Jennifer Fergesen is senior editor for Comstock’s magazine. She writes about food for publications around the world and has received awards for her reporting on the restaurants of the global Filipino diaspora. See her work at jcfrgsn.journoportfolio.com and globalcarinderia.com.
By this person
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/timeline.png?1719951297)
Where We’ve Been
A timeline of notable events in the Capital Region over the past 35 years
Comstock’s magazine has lived through more than three decades of milestones in the Capital Region. We dived into the stacks and reached out to local experts, including State Historian William Burg and City Historian Marcia Eymann, to highlight a few key moments we’ve made it through.
![Joaquin Razo is Blue Zones projects solutions lead, Metro EDGE chair and United Way California Capital Region vice chair. (Photos by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/razo.png?1717630388)
Young Professionals: Joaquin Razo
Meet the emerging leaders who envision a bright future for the Capital Region
As project solutions lead at Blue Zones, Joaquin Razo is working to bring the way of life of the world’s longest-lived communities to his home city.
![Against the background of the Capitol building, an information stand displays the event's signature poster. (Photos by Joe Perfecto)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_l3a6899_copy.jpg?1710880220)
Crescent City Comes to the Capital
The third annual City of Trees parade brings Mardi Gras vibes to Sacramento
Earlier this month, downtown Sacramento looked a little more like the Big Easy for the City of Trees Parade: one of the biggest Mardi Gras events west of the Mississippi.
![(Photo by Glynns Thomas)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/mirtha.png?1710191935)
Women in Leadership: Mirtha Villarreal-Younger
Our annual salute to women at the top of their field
Born in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, to parents from Durango, Mexico, she says the military was the first place she felt like “your background, what you look like, what neighborhood you lived in” didn’t matter.
![Phil Oates is chairman of the board of the Buzz Oates Group. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0623_dept_icon_0.png?1703889394)
Our Top Stories of 2023
From an in-depth interview with one of the region’s most influential multimillionaires to a lingering look at the region’s first Maltese food business, here are our most-read stories of the year.
![Denene, Ralph and Andrew Lucchetti grow peaches and other fruit on the 1860s-era ranch that Ralph’s parents bought in 1945. (Photos by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_mg_8965.png?1696439756)
A Piece of the Pie
Family business spotlight: The Fruit Bowl has been providing peaches and more to Stockton for 76 years
Over the course of summer and the first weeks of fall, over 60 varieties of peaches and nectarines pass through The Fruit Bowl, a 76-year-old produce stand on the rural outskirts of Stockton.
![Pila Kava sells its kava-based beverage in a variety of flavors, featuring teas from Sacramento’s Classy Hippie Tea Co. (Photos by Debbie Cunningham)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/dsc_8240_f.png?1691694589)
The Kava Capital
Sacramento has a thriving kava scene. Will newcomer Pila Kava offer something new?
The first sip of Pila Kava hits like a low dose of novocaine, numbness spreading across the surface of the tongue. This soon fades into a background hum as the flavors bloom. The first note is the earth and spice of the kava itself — the root of a pepper variety native to the South Pacific.
![Lauren Oto oversees marketing and communications for both the CalAsian Chamber of Commerce, an organization representing Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned businesses around the state, and the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, which centers its efforts on the Capital Region. (Photos by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/oto_lead.png?1689278662)
Young Professionals: Lauren Oto
Meet the 10 young professionals who are rocking it in their careers and community
Oto oversees marketing and communications for both the CalAsian Chamber of Commerce, an organization representing Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned businesses around the state, and the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, which centers its efforts on the Capital Region.
![Judy Farah's 2022 story on local wildlife rescues won first place feature in CNPA's "Best of the Best" open contest, which pits small publications like Comstock's with the state's biggest newspapers and magazines. (Photo courtesy of UC Davis)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/uc_davis_jamie_peyton_examines_mtn_lion_from_2020bobcatfire_c_cdfw_1.png?1684942549)
Comstock’s Magazine Wins First Place for General Excellence in the California Journalism Awards
Plus first place feature story in the open contest, both first and second place for environmental reporting, and more
Comstock’s 2022 stories, designs, photographs and illustrations won 12 California Journalism Awards, including seven in first place.
![Clockwise from top left: Loobia polo, sturgeon kebab, tahdig, chicken kebab, koobideh and ash-e-reshteh are on the menu at Stand Up Kabob. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/spread_2.png?1684877758)
Neighborhood Favorite: Stand Up Kabob
A Persian restaurant at a Davis car dealership aims to support the Iranian women’s revolution
There are many clues that Stand Up Kabob, a Persian restaurant
literally welded onto the side of a used car dealership on the
outskirts of Davis, is no ordinary kebab shop.
![A mural of Betty Inada by artist Shaun Burner is painted on the side of the Bryant Christie offices in Midtown Sacramento. (Photo by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0523_blog_inada.png?1684295157)
A Japantown Jazz Star Comes Home
1936 film starring Sacramento-born singer Betty Inada is screened in Sacramento
Betty Inada, a Japanese American jazz singer born in Sacramento in 1913, sought fame in Japan in a time when American screens and stages had little space for Asian women.
![N’Gina Guyton, the latest chef to take over storied Sacramento diner Jim-Denny’s, plans to bring a more “elevated” and intimate experience to the 90-year-old restaurant. (Photos by Andrew Calisterio)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_calisterio-3__final.png?1683645996)
The Next Best Thing
Chef N’Gina Guyton, formerly of South, reopens Sacramento institution Jim-Denny’s while building her own brand
When the restaurant opens in late spring, you will still be able to get a chili dog or a hamburger griddled to a dark sear on the flat top grill. But you can also order a hot dog called a “Catalina wine mixer”: chicken based and topped with kale, avocado and pungent garlic-anchovy mayonnaise.
![The ceremonial coffee at Kind Bean Cafe and Ethiopian Cuisine in Arden Arcade is served in an earthenware vessel called a jebena. (Photos by Nolan Wong)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/ceremony.png?1682365147)
Neighborhood Favorite: Kind Bean Cafe and Ethiopian Cuisine
This cafe serves ceremonial Ethiopian coffee — and breakfast burritos
The coffee ceremony at Kind Bean Cafe and Ethiopian Cuisine
unfolds like a sacrament, each tool imbued with significance like
objects on an altar. The beans, roasted and ground throughout the
day, steep in a jebena, an ebony-colored earthenware vessel
developed more than 800 years ago.
![(Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/beckyjohnson.png?1678316583)
Women in Leadership: Becky Johnson
Our annual salute to extraordinary women breaking barriers and rising to the top
As tribal administrator of the United Auburn Indian Community, Becky Johnson provides recommendations and implements decisions relating to programs such as the tribal school, social services, and cultural and historic preservation.
![Pastizzi with center seams are traditionally filled with ricotta cheese. (Photos by Joe Perfecto)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0223_pastizzi_perfecto.png?1677624692)
Neighborhood Favorite: For the Love of Malta
Maltese pastizzi comes in two classical forms, delineated by how the finely fissile pastry — laminated with both butter and lard — folds around its savory filling. Shell-shaped pastizzi, clamped tight like clams at low tide, conceal peas cooked to their melting point and spiced with a subtle curry that’s more English (Malta’s most recent colonizers) than Indian.
![Chef Billy Ngo of Kru hosts weekly omakase sessions for a maximum of five people. (Photo by Katie Karns)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/kru-17.png?1676402564)
Trust the Sushi Chef
Local chefs bring high-end omakase tradition to the Capital Region
From Japanese, omakase translates roughly to “I leave it up to you.” It is a covenant in which the diner cedes all decision-making power to the chef.
![Delcy Steffy, right shows off her citrus salad with fennel and avocado, while daughter Elinor displays a Caribbean combo plate of Cuban chicken stew, saffron rice, Cuban black beans and avocado salad. (Photos by Joe Perfecto)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_n0a4411.png?1675215276)
Neighborhood Favorite: Good Things to Eat
A mother-daughter team explore the cuisines of their heritage
With Good Things to Eat, Delcy and Elinor Steffy explore the cuisines of their heritage, including African American, Armenian, German, Hungarian and Jewish roots.
![A historic Capitol Mansions house was devastated by the storm. (Photos and captions by Nick Shockey)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_nickshockey.png?1674271519)
Taking Stock After the Storm
Photos: Atmospheric rivers damage homes and businesses across Sacramento
While the storms have abated for now, the property damage they caused will remain far after the sun returns.
![(Photo by Katy Karns)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/mag_layouts_-8_0.jpg?1672274395)
Our Top Stories of 2022
From exclusive interviews with local business leaders to a roundup of regional Mexican dishes, here are our most-read stories of the year.
![Ermias Kebreab, professor and associate dean at UC Davis, conducted the world’s first Asparagopsis trial with live cattle on the university’s feedlot. (Photo by Debbie Cunningham)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/final-3951.png?1669944272)
A Sea of Hope
Can seaweed reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of California’s dairy industry?
In the span of a year, a single cow burps up 220 pounds of methane, a powerful driver of global warming. UC Davis scientists are experimenting with a red seaweed that can dramatically reduce the methane, but the solution has a few caveats.
![Artist Diana Ormanzhi exhibited several of her paintings, including the “Protectress” series, at Twisted Track Gallery in Sacramento this month. (Photo by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_16.png?1667254689)
Art Exposed: Diana Ormanzhi
A Sacramento artist reinterprets surrealism through a feminist lens
At Twisted Track Gallery in Sacramento, which recently emerged as
a keystone of the thriving R Street art scene, one wall is
devoted to a triptych of the feminine divine.
![Ed Zuckerman, center, with his daughter, Julia, left, and son, Matthew, show off a fresh crop of potatoes at Zuckerman Family Farms’ Stockton headquarters. The family has been growing potatoes in the California Delta since the 1920s. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/zuckerman1.png?1665169652)
A Delta Legacy
Showcasing four-generation family businesses in the Capital Region
The Zuckerman family started a farming empire on a Stockton
island. Over 100 years later, they’ve branched out to several new
businesses but have stayed true to the crops that started it
all.
![Kru chef and co-owner Billy Ngo proffered shrimp and scallop nigiri, which guests took with their fingers and ate on the spot. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/billyngo.png?1664403905)
Tastes of the Past
A Farm-to-Fork Festival event pays homage to the Sacramento neighborhoods demolished in the name of urban renewal
The West End Revival, a ticketed dinner organized by the Last
Supper Society, evoked the people and businesses that were
displaced to make way for the Capitol Mall Project — a cautionary
tale for modern developers and city planners envisioning the
future of Sacramento.
![Guests line up to enter the Our Street Night Market in Midtown Sacramento on Sept. 10. (Photos courtesy of Yellow Brick Group)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/crowd.jpg?1663763851)
An Event for the People, by the People
The first Our Street Night Market since 2019 showcased Sacramento’s diversity
After the three-year pandemic hiatus, Our Street has grown into a tightly choreographed event that brings in visitors as far afield as the Bay Area. We asked Yellow Brick Group co-owner Shawn Kahan for his post-event takeaways.
![Plov and shawarma wrapped in bread or lavash are among the most popular offerings at Caravan Uzbek Cuisine. (Photos by Joe Wong)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/spread_1.png?1661902366)
Neighborhood Favorite: Caravan Uzbek Cuisine
The Capital Region gets its first Uzbek food truck
Every morning, Caravan Uzbek Cuisine co-owner Farkhod Soatov
wakes up early to make plov. The rice and meat dish, with
roots in Persian pilaf, has changed little since the days of the
Silk Road.
![Sean Doherty, co-founder of Sean Doherty Farms, sells hybrid sunflower seeds to multinational companies but says the strong dollar may send buyers elsewhere.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/ck0a0898_0.png?1659383471)
The Seeds of Conflict
How the Russian invasion of Ukraine and drought are affecting sunflower farmers in Yolo County
Yolo County’s most photogenic crop is facing a barrage of challenges, including supply issues related to the war in Ukraine, global currency volatility and drought.
![Grantee Fernando Ponce, owner of Chido’s, has a background as a late-night street food vendor, and now owns a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Natomas. (Photos by Debbie Cunningham)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_12.png?1658444436)
Street Food Offers a Road to Success
The Midtown Association’s Street Food Sacramento grant supports entrepreneurs creating an authentic taste of Sacramento
Midtown Association’s Street Food Sacramento grant
is helping to better represent the city’s
diversity in the business district and the thriving Midtown
Farmers Market.
![At the California State Fair, fairgoers can choose among more than 100 food vendors offering sweet, salty, crunchy and deep-fried favorites as well as healthy alternatives. (Photos and captions by Charles Vincent McDonald)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/image_01_3.jpg?1658445639)
Fair Food at Fair Prices
Families line up for fried pork chops, funnel cakes and other favorites at the California State Fair despite inflation
Concessions prices are higher than they were at the last California State Fair in 2019, but fairgoers are still spending money on the summer indulgences they missed.
![Vite Ramen Co-Founder Tim Zheng designed a nutritionally complete instant ramen with flavors patterned after classic Japanese ramen styles.
(Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/zheng_web.png?1658269285)
On the Fast Track: Tim Zheng
Meet 13 young professionals who are on the fast track, bringing new ideas and innovations to the Capital Region
With Vite Ramen, co-founder and CEO Tim Zheng set out
to create a nutritious instant food product. He also
manufactured it ethically and designed the recipe to be faithful
to classic Japanese ramen styles.
![Cameron Law is the executive director of the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/law_web.png?1657312312)
On the Fast Track: Cameron Law
Meet 13 young professionals who are on the fast track, bringing new ideas and innovations to the Capital Region
Law manages a team of faculty and entrepreneurs-in-residence who create programming designed to make innovation and entrepreneurship more accessible for people from all of the Capital Region’s diverse communities.
![The colors of the iconic Pride Flag and its many design variations celebrate the open-minded and inclusive, fluid diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community and beyond. (Photos by Charles Vincent McDonald)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/image_04_2.jpg?1655412367)
Sacramento Shows Its True Colors at the Sac Pride March
Local businesses and organizations demonstrate their support for the queer community
A celebration of inclusivity and diversity was on full display at the Sac Pride March, where local organizations and the businesses turned out to support the Sacramento LGBT Center and its community.
![Dr. Sukhpreet Sandhu of HM.Clause presented the $10,000 Food and Agriculture Sector Award to the Chilk team, which is creating a healthy, vegan boba milk tea. Chilk’s CEO Leo Liu (second from right) is a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry at UCLA.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/image_12_0.png?1654535247)
Startups Make a Splash at the UC Davis Big Bang Business Competition
Prizes worth more than $100,000 were distributed at the 22nd annual awards ceremony
The competition’s inventions included a medical device that detects fetuses’ oxygen levels, a machine-learning tool that analyzes livestock health and a healthy take on boba milk tea.
![Dino McCord, lead singer of Sacramento rock band Red Voodoo and guitarist Loiler, performs with his crew. (Photos and reporting by Rahul Lal)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/redvoodoo1.jpg?1652918357)
Free Concerts Return to Downtown Sacramento
A photo-forward look back on the first two Concerts in the Park
After two quiet years, concerts and music festivals are thumping through the Capital Region once again. While the COVID-19 pandemic has not ended, many are ready to see live music at outdoor venues.
![“Bumble Bee Squad,” reads the t-shirt worn by Hansine Sterken of Hawaiian Honey AT&S.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/image_16_0.jpg?1652488137)
The California Honey Festival Is Buzzing Again
After a pandemic hiatus, Woodland reprises its annual celebration of bees
The California Honey Festival returns with vendors, music and neighborhood restaurants celebrating the state’s sweetest product.
![(Illustration by Catherine Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/might-of-mycelium.png?1672249318)
The Might of Mycelium
How fungi is changing food, agriculture and the environment in the Capital Region
Companies and researchers are finding ways to use mycelium,
the vegetative body of fungi, to solve problems including
plastic waste, greenhouse gas emissions, antibiotic residue in
water supplies and more.
![Octavio Valencia is a portrait and fashion photographer. (Photo courtesy of Octavio Valencia)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/jan.blog_.artexposed.octaviovalencia_img_6198_1.jpg?1651168359)
Drawing With Light
For Sacramento Photography Month, take a look back at local photographers featured in Art Exposed
We’ve rounded up some of our previous Art Exposed interviews with photographers to learn how local artists make a living out of drawing with light.
![Tupi Coffee sources its coffee beans from Minas Gerais in Brazil, the home state of owner Eduardo Faustino. (Photos courtesy of Tupi Coffee)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_10.png?1650931206)
Neighborhood Favorite: Tupi Coffee
A Sacramento coffee shop aims to introduce Brazilian snacks to all 50 states
The Boulevard Park corner cafe serves Brazilian baked goods such as cheese bread and fried dumplings, as well as an assortment of sandwiches and beverages.
![UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May stands beside a rendering of Aggie Square during the ceremonial groundbreaking Feb. 16. (Photos and renderings courtesy of UC Davis)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/gary_may.png?1650472373)
Squaring Up With Aggie Square
As construction begins at Aggie Square in Sacramento, UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May reflects on the project’s evolution
After five years of planning, Aggie Square has broken ground in Oak Park. We chat with Chancellor May about how the project’s partners are responding to concerns and what Aggie Square aims to bring to the region.
![Meal prep company MealPro purchased the former site of Lucky Derby Casino for $3.2 million. (Photos courtesy of MealPro)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_8.png?1648745991)
Status Check: ‘COVID Bump’ Deals Meal Prep Company a Lucky Hand
Citrus Heights-based MealPro purchases former Lucky Derby Casino building
The frozen meal company expands its operations following an increase in demand for delivered food options.
![Nancy Sayavong is a Roseville-based artist whose woodworking and home renovation skills inform her art. (Photo by Jordan Benton)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_7.png?1648165894)
Art Exposed: Nancy Sayavong
The Roseville-based sculptor uses woodworking techniques for both art and remodeling
As a woodworker and metal fabricator, Nancy Sayavong uses her
training both for art and remodeling jobs. Her work is
interested in the contrast between the romantic ideal of the
home and its lived reality.
![Kristopher A. Tjernell of the Department of Water Resources garnished his roll with strips of nori. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/3_0.png?1648053356)
Lawmakers on a (California) Roll
California government leaders participate in sushi competition to promote the state’s rice industry
State government leaders take a break from making California laws to make California rolls for the Capitol Roller Competition, part of a recent summit for rice industry stakeholders.
![(Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/salazar_graphic.png?1647470237)
Women in Leadership: Gloria Salazar
Our annual salute to extraordinary women breaking barriers and rising to the top
Gloria Salazar is preparing to ride off into the sunset as she
retires from a robust career in public
transportation.
![(Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/hemly_graphic.png?1646956952)
Women in Leadership: Sarah Hemly
Our annual salute to extraordinary women breaking barriers and rising to the top
Sarah Hemly is the president of Hemly Cider, an
award-winning cider company that uses fruit from one of the
oldest family-run orchards in the Capital Region.
![Beef patties and oxtail, the latter served with rice and beans, cabbage, and fried plantains, are among the dishes available for takeout at Every Little Thing Jamaican. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/spread_0.png?1645657674)
Neighborhood Favorite: Every Little Thing Jamaican
A Suisun City grocery store and takeout business serves Caribbean nostalgia
The market-kitchen hybrid offers Afro-Caribbean favorites like jerk chicken, curry goat and oxtail.
![Smashed falafel “shwacos” and shakshouka hand pies are among the Middle Eastern fusion dishes A Part of Roseville served during its time as a cafe. (Photo by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/shwaco.png?1644869646)
The New Fusion Food
Young restaurateurs in the Capital Region are rewriting the definition of authenticity
Capital Region restaurant owners with mixed backgrounds are
channeling their points of view into creative dishes.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/untitled_0.png?1592245979)
Comstock’s Talks: The New Fusion Food
PODCAST: Young restaurateurs in the Capital Region are rewriting the definition of authenticity.
![Jajangmyeon, jjamppong and tangsuyuk are flagship dishes in Korean Chinese cuisine, served at Smile Market 2 in north Sacramento. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead-3_0.png?1643650898)
Neighborhood Favorite: Smile Market 2
The second branch of a longstanding supermarket serves Korean Chinese food
After more than 20 years selling Korean specialty items, the owners of Smile Food Market opened Smile Market 2, which serves fresh dishes like spicy seafood noodles and sweet-and-sour pork.
![According to the Business Leaders Outlook Survey, nine out of 10 business owners believe that their businesses will grow in 2022. (Shutterstock image)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/shutterstock_1436818253.png?1643400244)
A Bright Outlook
Business leaders say they expect growth in 2022
We interviewed a local banking expert about how optimistic
national trends are being reflected in the Capital Region.
![(Photo by Vanessa Labi)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/img_0859_3.jpg?1640906285)
Our Top Stories of 2021
From an homage to a burned Delta restaurant to a history of Cornish pasties, here are this year’s most-read stories.
![Clockwise from top: Iced hibiscus tea, fried plantains, okra jambalaya and “jungle beans” are among the “coastal infused” dishes at Chulla’s Cafe in North Highlands, which takes influences from West African, Latin American and other cuisines. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_2.png?1640722072)
Neighborhood Favorite: Chulla’s Cafe
A political-scientist-turned-restaurateur brings a globalist approach to African fusion
The Chulla’s Cafe menu borrows influences from African,
Asian, Latin American, South European and Pacific coastal
regions.