken breast. I know the rule of thumb when eating at a restaurant known for stellar cuisine is to NOT order chicken. But, but, but. I love chicken. And our waiter assured me the chicken here is a sleeper hit, cooked sous vide with fava beans, English peas and wild mushrooms. It was tender, it was juicy, the accompaniments were yummy. It tasted just like chicken. Good chicken.



If you have been following my blog, you have know that I have recently eaten in some great restaurants with mixed reviews. Some important element has gone awry the last few times. Happily, Ella was firing on all cylinders. The food was breathtaking and the service could not have been more perfect. Our waiter was attentive and amusing but not overly present. He timed each course to perfection and kept the champagne ice cold and the glasses just full enough. I wish I remembered his name because I would like to write a letter to the manager telling them what great job he did and how much I enjoyed his service. It was truly a perfect evening in every way.

And the Lakers won. It doesn't get better than this.