SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Northern California is seeing one of its first stretches without rain in weeks as the Sacramento area prepares for a busy weekend of events. Communities are coming together to celebrate the Lunar New Year and Sacramento is wrapping up the city's restaurant week, Dine Downtown.
Sacramento restaurants are serving up savory and sweet delights for a special deal: a 3-course meal for $45 per person.
Tapa the World on J Street is just one of more than 30 participating eateries.
"A lot of people describe it as one of Sacramento's original date night spots," said Brooke Murillo, co-owner of Tapa the World with her husband, Executive Chef Marcos Murillo.
The restaurant offers Spanish tapas, or small plates, with influence from other cuisines across the globe. They also have live music.
Marcos has worked as a chef there for more than 25 years and crafted this week's menu curated for Dine Downtown. Guests can try pan-seared scallops with citrus-saffron beurre blanc as an appetizer or an entrée of creamy chicken risotto with jamón featuring locally sourced mushrooms.
The Murillos took over the restaurant in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit. Now, here to enjoy another restaurant week.
"It's been great. We had a rough start at the beginning of January, because of the weather but restaurant week started at the end of that and it brought in a lot of business and it's been fun," said Brooke.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Food Literacy Center in Sacramento.
The last day to take advantage of Dine Downtown deals is Sunday, January 22. To view a list of participating restaurants and their menus, click HERE.
This weekend also marks the Lunar New Year. Sacramento area organizations are holding events to kick off the celebration.
Sacramento's Asian resources Inc. held a celebration Friday to bring people together.
Organizers said the event was almost cancelled due to the rain in recent weeks but with sunshine in the forecast, they were able to host this celebration of culture.
Iu Mien is one of several communities joining in the celebrations. The holiday falls on Sunday, Jan. 22 this year and is celebrated by families from China to Vietnam who wish each other good fortune and prosperity.
It's a time for families to be together, enjoy food and share tokens of good luck, like red envelopes in Chinese culture.
"Us as Mien, we give the lucky red egg so all the children and adults get these to bring in luck for the new year," said Jenny and Annie Saelee.
More celebrations are happening throughout the weekend, so get out there and enjoy the sunshine!
