Mason's Restaurant

Mason's Restaurant
1116 15th St
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 492-1960
www.theparkdowntown.com

amuse bouche
I think the dough was pate a choux with stuff with a little Point Reyes blue cheese topped with a jam/jelly. It was a nice little bite of creaminess and saltiness form the cheese that matched well with the sweet topping.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup:
It was wet and rainy when we ate here a few weeks ago. A nice bowl of soup always hits the spot on nights like these. It was a luxuriously creamy, velvety and simple.

Grilled Niman Ranch Dry Aged Ribeye:
Ah, the good old ribeye, my favorite cut of beef for steak. This was my second choice since my partner ordered the cassoulet. The meat was buttery and cooked to my requested temperature of medium rare. The salsa was a little strong, so I just scapped most of it off since a litttle went a long way. The polenta was good, but not as creamy as I would have liked it and the rabe was crunchy and made me feel a little less guilty of eating red meat.

The Park Cassoulet
Duck confit, duck sausage, and pork belly, what more do you need? OK maybe a little foie, black truffle and caviar might make it sound better, but not necessarily taast better. The duck confit was good. How good? My partner ate all of it before I could even ask to get a sample. The sausage was tasty and the beans were good. The only thing was that the bread crumb crust was a little overseasoned.

Spiced Chocolate Almond Cake
It was tough deciding between this and the molten cake. When it arrived at our table, the almond cake was a little molten anyway so I do not think we missed out. The almond flavor was definitely there, but not overpowering. The cherries and gelato provided a nice textural and temperature contrast. The one thing that could be improved upon is to give me more next time!

This is the fourth or fifth time I have been to Mason's in the last year and I have had all good meals there. A few little tweaks here and there, it would have been almost a great meal. The one thing I do not like about Mason's is their off the shelf, room temperature bread. It's not the best way to start a meal there.

Edible Crawl for a Cure

Edible Crawl for a Cure is a gourmet food and pub crawl through more than a dozen, primarily independent Downtown and Midtown microbreweries, wine bars, restaurants, and coffee houses. An anticipated 1,500 crawlers will participate in this "Fun-Raiser" for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which funds research and care centers (including UC Davis and Sutter hospitals locally) to fight CF and care for the more than 30,000 in the US that have cystic fibrosis. The goal is to raise awareness of this genetic disease of the lungs and digestive system that currently has no cure, to focus on bringing research dollars to the Sacramento chapter of CFF, and to enjoy an amazing walk across the Central City. The event is the brainchild of midtowngrid.com and the Sacramento Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Brew it up!

Irish Amber: Lightly hopped and with just a touch of roasted malt flavor, this smooth bodied
Irish style amber ale is a year-round favorite

Azul served sopes, quesadillas, and taquitos and their Jamaica Margarita

The L Wine Lounge served thin crust pizza and sangria

Butch and Nellie's served chocolate mint chip gelato. It was pretty good so we decided to try their vanilla chocolate mix.

The Buckhorn Grill served a mini version of their tri tip sandwich, Yik Yak salad and a 2006 Sycamore Lane Cabernet.

Old Soul served a variety of finger food; olive, blue cheese, artichole crostini, macaroons, brittle and three types of coffee

Bistro 33 served Yellow Label Sparkling Wine or Samuel Adams Octoberfest Beer and a cold and flavorless pork taco.

Mason's gourmet Mac and Cheese

Zocalo served tequila, bloack bean empanadas and a veggie quesedilla.

Sanad's Mediterranean Deli

This was a fun event. The weather was perfect, the company was good and the drinks aplenty. I even got to meet a few fellow bloggers:

http://munchie-musings.blogspot.com/

http://justeileenandsue.blogspot.com/

Cafe Rolle

Cafe Rolle
5357 H Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-3544
(916) 455-9140
caferolle.com

Chilled Foie Gras served with baguette.
Chef Rolle’s Foie Gras is made from the same recipe that has made his father’s shop known for having the best Foie Gras in Lyon!

Two huge slices of foie gras. It was rich and buttery, had a meaty texture, and for me hard to describe the taste. It was good. It is like trying to describe butter. Do you know anyone who would argue that butter does not taste good? I think not.

Hot Brie and Salmon Sandwich
Melted brie cheese on smoked and cooked, Gravloks style or poached salmon with spring mix, with dill crème fraiche

This was a great sandwich. The bread was crust was crunchy on the outside and the inside of the bread was warm and tender. The salmon was flavorful, the brie provided another textural contrast and creaminess and the dill creme fraiche tied everything together. It was served with a mixed green salad with, I think, a Dijon mustard vinaigrette.

Chocolate and toffee Crème Brûlée

Of the crème brûlées that I have eaten, this was the first one with a caramelized sugar top that actually made the cracking sound as I broke through the top. The chocolate crème was subtle with little bursts of chocolate and toffee dispersed throughout. Very nice way to end the meal.



Overall, I had a very good lunch and will return for dinner. If you have time check out some of the books they have laying around. Apparently Chef William Rolle's father knows Chef Paul Bocuse and they even mention Sacramento in one of the books.