The most famous name in Sacramento restauranting is that of Frank Fat. His establishment adjacent to the State Capitol is a favourite with politicians and celebrities. California Fat's, in Old Sacramento, is run by Frank's Hong Kong-born daughter-in-law, Lina. She also owns the adjacent Fat City, but that is simply a traditional American grill bar whereas California Fat's is her gourmet establishment.
When Lina took over the restaurant it was called China Camp, served standard Chinese food and was modelled on a mine. You can still see that influence in the profusion of bare timber. But Lina recruited Los Angeles designer Anthony Machado to create an atmosphere of Chinese-American fusion with a message of hope for the future. The basic theme is taken from Chinese temples with a colour scheme of jade, fuschia and royal blue. The centrepiece is splendid water sculpture flowing over the message, "peace". If you don't like the sound of falling water it may be a bit annoying, but I love it.
The fusion theme is carried through to the menu as well, with the Chinese influence blended with American, Mexican and Italian themes. This leads to dishes such as Peking Duck and Shitake mushroom pizza, or roast salmon on a bed of noodles.
I would recommend trying the combination starter (probably one between two) as this gives an excellent introduction to the range of flavours. I particularly like the tequila lime beef. For main course Kevin had the day's special, Chilean sea bass, and I had stir-fried shrimp and mushrooms. Sadly the ostrich was not available. We were far too full afterwards to try the dessert.
The only trouble is that we like this place so much that we have not yet investigated any of the 19 other restaurants in Old Sacramento.