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Popular Sacramento Restaurant, 'Mother,' Abruptly Closes Months After Michelin Award

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The popular Downtown Sacramento vegetarian restaurant, Mother, closed its doors Thursday, only a few months after being awarded the Michelin 'Bib Gourmand' honor.

Mother, which opened at 1023 K Street seven years ago, announced its closure on Instagram Thursday. A post on Wednesday alluding to the closure was quickly taken down.

The Instagram post read, "Dear Sacramento, It is with great admiration, love, and excitement for the future that we announce our retirement. Mother started almost accidentally, at the happy intersection of a delayed restaurant opening (for Empress Tavern) and a fortunate vacancy at 1023 K street. Over the past seven years, we've created some killer vegetarian food, met lots of amazing people and had a pretty great time doing it. But we are feeling our age. Many of our past employees have already gone on to new adventures and many of our current staff and loved ones are moving on to new projects. So we couldn't be happier for the opportunity to hand over the keys to 1023 K Street to some good friends of ours (Announcement coming soon!) We love our little spot downtown, and we know they'll take great care of it. Craving a po boy or a farro salad? Head on down to our sister restaurant, Empress Tavern - right underneath the Crest Theatre at 1013 K Street. They'll be opening for lunch starting January 8th with some of the Mother favorites on the menu. They will even take our gift cards. There will be some friendly Mother faces down there as well, and you can get a delicious cocktail if you're in that kind of mood.
Thanks for everything, Sacramento. And don't forget to eat your vegetables. Love, Mother."

 

Mother describes its cuisine as, "Tasty, casual, and meatless by happenstance." It was open Monday-Friday for lunch-only. It was one of three Sacramento restaurants honored in 2019 with Michelin's Bib Gourmand award. To win, restaurants must serve two courses and a glass of wine, or dessert, for $40 or less. In the 2019 Guide, Michelin wrote,

"Down-home and hipster may seem like strange bedfellows, but here they are the perfect marriage. This creative kitchen is equal parts friendly and forward-thinking, with dishes ranging from veggie standbys (turmeric hummus and that magical elixir, kombucha) to Southern staples with a twist. Just try snagging a table, as a loyal crowd convenes for the chitchat as much as the crave-worthy comfort food that eschews meat. Be sure to tuck into a chicken-fried mushroom po' boy. Stacked precipitously with house-made pickles and smoky aïoli, these delicately fried oyster mushrooms burst with meaty umami. Dessert is in the bag, quite literally, as it's served in a brown paper bag stamped with the chef's face and filled with golden-edged oatmeal cookies."

The other two Sacramento Bib Gourmand winners are Frank Fat's and Canon. The Kitchen was awarded one Michelin star.

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