Localis - Sacramento
Part of the counter seating (May 2023)
Rating: 16/20
Where: Sacramento, CA
When: Dinner for 2 on 3 April 2024
Cost: Tasting menu $157, Wine pairing $145-$330
Accolades: 1 Michelin Star
Why: Creative, frequently changing menu; engaging counter experience
One-Michelin-starred “Localis” has an unusual approach to tasting menus: it creates an entirely new one every five weeks. And we're not talking about swapping a few ingredients here and there according to the seasons - the menu actually gets an entirely new theme, and all the dishes change. On my first visit in 2023, the menu was inspired by a staff trip to Portugal, and the wine pairing mostly hailed from Portugal as well. On this return visit, the theme was “Thailand”, reflecting the distinctive cuisine of the Southeast Asian country. The following menu would reportedly be based on Middle Earth cuisine (of “The Lord of the Rings” fame). All these menu changes could obviously be a recipe for disaster in the hands of a lesser kitchen, but when it works, it provides ample reasons for regular (re)visits.
Localis serves a twelve course tasting menu with two matching wine pairings and a non-alcoholic pairing. Dietary restrictions are taken into account, and for a pescatarian preference ended up being vegetarian substitutions. We sampled both wine pairings, and they both went very well with the food, sometimes (interestingly) for different reasons, for example when one wine was sweet and one was not. Both pairings also included a beer, a sake, and a couple of Thai-inspired cocktails. The more expensive pairing included some big names (e.g. Sine Qua Non), and also the (supposedly) best and rarest beer in the world. But overall, I found the two pairings equally enjoyable, so would probably go for the cheaper one next time.
There are two seating areas in the restaurant: seats at the counter in front of the chefs, and in the regular dining room. The only downside of the counter are the limited reservation slots - it's either 5pm or 8:15pm -, while tables allow for more staggered times. However, the place to be is at the counter, where the chef stops the background music for every dish, and explains not just its composition but also how the kitchen came up with it. This occasionally provides for an interesting look behind the creative curtain that is quite uncommon in fine-dining restaurants. And it also makes for a bit of a dinner “show”, which at a high level sounds like Sacramento's other Michelin-starred restaurant “The Kitchen” - the latter billing itself more as a dinner party than a regular sit-down meal. But Localis is more focused on the food, and less on mingling with other guests in the kitchen. For both of these restaurants, though, I imagine being away from the “big” city (aka San Francisco), allows for more relaxed ways of presenting tasting menus.
The first bite of the meal is apparently always the same - regardless of the menu's theme. It's a fried slice of potato topped with a quail egg whose egg yolk is liquid. A lightly salty bite with a light crunch - a nice beginning 15.
Course number one was a potato pillow filled with a kind of french onion dip and topped with caviar and pearls made from champagne. The pillow was a bit soft, possibly because it had sat around a bit too long, otherwise this was a pleasant bite with a bit of acidity. My only nitpick is that this wasn’t really Thai food 15.
That “non-Thai” concern didn’t apply to the next dish: some crunchy vegetables, a sturgeon chicharron and a tapioca pearl chip were served with “jeow som”, a Laotian spicy and sour dipping sauce. The sauce was made from fresh herbs and hit a sweet spot of spiciness - it was definitely hot, but not so much as to detract from anything else in the dish: the fresh vegetables and crunchy crackers. Spicy, light and fresh - a great balance. This course came with an optional caviar supplement, which at first glance sounded like an absurd choice - why serve caviar with a spicy dish? But, curiously, this actually worked, the caviar managed to temper the spiciness of the sauce. I can't claim that one could actually taste the caviar as such, but it definitely made the dish better 17.
Dungeness crab was served with an avocado mousse, a kiwi green curry, and topped with fried leeks and flowering cilantro. In a sense, this dish was an example of texture over taste. The fried, crunchy leeks on top were great, the avocado nicely creamy. But unfortunately, the crab disappeared a bit among the other flavors, and even the kiwi was barely noticeable (although that might have been intentional) 15.
Next, a “papaya salad”, but made without any papaya. Instead, it consisted of sliced white carrots and daikon. The pickling flavor was lightly sweet, and the tempura squid and roasted cashews that came with it provided some nice texture. The dish was already a bit spicy, but a bowl of pickled peppers was provided in case one wanted to up the ante - and these peppers packed quite a punch, I was satisfied after a small sample. The paired wines were a nice match to the dish; my Alsatian Gewürztraminer had the typical funk when drunk on its own, but when sipped with the salad, the funkiness almost disappeared 16.
A slice of local wagyu beef was served with a variety of Thai spices, fried garlic and puffed rice. This was a lovely cut of beef, and the spiciness and acidity were a nice contrast to the fattiness of the meat. It made the dish feel fresh and full of flavor 16. The pescatarian alternative replaced the beef with a slice of radish that was colored with red beet juice. Not bad, but noticeably less complex than the original version 15.
All courses of the tasting menu had names, and “#64 Crispy Fish” definitely took the prize for mysteriousness. The chef's 64th attempt at this dish? No, as it turns out, this was an homage to a dish served at a local Thai restaurant - and its number on their menu was 64. Brined and fried Lassen trout was served with pickled daikon and a black garlic sauce. The weakest part of the dish was the fish, which was a bit dry and not very flavorful by itself. But that was easily forgotten after adding the remaining ingredients. The daikon contributed some nice acidity and the black garlic practically burst with flavor. It was also appreciated that the black garlic was very fragrant but not sweet 16.
Next came the signature dish of the restaurant. This might seem paradoxical since the menu changes every few weeks, but in fact, “signature” referred just to a single ingredient of the dish - a perfectly cooked octopus. The Thai iteration of this dish sported a tamarind glaze for the octopus, and came with a tom kha panna cotta and a generous amount of applewood smoke that had been piped into the covered serving dish. The octopus was truly great: full of flavor, tender, smoky, and - oddly - the only warm part of the dish. The other ingredients felt more like background, lacking the intensity of flavor one might expect from Thai soups, which made them feel a bit indistinctive 15.
Next, a dish called “painter's palette”, because, well, take a look at its picture. It was meant to celebrate that all five senses are being used when enjoying food, and possibly a pun on palate vs palette. Several different seasonal dollops of purees, gels, and so on, were arranged on a cracker. I lost track of all the flavors here, but they started with coconut, turnip and lemon. While I liked the idea of a seasonal dish, when it was eaten in a single bite, the flavors jumbled together and it was hard to taste any individual component. Our seat neighbors tried each dot individually first - that was probably a smarter approach. But what I appreciated about this dish the second time around was that it was actually flavored to match the menu, so there were several Thai flavors in this presentation (spicy and fruity). On my previous visit, the dish had had a more Western taste profile 14.
“Green curry chicken” was clearly a tongue-in-cheek title for the next course. In fact, it was a deconstructed dish in three parts. First, a green curry consommé: a wonderfully acidic and spicy soup - excellent (18 by itself). Next, an egg roll with a meaty filling that was a bit dry and generic (maybe 14), the pescatarian (or rather vegetarian replacement) was actually slightly juicier and therefore more enjoyable (15). Finally, green curry chicken larb that was topped with a creamy egg yolk. The Thai flavors were more obvious here compared to the egg roll, and the yolk added some nice creaminess (16 for this part). The vegetarian version used chopped mushrooms that were a bit more acidic than the chicken, but otherwise the dish was similar. Overall 16.
Double-fried rice was served with pork belly and a fried egg. The spicy rice was lovely and went well with the great pork that was full of flavor but not too spicy 16.
The final savory dish was based on twenty-day dry-aged wagyu ribeye. Topped with a home-made red curry chili crisp, it was delicious. We overheard guests asking for the chili crisp to go, and apparently the restaurant would happily comply if it wasn't so hard to make it at scale. The rest of the dish - a potato confit with beef tallow, a green asparagus and a roasted strawberry red curry were also good. I liked that the strawberry-based curry had lots of fruitiness without any accompanying sweetness 17.
A coconut / kaffir lime leaf sorbet was pretty sweet for a palate cleanser, but otherwise very tasty 17.
Localis' version of bua loi, a traditional Thai dessert, had a nice creamy saffron-flavored base that was topped with taro chips, caramel, coconut-lime jellies, and strawberries among others. Some small balls had a boba-like consistency. Nice enough, especially the creamy base 16.
The final dessert was a bit of spicy and sticky mango rice, topped with a tamarind-mango-habanero ice cream and a white chocolate ball filled with mango/white chocolate mousse and a mango puree. All very good, and not too sweet, especially the ice cream which was inspired by the chef's first attempt at creating a custom cheesecake flavor at a previous job 15.
A collection of petit fours concluded our dinner. A kaffir lime caramel was excellent 17. A peanut butter macaroon was ok 15. Some chocolate whose filling I missed were good 16, and a bit better than the pate de fruits 15.
The check came with a nice Thai-inspired infusion and a take-home banana bread based on a recipe by the chef's grandmother. The latter was a bit more savory than most banana breads, but not necessary a revelation - I wonder if this is one of those dishes that one tends to measure more according to childhood memories than to any objective quality.
Overall: This was a fun dinner with several quite good dishes. A big part of the enjoyment were the stories behind the dishes and the contagious enthusiasm exhibited by the chef and his team. Even for the dishes that didn't fully work me, it was still obvious what the intended goal had been. If it weren't for the five hour roundtrip drive to get here, I'd happily come back to sample the future menus put out by this kitchen 16.