The Dine One Six

Scott McCumber of Pangaea Beir Cafe

Scott McCumber has not had the traditional path to becoming a head chef here in Sacramento. Most chefs start young, finding the discipline and camaraderie in the kitchen intoxicating. Scott loves that about the kitchen too, but for him it was consecutive layoffs in his corporate sales career that led him to completely shift his life’s course. 
Scott took six months of severance pay and with his wife’s blessing went to work in a kitchen as a volunteer prep cook, and less than eight years later found himself heading up the well established Taylor’s Kitchen. 
Today Scott has taken over another Sacramento favorite, Pangaea Beir Cafe in Curtis Park. 
We talk to Scott about Pangaea’s famous burger, what he is bringing to the menu as they rebuild it post COVID and how he worked his way through some of Sacramento’s best known Restaurants including Hook and Ladder, Hawks Public House, The Grange and Camden Spit & Larder. 
 
Pangaea website and Instagram
 
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How to start a home vegetable garden

This week Max throws back to an episode of his college podcast where he talked to Nicole McDavid, the garden coordinator at the Capital Public Radio garden.
McDavid tends to the large garden which produces roughly 2,000 pounds of produce per year to the Associated Students, Inc. food pantry and other food banks. McDavid does it all using organic gardening techniques and passes on her 10 years of experience with urban farming to listeners.
Wondering what to plant this fall? When to water? How to have your garden be organic? What to do after your tomato plants have sucked all the nitrogen out of your soil? This is the episode for you!
 
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Sac Hot Chicken Battle

WARNING: Make sure you’re not hungry before listening to this episode
This week we are back with an episode all about the Sac Hot Chicken battle that took place earlier this summer. We interviewed all the chefs, tried all the sandwiches and got reactions from people on site as about 1000 people came out and enjoyed spicy chicken sandwiches and beer and cider. 
We also talked to the event organizer Misty Alafranji as well as one of the judges Benjy Egel from the Sacramento Bee. So kick back and listen to each chef explain their sandwiches, imagine eating them yourself and get ready to run out and try a sandwich from one of the winners as we give you the final results at the end of the episode!
 
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Links: 
Beers in Sac
Natomas Oktoberfest
City of Refuge Sacramento
 
Competitors:
Mumpy’s food truck
Naija Boys Tacos
Jets 
Tiger Bar
Skips Fish & Chicken
Hawks
Sac City Brews
Alaro Brewing Co.
Device Brewing Co. 
Pangea Bier Cafe
Bawk
Nash and Tender

Masullo pizza chef Shannon McElroy

Shannon McElroy has one of the best restaurant jobs in town. He works 8 a.m. to 3 p.m everyday at one of the best, most respected pizzerias in town, making the pizza dough and the desserts. But Shannon’s career has spanned everything from high end restaurants in Napa, cooking pizzas in the redwood forests of Mendecino and serving surly customers in some of Sacramento’s “finest” dive bars. 
 
We talk about how Shannon went from culinary school, to bartending and then back to the kitchen at Masullo, one of Sacramento’s 50 best restaurants. We also talk about him opening The Federalist and why he chose to leave.  
 
Masullo website
 
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Karen Bond and the story of Bondolio olive oil

In 1986 Karen Bond and her husband Malcolm bought a 10 acre almond orchard in Winters to fulfill a dream of living in the country. At the time they never would have guessed that they would be selling prized olive oil made from trees imported from Italy. 
 
After removing their almond trees, they were visiting Sicily where Karen tried freshly pressed olive oil for the first time and she fell in love. 
 
More than 15 years later Bondolio produces some of the most sought after and award winning olive oil in the region. It’s even used by two of the Bay Area’s most famous restaurants (listen to find out who!) 
 
Karen and Malcolm do all this while also running the medical technology company, Cedaron, in Davis which they founded in 1990. 
 
Listen to hear all about their fascinating journey to making super fresh Italian inspired olive oil. 
 
Links: 
Bondolio website
Video:  Olive harvest at Bondolio
How olive oil is made (similar to Bondolio process)
Angel flights charity
 
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Bobby Coyote and Mark Casale of Dos Coyotes

Today we welcome Bobby Coyote, owner of Dos Coyotes and his long-time executive chef Mark Casale. Dos Coyotes is unique in so many ways. It’s uniquely Sacramento, it blends Mexican, southwest and farm-to-fork California cuisine and it’s one of the original concepts to offer restaurant quality food that’s fresh, fast, ordered at a counter but “served on a cool plate.”
Bobby tells the harrowing story of trying to open his first location. Everything went wrong, from his contractor having to stop work because he was in deep with the IRS, pipes bursting on the roof during the final inspection and the whole place almost burning down during an impromptu soft opening. 
Mark grew up making fresh bread and pasta with his Sicilian grandmother and ended up working in fine dining spots in Napa and Sacramento before taking the opportunity to work with Bobby to create fresh, seasonal specials and a menu that could be replicated across several locations. 
Links: 
Dos Coyotes website
Dos Coyotes Instagram
Dos Coyotes Facebook
 
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What it’s like to be a server with Neill Little

Neill Little has a been a server and bartender since he was 21. He's spent over a decade working at places in Sacramento including DeVere's, Empress Tap Room and Camden Spit and Larder.
Neill and I talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of working as a server. Mostly, we talk about the good and how being a server allows you to connect with people, have great conversations and make lifelong friends with co-workers and guests.
We also talk about how apparently, the grocery store you were raised on, is the one you stay loyal to the rest of your life.
This is a great conversation about restaurant work and a great introduction to Neill who will also be joining me on the podcast as a co-host in some upcoming episodes.
 
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All about In-N-Out

In this episode Max throws back to an interview he did in the summer of 2020 with Shaun Holkko, a peer from Sac State who worked at In-N-Out burger for nearly three years.
Max and Shaun get into all the In-N-Out lore including if you have to be religious to work there, what are all the secret menu items, how many patties can you put on one burger and of course...what's with the fries!?
Links: 
Shaun and Von podcast
 
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Ray Ballestero of Alaro Craft Brewery

Ray Ballestero is the co-owner of Alaro Craft Brewery along with his wife Annette. Alaro is located in the old Rubicon Brewing Co. location which was a Sacramento institution for almost 30 years. 
Alaro is a labor of love and combines decades of experience in home brewing paired with Ray’s upbringing eating food influenced from his Spanish background. Combine that with his wife’s background as a co-owner of River City Brewing Company, a master Head Brewer in Chris Keeton and great tapas by Chef David Santana and you’ve got a Midtown spot that is almost singular in Sacramento. 
Ray talks about his background in medicine, home brewing, running a fair trade business and the struggle to survive the pandemic after only being open for 18 months before it hit.
Links: 
Alaro’s website 
Alaro’s Instagram
 
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Email me at max@dineonesix.com

Food photographer Taylor Gillespie

Today I talk with professional food photographer Taylor Gillespie, who runs Food in Focus here in Sacramento. Taylor comes from a family of entrepreneurs and food people. Her mom was a chef when she was younger and her grandparents started Sunrise Natural Foods.
I love Taylor’s story because it is a story of a business that could only be created in the last 10 years. She built her business on Instagram and now photographs for Style Magazine in Folsom and for restaurants all over Sacramento.
We cover how she got into food photography, how she found her first clients, how to build a business through social media and how the food scene has changed in Sacramento over the last 20 years.
 
Links: 
Taylor’s Instagram 
Taylor’s website
Restaurants we mention
Nix Tacos
Q1227
Bambi’s Vegan Tacos
 
Visit the podcast website at dineonesix.com
 
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Comments, questions or suggestions? Email me at max@dineonesix.com