Best restaurant meals I ate around Sacramento in March | Food reporter’s notebook

In search of: new favorites.

Each restaurant I reviewed in March was a relative newcomer to the Sacramento-area dining scene, having opened within the past year.

One was an experimental Baja-inspired raw bar in Placer County; another, a beacon of South Asian spices and flavors amid a deluge of chains in a popular Sacramento shopping center. The midtown rebirth of a cherished vegetarian concept came with new ingenuity, while an up-and-coming sushi chef took over for a local legend in Carmichael.

All reviews were first published in my free weekly food and drink newsletter, which hits inboxes at noon each Wednesday. Visit https://bit.ly/bee_food_drink_newsletter to sign up.

Mother

Mother is back, and it’s better than ever.

Michael and Lisa Thiemann and Ryan Donohue’s acclaimed vegetarian restaurant reopened in September, a dozen blocks east on K Street from the downtown Sacramento location where it previously stood. Chef/co-owner Robb Venditti (formerly of Pangaea Bier Cafe and Mulvaney’s B&L) has joined the crew as well.

Mother’s new midtown space is brighter, more colorful and less rushed than its predecessor, which became a lunchtime favorite and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand before closing in January 2020. An expanded kitchen gives Venditti and Thiemann more room to stack the expanded, ever-changing menu with seasonal dishes as well as classics.

The oyster mushroom po’boy sandwich ($18) that made Mother famous still stands out a decade after its creation. Fried mushrooms explode out of soft torpedo rolls, joined by crunchy iceberg lettuce, coriander pickles and an acidic remoulade, with a side of housemade potato chips.

There are small plates as well, including cozy Grass Valley grits ($9) from Early Bird Farm & Mill, topped with sweet molasses butter and served in a skillet. Marinated baby beets ($10) are another pleasant shareable, sitting in half-teardrops atop a pistachio crumb ricotta spread with lavender oil and watermelon radish slivers.

Thiemann wedding lasagna ($27) is a hit entree with a romantically practical backstory: Michael made it for his and Lisa’s reception, guests raved that it was the best they ever had and it landed on Mother 2.0’s menu. Stuffed with spinach, green tomatoes, grilled crookneck squash and ricotta, it was surrounded by a tart tomato coulis and baked to a crispy top.

Address: 2319 K St., Suite B, Sacramento.

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday.

Phone: None, they’re proud to say.

Website: https://www.mothersacramento.com/

Drinks: Local beer, wine and a cinnamon-housemade jamaica called the “Jamichael” as a tribute to Michael Thiemann.

Vegetarian options: Everything. Vegan and gluten-free items are marked on the menu, as are dishes made with tree nuts or seed oils.

Noise level: Medium-loud.

Chaat Bistro

A promising new Indian restaurant hides among the big-box stores in Delta Shores Shopping Center, the sprawling retail complex along Interstate 5 by Sacramento’s southern border.

Chaat Bistro sits across from Koshi Eats and Firehouse Crawfish in Delta Shores South, an enclave of local businesses in a sea of national chains. Opened by Barinder Kaur last April, its intriguing small plates and thoroughly-spiced main dishes — “medium heat” is still pretty darn fiery — make it a destination restaurant amid shopping trips.

If there’s one dish you need to order, it’s the fish pakora ($12), brimming with cardamom pods and other aromatic spices that inspired me to take a long whiff before diving in. Freshly fried in an orange batter in the style of Amritsar, a 1.5-million person city in Punjab, it came out steaming hot with a slow, simmering kick.

The mango curry ($17 with chicken or fish, $19 with shrimp or lamb) was a table favorite as well. We opted for the same fluffy swai in this sweet-savory auburn curry served with basmati rice, rarely seen around Sacramento and a welcome deviation from hotter items.

Meatless options are stellar, from cumin-tossed potatoes called jeera aloo ($14) to samosa chaat ($19) smashed and topped with chole bhature (stewed chickpeas), yogurt and mint and tamarind chutneys. Don’t forget an order of cherry naan ($5) stuffed with a sweet red paste, or dive fully into sugar land with kulfi falooda ($5) ice cream sundaes.

Address: 8128 Delta Shores Circle South, Suite 140, Sacramento.

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Phone: (916) 629-9347.

Website: https://chaatbistro.com/

Drinks: Beer and wine, including a couple Indian imports such as 22-ounce bottles of Flying Horse Royal Lager.

Vegetarian options: Many, and several are vegan.

Noise level: Medium.

Omakase Por Favor

Lincoln’s preeminent food club doesn’t actually think much of the city’s restaurants — they’re more likely to visit Roseville, Rocklin or Auburn for an ambitious dinner out. One Lincoln restaurant making waves in Placer County’s dining scene, though, is Omakase Por Favor.

Jeana Marie Pecha’s culinary journey began as a 14-year-old dishwasher at McCormick & Schmick’s in Roseville and led to her cooking at high-end restaurants in Pasadena, Spokane and Napa County. But her time in Colima, a small state on Mexico’s west coast, had arguably the most conceptual impact on Omakase Por Favor, her Cali-Mex raw bar with Japanese influences that opened in November.

Omakase Por Favor has a small kitchen, but considerable torching and tweezing happens inside the rectangular bar, so grab a seat there if possible. A six-course omakase dinner is available for $75 at the restaurant in Terra Cotta Village shopping center, or you can pick à la carte items as I did.

Oysters are one of the main draws, with my visit featuring Washington-based Hama Hama Oyster Co. bivalves. Though they’re available as a raw half-dozen, broiled with miso butter or in shooters with housemade ponzu, the oyster omakase set ($25) gives Pecha the most free reign, and she broiled four before serving with lemon and sweet marinated unagi.

The ceviche mixto bowl ($22) features market seafood, which meant striped bass and albacore on my visit. A blood-red chili sauce spilled out across the dish, tart and tangy next to a thick tostada. As with many Omakase Por Favor items, though, its portion size left something to be desired.

One of the region’s more interesting caviar services ($125 for a one-ounce tin of Sterling’s Royal Caviar, or $200 for Tsar Nicoulai’s Golden Reserve) may entice customers with a little extra jangle in their pockets. A platter of burrata, pickled onions, wax peppers and crema can all be piled on “chicharronnes” made from Tsar Nicoulai sturgeon skin, though for my money, caviar’s delicate flavor is often best enjoyed on its own.

Address: 640 Twelve Bridges Drive, Suite 100, Lincoln.

Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. all days but Wednesday, when the restaurant is closed.

Phone: (916) 472-5503

Website: https://www.omakaseporfavor.com/

Drinks: Full bar.

Vegetarian options: Guacamole, seasonal s’mores roasted on tabletop grills or (possibly) the soup of the day.

Noise level: Medium-loud.

Hito Yatai

Cameron Ishizaki picked some big shoes to fill when opening Hito Yatai.

Ishizaki’s first restaurant opened last June in the Carmichael strip mall space formerly home to Shige Sushi, long synonymous with Sacramento sushi elder Shige Tokita. Another veteran chef, Aki Shirakura, now flanks Ishizaki (the two met while working at Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine) as they pay homage to traditional Japanese dishes while adding flecks of modern innovation.

You’ll see two specials boards jammed with items at Hito Yatai, including the delightful saba shio koji ($12) on my visit. Curing mackerel in a rice vinegar before grilling left the fish with a rich, buttery flavor and less of the salty taste one might expect.

Katsuo tataki ($13) was another simple favorite. Six slices of deep-red seared bonito laid atop crunchy broccolini, tomatoes and a tangy chili crisp, all topped with a soy sauce dressing as an easy shareable for the table.

Rolls, nigiri and Shirakura’s kitchen creations make up the main menu, with the thin, crispy pork loin tonkatsu ($17) a worthwhile order. For a more elevated experience, in-the-know customers belly up to Ishiyazki’s eight-seat bar for Hito Yatai’s off-menu omakase service ($120 minimum per person).

Address: 5938 Madison Ave., Carmichael.

Hours: 4-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.

Phone: (916) 331-7300.

Website: https://www.hitoyatai.com/

Drinks: Beer, sake and umeshu (ume plum liqueur, served on the rocks).

Vegetarian options: Sunomono, agedashi tofu and sweet potato or fresh veggie tempura.

Noise level: Quiet.