This chef worked for years in Sacramento restaurants. Now he’s opening a bistro in the Delta

Matt Brown is getting older. The Delta is calling.

Formerly the chef at midtown Sacramento nightlife hotbeds The Jungle Bird and The Golden Bear as well as Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails in Greenhaven (he’s still a silent partner there), Brown’s next project will be south of the city in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

He’s the new chef and owner at Clarksburg restaurant Husick’s, soon to be known as Husick’s by Forester (his middle name). While past iterations have focused on barbecue, pizza and beer, Brown is reimagining Husick’s as a bistro that highlights the Delta’s strong wine scene.

A 20-minute drive from the State Capitol, the Delta’s flowing waters, shady trees and rows of Chenin Blanc are a somewhat untapped area gem. Emil Gagliardi, who runs Sacramento River Cruise and uses Husick’s as his commissary kitchen, recommended Brown buy out the previous owners. One drive south, and he was sold.

“It’s definitely off my beaten path, but after working at Golden Bear and Jungle Bird — you know, I’m in my 40s now. I feel like I’ve kind of aged out of that vibe, and this is kind of a perfect fit for me as far as where I feel I’m at in life and work right now,” Brown said.

The vast majority of Delta tourism happens during the summer, and Brown is building Husick’s lunch menu around warm-weather foods such as salads and “BBT” (bacon, basil, tomato) sandwiches on fresh-baked focaccia. He’ll also serve restaurant variations on homey dishes he grew up eating at his family table, including hummus and a Parmesan dip known as salsa di Parmigiano.

Every Sacramentan’s favorite summer weather phenomenon, the Delta breeze, will cool evening temperatures on the 30- or 40-seat patio (same availability inside, give or take), allowing Brown to roll out heartier items come dinnertime.

Hangar steaks will be served on cutting boards carved by Brown’s childhood neighbor Joe Ryle, with “canals” to catch meat juices and sides of bread, pickled vegetables and Cambazola cheese. A crispy lentil dish will include the bresaola and soppressata that don’t make it onto charcuterie boards, and Husick’s existing pizza oven will still be put to use as well.

The beer taps aren’t going anywhere either, but Brown wants to tap more into Clarksburg wineries such as Heringer Estates and Silt Wine Co. And what’s a Delta wine bar without a few bottles of Bogle Family Vineyards, the United States’ 13th-largest winery?

Brown gets the keys to Husick’s on July 1 and begin transforming it in advance of an August 15 reopening. It’ll be open from 11 am.-9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at 36510 Riverview Drive in Clarksburg.

What I’m Eating

Drive southeast through Sacramento County past the fruit stands and grazing cattle and you’ll eventually reach Sloughhouse, a 7,000-person town with one restaurant. The Slough House Kitchen is a literal historical landmark originally constructed in 1850 and popularized as the Sloughhouse Inn throughout the 20th century; it’s taken on new life under Alisa and Slav Lisagor, a Moldovan-born couple who opened their restaurant in 2022.

A pastry chef by trade, Slav Lisagor’s specialties include housemade pasta and wedges of flaky, crusty sourdough bread made from a decade-old starter and served with a streak of rosemary-thyme butter. Small table lamps, brick walls, old wooden floors and antique photos make the restaurant’s inside feel rooted in Sloughhouse’s history, but a lovely backyard patio deck makes for a peaceful place to slurp Hog Island Oyster Co. bivalves and watch a rural sunset.

The Slough House Kitchen’s seasonal menus source largely from neighboring Davis Ranch and include a few nods to the Lisagors’ roots, mostly notably in the fixture burrata with sea buckthorns ($18). Soft, creamy cheese contrasts with small orange berries that hail from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which are pickled in apple cider vinegar made from Apple Hill fruit and have a sweet-tart taste somewhat similar to gooseberries.

A hefty pork schnitzel ($38) was pushed to the plate’s edge by light mashed potatoes and a trio of sauces: five-hour marinara, fermented chili and mushrooms in white wine. Pounded flat and seasoned with orange juice before being fried in neutral oils, the schnitzel puffed up to a sweet-ish shell almost like an oddly delicious funnel cake.

Poached barramundi ($39) is available grilled or deep-fried. Choose the former to more fully taste the tender fish, cross-hatched and simply presented in a beurre blanc sauce that makes its savory flavors jump out.

The Slough House Kitchen

Address: 12700 Meiss Road, Sloughhouse.

Hours: 4:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday.

Phone: (279) 209-6409

Website: https://sloughhousekitchen.com/

Drinks: Full bar with an Amador County-focused wine list.

Vegetarian options: A few pastas and appetizers, plus a house salad.

Noise level: Quiet.

Outdoor seating: Lovely deck patio with many seats.

Openings & Closings

▪ Sette Pasta House opened June 20 at 6851 Douglas Blvd., Suite B in Granite Bay’s Country Gables shopping center. Owned by Fourk Kitchen chef/owner Paul Jansen its name translates to “seven,” the number of dishes Sette makes per day: five fresh pastas and two entrees.

▪ Sweet Haven Bakery opened June 15 at 6100 Birdcage Centre Lane, Suite 124 in Citrus Heights’ Marketplace at Birdcage shopping center. Owner Haven Claycomb sold vegan and non-vegan cakes, cupcakes and cookies at pop-ups under the name “Hayvy Bayky Bake Shop” even before graduating from high school in 2022.

▪ The Paisley Cafe is closing as owners Jason Pierce and Lela Lunsford convert it to solely represent Dirtbag Tea Co., their other business at 9372 Madison Ave., Suite 1 in Orangevale. Pierce and Lunsford bought the cafe a year ago and slowly began introducing items such as breakfast pizzas and PB&J burgers: they’ll continue innovating while focusing more on Dirtbag’s loose-leaf teas.