Sacramento restaurant Mother is closing — but there’s still a way to get their food nearby

Mother, the downtown Sacramento vegetarian restaurant that was one of just a handful local eateries to be recognized by the Michelin guide in its Bib Gourmand list, announce its closure Wednesday in a social media post that was later deleted, causing confusion about the restaurant’s future.

In an initial post to Instagram on New Year’s Day, the restaurant seemed to sign off after five well-received years by merely saying, “Goodbye Sacramento. Thank you. 2014-2019.”

The post was later deleted. Then, in response to one user’s comment on a different photo on the page asking whether the deletion of the other post meant the restaurant was not closing after all, Mother wrote: “Reorganizing. More info tomorrow.”

But, as it turns out, the closure is real. Robert Emerick, a managing partner in the business, said Mother will be closing its doors for good — but the upside is some of the menu will be transferred into the neighboring Empress Tavern, which will be extending its hours to include lunch service.

As of yet, Emerick said, management is still determining what options from Mother’s menu will make appearances at Empress Tavern starting Jan. 8, but assured loyal patrons that the most popular dishes would be available.

“Mother was always more popular than what that little space could handle,” Emerick said. “A large part of the objective is open up a lunch crowd in Empress, allow people to not have to wait in line — there’s a lot more seating than there was in Mother.”

Emerick said the consolidation will help save some money while also expanding service.

In a notice that will be posted on the doors of Mother, management says “Dear Sacramento, It is with great admiration, love, and excitement for the future that we announce our retirement.”

With the new vacancy at 1023 K St., Emerick said another restaurant will soon be filling Mother’s space.

“We are feeling our age,” the letter says. “Many of our staff have moved on to great adventures over the last several years and many of our current staff and loved ones are moving on to new projects. So we couldn’t be happier for the opportunity to hand over the keys to 1023 K Street to some good friends of ours.”

Emerick said the only way to expand Mother would be franchising it — which was never really intended and would be difficult to pull of when highly skilled chefs are required for its menu.

“We have those chefs in Empress to continue the line and frankly we could perhaps even expand it further,” Emerick said.

Mother was one of only three Sacramento restaurants to make it to the Bib Gourmand list in May, indicating an excellence in quality to the tune of more affordable prices alongside Canon and Frank Fat’s.

“The creative offerings are expertly conceived and incredibly craveable,” Michelin wrote of Mother’s vegetarian fare in May.

In early December, Mother’s hours were shortened to exclude dinner service, a portentous sign of the end times.

In 2014, shortly after the restaurant first opened downtown, a Sacramento Bee review gave Mother high marks — praising its casual ambiance and clever preparation in dishes such as its signature chicken-fried mushroom po’boy.

“Mother doesn’t serve meat, but its designation as a vegetarian restaurant doesn’t quite suffice,” The Bee review said. “It identifies and celebrates the greatness of an agricultural region whose bounty is unsurpassed anywhere in the United States.”

Chef and owner Michael Thiemann started the Mother concept through pop-up dinners served out of the kitchen at Old Ironsides.

This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 7:50 AM.