The Dining Divas: Hawks

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Guests: Sue Scotland, a volunteer with Casa Garden Restaurant, Sacramento Children’s Home and Neighborhood Accountability Board; Michele DeVine, in outside sales; Sammy Cemo, a developer; Joel Cohen, with Investment Retrievers Inc.; Katie Sullivan, retired (for the time being) from a tech startup; Isolde Brown, with Rytina Cleaners

Where: Hawks, Quarry Ponds Town Center, 5530 Douglas Blvd., Suite 110, Granite Bay; (916) 791-6200; hawksrestaurant.com
Benefiting organizations: Families for Early Autism Treatment and Wellspring Women’s Center

1-second review: Everything was “fabulous,” according to Sammy Cemo.

Dishing on the food: With 11 lunchers, we sampled almost the entire menu, which is seasonal and fairly limited at midday. Green-bean beignets were the top appetizer. Also noteworthy: corn soup with crispy shallots; ciccioli (rustic pâté) with plum mostarda and grilled country bread (an absolute winner); a near-perfect hanger steak. Best of seven desserts: a plate of cookies warm from the oven.

Ambiance: Sophisticated but casual

Wine time: The wine committee chose a Trou de Bonde Pinot Blanc and a Londer Vineyards Pinot Noir. Diva Bernice Hagen thought the Pinot Blanc was light and thin, the Pinot very good with a smooth finish. The group’s consensus on the wine list: overpriced.

Quote of the day: When Sue Scotland and Michele DeVine told Land Park friends they were going to lunch in Granite Bay, one friend asked, “Do you need a visa? It’s so far away.” Worth the drive, noted both, who are eager to return.

Chatter: Isolde Brown told us she had a great time picking paint colors for her home. “I took my favorite mug from Italy, pointed to the colors I wanted and told them to start mixing,” she said. Sue Scotland has decided her next home will be all cement, with a central drain so she can just hose it down. By the way, Sammy Cemo will be back in top form on the golf course very soon; his replaced shoulder is ready to swing, and with a pair of new hips to match the shoulder—watch out!

The Dining Divas—Gloria Glyer, Paulette Bruce, Bernice Hagen, Joan Leineke, Gayla Mace and Peg Tomlinson-Poswall—have been wining and dining together since 1993. Every month, they lunch at an area restaurant, taking as their guests people who placed winning bids at charity events. To date, they have raised more than $275,000 for local charities and nonprofits.