TableVine, a restaurant serving a regional wine country menu, will replace Bistro Michel and will open early next month, Cowtown Eats has learned.

"Our cleaning and cosmetic remodeling has been at a fever pitch as of late," owner Dan Sneed told Cowtown Eats via e-mail. "Trying to make our opening by the end of the month, but had one other [set]back so we hope to be open by the first week of November instead at this point."

The chef for the restaurant will be Scott McNamara, who recently left Brasserie Capitale. He was also the chef for several years at Bistro Michel. In 2011, under chef McNamara, then Sac Bee dining critic Blair Anthony Robertson raved about his cooking.

Enough about the fries (though you must get them as a side dish if they don't come with your entree). The mussels are also delicieux. On a different night, dining inside with an old friend and colleague, the two of us couldn't get enough of these mussels, fresh and clean and in broth so full of flavor we couldn't resist using our bread to sop it up. Again, there are no shortcuts to something this good.

Cowtown Eats first brought you news of the new restaurant in late August. In that post, we learned that Sneed:

[I]ntends to serve the clientele south of the State Capitol, which tends to have fewer fancy lobbyists and more rank and file state workers. He's aiming to hit a $20 price point for the dinner crowd and emphasize service.

In addition to Pearl on the River, Sneed has worked at Ella from 2008 to 2010, The Park from 2005 to 2007, San Francisco's Gary Danko from 1999 to 2005 and The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco from 2000 to 2001.

On the restaurant's Facebook page, Sneed has done a great job chronicling the progress of the restaurant as it works its way towards opening. I look forward to giving the place a try.

TableVine will be located at 1501 14th Street.

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Suburban destination - Slowly but surely, the Milagro Centre is coming to fruition. Last week, the Sacramento Bee’s Bob Shallit reported that the upcoming Carmichael marketplace is finally full. One of the puzzle’s final pieces is Fish Face Poke Bar & Market from Kru’s Billy Ngo. It’s another outpost of his wildly popular poke restaurant on R Street, only this edition will also feature a small specialty grocery section. Janelle Bitker in Sac News & Review.

Can prestigious beer festival prizes translate into profits? - Now that the brewery on Broadway has two very prestigious medals, the phones are ringing off the hook, craft beer fiends are lined up down the street and New Helvetia’s beer is flying off store shelves throughout the region. Right? Not quite. At least not yet. Blair Anthony Robertson in the Sac Bee.

Food 101 - No matter where you look, class is officially in session. That goes for your casual culinary education, too. Lucca Restaurant & Bar (1615 J Street) is hosting a multipart, weekly lecture series called Food 101, featuring a variety of food experts who aren't your expected chefs or restaurateurs. Janelle Bitker in Sac News & Review.

VIDEO: Food Photo Secrets - We have secrets to taking good food photos. Cambi Brown on Good Day Sac.

Hank Shaw to self-publish next book - Hunter-forager-food blogger and cookbook author Hank Shaw of Sacramento is preparing his third wild-game cookbook – after “Hunt, Gather, Cook” and “Duck, Duck, Goose” – to be on bookstore shelves by August 2016, at the start of deer-hunting season in California. For this one, though, he left the mainstream-publishing path for the riskier self-publishing trail, turning to the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter. Allen Pierleoni in the Sac Bee.