Photos of Kathy Johnson show a well-rounded, loving mother of two and local business owner.

She was the co-owner of Taylor’s Market (and Taylor’s Kitchen until the restaurant closed in July) along with her husband Danny. She loved browsing floral and farmers markets, twice chaired the Crocker Ball, ate her way around the world and married her one love long after they met at 6 years old.

Hers was this rich life that ended at 58 on Feb. 10. Kathy Johnson died of mental illness and alcohol addiction, her family wrote in a touching, vulnerable obituary posted to Taylor’s Market’s Facebook page last week and published in The Sacramento Bee on Sunday.

“In the days since Kathy’s death, she has been described by many as a bright light. That is so true,” the Johnson family wrote in her obituary. “What is also true is that Kathy suffered from a pervasive and insidious disease that often goes unnamed in obituaries. It is hidden under phrases like ‘sudden and unexpected passing’ when the reality is there is nothing sudden or unexpected about it.”

Addiction and mental illness are familiar, insidious beasts within the Sacramento restaurant industry. Conversations about addiction and mental health have gripped the food world at large since celebrity chef, author and TV host Anthony Bourdain took his own life in 2018.

Yet Kathy Johnson wasn’t comfortable talking about her addiction during stints of sobriety, Danny said. She didn’t want it to define her.

Danny Johnson and his two daughters decided to make Kathy’s diseases posthumously public in hopes of reducing the stigma around them, he said. He’s talking about starting a nonprofit called “Don’t Turn Your Back on Addiction” — the name inspired, he said, by a Taylor’s Market customer who turned around when he told them how Kathy died, not knowing how else to react.

Here was someone who lived a charmed life on the surface, a longtime community fixture in one of Sacramento’s most affluent neighborhoods. But anyone can be vulnerable to addiction or mental illness.

“Kathy had a supportive and loving family who she adored. She had an extraordinary life. She had things to look forward to. She had every reason to live. She had resources and access to treatment,” the Johnson family wrote in the obituary. “Addiction still won. Addiction does not discriminate. No one is immune.

“Kathy’s addiction does not define her life — but it ended it. It stole her sparkle and left those who loved her brokenhearted yet determined not to turn our backs on this epidemic and the countless families who find themselves in the same situation. Time will tell exactly what that will look like, but for now, it means simply telling the truth and dispelling the stigma and shame that are unjustly associated with mental illness and addiction.”

What I’m Eating

There are top-dollar omakase spots such as Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, and there’s quick-and-easy grocery store sushi that won’t poison you. For the midpoint, though, you’d be hard-pressed to find many better options than Sushi Q.

Qui and Kim Tu opened the first Sushi Q in 2015 in Calvine Corner shopping center near Sacramento’s Elk Grove border, then followed with a South Land Park location in November 2020. It’s the kind of place where the chefs studiously slice fish, only breaking their focus to cheer on the Kings or toast customers with sake bombs at the end of the night.

The specials board is worth monitoring — on our visit, it included speckled kamasu (barracuda) nigiri and sweet, smoky firefly squid gunkan. On the main menu, I recommend starting with the temaki trio ($24), a trifecta of spicy tuna, salmon and negihama (minced yellowtail with scallions) adorned with masago and microgreens.

Sushi Q’s chirashi ($46) was as tasty as it is beautiful, a neatly-arranged bowl of sashimi and sides meant to be shared across several people. Succulent salmon belly and casually rich escolar were highlights among the 18 pieces of raw fish and tamago, buoyed by wakame and jellyfish salad atop a layer of rice.

The torch roll ($14.50) stood out from the maki we tried, a flame-topped mess of tuna and shrimp tempura in a roasted garlic sauce. It wasn’t too hot despite being labeled as “spicier” on Sushi Q’s menu, so add a dash of true wasabi if you want more zing.

Sushi Q

Address: 1339 Florin Road, Suite B101, Sacramento and 8235 Elk Grove-Florin Road, Suite 400, Sacramento.

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 4-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (both locations).

Phone number: South Land Park: (916) 208-9314. Calvine Corner: (916) 896-0116.

Website: https://sushiq916.com

Drinks: Full bar.

Animal-free options: Very few. One exception is the $10 vegan roll with oshinko (pickled vegetables), cucumber, sprouts, wakame and avocado.

Noise level: Moderately loud at the bar, quieter at dining room tables.

Openings & Closings

• South co-founder N’Gina Guyton plans to reopen longtime downtown Sacramento diner Jim-Denny’s in late spring, as I wrote last week. She’ll build two outdoor patios at 816 12th St. and give the menu a modern California twist with items such as andouille meatloaf sandwiches and beer-battered cauliflower.
  
  
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• La Capital Latin Cuisine is now open at 1535 N St. in downtown Sacramento, replacing Antojo Street Taco Bar under the Eviva building. Sergio Fonseca’s new restaurant is the only one on the grid to specialize in Sinaloan-style sushi, with other options such as tortas or salads as well as a cocktail program.