Make Reservations

A Tale of Three Cities, Part 2 of 3: Peaks and Valleys

The year was 1999, and the last time we checked in with Chef Kelly McCown he was riding the rising tide of the 90’s Seattle culinary scene. Fresh off a decade of learning, creating, and collecting accolades, he had taken a spontaneous detour to travel Costa Rica and around Central America for a couple months, […]

A Tale of Three Cities, Part 1 of 3: Chef Kelly in Seattle

Picture, if you will, the year is 1990. A young Chef Kelly McCown, fresh out of the California Culinary Academy, arrives in Seattle just as the grunge music scene is exploding. He has worked in some of San Francisco’s most famous kitchens, Fleur de Lys, La Folie, the high-end places young cooks aspire to cook […]

Of Farms and Forks – A Logo Story

“Innovation is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure.” Einstein The Kitchen’s Co-Founder and CFO Josh Nelson loves this quote, saying it really sums up how innovation is about creativity and chance, and that it is often illogical. However, to truly innovate, you need to […]

The Bean Counter – Josh Nelson

Selland Family Restaurants Co-Owner and CFO Josh Nelson says has been in a family business “for as long as I can remember.” He’s not exaggerating. Since Nelson was a just a kid, he and his older sister Tamera and his parents, Chefs Nancy Zimmer and Randall Selland have worked together in some capacity. Entrepreneurial, creative, […]

Sweet Corn – A Taste of Summer

Sweet summer corn evokes memories of barbeques, picnics, hot summer days, lazy evenings, the sounds of children at play, and, of course, Fourth of July celebrations. Corn, a long grain plant, has been popular as a food source since it was domesticated about 10,000 years ago by indigenous peoples in Mexico. There are six main […]

The Kitchen – A Family Recipe

Take a pinch of luck, a dash of good timing, a few cups of raw talent, and a heaping spoonful of passion and you get a mother-daughter start-up catering business that serendipitously became The Kitchen, one of the region’s most acclaimed and in-demand dining destinations for more than 25 years. Back in 1989, The Kitchen’s […]

Right Here in River City

Updated April 18th, 2017: In addition to the long-time relationships fostered and many fruits and vegetables The Kitchen has procured over the years at Del Rio Botanical, Kitchen Chef de Cuisine Allyson Harvie personally makes a trip or two a week over to the West Sacramento Farm to talk with Suzanne, survey the farm, and forage […]

Chinese Noodles in The Kitchen

Beloved the world over, noodles are the ultimate comfort food and are a staple in Chinese cooking and culture. Although the origin of the noodle is somewhat debatable, with the Italians, Arabs and Chinese all laying a claim, the earliest written record of noodles is from a book dated to the Han dynasty in China […]

Fried Green Tomatoes

Sacramento is renowned for its abundant harvest of some of the most juicy, flavorful and delicious varieties of tomatoes of all kinds that you’ve ever tasted. But sometimes when the local tomato farmers and chefs see the lovely under ripe green tomatoes hanging from the vine, they can’t help but to make like a Southerner […]

“When Randall Met Nancy” – A Love Story of Art and Food

The year was 1975. A young woman in her 20’s, who had been cooking all her life and was well known by friends and family for her culinary talents and a knack for entertaining, named Nancy Zimmer, was living in Sacramento. She was a single mom with her two young kids, Tamera and Josh, making […]

Life is Just a Bowl of Berries

A note to our readers, friends and guests: Our long-time friend and local farmer Patrick Hoover, on whom the following blog post focuses, passed away suddenly in early October this year. This blog post was originally written in May of 2016, and we wanted to bring it to your attention again as a tribute to a wonderful […]

Asparagus – A Sacramento Springtime Favorite

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 […]