It was a nice spring afternoon in 2008; I was on re-location, living in a nice loft in midtown for a few months, until the end of school and the arrival of my family from the east coast by mid summer. My landlord, the developer Satyri Kolokotronis, was kind enough to invite me to lunch at one his favorite restaurants, the curiously named Mulvaney’s Building and Loan. Well we had a great meal, remembered not so much for the food - which was delicious - but a funny encounter that left my host shaking his head and rolling his eyes. As the tasty courses came, Satyri sang the praises of Chef and Owner Patrick Mulvaney repeatedly turning his head to get a glimpse of the Chef and repeating every few minutes “Where is Patrick? You must miss Patrick.” Well, busy as he was running his popular joint in the thick of the lunch hour Patrick came by, introductions were made, and then came the questions. “You look familiar.” “Where are you from? NY? Really? Me too.” Where? Long Island? Really? Me too.” Moments later we pieced it together. We were from the same small town on Long Island, Garden City, a leafy burb that might be the Granite Bay of the New York suburbs. We had mutual friends - knew the same local restaurants and bars, and learned we had both kind of landed here by chance, if not fate. Poor Satyri he couldn’t figure out how two guys who grew up near the biggest city in the world could find their way to Sacramento; one his tenant and lunch guest - the other his favorite chef.
I tell this story because Patrick Mulvaney as I’ve learned over the years is one of the real good guys out here - a guy who always seems to say yes to charity, who serves great food in a beautiful setting. He’s to me, one of the quintessential people that make Sacramento special. His talent is such that he could operate anywhere, but for various reasons we all have, he chose Sacramento and the region is better for it. Today he and his wife Bobbin could use our help. It seems a couple of cases of a food borne illness called Norovirus hit his restaurant.
A couple means two, and in this case, an employee and a diner got sick for a short time, end of story. Norovirus is highly contagious and hard to track down. It’s food borne and can come from produce, an unclean piece of cutlery, or two people shaking hands. Mulvaney’s has always been immaculate and you can bet since learning about the problem Partick and his staff have sanitized to the nth degree. There’s a page one story in the Bee today and it should be noted that Mulvaney’s has never been closed and won’t be shut down, but this kind of publicity can be damaging. Here’s the deal: Norovirus sickens millions each year, it’s generically called a bad stomach flu. Mulvaney’s tiny case affected two people - two people out of hundreds who worked and dined at the joint at 19th and I.
I trust Mulvaney and I like his food. Someday this week I’m going down for lunch to show my support. Hope you’ll join me.
