Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part history series about Sam’s Hof Brau and other restaurants that were founded in Sacramento by the late Sam Gordon. Read Part one

As presented in the first part of this series, local restaurateur Sam Gordon (1907-1998) established four restaurants in the Sacramento area from 1955 to 1960. And with the popularity of these eateries, he continued to open other local restaurants.
Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau
His next dining establishment, Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau at 2500 Watt Ave. at El Camino Avenue, opened in January 1962.
In its Jan. 21, 1962 edition, The Sacramento Union noted that the restaurant had “opened to the public last week.”
The announcement was accompanied by a few details regarding the then-new Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau and a photograph of Gordon standing alongside a tall, wooden American Indian statue.
The carved statue was part of the décor of the restaurant, which was mainly designed with a “Gay 1890s” theme and had 6,000 square feet of floor space.
Other decorations placed in the restaurant were old signs, paintings and stained glass from a collection in Scottsdale, Ariz. and solid brass, gas lanterns from the grand ballroom of the old Union Hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The lanterns had since been converted for electrical use.
The restaurant also opened with its 1890 Room, a banquet room with a safe from the Western Hotel, which was located at 209-219 K St. and owned by William Land, who willed the funds for today’s William Land Park. The banquet room was built to accommodate 60 to 90 patrons and the remainder of the restaurant seated 180 guests.
More than 100 photographs and etchings of early Sacramento and nearly life-sized paintings of Lillian Russell and Diamond Jim Brady were hung on the walls.
One of the more notable decorations at the restaurant is a large painting of the 1869 “golden spike” celebration, which ceremoniously marked the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad.
But beyond its unique, inviting décor, Sam’s built its positive reputation through its entrées featuring fresh meats such as roast beef, roast turkey, prime rib, corned beef, baked ham and pastrami.
And of course, these meats can always be used to make this eatery’s signature “Sam’wiches.”
Special hof brau memories
Tom Tolley, who grew up in Carmichael and was a 1968 graduate of Del Campo High School, was one of this restaurant’s earliest diners.
“Sam’s Hof Brau was always a favorite,” Tom said. “In 1962, my folks (Walter and Norma Tolley) and I first visited Sacramento and ate at Sam’s on Watt and El Camino (avenues). I found it hard to believe that such a cool restaurant was right next door to such a fabulous bookstore and record store – the two Towers. Even Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, where I lived, couldn’t match that sort of arrangement. We moved to Sacramento two years later and my dad and I would eat there. When Sam’s celebrated their 25th anniversary, they rolled prices back to match their opening menu for about a week – a roast beef sandwich for around 65 cents – and the lines were out the door. Even though I was working at a quality restaurant – Coral Reef – I ate there almost every day during that week. Sam’s is still a destination where I have lunch with friends or when I happen to be out that way. The one thing I miss is being able to buy a new book or album before or after lunch. The changes to Sam’s have not been drastic over the years and I can still load up on free pickles.”
David Spieth, 60, who graduated from El Camino High School in 1970, also shared his memories about the Watt and El Camino avenues restaurant.
“Sam’s Hof Brau was always a neat place to eat roast beef sandwiches,” Spieth said. “And, of course, if you wanted a taste of turkey, they always had one turning in the window. It was always dark and cozy and had a lot of privacy when you ate. It was a place where you could take your girlfriend or friends and family. And it was close to the Country Club (Lanes) bowling alley, where I used to bowl. (It was) next to Tower Records, where you could always get your vinyl or tapes. (The area has) changed a lot. The bowling alley and Sam’s Hof Brau are the only original places left.”
Carmichael resident Pete Lennarz, who owned the Watt Avenue hof brau for about 16 years, said that he began leasing the Watt Avenue building from Gordon in 1991.
Lennarz added that since the Denny’s restaurant corporation owned Sam’s eateries at that time, he simply shortened his business’s name to Plaza Hof Brau to avoid any conflict with Denny’s.
In 2007, the restaurant was purchased from Lennarz by the Hof Brau Restaurant Group, which included several Mikuni restaurants partners. And since 2009, this hof brau has operated under the name, Sam’s Hof Brau.
Among the earlier events held at the restaurant under its then-new ownership was a 50th anniversary celebration on May 18, 2009.
To eliminate any confusion regarding the timing of this event, it should be recognized that upon acquiring the hof brau, these owners were incorrectly informed that this Watt Avenue business had been established in 1959.
It was not until the publication of the first part of this article series (see May 24 edition of this paper at www.valcomnews.com) that the ownership learned that the event was unfortunately held three years prior to the restaurant’s actual anniversary.
Sam’s Big Top
Less than two months following the opening of Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau, construction began on Gordon’s sixth Sacramento area restaurant – Sam’s Big Top at 1101 16th St. The business was opened to the public in October 1962.
The location was an ideal place for this circus-themed eatery, since Sacramentans had routinely dined at the popular Stan’s Drive-In at the same site.
This Sam’s restaurant, which was originally managed by Art Davis, featured 24-hour booth and counter service and seating for 100 guests.
Another Sam’s Big Top later opened at 2721 El Camino Ave. at Sandringham Road, but was operating as a Denny’s by 1970.
Sam’s expanded outside Sacto
Many Sacramentans also have fond memories of Sam’s Town entertainment center and restaurant, which operated off Highway 50 in Cameron Park from 1963 to 2000.
Additional Sam’s Hof Braus were opened outside the capital city, including in Auburn (Placer County), Oakland, Portland and Los Angeles.

A Sacramento tradition continues
Certainly the days are long gone when Sam’s restaurants could be spotted in different parts of the Sacramento area.
But fortunately the last remaining Gordon-founded eatery in the city, Sam’s Hof Brau at Watt and El Camino avenues, continues to carry forth its tradition of serving “fresh, stick-to-your-ribs food at piggy bank prices.”

Home canning of fruits and vegetables is regaining popularity thanks to the economic downturn and a growing interest in eating locally grown food. A downside to this practice is that if food is preserved improperly, consumers may become ill or die, according to University of California Cooperative Extension nutrition advisors.

If practiced properly, home canning is a safe method for preserving food. The canning process involves placing foods in jars and heating them to a temperature that destroys the microorganisms that cause food to spoil. During this heating process, air is driven out of the jar and as it cools a vacuum seal is formed. This vacuum seal prevents air and microorganisms from getting back into the jar.

If tested recipes are not followed, food-borne microorganisms can survive and they will spoil canned foods. Worse, consumers can get botulism from eating improperly home-canned foods. Botulism is a rare, but serious paralyzing illness caused by a nerve toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulism can kill if not promptly treated.

There are two safe ways of canning food – the boiling water bath method and the pressure canner method. Boiling water is used with high-acid foods such as fruits. A pressure canner must be used with foods such as vegetables, meats and combinations containing these foods such as salsa or spaghetti sauce. Tested recipes and guidelines must always be followed to ensure safe home-canned foods.

“It is very important to follow scientifically tested canning instructions to avoid illness.” said Susan Algert, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition advisor for Santa Clara County.

“The boiling water bath method is safe for fruits, jams, jellies, pickles and other acidic preserves,” she said. In this method, jars of food are completely covered with boiling water (212 degrees F at sea level) and heated for a specified amount of time.

High-acid foods such as peaches naturally have a pH of 4.6 or less and contain enough acid to prevent the growth of Clostridium botulinum. High-acid foods can be safely canned using the boiling water bath method.

“Certain foods, such as tomatoes, pears and figs, have a pH value close to 4.6 and must have acid added to them to lower the pH enough to use the water bath method,” Algert said. The pH can be lowered by adding commercial lemon juice or powdered citric acid.

When canning homemade salsa or other tomato products, Algert recommends following a scientifically tested recipe and using commercially bottled lemon juice to increase the acidity.

“You can’t use juice squeezed from a fresh lemon because we don’t know exactly how acidic the juice is,” Algert said. “Commercial lemon juice meets a standard acidity.”

To can low-acid vegetables such as green beans without a pressure cooker, the vegetables must first be pickled using a recommended recipe to ensure the final acidity is too high for Clostridium botulinum to grow.

Clostridium botulinum can form spores, a heat tolerant form of the bacteria that can survive boiling. If spores survive because of inadequate processing, they can revive and allow the bacteria to grow and produce toxins. Clostridium botulinum thrives in low-acid foods like meats and vegetables and in the absence of air in canned foods.

“The only safe method of preserving vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood to prevent botulism is pressure canning,” Algert said. “These low-acid foods require heating to at least 240 degrees F for a time specified for each product. This temperature can only be reached using a pressure cooker.”

To ensure safety of home canned goods, she recommends using new lids to ensure a tight seal and following scientifically tested instructions.

For more information about safely canning food, visit the University of California’s Food Safety website at http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/Consumer_Advice and the USDA National Center for Home Food Preservation website at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp

Watch a video of safe canning tips at http://stream.ucanr.org/preserving_fruit/canning_safely.html

Low-acid foods:

• meats
• seafood
• poultry
• dairy products
• all vegetables
• combination products using these foods

High-acid foods:

• most fruits
• properly pickled vegetables

Foods that require added lemon juice for boiling water bath canning:

• figs
• pears
• tomatoes

It took traveling to Cuba and Kauai, and marveling at what the farmers’ markets there had to offer to make me realize just what I might be missing back home. Sure enough, once I went to the farmers’ market here in Sacramento, I never looked back.

 

The farmers’ market is held every Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon under the freeway at 8th and X streets, and boasts a plentiful array of seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as vendors selling freshly baked bread, eggs, cheese, flowers, tortillas, meats, poultry and seafood, and many other items.

 

With the price of food increasingly going up, and the local economy struggling due to the recession, the Certified Farmers’ Markets of Sacramento County offer a solution to both: pay less for your groceries while supporting your local economy. But it doesn’t stop there: About half of the vendors there offer organic produce, often at a much better price than local stores. And perhaps the most convincing argument of all: eating both locally grown food and what’s in season helps to cut down on carbon emissions. Produce imports and exports add a huge debt to our carbon footprint because of the amount of jet fuel it takes to keep up this endless cycle of international produce shipments. So shopping at the farmers’ market means going green, too, and most people even bring their own reusable shopping bags.

 

At the moment, artichokes, asparagus, mushrooms, all kinds of citrus fruit, kiwis, and rainbow kale are all in season, among several other items. Produce items change by the season, but the cheese, bread, egg, olive oil and organic meat vendors are there year round.

 

Touring the market

On a recent Sunday morning, there with my friend Becca Popham, I asked her what she loved about it. She said, “My trip to the farmers market has become a Sunday ritual. The variety is endless: organically raised meat, seasonal fruits and vegetables, flowers for my table, free-range eggs. My favorites right now are the many varieties of daffodils and mandarin oranges. You can even find locally made tortillas – garlic and butter tortillas are my favorite – and fresh bread. The big bonus – everything is fresh and grown or raised close to home. I love that my money goes directly to the hardworking farmers!”

 

Barbara Kingsolver, prolific writer and gardener extraordinaire, expounded further on this subject in her most recent book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” She wrote: “Concentrating on local foods is a strategy that will keep grocery money in the neighborhood, where it gets recycled into your own school system, and local businesses. The green spaces surrounding your town stay green, and farmers who live nearby get to grow more food next year, for you.”

 

But enough about the politics involved in this debate. Chances are, in the fast-paced lives we lead, not everyone can make it to the farmers’ market every week, and most people need to supplement whatever they buy at the local supermarket, which is fine. When asking people why they shopped at the farmers’ market, there was one answer that everyone had in common: the freshness of the fruits and vegetables, often picked that very morning, and the taste. Because this produce didn’t have to travel or stay preserved for a long length of time, it’s just fresher, and tastes better.

 

 

If you’re not convinced yet, taste heirloom tomatoes in the summer time at the farmers’ market, and compare it to a hothouse tomato. The hothouse tomato is mealy and flavorless. The heirloom tomato at the farmers’ market tastes like sunshine. Have I convinced you yet? If not, go and see for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

 

E-mail Jeneka Sanford at jeneka@valcomnews.com.