New Year’s Eve Specials

Celebrate New Year’s Eve with the Paragary Restaurant Group!

Whether you’re looking for a nice dinner or a late night party, we’ve got you covered.

$40 3-Course Dinner

Start your New Year’s Eve celebration with an elegant dinner at Paragary’s Bar and Oven, Spataro Restaurant and Bar, or Esquire Grill. Each restaurant will be offering a special $40 3-Course menu (in addition to the regular menu). Reservations are strongly recommended. Reserve your table today! Click the links below to view menus.

Menu: Spataro Restaurant and Bar

Menu: Esquire Grill

Menu: Paragary’s Bar and Oven

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$3 Cocktails All-Night

Ring in the New Year at R15 Bar or Monkey Bar. Both bars will feature $3 cocktails all-night, no cover and a champagne toast at midnight!

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Other Events in Sacramento

Looking for something to do in Sacramento on New Year’s Eve? Check out these great events within walking distance of our restaurants.

Community Center Theatre Presents:
“Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles”
December 31, 2011
Shows at 2pm and 8pm
Rain performs the full range of The Beatles’ discography live onstage, including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles themselves recorded in the studio but never performed for an audience. Together longer than The Beatles, Rain has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-for-note performance in this multimedia concert, that’s as infectious as it is transporting.
calmt.com

Hyatt Regency-Sacramento Presents:
New Year’s Eve Party
December 31, 2011 8pm-2am
If you’re looking for a late night party, check out the Hyatt’s New Year’s Eve Party at The New L on 12 Nightclub with DJ Rated R and the Cheeseballs and at the Acoustic Lounge with Quinn Hedges and Ryan Hernandez.
sacramento.hyatt.com

Click here for more event listings

Holiday Gifts Ideas for Foodies

Looking for holiday gift ideas for foodies? PRG Executive Chef Kurt Spataro has put together a great list of kitchen tools and cookbooks that would make excellent gifts for the food lovers or chefs in your life. Enjoy!

KITCHEN TOOLS

Mac Knives
There are many excellent brands of Japanese chef’s knives available. What’s unique about Mac Knives is that the distribution center for the US is located in Sacramento. You can visit the showroom and select from dozens of options.  Excellent customer service is provided by the owner of the company.
Mac Knife, Inc.
9624 Kiefer Blvd #1
(916)854-9974
sales@macknife.com

Riedel Glassware
For those who enjoy drinking good wine, having the proper glassware can heighten the pleasure immeasurably. Reidel is an Austrian based company well known for making fine wine and cocktail glassware. There are several different levels of craftsmanship each with there own level of pricing. I like the Vinum series for home use.
Reidel.com

Mortar and Pestle
This is one of my favorite tools. It’s great for pounding a clove of garlic or an anchovy for salad dressings or for grinding small amounts of spices for making curries or marinades. It’s looks great on the counter too! A good choice for all around use is the Italian marble mortars available at Sur la Table.
Surlatable.com   

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COOKBOOKS

On Food and Cooking by Harold Mcgee
A classic reference book on the science of cooking that will keep any foodie occupied for years to come. The book has been recently revised and updated.

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
An excellent reference book on how to cook things from apple crisp to roast turkey. Full of great ideas, techniques and flavor combinations.

Grand Livre de Cuisine by Alain Ducasse
Over a thousand pages of recipes, techniques and photographs for those interested in classic and contemporary French Cuisine. Perfect for the most ambitious among your food geek friends or relatives.

New Seasonal Menu Items at Cafe Bernardo

Cafe Bernardo Midtown

Orrechiette
Roasted cauliflower, leeks, pancetta, cream, chopped herbs, Parmesan

Roasted Turkey Sandwich
Cranberry-pear chutney, smoked Gouda, mixed greens, sage mayonnaise

Sonoma County Spinach & Delta Pear Salad
Dried cranberries, red onion, Laurel Chenel goat cheese, hazelnuts, whole grain mustard vinaigrette

Napa Cabbage & Tofu Salad
Carrots, mushrooms, scallions, sesame seeds, soy-ginger vinaigrette

Cafe Bernardo Davis

Pan Seared Chicken
Roasted carrots and parsnips, mashed potatoes, mustard pan sauce

Reuben Sandwich
Pastrami, swiss cheese, housemade sauerkraut, Russian dressing

Grilled Salmon
Roasted butternut squash, roasted red onion, spinach, brown butter almond sauce

Recipe: Butternut Squash Gratin

Butternut Squash Gratin
Recipe Courtesy of Paragary’s Bar and Oven

In need of a last-minute Thanksgiving recipe? Make this delicious Butternut Squash Gratin from Paragary’s Bar and Oven!

Ingredients:
1 medium Butternut squash, peeled, seeded & cut into 1/8” slices
4 cups heavy cream
1 head garlic, cut in half horizontally
3-4 sprigs of thyme
grated nutmeg
1/2 Yellow onion, roughly chopped
Sea salt and pepper
2 Bay leaves
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Combine cream, garlic, herbs, and onions in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Continue to cook over a very low flame until garlic and onion are very soft, 30-40 minutes. Strain mixture and season with salt, pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg.

Arrange squash in a 9” by 13” baking dish, seasoning each layer with a little Parmesan cheese. Pour the infused cream over the layered squash and season the top with more Parmesan. Allow the ingredients to settle for several minutes. Bake the gratin at 350 degrees until squash is very tender and cream has been absorbed. Let the gratin cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

PRG Book Club: FERRAN

This month, Chef Scott Turnipseed from Café Bernardo R-15, recommends:

FERRAN: The Inside Story of El Bulli and The Man Who Reinvented Food by Colman Andrews

Why are you recommending this book?
Interesting and fun read about a famous chef from Spain who is well revered in our field.

Who should read this book?
For both professional and home cooks who want to learn about a far-influencing chef who runs the #1 restaurant in the world and is a leader in food gastronomy and technology.

Why did you choose to read this book?
I wanted to learn about the origin of our worldly food influences and how it affects what top American chefs do today.

What did you like the most about this book?
So far, the writer writes passionately about Ferran and his restaurant and how it became something from nothing. Mr. Andrews seems to be an intense foodie and it shows through his love for storytelling.

Book Details

Book available at: Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com

Book Summary (from Barnes & Noble):

The first-ever biography of Ferran Adrià, the chef behind Spain’s renowned El Bulli restaurant, by one of the world’s foremost food authorities.

Ferran Adrià is arguably the greatest culinary revolutionary of our time. Hailed as a genius and a prophet by fellow chefs, worshipped (if often misunderstood) by critics and lay diners alike, Adrià is imitated and paid homage to in professional kitchens, and in more than a few private ones, all over the world.

In his lively close-up portrait of Adrià, award-winning food writer Colman Andrews traces this groundbreaking chef ‘s rise from resort- hotel dishwasher to culinary deity, and the evolution of El Bulli from a German-owned beach bar into the establishment voted annually by an international jury to be “the world’s best restaurant.” With a new afterword for the paperback edition, Ferran brings to life the most exciting food movement of our time and illuminates the ways in which Adrià has forever altered our understanding and appreciation of food and cooking.

Have you read Ferran? If so, please leave a comment below and tell us what you thought about the book.

Recipe: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Recipe courtesy of the Paragary Bakery

 

Celebrate Fall with these delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. They’re the perfect treat for a festive celebration or as an easy Thanksgiving dessert. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Crust:
1 cup   all-purpose flour
1/3 cup   packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons   unsalted cold  butter
1 cup   finely chopped pecans

Ingredients for Filling:
8 oz   cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup   sugar
1/2 cup    canned pumpkin
2    eggs
1 teaspoon   vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons   cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon   allspice
1/4 teaspoon    nutmeg, freshly grated

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Set aside 3/4 cup of the topping. Press the remaining crumb mixture into a greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.  

In a mixer using the paddle attachment or by hand, beat cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Beat in the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Pour the batter over the crust. Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Cut into bars. Enjoy!

Yield: 1 (8-inch) square pan

PRG All-Stars: Diane, Private Dining Manager

Diane Lally
Private Dining Manager
Paragary Restaurant Group

Hometown:
Name any state and I have lived there—that is why I can relate to almost all of our guests! Seriously! I was born in Columbus Ohio…

How long have you worked for PRG?
15 fabulous years!

Best part of working for PRG?
My job is never boring—things are always changing! I also feel as if my guests are part of my family and I put in the effort to treat everyone I encounter with love, respect and dedication. To feel valued and know that I’m good at my job is such an amazing feeling.

Have you organized events for any famous/important people?
Yes, lots!! Let’s see…Hilary Clinton, Clint Eastwood, Maria Shriver, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Robert Sargent Shriver, Shaquille O’Neal, Presidents (Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush), Governors (Brown, Deukmejian, Wilson, Davis, and Schwarzenegger), and lots of other important people!

First job ever:
A restaurant job of course!

What is your favorite dish from any of the PRG locations?
I sometimes like to think that I’m a chef, so I’m always creating new items in every restaurant I visit. Sometimes I just altar one ingredient to change it up and other times I recreate a whole new dish!

What is your favorite food or drink?
Wine! I love it with almost everything. Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant and every day more civilized.

When not at work, you can find me…
Outdoors. I love gardening, kayaking, golfing, running, skiing.

What do you do for fun?
Live my life—just being who I am and saying what I feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind!

Recipe for success:
Success is doing ordinary things extraordinary well.

Best PRG memory:
My mom & dad’s Surprise 50th Anniversary party at Spataro Restaurant and Bar. It was the best! It was so nice to be able to do something like this at one of the PRG restaurants. I enjoyed giving back to the most important people in my life. Words cannot express how great it felt.

Drink of choice:
Wine! Life is too short to drink bad wine—it improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it!  And sometimes I happen do some of my best work with a glass in my hand!

Fun/interesting fact:
I am one of seven sisters (no brothers!). And yes, I am the middle child, which explains a little bit about me—I’m loud, always need to have the last word and will fight for what I believe in. Sisters are probably the most competitive and dynamic relationship within families. At the same time, we love each other to death but still want to wring each others’ necks simultaneously. My sisters have taught me how to live!

 

Interested in booking a private dining event with the Paragary Restaurant Group? Contact Diane at 916.440.1084 or diane@paragarys.com