‘Very farm-to-fork’ restaurant opens in downtown Sacramento with oysters, dessert cocktails

A new modern American, farm-to-fork restaurant has opened its doors downtown near the Capitol Mall.

Prelude Kitchen & Bar, an upscale-casual eatery, is the brainchild of Allen Kou, the owner and operator of Zinfandel Grille on Fair Oaks Boulevard. The new spot features modern American cuisines with notes of Italian and French influences, seasonal menus, craft cocktails and wine.

Currently, as a part of its soft opening, Prelude is only open for dinner, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The dinner menu ranges from Pacific oysters, pork chops and sea bass to risotto. For those who like something sweet after dinner, Prelude has a dessert menu that includes cake, sorbet and sweet cocktails.

Kou said the restaurant will begin serving lunch and will host private dining in January. In the springtime, they will serve brunch on weekends.

“We wanted to do something very modern and very farm-to-fork,” Kou said about Prelude’s concept. This includes constantly changing the menu and specials based on what is in season.

As of now, the restaurant is sourcing its ingredients from local farmers and major distributors, but Kou said his goal is to go straight to farmers for everything.

Prelude’s objective is to also make a name for itself in the culinary world.

“Our short term goal is to become a Michelin recognized restaurant,” Kou said. “And then our long term goal is to get to the point where we can hopefully earn a Michelin star down the road.”

You can make reservations at Prelude, 1117 11th St, online or by calling 916-898-1071.

The restaurant will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but is open for New Year’s Eve.

This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 10:05 AM.