The executive chef at Sacramento's soon-to-open Grange Restaurant isn't saying yet what's on his menu.

"I've been sworn to secrecy," says chef Michael Tuohy.

But this is certain: He'll be serving lots of locally produced organic foods – beef and poultry, fruits and vegetables, cheeses and oils.

During an award-winning 22-year cooking career in Atlanta, Tuohy was a leader of the national "farm-to-table" movement.

The abundance of locally grown ingredients here was one of the draws of the Grange gig.

"So much of what the (top Bay Area restaurants) use comes from up here, so why not be near the source?" says the 46-year-old.

Hiring Tuohy is a bit of a coup for Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the San Francisco-based operator of the 198-room Citizen Hotel at 10th and J streets, where the Grange will be located.

Tuohy and his wife, Patti, had been considering a move back to his native California and first looked into buying a restaurant in Sonoma. "Too expensive," he says.

Then he was offered a post as culinary director of Copia, the prestigious (but financially troubled) wine, food and arts center in Napa. But that job "didn't feel right," he says.

That's when he heard about the Sacramento opportunity.

Touhy has been in town a month.

He's been meeting other chefs and city leaders, selecting china and silverware, venturing out to local farms and ranches. And of course, fine-tuning that mysterious menu.

Sacramento, he says, suits him nicely.

After witnessing Atlanta develop traffic, fiscal and infrastructure problems following a fast-paced growth spurt, Tuohy says he likes being in a place that seems committed to smart growth.

Sacramento, he says, is "not too small, not super-urban."

In other words, just right.

Hip to be squared

Speaking of restaurants, Sacramento's culinary Haines brothers are set to open their newest eatery next month.

But the restaurant's name has undergone a slight revision. Originally it was going to be called Tre, followed by the symbol for squared. Tre stands for the restaurant's three elements – eatery, lounge and nightclub.

The squared symbol? A play on the "33" name of several other Matt and Fred Haines' local restaurants.

"We thought it was the cleverest thing we'd ever heard of," Matt Haines says.

But, he adds, "nobody got it." (Perhaps that's because 3 squared is 9, not 33.)

Now known simply as Tre, the place – in the former El Torito Restaurant at 1212 Howe Ave. – will open Oct. 10 with a cocktail party benefiting the Crocker Art Museum. A public opening will come a week or so later.

Tre's highlights? Salsa music in the club, late dining hours for night owls and a family-style approach that encourages parties to share their entrees.

Or is that entree (squared)?

Early retirement

One of Sacramento's pioneering businesswomen is calling it quits.

Betty Diepenbrock recently informed colleagues that she's soon retiring as an office broker after 25 years, almost all spent with CB Richard Ellis.

How many women were in commercial real estate when she started here? "There weren't any," she tells us.

And back then, she wasn't always welcome in the mostly male club. But over the years, the business has become "more user-friendly" for women, says Diepenbrock, who's emerged as one of the best – and most respected – brokers in town.

Why retire now, at the youthful age of 50? It's not the economy, says the senior VP, but a desire to spend more time with her high-school-age kids.

Diepenbrock sits on the board of Jesuit, her son's school. We caught her by phone on the way to a campus meeting at Loretto, where her daughter is a freshman.

"It looks like I'm going to be keeping busy," she says.

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