Au revoir to French pastries at this beloved Sacramento sweets store

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Food & Drink

Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates made some of the best pastries in Sacramento. Its namesake loathed doing so.

The midtown Sacramento chocolate shop will no longer make baked goods aside from macarons, founder Ginger Elizabeth Hahn announced in an Instagram video last week.

No more airy pain au chocolat, no more fluffy almond cakes, no more bourbon-soaked monkey bread. My aunt and uncle who live in the North Bay Area used to ask me to bring Ginger Elizabeth pastries when we met up, because it was the closest thing to Paris that they had tasted stateside.

But for Hahn, the change means no more baking at 2 a.m. and no more managing the rollout of 200 items per year. She plans to grow Ginger Elizabeth’s online store, teach more cooking classes and perhaps expanding to another brick-and-mortar location.

“All it did was like pretty much not only kind of ruin my life, but it took away from my creative energy with the things that I love, which would be chocolate,” Hahn said in a phone interview. “I don’t like baking viennoiserie. It’s not something that I personally like.”

Pastry chef Daniel Lindsey did much of the baking, but Hahn had trouble finding other employees to work before the crack of dawn, she said.

Fans might have sensed something was amiss when Ginger Elizabeth discontinued the city’s best breakfast sandwich in June. Lathered with tomato jam and made using ingredients from five Sacramento-area family farms, the $12 sandwiches would have had to cost about $25 to make a profit once labor and other expenses were factored in, she said.

Customers bought about 20 breakfast sandwiches per weekday and about 150 on Saturdays, Hahn said. When the sandwich was discontinued, she heard about it.

“If those people who complained all the time wanted to come in every week and get a breakfast sandwich, maybe it’s something that I would have kept doing. Probably not,” Hahn said. “But when asked where I want to see the company in five to 10 years, no scrambled eggs came into my mind. No croissants came into my mind.”

Hahn and her husband Tom, who have separated but remain business partners, closed their original chocolate shop in the Handle District last summer after 16 years to consolidate operations at 2413 J St., Suite 120. They also closed a San Francisco location in 2020, moving much of the furniture to the J Street location, which they own.

Breakfast sandwiches and pastries came into the fold when that new store opened in October 2020, but Ginger Elizabeth’s business was built on chocolates and macarons, the latter of which account for 35-40% of store revenue, Hahn said. Ginger Elizabeth will continue to offer macaron ice cream sandwiches and desserts such as pots de crème in addition to chocolate bon bons.

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What I’m Eating

Yerevan Bar & Restaurant is illuminated by a glowing green light around the building, one that stands out as you drive down Fair Oaks Boulevard in Carmichael. Green remains the theme inside the Sacramento region’s most expressly Armenian restaurant as well, the color of the chairs, curtains and faux foliage that give a cooling effect in a refined dining room.

Founded by Akob Darmoyan in March 2023 and named after Armenia’s capital, Yerevan has quickly become a cultural gathering spot for Sacramentans with roots in the Caucasus region. The menu is dotted with hard-to-find dishes with roots in Armenia and neighboring countries, and a banquet hall was holding a raucous party on our Friday night visit.

Lavash, bread and hummus are complementary, but you might want to order ajika ($10) as well. A Georgian red pepper dip, its smoky flavor stood out amid a current of medium heat.

Don’t miss khinkali ($16), four giant Georgian soup dumplings with plateaued flat tops that are essentially a West Asian version of xiaolongbao. To eat: hold a dumpling by its thick stem, flip upside-down, bite a small hole and suck the broth out. Eat away at the dumpling, including the beef patty inside, before discarding the stem.

Armenian barbecue skewers called khorovats are a national dish, and while pork is a go-to, the chicken lula kebab ($29) made for an herb-forward, tasty collection of ground meat. Adventurous eaters would do well to try the nicely-cooked tvjvik ($29), beef liver and hearts stewed with peppers and onions in a tomato broth.

Yerevan Bar & Restaurant

Address: 7600 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael.

Hours: 4-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday, 2-11 p.m. Saturday, 12-10 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday.

Phone: (916) 620-9999

Website: https://yerevansac.com/

Drinks: A fledgling bar program comprised of standard cocktails and a few choice liquors and wines.

Vegetarian options: Borscht, salads and few other options.

Noise level: Loud.

Openings & Closings

Flora & Fauna will open its brick-and-mortar downtown Sacramento cafe on Feb. 5 on the ground floor of Park Tower at 980 Ninth St. Angelika Feldman launched Flora & Fauna as a catering company in 2022 with a focus on locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients.

Burly’s Bar & Market permanently closed last Saturday, less than eight months after the vegan eatery opened at 2014 Del Paso Blvd. in Old North Sacramento. Owner Gabriel Aiello will continue making shrubs, sodas and other beverages under the Burly Beverages brand.

Downtown Sacramento food hall The Bank is temporarily closing for renovations, but at least one vendor will shut down for good. Sac Poke Bros’ last day in business will be Friday, the coda on five years of Hawaiian-inspired poke bowls at 629 J St.

Benjy Egel
Food & Drink Reporter

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Food & Drink The Sacramento Bee Advertisement Food & Drink Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates made some of the best pastries in Sacramento. Its namesake loathed doing so. The midtown Sacramento chocolate shop will no longer make baked goods aside from macarons, founder Ginger Elizabeth Hahn announced in an Instagram video last week. No more airy pain au chocolat, no more fluffy almond cakes, no more bourbon-soaked monkey bread. My aunt and uncle who live in the North Bay Area used to ask me to bring Ginger Elizabeth pastries when we met up, because it was the closest thing to Paris that they had tasted stateside. But for Hahn, the change means no more baking at 2 a.m. and no more managing the rollout of 200 items per year. She plans to grow Ginger Elizabeth’s online store, teach more cooking classes and perhaps expanding to another brick-and-mortar location. “All it did was like pretty much not only kind of ruin my life, but it took away from my creative energy with the things that I love, which would be chocolate,” Hahn said in a phone interview. “I don’t like baking viennoiserie. It’s not something that I personally like.” Pastry chef Daniel Lindsey did much of the baking, but Hahn had trouble finding other employees to work before the crack of dawn, she said. Fans might have sensed something was amiss when Ginger Elizabeth discontinued the city’s best breakfast sandwich in June. Lathered with tomato jam and made using ingredients from five Sacramento-area family farms, the $12 sandwiches would have had to cost about $25 to make a profit once labor and other expenses were factored in, she said. Customers bought about 20 breakfast sandwiches per weekday and about 150 on Saturdays, Hahn said. When the sandwich was discontinued, she heard about it. “If those people who complained all the time wanted to come in every week and get a breakfast sandwich, maybe it’s something that I would have kept doing. Probably not,” Hahn said. “But when asked where I want to see the company in five to 10 years, no scrambled eggs came into my mind. No croissants came into my mind.” banner_image Hahn and her husband Tom, who have separated but remain business partners, closed their original chocolate shop in the Handle District last summer after 16 years to consolidate operations at 2413 J St., Suite 120. They also closed a San Francisco location in 2020, moving much of the furniture to the J Street location, which they own. Breakfast sandwiches and pastries came into the fold when that new store opened in October 2020, but Ginger Elizabeth’s business was built on chocolates and macarons, the latter of which account for 35-40% of store revenue, Hahn said. Ginger Elizabeth will continue to offer macaron ice cream sandwiches and desserts such as pots de crème in addition to chocolate bon bons. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for The Bee’s Food & Drink newsletter here. WHAT I’M EATING Yerevan Bar & Restaurant is illuminated by a glowing green light around the building, one that stands out as you drive down Fair Oaks Boulevard in Carmichael. Green remains the theme inside the Sacramento region’s most expressly Armenian restaurant as well, the color of the chairs, curtains and faux foliage that give a cooling effect in a refined dining room. Founded by Akob Darmoyan in March 2023 and named after Armenia’s capital, Yerevan has quickly become a cultural gathering spot for Sacramentans with roots in the Caucasus region. The menu is dotted with hard-to-find dishes with roots in Armenia and neighboring countries, and a banquet hall was holding a raucous party on our Friday night visit. Lavash, bread and hummus are complementary, but you might want to order ajika ($10) as well. A Georgian red pepper dip, its smoky flavor stood out amid a current of medium heat. Don’t miss khinkali ($16), four giant Georgian soup dumplings with plateaued flat tops that are essentially a West Asian version of xiaolongbao. To eat: hold a dumpling by its thick stem, flip upside-down, bite a small hole and suck the broth out. Eat away at the dumpling, including the beef patty inside, before discarding the stem. Armenian barbecue skewers called khorovats are a national dish, and while pork is a go-to, the chicken lula kebab ($29) made for an herb-forward, tasty collection of ground meat. Adventurous eaters would do well to try the nicely-cooked tvjvik ($29), beef liver and hearts stewed with peppers and onions in a tomato broth. YEREVAN BAR & RESTAURANT Address: 7600 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael. Hours: 4-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday, 2-11 p.m. Saturday, 12-10 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday. Phone: (916) 620-9999 Website: Drinks: A fledgling bar program comprised of standard cocktails and a few choice liquors and wines. Vegetarian options: Borscht, salads and few other options. Noise level: Loud. OPENINGS & CLOSINGS * Flora & Fauna will open its brick-and-mortar downtown Sacramento cafe on Feb. 5 on the ground floor of Park Tower at 980 Ninth St. Angelika Feldman launched Flora & Fauna as a catering company in 2022 with a focus on locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients. * Burly’s Bar & Market permanently closed last Saturday, less than eight months after the vegan eatery opened at 2014 Del Paso Blvd. in Old North Sacramento. Owner Gabriel Aiello will continue making shrubs, sodas and other beverages under the Burly Beverages brand. * Downtown Sacramento food hall The Bank is temporarily closing for renovations, but at least one vendor will shut down for good. Sac Poke Bros’ last day in business will be Friday, the coda on five years of Hawaiian-inspired poke bowls at 629 J St. headshot Benjy Egel Food & Drink Reporter email Read more Food & Drink stories below: Golden Road Brewing will finally open the doors of its new Sacramento restaurant and beer garden to the public this Thursday at the corner of 19th and L streets in midtown. Beer Golden Road Brewery closes midtown Sacramento taproom 5 years after controversial opening The Los Angeles-based brewery will continue serving its Mango Cart wheat ale at four other California taprooms. Michael Helmrich, owner of The Mandarin, prepares the establishment’s signature spicy garlic shrimp in wine sauce, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019. His parents opened the restaurant in 1981 and the dish’s recipe hasn’t changed since then. Local Sacramento-area Chinese restaurant is closing after 40 years: ‘I’m going to miss this place’ The restaurant was known for its expansive menu of gourmet Chinese dishes, including spicy garlic shrimp. Advertisement Owner Yusuf Topal, right, and executive chef Kadriye Baspehlivan prepare food in the kitchen Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, at Jayna Gyro, a new Mediterranean restaurant in East Sacramento. Topal started out as a kitchen helper on a cruise ship. Business & Real Estate Popular Jayna Gyro has a new location in Roseville with more restaurants coming Jayna Gyro opened its first area location in 2022 in East Sacramento. The Better Meat Co.’s executive vice president of operations Doni Curkendall shows bags of their plant-based meat product “rhiza” at their headquarters in West Sacramento on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. The process starts with a fungal micro-organism, which is fermented until it transforms into mycellium, which is then cut, dried and packaged in airtight bags. Per 100 grams, it has more iron than beef, more potassium than bananas and more fiber than oats, Curkendall said. Restaurant News & Reviews Inside a plan to make greater Sacramento ‘a Silicon Valley for food tech’ "I think you can really start to imagine this area being something like a Silicon Valley for food tech" Advertisement Monthly restaurant inspections Local Sacramento sports bar closed due to cockroaches. What else did health inspectors find? Sacramento County conducts roughly 14,000 health inspections a year. Local Popular taqueria to close central site in Sacramento County. ‘The heartache is real’ The business opened its doors five years ago. Here’s what’s next. Advertisement Chicken Parm Mac & Cheese is among the menu options at I Heart Mac & Cheese, which is opening its first Sacramento location in February 2024. Local Macaroni and cheese chain to open first Sacramento location next month. Here’s where The first 25 customers win free macaroni and cheese bowls for a year. Local Mendocino Farms just opened a new Sacramento-area restaurant. See where and when it’s open The Southern California chain restaurant is known for its sandwiches and salads. The city of West Sacramento is requesting proposals for the redevelopment of the Club Pheasant property at 2525 Jefferson Blvd. Local Want to own a piece of West Sacramento history? Iconic Club Pheasant building is for sale The city is looking for buyers who will “preserve the legacy of the location as a West Sacramento landmark.” Person buying food products in the supermarket queue California How much do Californians spend on groceries every week? It’s more than almost any other state The average household in the United States spends more than $1,000 a month on groceries. Noticias en Español Restaurante de brunch de inspiración mexicana abre segundo local en Sacramento “El objetivo es expandirse, llegar a diferentes vecindarios, a diferentes personas de ahí que no pueden venir hasta acá o que están demasiado lejos”. UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS Essential. Dependable. Local. Never miss the scoop again: View the rest of our newsletters Advertisement

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