Dine Downtown, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s annual promotion to generate revenue for restaurants around the city core, began last week and will run through Sunday. Yet restaurateurs are hoping for further payoff down the road.

For the uninitiated, Dine Downtown encourages restaurants to offer three-course, prix-fixe meals at a uniform price ($45 this year). It started in 2005 as a way to boost downtown restaurants’ revenues in January, typically a down month between end-of-year celebrations and Valentine’s Day dinners.

Thirty-four downtown and midtown Sacramento restaurants signed up for Dine Downtown this year, including heavy hitters such as Hawks Public House, Brasserie du Monde and Camden Spit & Larder. All 34 and their menus can be seen at https://www.godowntownsac.com/.

Always a rough business month in the food and beverage industry, this January has been particularly dampened by torrential downpours and 65-70 mph winds that left city trees and power lines toppled. Restaurants such as Swiss Buda near Hollywood Park, Tony’s Place in Walnut Grove and Fluffy Donuts in Davis were forced to close for several days due to storm damage or extended power outages.

Midtown Sacramento hotspot Lowbrau’s outdoor setup was also deluged, and its revenue suffered as a result. But that’s not why sister restaurant Beast + Bounty is participating in Dine Downtown for the first time this year, said executive chef Brock Macdonald, who oversees both concepts.

Some people see Beast + Bounty’s gold silverware, soft pink benches and — let’s be honest — prices, and view the midtown restaurant as unapproachable, Macdonald said. Dine Downtown represents an opportunity to get those people in the door with a budget deal. Hopefully, some will stick around.

“I think the main reason we did it was to get people who have never been (to Beast + Bounty),” Macdonald said. “Maybe they come in and only spend money on the tasting menu that time, but they decide they really like it and come back and we get some regulars out of it.”

All three courses (persimmon salad, choice of pork belly ragu or pesto orecchiette, chocolate cake) are available on Beast + Bounty’s menu outside of Dine Downtown for a greater aggregate price than $45. If customers like those dishes, they can come back for them another time. They will just have to pay a little more to get them all together.

Dine Downtown isn’t really for Beast + Bounty or other high-end places to make up lost revenue in January, then. It’s a way to expose more customers to their ambiance and cooking, with hopes that some will order additional dishes that night or at a later date.

What I’m Eating

Elk Grove native Brett Bohlmann opened Boulevard Bistro on Valentine’s Day in 2006, transforming a 1908 home into a romantic destination. The city grew by about 50,000 residents over the next 15 years (a 39% increase), according to census data, but Bohlmann’s dimly lit restaurant at 8941 Elk Grove Blvd. remains arguably the top fine-dining place in town.

Boulevard Bistro’s menu rotates but remains relatively traditional, guided by the classic 1903 French tome “The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery.” Wine is a strong point, and ex-employee Chris Mora started the neighboring Christopher Cellars (and married Bohlmann’s daughter Candice, the restaurant’s former general manager).

Given all that, it’s little surprise that the rich coq au vin ($32) stood out. A fall-apart chicken thigh swam in thick red wine gravy with pork lardon cubes piled atop Gorgonzola mashed potatoes. Don’t be intimidated by the last detail, as the intense cheese’s pungent smell and flavor was mostly masked by the potatoes.

Pan-seared salmon ($32) was expertly cooked as well, served over pearl farro with baby carrots and broccolini in a lovely lemon beurre blanc sauce. On both mains, though, a slightly lighter hand would have been appreciated when salting.

The roasted cauliflower ($12) appetizer was a rare deviation from French American cooking with its pine nuts, five-spiced powder and cilantro yogurt calling something more Middle Eastern to mind. And the persimmon salad ($12) was full of nice contrasts, its sweet fruit offset by lolla rossa purple lettuce and bitter endives as well as tart pomegranate seeds and a maple-tarragon vinaigrette.

Address: 8941 Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove

Hours: 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday

Phone Number: (916) 685-2220

Website: http://blvdbistro.com

Drinks: Full bar, with an extensive beer and wine list

Animal-free options: No main dishes at present, but some salads and appetizers

Accessibility: Long ramp leading from ample rear parking lot to front door

Noise level: Medium to medium-loud

Openings & Closings

• Kinjo Hand Roll Bar replaced Harry’s Cafe last week at 2026 16th St. in Richmond Grove. Handheld sushi wraps stuffed with bluefin tuna, scallops or albacore are the name of the game at this restaurant from the co-owners of Tomato Alley Free House and Kansai Ramen & Sushi House.
• Star Lounge restaurant and bar opened last Thursday in the Hyatt House, a new 128-room hotel overlooking Sutter’s Fort at 2719 K St. in midtown Sacramento. Small plates, steaks and boutique cocktails are on the menu from former Kimpton Sawyer chef de cuisine Graham Forbes and ex-Grange lead bartender/Can Can Cocktails founder Ryan Seng.
  
  
• Willy Ng and Jenny Hoang’s San Francisco dim sum/hot pot restaurant Dragon Beaux opened a new location last Wednesday in Elk Grove’s five-month-old Sky River Casino, as The Bee’s Darrell Smith reported. Look for cart service as well as à la carte Chinese items including crab roe soup dumplings and sweet-and-sour spare ribs.

This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 5:00 AM.