Midtown is an inextricable part of Sacramento’s art scene, but a group of galleries promoted by business associations for Broadway, North Franklin and Oak Park are partnering to showcase art south of the grid. “We partnered with the Greater Broadway Partnership and Oak Park Business Association as a way to call attention to the fact that we have art in our corridor,” said North Franklin District Executive Director Kathy Tescher. What is being called the Triangle Arts District is planning to piggyback on the Second Saturday Art Walk by hosting an art event from noon to 5 p.m., before the Midtown event typically begins. The triangle made between Broadway, Oak Park and North Franklin inclu

A family from China with a successful restaurant on Watt Avenue is opening a new Chinese eatery at Fifth Street and Broadway later this month. Tan’s China Bistro will open once inspections are completed in the 2,400-square-foot space formerly occupied by Hong Kong Cafe at 501 Broadway, said Andy Tan, whose family owns the new business. “The concept is really modern,” he said Wednesday. “All the food is prepared freshly – our goal is freshness” Originally from Taishan, China, Tan, 25, came over with his parents, brother and sister about 14 years ago. His parents owned a restaurant in Taishan and opened Wong’s Canton Chinese Restaurant at 5811 Watt Ave. about a decade ago, he said. Openi

A downtown K Street businessman is turning to other nearby businesses and the community in an effort to jump-start the long-blighted area’s revitalization with the rallying cry: “It's your turn. It's my turn. It's OUR Sacramento.” Señor Ernesto Delgado de Tequila, owner of Tequila Museo Mayahuel at 1200 K St., wants to start a grassroots campaign encouraging people to come downtown to eat, shop and explore. “I want to put a call out to people to come here, take a walk and experience downtown,” Delgado said Wednesday. “There is so much here, and people should be part of it.” Delgado opened his restaurant six months ago on what is arguably the most vibrant section of K Street at the momen

Sacramento’s brewing history will be spotlighted in a new microbrewery set to open in a historic building on Broadway early next year. Dave Gull, 37, said he saw the building at 1730 Broadway and thought it would be the perfect place for his New Helvetia Brewing Company idea with its proximity to Land Park in an area that’s a diverse mix of ethnic restaurants. Though his professional experience is as a real estate broker and developer, the Sacramento native said his exposure to craft brews when he went to college at the University of Oregon planted the seed to open his own brewery. “I think that a craft beer brewery is a great use for the space,” Gull said Friday. “It’s a need that is l

A Buddhist church located at Broadway and Riverside Boulevard has recently raised concerns about a nearby recycling center, saying it has attracted problems such as trespassing at the church’s property and human urination. The center, MS Recycling, is located at a Valero gas station next to the Buddhist Church of Sacramento. The center leases from the property owner of the gas station, Vince Lera, according to city documents. “We've got community programs running from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., seven days a week, that serve the very young and very old. And they deserve a safe and clean environment,” Kelvin Mark, president of the Buddhist church, said in an e-mail. Lisa Nava, district director for

The pros and cons of doing business on Broadway were brought into focus Thursday during the Greater Broadway Business Walk. More than 100 businesses were polled to get a pulse on the area's current business environment, part of an effort to retain and expand business. Vagrants and panhandling are regular headaches for Broadway business owners, civic and business leaders learned. At the same time, business owners said they appreciate edgy, urban Broadway's central location, freeway access, supportive neighborhoods, diversity and recent decrease in crime. Nearly 40 people fanned out along the commercial corridor, visiting 117 businesses Thursday morning. Their goals were to find out how b

On Broadway—that’s where the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s Business Walk heads on Thursday, June 10. Partnering with the Greater Broadway Partnership and the city of Sacramento, the Metro Chamber intends to visit all of the businesses in the Broadway District, asking three simple questions: How’s business, what do you like about doing business here and what can be improved? The Business Walks are part of a regional “best practices” strategy for business retention and expansion. Over the last two years, that strategy—called Metro Pulse—has logged visitations of more than 2,300 businesses. In 2009, the Metro Chamber and its partners held five Business Walks, and currently the 2010 schedule wi

 Music flowed from Beatnik Studios on Sunday during the third annual In the Flow Jazz Festival. Musicians from all over the West Coast played, including Nels Cline. The guitarist from band Wilco played Saturday afternoon. “My friend Byron and I, we came up with doing just a festival of jazz to let local and regional artists play,” said Ross Hammond, the event’s co-founder. The festival started at the True Love Coffeehouse three years ago, and moved to its current location at 2421 17th St. last year. Hammond said the celebration has been growing steadily. “The first year was kind of more Sacramento, then we added some Bay Area stuff, and now there’s a lot of other people from up and down

The second annual In the Flow jazz festival brought music and art fans out to Broadway's hub with more than 30 bands, poetry readings and live painting. For $20, ticket holders were given wristbands that allowed entrance into all of the weekend's shows, which spanned five different venues along Broadway. For those who weren't wearing wristbands, several free performances were hosted at Records, Java Lounge and Records. The back-to-back schedules at the venues allowed for a constant stream of activity, and if ticket holders didn’t like one performance, they could walk down the street to the next one. The goal of the festival was to "showcase all of the different kinds of jazz you'll find

Sacramento jazz fans, get ready. The second annual In the Flow jazz festival starts Friday and will be invading four venues on downtown's Broadway. Last year's festival was held on the patio of True Love Coffeehouse. This weekend, Beatnik Studios, The Comedy Spot, R5 Records and Java Lounge are opening their doors for three days of live jazz performances. "Sacramento has an incredible jazz scene. We have great players with great, original ideas that span all things jazz and beyond," said Ross Hammond, the main coordinator of the festival. The idea for the festival was dreamt up during a coffee outing with Hammond, jazz musician Byron Blackburn and some of their friends. They wanted to h

Sacramento Press intern Casey Kirk saw this press release and thought it might a good story for Sacramento Press to cover. I agreed. I also want to post this heads-up to anyone who might be interested. The release itself:   “Edge effect” is a term borrowed from ecology, where it refers to activity in the areas between different land uses. Broadway exhibits a degree of diversity that is similar to nature’s edge effect. On Broadway, these characteristics add up to a high-energy center that draws people from other parts of the city as well as from adjacent neighborhoods. The question of interest from an urban design perspective is: Will future development enhance or diminish Broadway’s edge