What’s replacing Localis when it moves to East Sacramento? ‘Casual Localis,’ chef says

Localis chef-owner Chris Barnum-Dann will open a Spanish-style tapas and pintxos bar called Sacasta after moving his flagship restaurant this summer, he told The Sacramento Bee.

Though pintxos and tapas are sometimes used interchangeably, Sacasta will assign each a price point and size. Pintxos will be two or three bites per item at $5-$8, while tapas will take 5-10 bites and cost up to $13.

Some dishes, like blackened prawns over smashed fried fingerling potatoes in a romesco sauce, will draw inspiration from Basque Country. But many will be hits from Localis’ past tasting menus or “Local Hours” over the last four-and-a-half years, such as two pieces of fried chicken or a tostada with housemade XO sauce with ceviche and smoked scallops.

“This is casual Localis,” Barnum-Dann said. “The food’s still the same quality, we’re still going to care as much as we do about Localis’ food. It’s just a much more simple approach ... there’s not really anything like what we’re doing in Sacramento, so it’s kind of fun.”

Other tentative dishes include the Barcelona bite (chorizo aioli, jamón serrano, manchego reserva and pepperoncini piled on a crostini) and Sacasta’s take on papas bravas, or fried potatoes. Barnum-Dann is part Basque and counts San Sebastian as his favorite city in the world.

Spend a little or pile it on

Aside from the bar, most seating at Sacasta will be around long communal tables with no reservations. The restaurant will start with a low-ABV cocktail and Basque cider program while waiting for its state liquor license to be approved, and will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Monday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Barnum-Dann said.

Barnum-Dann likened the restaurant’s structure to Southside Park izakaya Binchoyaki’s: go for a few flavorful small bites and spend a little, or a whole meal of those bites and spend a little more. On Sundays, customers might have the option of paying $35-$40 at the door, grabbing a plate and eating their fill of pintxos continuously placed out at the bar by cooks, he said.

Sacasta will host an invite-only, 12-person pop-up on Feb. 10 to workshop dishes. Future pop-ups will likely be open to the public; none will take place at Localis, Barnum-Dann said.

Sacasta’s menu will be more or less final once it opens, a departure from Localis’ monthly-rotating tasting menus. It’ll emphasize local sourcing of perennial ingredients such as polenta and chicken over seasonality, Barnum-Dann said.

Barnum-Dann announced Localis’ impending move to 3815 J St. last June and hopes to open it around the restaurant’s fifth anniversary on July 10, he said. Sacasta would follow about a month later in Localis’ current location at 2031 S St.

Localis’ future plans

Localis’ hours will remain generally the same after the move (5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday), but Barnum-Dann may bring back Local Hour to make use of the new property’s front patio, which would be difficult to incorporate into fine dining.

The J Street building owner is a frequent Localis customer and approached Barnum-Dann about moving the restaurant, he said. He entertained the thought but had no real plans to do so until walking in.

“I genuinely feel that first reaction, first sight, first love, all those things — it happens like that. And it did for us,” Barnum-Dann said. “The only reason that we’re moving Localis is because it felt right. The space works out better for what we want to do for Localis.”

The new Localis will have more counter seating and fewer tables, a walk-in refrigerator and more prep space. In a change that wouldn’t seem to matter until it does, it’ll also have two restroom instead of the current one. Localis servers can’t bring the next dish on a tasting menu until everyone in the party is seated, meaning that when three or four people queue up for the bathroom, plated food for that same number of tables starts accumulating in the kitchen.

A Michelin star future?

Those changes might help Barnum-Dann achieve a goal he’s had since entering culinary school: a Michelin star by the age of 40. The 37-year-old’s restaurant earned a Plate from the travel guide on its first review of Sacramento last year. After a year of polishing and changes — including Barnum-Dann’s wife, Jess Dann, joining as the director of operations — Localis has earned the higher honor, he said.

“I think that we will get a Michelin star this year. I mean, we have been working so hard elevating the food, elevating the service, elevating the ambiance that we have here. We’re dumping everything into it,” Barnum-Dann said. “All of us are so dedicated to the goal of giving you or whoever is sitting in these seats the best possible dining experience that I don’t think that anyone can come in here now and think we’re not at that level.”

“I know what we serve, I know what we’re doing right now. I think that we’re at that level. I think we’ll get it. And over there (in East Sacramento), maybe we can get two.”