Dirt To Dish Block Party

The Handle always puts together a solid party.
The 2015 version (not sponsored by Unilocal) was packed. Crazy packed. Why wouldn’t it be with free stuff coming from the likes of Mulvaney’s, Broderick Roadhouse, and several Lodi wineries?
I tried a couple snacks, tried some Lodi wines, had a delicious Sculpin beer, and then cut out because it was hot and packed. All free. Thanks Handle!

Dirt to Dish Block Party probably deserves a 5 if you are one of the first to arrive. The event is from 5 – 7. It wasn’t until I walked out of lunch and street was blocked off that I knew an event was happening that evening. The day of the event was really hot, all of my activities were surrounded around who has close parking and good AC. I made it to the event about 6:50. When I entered they check my id, put a check mark on the back of my hand and said you’d better hurry. Most booths had already shut down, but there were a few open. The beer/​wine booths had no line so if you were looking to get sloshed this was the place to be. The food booths had very long lines. I picked the shortest line, Crepeville. I was served a delicious hot strawberry and Nutella with a dash of whipped cream on the top. Next I tried the new place something rock and they served trip tip with pesto. It looked strange, but it was tasty. Lastly I think I got a chuck of tri tip from buckhorn, for me I like the thinner cuts, but if you the most bang for your buck this was the perfect sample.
I loved the little back drop they had set up so you can take pictures. That was a really nice touch as everyone loves to put on hats, ect and take pictures.
Next year if I’m not working I’ll come at 5 and join in on all of the festivities. This is probably the best event this farm to fork week puts on. It was crowded, but not sardines. Everyone seemed polite as they stood in line. Security did a good job. I really think they did a fantastic job.

Had a great time! Highlight of the night was probably the Pork fussili from Paesanos, Crispin apple cider, and Ginger Elizabeth macarons! The lines were stupid long (but what can you expect when you’re handing out free food?) and the heat was beating down but I think it was well worth it! We had so much wine and beer going around that I didn’t really mind the heat. I wish it lasted a little longer than 2 hours though. I hope everyone donated to charity and tipped handsomely! Can’t wait for next years Dirt to Dish!

I had a really good time at this event. I was dreading the lines and the heat but neither were as bad as I anticipated. Yes it was hot but it was in a shaded area. Yes there were lines but they moved pretty quickly.
Of course everyone and their brother showed up for the free food. They lines where 50 to 60 people long but I got through three of them within an hour. I managed to stuff my gut to pregnant proportions on all the free food. Fortunately the beer line wasn’t very long at all and I got drunk on top of it. Bloated and buzzed is a good way to spend a late Sunday afternoon.
It was a good time and I tasted some incredible, juicy, charred tri tip from Buckhorn Steakhouse and delicious, decadent, macaroons from Ginger Elizabeth. BOOM! Flavor explosion!

Farm to Fork and now Dirt to Dish! Maybe next year it should be «Plant to Plate» (especially since it is a fundraiser for Plates!!). This free wine and food tasting event kicked off Sacramento’s Farm to Fork week, featuring a foodie showdown between Mulvaney’s B&L and Broderick’s and a plethora of wineries from LoCa (Lodi, California). Being a vet of previous Handle District block parties, I knew to come early to get as many tastings as I could handle (HA!) before the lines got ridiculous. I sampled about a half dozen varieties of white wines, a cup of cold Crispin cider, a refreshing honey and lavender lemonade (Old Soul Café) and a few iced bottles of water to quench my thirst in the 100 degree heat. I also bought a $ 5 bag of plums and red pears (other produce was also available), with all proceeds benefitting Plates (St. John’s program helping homeless mothers). The food vendors this year were pretty generous with their samples: spicy tuna poke (Wrap n Roll Sushi), macaron cookie sandwiches (Ginger Elizabeth’s), pork fusilli pasta (Paesano’s), Nutella & strawberry crepes (Crepeville), chocolate chip cookies (Plates), mushroom ceviche (Zocalo’s), pork belly BLT sliders & smoked lamb shank ribs (Broderick’s), and pulled pork tacos/​lamb shank ribs/​Asian noodles with pork belly/​BLT sliders (Mulvaney’s)!!! I didn’t get a chance to work my way back through the crowd to the voting booth, but Mulvaney’s definitely had my vote!
I wish they could expand it another block to alleviate the chaotic lines, but other than that, it was another fun event showcasing local culinary talents.

The event was great. So many different food and wine vendors. I was able to try the Sushi Burrito place and I loved it. I will definitely be trying that place out. The live entertainment was great. The only downside i’d say was that it was a bit hard to find lines to try the different booths. Aside from that the event was awesome.

I say that «Dirt to Dish Block Party» is the coolest event that I’ve ever participated located at the Handle District (L Street between 18^th & 19^th Streets): home to the previous Unilocal events and non-​Yelp events for the past few years ago. This +21 event delivers all the free samples from participating sponsors, restaurants, bakeries, and more across the Sacramento area at no cost. As I entered the event yesterday on 9÷20÷2015, I must checked-​in to see my valid ID to get in. Then, the event organizer placed a special red band which it’s officially endorsed by Unilocal quoting «You’ve Been Unilocaled!» Finally, I managed to donated any amount of money to these 2 communities like: St. John’s Program for Real Change and Plates & Plates-​2-​Go Café.
As I entered that event, the atmosphere is very wide space filled with participating restaurants and bakeries to try including wine samples from different vendors and of course, free glass of beer! One of these great, awesome food samples that I’ve tried were the Paesanos’ Pork Fusilli which it tasted delicious that gives the mild spicy kick! Additionally, Buckhorn Grill’s tri-​tip and shredded pork also tasted very flavorful and delish! Finally, Broderick’s bacon appetizer: wow! Their bacon appetizer is the
! The bacon tasted powerfully good just like the Waffle Experience’s Praise the Larb! Not a bad mini meal! One last though, there’s so many people were going in line to get their free samples going, and it’s very long compared to Costco check-​out line. My suggestion: if you’re planning to go to next year’s event, come to the event early cause you’ll get the samples you want in no time!
Secondly, the drinks! Yep, there were tons of drinks to try from non-​alcoholic drinks to variety of wines and beers too. The Dancing Coyote’s wine tasted the best flavor that I’ve ever tried. It tasted much strong with the elegant tangling taste! For beer lovers, rejoice! There’s some good beer choices from well-​known brands like Coors Lite, Blue Moon, Ballast Point Sculpin, and Crispin. The Ballastic Point tasted too strong for me which I ditched out to Blue Moon cause it tasted not bad at all! For the non-​alcoholic drinkers, there’s Old Soul Co’s own lemonade. As I slurped Old Soul’s lemonade, it tasted refreshing!
Finally, there’s some good musicians who played for this event like The Old Town Boys. Their performance was not that bad. Very enjoyable to listen to.
Of course, there’s some of my favorite Unilocalers here who participated for that event like Karen & Kenneth K, Carol P, Joni, Katie & Gregory G and their friends, Gregg R, David O, and Clay W.
In the end, Dirt to Dish Block Party is the finest Farm-​to-​Fork event that I’ve ever visited for the first time at the Midtown’s Handle District. I’m sure this event will come back next year in the future. A well, worthy visit!

This is the third year that I was fortunate enough to attend the Handle District event. Layout was similar, blocking off one complete block of L street from 19^th to 18^th street. Vendors from the various establishments were there to hand out samples, as well as invited vintners and beer vendors. Can’t really complain about complimentary food and beverage. The highlights for me was the Broderick’s /​Mulvaneys showdown. If you have the opportunity to attend next year, do so.
The only call out were the logistics for the extremely long lines. If there was a way to better organize the crowd flow, maybe spacing the vendors out better or being able to secure more space, it would do wonders to eliminate the line poachers and confusion. No one really got mad (it was free food !) but heard several grumbling about the lines and crowd control. It only takes one person to get out of control, and things could spiral out of control quickly. In addition, a charge for admittance might be warranted to keep the crowds down and more manageable, but it logistically might not be possible.
Otherwise another nice event from Unilocal ! Much appreciated!