Appetizers: Ella to kick off "Meet Mike" menu, The Kitchen nabs another award

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February 29, 2012

Ella to kick off "Meet Mike" menu, The Kitchen nabs another award

Mike Thiemann's about a month into his new role as executive chef at Ella Dining Room & Bar, and for the month of March the restaurant is offering a special "Meet Mike" menu to further introduce Thiemann's culinary talents to Sacramento diners. To recap, Thiemann's a Rancho Cordova native and veteran of Sacramento's punk and indie-rock scenes who later found success as a chef, with stints in New Zealand, Hawaii and most recently as executive chef with Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern and Hawk's Tavern. Click here for a profile of Thiemann which recently ran in the Bee.

Thiemann's spent the past month balancing Ella's signature dishes - roasted bone marrow, pappardelle and poached egg, yellowfin tuna carpaccio - with his own ingredient tweaks and introduction of new dishes. From Thursday through Saturday, you can participate in this getting-to-know-you phase with a three-course "Meet Mike" menu that costs $40.

Courses include organic carrot soup with crisp shallot and marcona almond milk, pan roasted mussels and wood fired pork loin with black-eyed peas, bacon lardon and chicharrones. Considering the pork loin alone costs $26 on Ella's regular menu, this prix fixe menu is relatively a very good deal. Surf over to www.elladiningroomandbar.com for more info.

In other news from the Selland Group, which operates Ella, its flagship restaurant just nabbed another award. The Kitchen was included in OpenTable's list of "Diners' Choice Award Winners for Restaurants in the U.S. with the Best Service." Other restaurants in this Top 100 list included such national dining destinations as Cyrus in Healdsburg and New York City's Daniel.

These accolades are just the latest in a string for The Kitchen, including a five-diamond rating from AAA and a James Beard nomination for "outstanding restaurant."

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