When people are asked about their favorite spring vegetable, asparagus often jumps right to the top of the list. Fresh, crisp, and a bit earthy, this herbaceous perennial is beloved the world over. It’s delicious on its own as an appetizer or side dish, mixed into pastas or salads, thrown on the grill, pickled or […]

In May 2016, The Kitchen celebrates 25 years. What a milestone! It’s humbling, awesome, and a bit overwhelming to look back on, now having spent a quarter of a century as a family business here in our hometown of Sacramento. We are, from the bottom of our hearts, sincerely grateful to our guests, many of […]

“Fiddlehead” ferns are the tightly furled fronds of the fern plant and are a wild edible found across much of Northern California in the springtime. They are another telltale sign of the season that we can’t let pass by without including on a menu. Called “fiddlehead” due to their resemblance to the curved handle of […]

Nothing says springtime luxury quite like the morel mushroom. A favorite ingredient among chefs the world over, morels pop up all around Northern California from March to May. We love these flavorful fungi, and we always include them on at least one of our springtime menus at The Kitchen. Morels are small and conical, possessing […]

Globe artichokes are a perennial vegetable in the thistle group of the sunflower family. An artichoke plant can cover about six feet in diameter and grow three to four feet tall, and the “vegetable” part that we eat is actually the plant’s flower bud. Everyone enjoys boiling or steaming these beauties and enjoying the leaves […]