Summer peach cobbler with Capay Valley stone fruit, biscuit topping and vanilla ice cream. The August dessert of Sacramento's Capay Valley farm-to-fork rooms.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
The Capay Valley west of Sacramento has been California's premier organic stone-fruit growing region since the 1970s, when Capay Organic and Farm Fresh To You established the valley as the Sacramento Valley's organic farming center. Sacramento's farm-to-fork rooms switch their dessert menu to Capay peach cobbler each August when the Suncrest, O'Henry and Elberta varieties peak. The biscuit-topped cobbler is the home version, with a butter and buttermilk biscuit dropped onto sugared peaches and baked until the juices bubble through. Magpie, Bacon & Butter and Selland's all run a version each August, and the Tower Bridge Dinner in September traditionally closes the meal with a peach or stone-fruit dessert from the Capay Valley harvest.
Common allergens: Wheat, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Use peaches at peak ripeness: they should give to gentle finger pressure and smell sweet. Unripe peaches will not break down in the bake, and the cobbler will taste flat.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Magpie on 16th Street, midtown Sacramento, has run a daily-changing California farm-to-fork menu since 2005, the city's quiet seasonal seafood anchor.
Signature: Seasonal seafood, House pasta
Order: Whatever seafood arrived that morning; the seasonal pasta
Tip: Closed Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday dinner only; Friday and Saturday open at noon.
Bacon & Butter on Broadway, Sacramento, runs the Michelin Recommended California farm-to-fork brunch with brioche French toast and chicken and waffles.
Order: Brioche French toast with seasonal fruit, chicken and waffles
Selland's on Broadway in Land Park, Sacramento, is the family counter on the same block as The Kitchen, rotisserie chicken and farm-vegetable plates.
Signature: Rotisserie chicken, Sandwiches
Order: Rotisserie chicken, the seasonal grain bowl, the farm-vegetable sides
Tip: Counter ordering, no reservations. Quick lunch and dinner. Same block as The Kitchen flagship.
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