(This is a reprint of an article by Allen Pierleoni published in the Sacramento Bee on Friday, Jun. 28, 2013.)
Rio Linda is only a 20-minute drive from downtown Sacramento, but it’s a world away. The former poultry capital is workin’-folk country where the dented pickup trucks are actually used to haul stuff, and you’re likely to see horses on Main Street. Much of the passing scenery is of fields of produce and grazing livestock. This is the “farm” referred to in the foodie “farm-to-fork” mantra.
Things were slow at lunchtime the other day at the 1-4-5 Club there, but we’re told the joint jumps after dark. It’s a venue for live music most nights (call for details). You can tell by the musical instruments displayed around the rooms, the stage with the drum kit and the name of the place itself. The “1-4-5” chord progression is basic in blues music and serves as the foundation for much of country and pop.
I was with lunch pals Sue Ballenger, a former Sacramento Bee graphics designer turned fine artist, and Milt Whaley, a former Bee copy editor turned farmer. Sue has shown her artworks at galleries around town, including Gallery 2110. Whaley runs Singing Frog Farm in Pleasant Grove, raising a cornucopia of produce for restaurants and farmers markets.
Husband-wife team Lee and Deanna Godfrey have run the 1-4-5 bar-restaurant for a year and a half, making most everything from scratch (including hand-cut french fries, salad dressings and jus for the French dip) and sourcing much of their produce from area farmers.
We took on the chef’s salad, grilled cheese on toasted Italian cheese bread, a third-pound hand-formed burger and French dip au jus.
As we ate, we listened to the weird sounds a classic Pac Man arcade game emitted. The salad was a showpiece of sweet carrot coins, crisp broccoli, red onion, bell pepper, tomato and lettuce with nicely balanced blue cheese dressing. The tasty burger showed char on the outside and juice in the middle, but the star was the French dip – shaved from prime rib and stacked on a fresh roll (though in need of seasoning). The grilled cheese needs a makeover, we agreed.
BTW: For breakfast, try the prime-rib chicken fried steak with homemade three-meat gravy.
1-4-5 Club, 6750 Front St., Rio Linda; (916) 992-1055
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/28/5527111/1-4-5-club-making-food-count-in.html
