By admin 
Restaurants, bars, and grocery stores around East Sacramento are offering discounts to visitors as part of the “Savor East Sac” campaign that runs until Aug. 2.
Read more Sacramento may have missed its last, best chance to fix crumbling roads | Opinion
The 10-day program, which began July 24, is a project of the East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. According to the Chamber’s website, “the event encourages residents and visitors to explore new spots, support neighborhood favorites, and take advantage of exclusive specials.”
There are 33 businesses participating, and the deals range from drink discounts and dinner specials to free swag.
To kick off the start of Savor East Sac, the Chamber of Commerce hosted their second annual Chef’s Challenge competition Friday at the Cannery Place on Alhambra Boulevard.
At the competitions, chefs from restaurants within and around East Sacramento compete for the title of the area’s top chef. Last year, the winner was Rafi Salmeron, the head chef of Cervecería by Urban Roots.
This year, six chefs participated in the competition, along with Salmeron. They included Mike Fagnoni, the chef and owner of Hawks Provisions & Public House, Wongworaman Jankheun, the executive chef of THAI – The House of Authentic Ingredients, John Nunn of Zelda’s Original Gourmet Pizza, and competing as a duo, Rafa Jimenez Rivera and Sal Gutierrez of Chów by SacYard.
East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce president Heather Pearce told the Sacramento Bee that Chamber of Commerce members don’t actually have to be located in East Sacramento, citing Zelda’s as an example. “You just have to want to help support the community,” she said.
In the weeks leading up to the competition, the chefs chose at least three ingredients from a list of local and seasonal products to incorporate into their dishes.
Read more Mega Millons jackpot climbs to $800 million as Powerball prize also rises
The meals included peppercorn-crusted pork loin with fresh polenta, grilled vegetables, and peaches, sweet corn agnolotti with zucchini-basil purée, pesto rice with grilled chicken, a pepper-peach red curry sauce, and edible flowers, grilled skirt steak with chimichurri, and sumac-crusted pork served with seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Peaches, peppers, and pork featured large in several of the dishes. That could only be expected from a blind tasting like this, where chefs themselves didn’t know what the others would cook, said Cervecería by Urban Roots general manager Dan Fraticelli. “Last year, everybody did fish.”
During the event, the chefs finished preparing each of the five courses in a room separate from the crowd, sending out plates anonymously. With paper ballots and stubby pencils, the diners then voted for their favorites.
During the meal, Pearce told the crowd the purpose of the 10-day Savor East Sac event. “This time of year tends to be slower for the food and drink industry,” she said. “So we want to help out our participants.”
Chef Fagnoni of Hawks Provisions and Public House took home the Top Chef title. His dish was the sweet corn agnolotti, a corn-filled pasta that he described as “a ravioli with a scoop on the front.”
“We love working with pasta,” Fagnoni told the crowd after his win. The combo of fresh corn, local vegetables, and herbs “just all made sense seasonally.”
Read more Sacramento County woman third confirmed death in San Francisco Bay boat capsizing