Bob Shallit: Delta King getting a makeover

Sacramento's venerable Delta King hotel and restaurant are getting a six-figure makeover.

Each of the 44 staterooms is being upgraded, with new furniture, bedding, HD-TVs and Wi-Fi connections.

"Those are just things your guests expect these days," says Charlie Coyne, co-owner of the 285-foot former paddle-wheeler that once ferried folks between Sacramento and San Francisco.

Other changes include new carpeting as well as new tables in lounges and on the scenic second-level outdoor eating deck that Coyne calls "the best piece of real estate in Northern California."

The upgrades, to be completed next month and costing "several hundred thousand dollars," come one year after Charlie and his brother, Mike, returned to day-to-day management of their floating business. They'd turned the reins over to a Seattle operator in 2006, but "we weren't satisfied," Coyne says.

In addition to the physical rehab, the Coynes have improved offerings at the Delta King's Pilothouse Restaurant and started weekly wine-tasting events.

The Coynes have a two-decade connection to the Delta King, which began making river voyages in 1927.

They bought the ship in 1983, after it had partially sunk in San Pablo Bay. They hauled the derelict craft to Sacramento and spent several years restoring it before opening in 1989 with a fundraising event for the McGeorge School of Law.

Coyne remembers that evening. It was hosted by the late Gordon Schaber, the law school's dean, who was "in his element," Coyne recalls. McGeorge benefactor Raymond Burr, the late actor who played TV's Perry Mason, showed up dressed as a riverboat gambler, according to PR doyenne Jean Runyon, who also was in attendance.

Was Runyon in costume? Of course, wearing a hoop skirt. "I was the river belle," she says.

And, still is.

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Cold Italian? Here's the latest scoop from Hot Italian, the midtown clothing boutique/pizzeria set to open this summer.

Along with stylish threads and baked breads, the corner spot at 16th and Q streets in midtown will sell gelato.

Why gelato? "Well, it's Italian, of course," says company co-owner Andrea Lepore. She also figures the joint will do lots of business selling the frozen treat from a walk-up window, especially to those hanging out across the street at Fremont Park.

The midtown shop will be the first regional location selling gelato and sorbets from Naia, a Bay Area firm known for using fresh ingredients and unusual gelato flavors such as Guinness beer.

Obviously, an Irish brew doesn't belong at Lepore's place. How about a gelato flavored with an Italian beer?

Lepore's working on it. "We may get them to do a Peroni," she says.

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You go, grill: Granite Bay inventor Al Werner is off to a hot start with his latest BBQ breakthrough.

As reported, he developed a scale that indicates the amount of propane left in a tank and warns users when they're running low.

Now he's got grill-maker Char-Broil to incorporate the device into one of its new models, with a gauge showing how much propane is left.

"If it's popular, it will get added to more of their grills," Werner says.

Werner also developed an "after-market" gauge that can be affixed to any existing gas grill. It's being sold through the New Hampshire-based Herrington mail-order catalog for $29.95.

Werner doesn't expect to make a fortune on the invention. But he figures it's a clever solution to a very common problem.

"Just about everybody," he says, "has had a gas barbecue run out of propane at one point or another."

About the writer:

• Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049 or bshallit@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit