All the frozen bits

A few friends and I finally dipped into Tidbit Catering & Gelateria, a quaint spot on Capitol Avenue and 19th Street that we’ve passed by often enough yet never stopped in. We found the place manned by a single gent who courteously made us feel at home by plying us with samples of gelato. We also learned that chef Eric Lee has crafted an eclectic and Midtown-friendly menu that comes at a striking bargain.

Fried calamari are lightly seasoned with a crispy exterior and served with a marinara-ish bland sauce. Chips and salsa are available; the salsa comprises roasted veggies (with an emphasis on tomatoes and poblanos) that are blackened and thick with flavor. The result is curiously divisive: Some of us thought it black gold, others considered it a crude sludge.

A carrot-and-ginger soup possesses a slow burn, like the fistful of ginger opened your jaw and slapped your tongue with a hot iron. Yet the carrot’s sweetness is the perfect salve. More disquiet beset the table in the form of barley soup: Half of us adored the texture and earthiness, while the other half found it achingly bitter from too much thyme and lacking in salt.

Nachos should not have their ingredients divided into sections, the chicken lying due north, a coppice of black beans to the west, and lo the sole green mountain of guac to the south. My chip shouldn’t have to make a pilgrimage through the sparse cheese wastelands to various shrines in order to achieve self-realization.

The carnitas tacos on the Tri-tilla Taco Platter are richer than a Zuckerberg offshore account, and while the crispy bits of pork are pleasant and lime is provided to cut through it all, it just isn’t right without some onions or pico de gallo to enliven it.

A chicken-lettuce wrap is sophisticated: a modest and responsible portion of food of moderate size and highlighted with slivers of cucumber and a shaking of vinegar.

The burger eschews the traditional bun for lightly toasted focaccia. A genius move. Topped with fried onions, bacon, Jack cheese, veggies and garlic aioli—which was where for the calamari?—it’s one of the more unique burgers in town.

Overall, the food isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either, minus a few exceptions. Most of it is middling, like a student with a “C’s get degrees” attitude. However, $10 gets you a main, a side and a generous scoop of gelato, so yayness there.

The frozen bits, however are where Tidbit really achieves.

Gelato (milk based) and sorbet (fruit based) are both available in astounding off-the-cuff flavors that mostly draw inspiration from Asian cuisines. A vanilla-and-adzuki-bean gelato tastes sweet and earthy, with a flavor reminiscent to Chinese moon cakes. A nutty soy-based black-sesame-seed gelato is as rustic and charming as your favorite Instagram filter. In addition, I found myself drawn to both the pistachio and oatmeal flavors, the latter reminiscent of the Mother’s Cookies Iced Oatmeal cookies that your gran bought you, assuming you had a happy childhood.

Sorbetwise, the grapefruit is refreshing as can be, while the POG (passion fruit, orange, guava) is not only tart and fruity, but also a fun ride on the Wayback Machine for anyone who survived the ’90s and owned a Heavy Metal Slammer.

What boggles my mind is why people aren’t lining up every single day for their gelato and sorbet.

Sacramento, I’ve heard you whine for a decent ice-cream store equivalent to San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Creamery—the kind of place that makes unique flavors on the premises at affordable prices.

So, here it is. Tidbit. The ice-cream place you wanted. Why aren’t you here forming lines around the block?