Vegetables take center stage at Sacramento’s most beloved vegetarian restaurant
If you’re going to go vegetarian, and I myself was for a pretty long time, it behooves you to learn to love vegetables.
Many people don’t, perhaps scarred by childhood meals of sulphurous Brussels sprouts, green beans cooked to a gray paste or peas reduced to mush. But treated correctly, vegetables can delight. At Mother, they do.
The current Mother at 2319 K St. in midtown is actually its second incarnation. The original Mother opened in 2014 on the K Street Mall, and became a much-beloved institution. It closed in 2020, shortly before the pandemic lockdown.
Chef Mike Thiemann’s friend Robb Venditti was a fan of the restaurant, and after its closure the two began talking over games of tennis about bringing Mother back. When Venditti sold his catering company, it left him the money to reboot Mother.
“People were excited about it. I knew that. You know, it wasn’t my dream to own a vegetarian restaurant. But at the time, it seemed like it was something that Sacramento wanted to happen,” he said.
He found the current spot in midtown. “It kind of called Mother to me,” he said.
Venditti brought in Thiemann as chef, and Mother was reborn. Business never quite took off to the point where Venditti could support paying everyone, so he moved from more of an investor role to hands-on work in the kitchen. Thiemann moved to Hawaii not long after.
Venditti pays homage to many of the customer favorites from the original Mother, but always puts his own spin on them.
“There’s always going to be that mushroom po’boy on the menu. The nut burger is going to be there almost all the time. The chile verde, a few dishes like that, we’ll always keep, and other than that I’m just trying to let it continue to evolve the way Mother always did,” he said.
Venditti doesn’t go in for the new wave of plant-based alt foods.
“We’re not using plant based proteins, lab meats, you know, stuff like that. It’s pretty much just all natural comfort food, just real ingredients, traditional cooking,” he said.
The aforementioned oyster mushroom po’boy ($18) is a highlight, filled with crisp-fried shreds of mushroom and topped with bright slices of pickles with a punchy coriander seed note. Fresh housemade potato chips add a crunchy complement.
The spring Thai curry ($21) comes as a pool of verdant green sauce with colorful roasted cauliflower, onions, carrots and peas piled on top so you get to eat them first with your eyes. The flavors are true to Thai cuisine, but if you like your green curry spicy, as I do, ask for one of their housemade hot sauces to kick it up.
Another mainstay is the chile verde ($20), with the heft of white beans and hominy standing in for meat. As with many dishes on the menu, it is vegetarian by default, but can be made vegan on request.
Save room for dessert. The s’mores pie ($10) is vegan, gluten free — and astonishingly decadent. A mixed-nut crust frames an extremely rich chocolate custard; the whole confection is topped with bruléed vegan marshmallow.
Mother hosts a (usually) twice-monthly “chef’s 10” ($44), a prix-fixe menu of on- and off-menu dishes at Venditti’s whim. When Thiemann was doing these dinners, he counted a chocolate chip cookie as the 10th course. Venditti felt that was a bit of a cop out.
“I wanted to use the Spinal Tap reference, so the joke is, this one goes to 11. We do 10 honest courses, and the cookie’s a take-home kind of bonus,” he said.
The restaurant is playfully, chaotically colorful with a montage of camp art all referencing the concept of mother in one form or another, from Joan Crawford to Glenn Danzig. It’s a perfect backdrop for Venditti’s vibrant food.
Mother
Address: 2319 K St., midtown
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; closed Sundays and Mondays
Phone: 279-273-1353
Website: mothersacramento.com
Vegetarian options: The entire menu is vegetarian or vegan
Noise level: Quiet on our visits, but may get loud if busy
