Sunshine, Italian fare and live music - "Hot Lunch" returns for its second season. The free concert series, hosted by Hot Italian, runs every Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., beginning today, for 13 weeks. Music and pizza lovers can spend their lunch break at Fremont Park across from Hot Italian. This year's lineup includes a wide variety of musical genres including alternative, funk, country and jazz. All talent featured in the series are either local or from the West Coast. Hot Lunch began in 2009, using the Concerts in the Park event as a similar model. The most obvious difference is that Hot Lunch aims to bring people together for music and food midday. To avoid wasting valuable minute

The vibe at Fremont park was laid-back and friendly during the new Hot Lunch series presented by Hot Italian and The Sacramento Press. Dozens of people sat scattered through the park on blankets and in lawn chairs, bobbing to the live music and chowing down on the food that was delivered from Hot Italian, just across 16th Street. Most people in attendance were on their lunch breaks some were just walking their dogs and got pulled in by the delicious smells and intriguing sounds. Attendee Melissa Olsen said, "I'm here on my lunch hour, and I think this is a good morale booster for all of the state employees in this hard time, to have somewhere near the end of the week to just unwind and l