The Dine One Six

Jayson Nesbitt always loved the occasional treat of going out to eat with his family, whether it be a simple breakfast or chicken tenders from Chili's, restaurants held a special place in his heart. He got his start at Cracker Barrel slingin' pancakes and chicken and dumplings. Before long the call of crafting cocktails pulled him to Nashville where he spent years improving on the craft of bartending at hotels and restaurants. 
But when a group of friends decided to move out to California Jayson decided why not go west. He used his industry connections and experience to land a job at Alaro Brewing where he is now helping to execute their amazing cocktail program to go with top notch food and of course, beer. 
Max, Neill and Jayson have a wide ranging conversation about the beauty and warts of the hospitality industry. The cover everything from 5-star servers at Cracker Barrel, to thrift store fashion, to asking "is Gen Alpha gonna bring back the beer and a shot?" 
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Maria Perez started cooking as so many do, at home helping mom and dad get food on the table. That extensive experience with “prep” work led her to a job in the kitchen at Rio City cafe as a young woman who came to America to help take care of her grandmother. She took English classes and became proficient enough to move to being a server at Zocalo. After nearly a decade in restaurants she said “good riddance” and became a full time real estate agent. 
But then Covid hit and being stuck at home got her cooking for her friends and neighbors, and that feeling of love and community, and the tragic loss of her brother had her reevaluating life, and pulled her back into the kitchen. 
She launched Maria’s Paella at the Midtown Farmer’s Market and hasn’t looked back. People wait in a long line to get a taste of her paella and original empanadas, which she fills with the taste of her heritage, lived experience and love.
 
Check out Maria’s Paella at her website and instagram
 
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Max and Neill are back for a sit down with a bucket list guest for them in Patricio Wise from Nix Taco Mexican Kitchen and Distillery. They dig into Patricio's history in the world of high finance, starting his cooking career by preparing dishes out of the French Laundry cookbook for groups of friends in his hometown, and what brought him to Sacramento and why he left a lucrative career to start making tacos at pop ups. 
As we know, those pop ups grew into two restaurants in Roseville and Folsom, a new airport location, all serving the unique and spectacular tacos and other dishes inspired by the tastes of Patricio's hometown and childhood. 
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Nix taco IG: @nixtaco
Nix taco website

Josh Milholm joins the Dine One Six to discuss his food upbringing, moving from Denver to Sacramento, and early restaurant work from dishwashing to making pizza dough. He recounts serving at Spaghetti Factory and spending 10 years at the Hard Rock Cafe, then attending law school before leaving because he was miserable and returning fully to hospitality, including Harlow’s, Red Rabbit and ultimately The Golden Bear. Josh describes The Golden Bear’s tiny kitchen, creative food and cocktails, its role as an inclusive neighborhood space, and his philosophy of hospitality as leadership that helps diverse people connect and feel seen.

Mandy Hwang started taking photos of her food and writing about her experiences simply for her own enjoyment and memory making. Little did she know that her personal food journal would eventually turn into an influential Sacramento food instagram page. 
 
We talk about Mandy’s deep love of food and Sacramento, the great friends she has met through her instagram page, and the best way to eat cheetos.
 
email us: max@dineonesix.com or neill@dineonesix.com
Instagram: @dineonesix
Mandy's instagram: @eatswithmandy

We’re back!! It’s been a long road back to the podcast for us (Max and Neill) but we are so excited to get going again. WE already have a bunch of interviews recorded and will get back to posting them every two weeks. 
This week we re-launch with an interview with Molly Dennis. Molly has worked all over Sacramento (and the country) and know works for Diageo, a liquor distributor which is responsible for putting some of the most interesting and tasty spirits behind all your favorite bars in the city. 
We talk about her history in hospitality, including her start at Red Robin, her favorite liquor brand stories and watching the craft cocktail boom come to Sacramento.
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Mecha Mucho roughly translates to “lots and lots.” For Chef and Owner Ryan Ota that means lots and lots of smiles, lots and lots of people saying, “Damn this is good!” and lots and lots of sandwiches sold. 
If you haven’t discovered it, Mecha Mucho is cranking out amazing egg salad sandwiches on Shokupan (Japanese milk bread) with additional protein options from chicken katsu, to spam to sometimes even wagyu beef, out of the little street side window at Osaka-Ya on 10th street. 
Ryan tells us about how he knew at a young age that his heart lied with food and after years of trying to work a corporate job he retreated to learning how to cook working at the famed Shack in east Sacramento, to cooking at Track 7 Brewery for several years to opening his own sandwich spot out of the window where he would line up as a kid in summer for a giant snow cone. 
Listen to hear how Ryan took Mecha Mucho from an idea to a reality in just a few short weeks and how their success has exploded in just over 6 months. 
 
Links: 
 
Mecha Mucho Instagram
 
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To say Oliver Ridgeway is well traveled is a gross understatement. After getting his start washing dishes in his dad’s restaurant, at 20 years old he got a job cooking on the Queen Elizabeth II cruise liner, which traveled from England to New York city. That ship took him all over the world over two years, and taught him how to cook and how to organize. 
That organization would be vital as he went on to cook for Athletes and VIP sponsors at the Olympic Games in Sydney Australia 2000 and the Winter Games in Utah in 2002. But his cooking travels didn’t stop there, New Orleans, the Caribbean, New York at one of it’s finest hotels, Santa Fe, Oliver honed his skills and his management cooking for the rich and famous in high pressure environments. 
Now he is the Chef/Owner of the upscale but welcoming to all Sacramento haberdashery, Camden Spit & Larder, which serves as a place where you can have a beautiful anniversary dinner just as easily as you can grab a burger and a salad before a Kings game. 
Listen to Oliver’s amazing journey across the globe and how he ended up settling down in Sacramento, making a name for himself as one of the most respected chefs in town.
Visit Camden Spit & Larder's website and Instagram
 
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Amanda Bridger started cooking food at home during COVID as a way to pass the time and to comfort herself, her partner Chris and friends. Little did she know that in going back to the Hawaiian flavors of her childhood evenings visiting her grandmother, she would stumble upon a new found talent and passion for cooking Hawaiian cuisine. 
She and her partner Chris Tocchini moved to Sacramento and started a pop up with the recipes she developed and it was such a success that they ultimately opened Kau Kau in East Sacramento. Amanda runs the kitchen and Chris manages the front of the house. 
They tell us how they got their start in the industry, what it’s like working together as a couple and the trials and triumphs of owning and running a restaurant. 
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Billy Ngo of Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine got his start at an old-school Japanese restaurant on Broadway in Sacramento, spending hours washing dishes and painstakingly preparing shrimp for the week’s service. After a stint at Mikuni he understood how sushi could become something that mixed his passion for creativity and attention to detail. 
Billy headed to culinary school in San Francisco and came back to work at The Kitchen for a year, where he learned the importance of good ingredients and good relationships with purveyors of fish and produce. 
Then, at just 23 years old, Billy opened Kru on J street, which quickly became recognized as one of the best and most creative sushi spots in town. A decade later Billy moved Kru into its current, much larger home on Folsom Blvd. and it remains one of the hottest restaurant reservations in town. 
Billy fills us in on sushi eating etiquette, talks about his early attempts at a Michelin star, why he loves cooking japanese and french cuisine, how he seeks to let the ingredients speak for themselves and how a burger permanently ended up on the menu at one of Sacramento’s most acclaimed sushi restaurants. 
Recently, his high level of skill and execution, matched with his creativity and drive to please his guests has garnered Billy a finalist nomination for the James Beard Awards “Best Chef in California.”
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Comments, questions or suggestions? Email us at max@dineonesix.com or neill@dineonesix.com