Small business owners in Sacramento plan to hold on tight in 2010 for what appears to be another tough year. Several said they're doing their best just to keep their businesses going as the recession continues to waterboard the local economy. The owners of a local chain of taquerias said they will do what it takes to keep their heads above water for the next year. "That's been my theme since 2008: survival mode," said José Cortéz, who co-owns 10 La Fiesta Taqueria and La Favorita Taqueria restaurants in the Sacramento region. He and his family, including his mother and a brother who manages one La Fiesta, come from the Mexican state of Jalisco. The restaurants serve food of the Los Altos

It was quite the blustery day in Sacramento as winds reached over 50 mph and more than 3 inches of rain fell, according to Fox 40 News meteorologist Kristina Werner. Trees and branches fell in streets, on houses, on cars and power lines went out intermittently through the central city. Streets turned into ponds, traffic slowed making commutes much longer than usual and I-5 was a flooded mess near the boat section despite the recent work by Caltrans. It seemed there wasn't one corner of the city that the storm didn't touch. Businesses such as Temple and Lucky Lefty's (shown below) felt the effects of the storm. It's hard to believe many of us were just wearing flip flops, skirts, short

Saturday morning I contemplated whether or not I should eat breakfast. My stomach was inexperienced with grub crawls, the Eat Your Art Out Crawl would be my very first. I settled on eating something small. Luckily I lived close enough to walk to the captain meeting place and by the time I had gathered my team's bags and badges, my stomach was growling. Of the 18 restaurants and dining establishments in the Crawl, I had eaten at all of them but five.  My team, Team Snuffleupagus, started at Brew It Up! where a fruit platter and blue cheese kettle chips awaited. This was a good warmup for the digestive system, not too heavy, and easy to eat. Lucca was one of the restaurants I hadn't t

It's that time of year again - time for "Best Restaurants," brought to you by Sacramento Magazine. After reading the readers' picks for each category, it made me wonder whether the results would be different for readers of The Sacramento Press. Our focus has been primarily on events and coverage of things in the Grid, whereas Sacramento Magazine covers a larger demographic including the suburbs. There were four categories that stood out to me in Sacramento Magazine's Best Restaurants: Best Burrito, Best Pizza, Best Burger and Best Coffeehouse. I live in the Grid and therefore have my own biases about restaurants that live in Downtown and Midtown. I prefer restaurants in this area to tho

About 300 people milled in and out of the newest location of Temple coffeehouse at 2829 S St. for the grand opening Saturday evening. The new coffeehouse is the second Temple location in Sacramento. The front area of the building was crowded with young people, business professionals and families mingling. The back room of the café was opened up as a space to snack and play darts. Drinks were free for those attending the private opening event. Anything the customer wanted, the baristas were happy to make. The second location was well-received by community members. “I was so excited that we have an authentic coffee shop in our neighborhood,” said Ann Hamilton, a board member for the New

Sean Kohmescher discovered the coffee culture as a beach barista in San Diego. The 23-year-old wanted a job on the beach, and he liked coffee. He became a barista at an outdoor café on Pacific Beach, and then what started out as just a fun job turned into a passion. "I kind of fell in love with the culture," he said. Kohmescher dreamed of opening his own coffeehouse someday. It wasn't until he began developing his palate while working in San Francisco's fine-dining scene that he really became passionate about coffee and tea. After moving to Sacramento, he opened Temple, a coffee and tea house, in 2005 in a storefront at 1014 10th St., once home to Levinson's Books. Now this 35-year-ol

Last night was an amazing meandering ride from Downtown through Midtown for the 1st Annual Bikeramento Crawl. Set the scene of a moving banner from sanctuary to sanctuary in the light rain. It all begins with the religious experience of a cup of mojo at Temple Fine Coffee & Tea. The loose Bikeramentans gather and awkwardly introduce themselves to the team. It’s to be expected. Who are these bike-crazy folks, these Spokes People, who believe that they can influence city planning and have fun doing it? Ah….soak up that caffeine. A fine whiff of a single origin espresso parting the perfect foam of that cappuccino. David Barton shows up with the sharp photographer for Sacramento Press. And

Still no new year's plans? For once, you don’t have to plan anything much. Just drive downtown to 10th and K to see the new year in at Sacramento’s newest nightlife center: 10th Street between J and K. This New Year’s Eve will mark the official debut of Sacramento’s newest, and in some ways, finest, nightlife block. While the moaning and arguing continues about the K Street Mall between 7th and 9th, a single block of 10th Street between K and J is poised to impress. With this month’s opening of the Citizen Hotel and its gorgeous, elegant restaurant The Grange - following the November opening of The Cosmopolitan, with its restaurant, bar, upstairs club Social and theatre the Cosmopolitan