Best place to drop cash on acid: Corti Brothers’ vinegar selection

Behind the glass-encased miniature museum of unusual spurs—they're pasta cutters, actually—by the entrance of East Sacramento's institution of fine foods, Corti Brothers, there is a formidable selection of imported vinegars. Some of the bottles of artisanal, sweetly tangy fermented liquid have red wax melted onto their cork tops. One small bottle from Italy is even displayed in an old wooden box with a handwritten note—and a price tag of $499.99. But there are more affordable bottles of liquid acid to splurge on for, say, $139.99. Walk down the aisle, though, to find yet several more shelves of the stuff for less than $20 a pop. The petite 6.75-ounce bottle of exquisitely delicate Sparrow Lane California Golden Balsamic Vinegar for around 10 bucks seems like a bargain now, eh? 5810 Folsom Boulevard, (916) 736-3800, www.cortibros.biz.