Sacto style

If the Big Tomato has a style, it can be found in East Sacramento among the denizens of the Fabulous Forties and Fifties and the surrounding neighborhoods. By extension along the main arteries of Folsom Boulevard and H Street, which merges with J Street to become Fair Oaks Boulevard at CSUS, this style includes Ettore’s, the restaurant and European-style bakery across the street from Loehmann’s Plaza. Around lunchtime, you’ll find a variety of sandwiches featuring grilled chicken breast, turkey or portobello mushrooms on assorted freshly baked breads, a half-dozen lean-and-green salads, and neat little entrées du jour such as the meat brioche torte (diced ham, caramelized onions, mushrooms and Swiss cheese stuffed inside flaky pie crust) I sampled recently. All at prices that are quite reasonable. It’s a clean, well-lighted place frequented by well-coiffed Sacramento women of style and substance. As for the guys, well, all I can say is that it’s beginning to look like those IBM blue business shirts have become passé. But don’t throw ’em away. They’ll come in handy for keeping that résumé sandwich board from chafing.