The 65,000-square-foot tasting room formerly owned by Renwood is now operated by Rombauer, the family-owned winery based in Napa County best known for its chardonnay.

When Lucky Rodrigues drove by the storefront at 703 19th St. in Sacramento, he knew he had his work cut out for him. The two-story Victorian, constructed in 1900, according to Sacramento County assessor records, boasts something noticeable to anyone who’s been around the central city grid: space in front for a small convenience market.

Half of the rice grown in California goes to the U.S. and Canada; the other half is exported to Japan and 30 other countries, including South Korea, Taiwan and Jordan. Now China, the largest consumer of rice in the world, joins that group.

PairAnything, run by an eight-person team, won the $10,000 Food + Agriculture Sector Award at the 2019 Big Bang Business Competition at UC Davis.

The walls of Conscious Creamery’s commercial kitchen in Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood are lined with stainless steel freezers, constantly humming loud and keeping chef Andrea Seppinni’s plant-based gelato frozen. 

She was the owner and host of Biba, the guiding force behind the menu, and, in those roles, she was everybody’s favorite Italian mamma. Free of gimmicks and trends, Biba was not trying to be edgy or innovative. The kitchen did things the right way — use excellent ingredients and classic technique while paying attention to all the little things from start to finish.

New beer releases at top-notch craft breweries usually come with plenty of fanfare, attracting the connoisseurs and the curious. In some cases, lines form hours before the beer goes on sale.

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.

Prior to 2019, the California Retail Food Code had strict limits on which facilities could store, package and serve food at the retail level. These restrictions were put in place for health and sanitation purposes.

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.