A quick trip to Sacramento for a doctor’s appointment tomorrow began on a much brighter note—with dinner tonight at a new beer garden in East Sac with Danny, Emi and Maya. The Garden features not only a great lineup of beers and ciders, but also an inventive “ghost kitchen” where you can mix and match dishes from 10 local chefs. Among them are offshoots of two of Sacramento’s top Japanese spots—Kru and Binchoyaki Izakaya Dining—so naturally, we ate well.

After dinner, I got to enjoy one of the best parts of visiting: watching Maya and the neighbor kids take for their nightly ritual of outdoor play including feeding the pretend bunnies.