Camden Spit & Larder's London-inspired dishes.

Last night I hit the town with my fellow Sacramento foodie enthusiasts to enjoy a preview tour of the 2020 Dine Downtown Restaurant Week. I got to meet some new faces and eat crème de la crème meals.

Our first stop on the tour was to Rio City Cafe where we enjoyed a smorgasbord of dinning options including shrimp tortellini, grilled Atlantic salmon in Thai coconut ginger sauce, vegan stir fry, maple-bourbon bistro filet and chicken schnitzel. We made sure to save room for the chocolate decadence flourless cake and banana bread pudding.

After all that food we took our full bellies on a stroll through the pedestrian tunnel that connects Old Sac to downtown (it’s super cool and a very convenient way to get around).

Our final stop on the tour was to Camden Spit & Larder located down the street from the Capital Building. This was my first time at Camden and I instantly fell in love with the decor and ambiance. This restaurant serves London-inspired dishes, basically the classics with a modern twist. We feasted on leek soup with truffle cream, slider appetizers, Camden Scotch egg, breaded rock cod, and spit roast chicken.

10 Reasons to Book Your Reservations

All the Amazing Food

All of us self-proclaimed foodies know what good food tastes like - and there’s no shortage of it at Dine Downtown Sacramento. We like dishes that are inventive, unconventional fusions, and of course fresh from the farm ingredients.

2. Eating for Great Causes

It’s always a win-win when you can enjoy something you love while also giving to great causes. One dollar from every meal donated to social services and food literacy programs in the Sacramento community.

During our Dine Downtown preview tour I had the chance to chat with the representative of Food Literacy Center, a nonprofit working with children to teach them healthy eating habits. It is so important for us to educate the next generation on how to eat healthy as a part of their everyday lifestyle. They bring new meaning to the old phrase - “eat your vegetables!”.

3. Supporting the Farm-to-Fork Community

One of Sacramento’s best bragging points is that we are America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital. What exactly does that mean? Sacramento is proud to have the largest certified farmers market in California. That means that local chefs have easy access to the best ingredients the Golden State has to offer. Hence fresh produce makes for stellar meals.

4. Spending Quality Time

We all know that life gets busy and we often get lost in the hustle and bustle of daily responsibilities. When you make your reservations with Dine Downtown, you are setting valuable time aside to be spent with friends and family. Make some great memories and eat some delish food!

5. Discovering Something New

Dine Downtown has an impressive list of over 30 restaurants participating in the events for 2020. There’s surely going to be some food joints that you haven’t explored yet. Especially since the foodie landscape in Sacramento is rapidly growing, we see new restaurant entrepreneurs popping up frequently.

Dine Downtown Sacramento is happening January 10 - 20 in 2020.

6. All the Instagram Possibilities

If you are familiar with my Instagram, then you know I love taking photos of stunningly beautiful food. During our Dine Downtown preview tour the Instagram paparazzi was very busy snapping away (myself included!). These meals are what I like to call “poetry on a plate” and they make for beautiful portrait shots.

7. It's About the Journey

Sacramento Regional Transit is the official transportation partner on Dine Downtown and you can use their online trip planner to map out the best route. You know what that means right?... cocktails for everyone!

8. Make New Connections

There’s one truly universal thing that connects us all - we love to eat! I have to admit that I’m a terrible mingler at events where I don’t know anyone, but once we all got chatting about the food it was a breeze to keep the conversation going. During the Dine Downtown events you’re surely to make some new foodie friends.

9. Gifts that Keeps Giving

I know we just finished up the holiday season, but that doesn’t meant that the generosity needs to stop. I have personally always loved gifting experiences over objects and I couldn’t think of a better present than a night out on the town with Dine Downtown.

Dine Downtown Sacramento is an annual event, and this year they are celebrating their 14th year (very impressive!). Plan ahead this year and put some Dine Downtown tickets under the Christmas tree for Jan 2021.

10. Treat Yo Self

And finally we come down to the truth of the matter. Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to say YOLO and splurge on something extra special. Put some self-love on the calendar and enjoy a 3-course meal guilt free. And of course give everyone food-envy by posting it on social media - sharing is caring folks! Make sure to use the #DineDowntownSac hashtag and tag @downtownsac so fellow Sacramento foodies can find you.