Caverna Fifty-Seven, a new business offering climate-controlled wine storage, is set to open next month at 836 57th St. in East Sacramento. Originally a coal and wood supplier in the 1940s, the property was later a house, and last October, the upstairs was opened as executive offices. “The wine locker area is just finishing up,” said Faith Lane, manager of operations and client services for Caverna Fifty-Seven. “It’s been a project of about two years, and I think the attention to detail is really paying off.” Those details include an arched entryway dominated by stonework, a faux arched wooden doorway as an accent and a fountain designed to lend ambiance to the outdoor patio, which incl

Salon Cuvée and Day Spa hosted “Joy and Refresh” an evening of indulgence, fashion and fun. The Wednesday, March 21 event was held in partnership with various local East Sacramento businesses including Article Consignment Boutique. Guests were treated to massages, hairstyling, art, music, wine tasting and a fashion show. Renowned for their talented team, Salon Cuvée offers incredible services at a great location. The salon has been serving its clientele since 1997 and owner Brenna Mekow was on hand to welcome guests and introduced other local merchants. Abe Sanchez, Owner/Partner at Article Consignment Boutique also addressed the audience after the fashion show. The fashion show inclu

The local Two Rivers Cider Company recently delved into offering sour ciders, and the newest Two Rivers Sour Apple Cider was released Friday. Hot City Pizza in East Sacramento will stock the cider this weekend, and Samuel Horne’s Tavern in Folsom will carry it next weekend. Plans for Pangaea Two Brews to possibly stock a different sour batch this weekend were being worked out Friday, according to Nick Vellanoweth, production manager. The businesses are hosting events with sour brews as part of Sacramento Beer Week. “Sours are always hit and miss, so my biggest challenge was if it would work,” Vellanoweth said, adding that he was very happy with the sour ciders. After two weeks of ferme

The long-awaited renovations at the McKinley Park Rose Garden are nearing completion, and the garden is expected to be open by April – just in time for spring weddings in the park. “The process feels like it’s taken forever,” University of California Master Gardner Ellie Longanecker said Wednesday. The rose garden was scheduled to be closed from September to mid-February for renovations, including a new irrigation system, accessible walkways, planter curbs, new signs and handicap-accessible parking spaces near the garden entrance. The work has been extended until the end of March or early April, Longanecker said, because of problems with the new irrigation system that created delays in

East Sacramento residents and businesses succeeded in preventing the closure of the Clunie Center at McKinley Park, which was scheduled for later this year, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Tuesday. The center was slated for closure in June because of budget shortfalls, with the McKinley library likely to follow.The Friends of East Sacramento, a nonprofit organization, set forth a plan to take over management of the facility three years ago, Johnson said. He added that under nonprofit management, the facility will save $20,000 in operating costs each year. “Sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand and not let something you truly value disappear,” said Cecily Hastings, publisher of Insi

The holiday season kicks off on Friday with over-the-top holiday decorations that sparkle and shine behind the doors of five homes in the “Fabulous Forties.” The 38th annual Sacred Heart Holiday Home Tour welcomes thousands to tour arguably the most gorgeous homes in Sacramento to benefit the Sacred Heart Parish School. “Our goal is for these homes to be like Christmas explosions. It just really ignites the spark for the holiday season,” said Leslie Wilson-Lopez, co-chair of the home tour and Sacred Heart school parent. The homes on this year’s tour include four in the colonial style circa 1920 and one new home that has been added to a foundry (a factory that produces metal casings) dat

Soaked turkey hats, rain gear and lots of slogging marked the 18th year of Run to Feed the Hungry. It was wet, but it was wonderful. East Sacramento Preservation set up a camera at the Y—45th and J Streets, where the 10k and the 5k split. The rain thinned out the throngs, and weakened the resolve of some to peel off the sheets, but the turn out was still enormous. The charity race is a cultural event in East Sacramento. You can’t watch without a smile and a warm heart, even on the wettest, dampest of days.

East Sacramento’s month-old Juno’s Kitchen & Delicatessen focuses on serving sustainable food out of a small space with a name inspired by a unique dog. “Juno is a very unusual dog,” owner Mark Helms said of the pit bull/bull terrier mix. “She likes to swim underwater; she likes to carry around sticks that are like twice her weight. She’s an extreme athlete.” Helms and his wife, Susan Vasques, opened Juno’s, located at 3617 J St., at the end of October, mere months after selling their restaurant in The Pocket, Ravenous Cafe. They sold the upscale American-style restaurant to be closer to home, Helms said. “I always wanted to have a place where bread was kind of the focus,” Helms said,

What is chic? A long list of customers found out firsthand Thursday night at “Uptown Fashion Night: Celebrating a Piece of East Sac.” The event was hosted by Sandra Gonzalez, owner of Sparkle Bridal Couture; Mary Kawano, owner of Krazy Mary’s Fashion Boutique; and Peggy Orr, owner of The Pink House Shoe Boutique. All three shops opened their doors to customers, offering special sales during the evening. The three shops occupy Folsom Boulevard at 33rd Street, and on Thursday night the area was alive with music, shoppers, friends and neighbors. Pure Entertainment provided DJ services. Delicious food and drinks were also served as guests enjoyed an exclusive shopping experience. Sparkle

The Fall season officially begins this week for Sacramento’s very own sport and social club. Appropriately named the Sacramento Sport and Social Club (SSSC), this unique adult sports experience has something in store for all types of social rec athletes in the Sacramento area. The idea first arose in 2008 when SSSC founder Brad Satterwhite (“the Commissioner”) and a co-worker of his wanted to get a group of their colleagues together for some good-natured out-of-office fun. They decided on bowling, but when the crew couldn’t find a local league that fit their needs, Satterwhite stepped into the role of league organizer. This league of work colleagues started with 12 teams in what later bec

In Australia they call them kangatarians — people who eat kangaroo exclusively. Such a person in East Sacramento would need to know about Cookie’s. The East Sacramento drive-in has gone “wild” and now serves ostrich, buffalo and kangaroo meat burgers. Lean-diet advocates have long touted the health benefits of game meat. Compared to its beef cousins, it wins the low-fat contest. But kangaroo? Will Americans warm up to “Skippy” and other game burgers? Are they soon to be in the meat sections, or will they remain a culinary oddity? The test On a warm afternoon, East Sacramento News conducted a scientificish test. Three average East Sacramentans were ready to try the wild burgers. Each

Laura Barrett and a dedicated band of volunteers kept the Bertha Henschel Wading Pool open this summer, but now they are faced with a mountain to climb. “We raised money for the past two years to help support the pool and keep it open. Now the need is much more extreme. We are bracing for a possible contribution of $22,000 to keep the pool running next year,” says Barrett, coordinator of The Friends of Bertha Henschel Park. All city resources are dwindling and more and more neighbors and community members are relied on to keep services running, especially in our parks. For Bertha Henschel the news is grim. “At this point the City Parks and Recreation department is saying that there will

When Jim Ferry (an East Sacramento resident) contacted his neighbors to address the impacts of Mercy Hospital using J Street as their primary loading dock, he got a lot of supportive response. The neighborhood is stressed by Mercy's inconsideration. Mr. Ferry has done an admirable job of documenting a fairly shocking misuse of the public way for a loading dock through his blog at http://mercygeneral.blogspot.com. More than any petition, Mr. Ferry's blog uses photos to show the truth. A picture truly is worth a thousand words. The loading situation on J Street is patently hazardous. There are frequently semi-tractor trucks parked in a seven foot wide space that impinge upon the west-bo

Tarzan The longhaired, blue-eyed punk scaled a 30-foot tree and got himself stuck in the canopy for eight days. He made the evening news. A tree-trimming crew bagged the bad boy and rappelled him down. He then spent time in the pokey until Happy Tails bailed him out. With three of his nine lives ticked off, he is one lucky kitty. Cats like Tarzan are “second chance cats” and they are Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary’s specialty. Rescued from an uncertain fate at the Sacramento City Animal Shelter, he was brought to Happy Tails on Folsom Boulevard for a second chance at adoption. He was cleaned up, chipped, checked, vaccinated and neutered. Happy Tails won’t refuse a cat. “But first do everyth

Finders seekers! Here's our second East Sacramento Preservation's ‘Where in the Neighborhood Is This?’ If you can find this spot in East Sacramento you’ll win a free yogurt from HeavenLys Yogurt in East Sacramento. You must tell where it’s located and why it's there. Place your best guess in the comments section of the East Sacramento Preservation web site. First correct entry wins the prize. All Sacramentans are welcome to try. The location is in the traditional boundary of East Sacramento. Pull out your binoculars and hit the road. It’s out there somewhere!

It has become a tradition for me to photograph East Sacramento's parade on July 4 that moves  along 41st and 42nd Streets each year. Here's some snapshots from this morning:  

The number of potential redistricting maps in the running for City Council consideration dwindles to five as the city of Sacramento gets closer to finalizing a new redistricting plan. Maria MacGunigal, staff member for the Citizens Advisory Committee on Redistricting, said Tuesday that when the committee met on Monday, each member brought a list of “top five” and “bottom five” lists for discussion. At the conclusion of the meeting, committee members had decided on the “top four contenders,” MacGunigal said, plus one more map that is still under consideration, but may be eliminated at the next advisory committee meeting. City Council members will be on summer recess for two weeks startin

Two East Sacramento restaurants with Mediterranean roots – Gönül's J Street Cafe and Formoli's Bistro – are trading places this month. Gönül's will be the first to open in its new location. After eight years near the corner of 39th and J streets, owner Gönül Blum will open just six blocks away at 3260 J St. on Wednesday. In about two weeks, chef Aimal Formoli and wife Suzanne Ricci will reopen their restaurant in Blum's former space at 3839 J St. Blum first made an offer to switch locations with the couple two years ago because she wanted to downsize her restaurant. "I have way too much room that I don't use," Blum said. "I just wanted something cozy." With the move, Blum's restaurant

An East Sacramento native is taking over the corner building that was home to the original Shakey's Pizza Parlor and later Sweetwater – turning what was most recently The Corner Restaurant & Bar into Clark's Corner. New owner Clark Branscum grew up playing Little League baseball in East Sacramento and chowing down on Shakey's Pizza at 57th and J streets after games. Branscum spent five years in San Francisco, where he was a partner in two Marina District establishments: a restaurant and bar called U Street Lounge on Union Street and Kelley's Tavern on Fillmore Street. Now 30, Branscum recently bought The Corner Restaurant & Bar business and building after the previous owner decided to f

The City Council approved $30,915 for the design phase of H Street Bridge Repairs Project Tuesday, which will be done by Dokken Engineering. H Street Bridge is located where H and J streets come together on the west side of the bridge. The bridge turns into Fair Oaks Boulevard and connects the areas of downtown and East Sacramento. Assistant Civil Engineer for the Department of Transportation Josh Werner said the bridge was built in 1932, and improvements were last done in 1991 to 1992 to widen the bridge and reconstruct the bridge approach on the east side. Department of Transportation Engineering Services Manager Nicholas Theocharides said that while the work being done is nothing maj