Now open in West Sacramento: a French-inspired wine bar and cafe from the team behind Canon
West Sacramento beer drinkers reveled in the 2018 opening of Drake’s The Barn. Now it’s wine aficionados’ turn.
Franquette, a new all-day cafe and wine bar, opened Wednesday at 965 Bridge St., Suite 100 in The Bridge District. It’s the French-inspired sister concept to Canon, Brad Cecchi and Clay Nutting’s exemplary small plates restaurant in East Sacramento.
Former Canon pastry chef Elena Winks is Franquette’s chef and general manager, charged with crafting shareable plates like chilled lentil salad with mushroom ragout ($12) or boeuf bourguignon ($21). Franquette has hosted soft openings over the last two weeks, reaching neighbors in new apartments and condominiums along the Sacramento River.
“We’re really the first coffee shop and restaurant of our kind not only in Sacramento, but definitely in The Bridge District,” Winks said. “For a half mile all the way around, you’ve got about 3,000 tenants in The Bridge District, and they haven’t had anything close by like this without going into Sacramento or further into West Sacramento.”
Born in Sacramento and raised in Germany, Winks was getting her bachelor’s of fine arts at Parsons Paris when she took a job in Paris’ first taco truck, Cantine California, to make some extra cash. She then enrolled in Ferrandi culinary school, which led to working in high-end Paris restaurants Verjus and Ellsworth, both of which inspired Franquette.
Elena met bartender and British national Jack Winks, and the two moved to her father’s Sacramento apartment to save on rent before they married. They were Canon’s first two employees before it opened in 2017. Now, Jack oversees Franquette’s coffee and wine programs while staying on as Canon’s bar director and general manager.
The wine, beer and cider list is mostly French, like a 2020 Charles Frey pinot blanc from Alsace ($12/$48) or a Domaine Si Le Vin syrah from the Rhône Valley ($13/$52). Coffee drinks will come from downtown Sacramento’s Camellia Coffee Roasters and pair with pastries like a frangipane-filled walnut croissant, for which Elena Winks thinks Franquette will become known.
“I personally make them just so I can eat a ton of them,” she said.
The star of the cheese list is the limited-quantity winter specialty Vacherin Mont D’Or, baked with garlic and white wine and served with a baguette. A 12-ounce portion of the gooey cheese, which Winks said can feed four to six people, goes for $58.
Natural light seeps in through floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the horseshoe bar and limited indoor seating. Former Sacramento resident Jay Howell, the original character designer for Fox TV show “Bob’s Burgers,” has painted murals across the walls.
Franquette’s opening hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. A 4% surcharge is tacked onto all dine-on bills to cover employee health insurance costs.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 4:15 AM.