We sat down with Executive Chef Stephen Ashley of The Firehouse Restaurant in Sacramento, California. You'll experience an inventive approach to intimate dining that fuses sophistication with everyday excellence in the heart of Old Sacramento.

Enjoy the region’s most extensive wine collection and an unparalleled, locally-sourced menu presented in an inviting, classic atmosphere at The Firehouse Restaurant.

1. Tell us about what your morning routine looks like, and how you like to end your day?

My morning routine includes checking inventory, looking over prep-lists, looking over the previous night’s sales and labor totals, and approving invoices. All with a nice cup of coffee in hand of course.

firehouse restaurant sacramento ca reviews — Image: The Firehouse Restaurant in Sacramento, California

I always hope to end my day without any re-fires or major issues in the kitchen. It’s a good end to the day when I’m seeing nice numbers on the books and the right number of staff to serve them.

2. Do you have a favorite chef that you look up to and what advice would you give to aspiring chefs?

Anthoney Bourdain for sure. I’ve always liked his writing style and his unique phrases. Some of his observations about working in kitchens just hit the nail so square on the head, and he says them in ways other people don’t.

For aspiring chefs, keep your head up. Bring a positive attitude to your kitchen and keep learning. I still learn new things every day so just keep learning and keep executing to the best of your abilities.

3. What do you typically cook at home?

I cook everything at home. I have two kids, and I cook most of the meals at our house. I love to fish, and those are some of my favorite meals, are when we’ve got some fresh-caught fish from a family camping trip or just a day on the lake or river for me to cook — either at home or while we’re still camping.

4. What’s a food trend that you’re loving right now and why?

Lately, I’ve seen a sort of blending of high-brow and low-brow foods that I’ve been liking. The In-n-Out caviar challenge is an example, where you just slather your burger and animal fries in caviar. Right now, on our Bar Bites Menu we’ve got a Lobster “Corn Dog” which is just a tempura battered and deep-fried lobster tail with lemon-tarragon aioli, champagne-lobster ketchup. So that’s an example of me embracing that trend for sure.

5. What’s the strangest food combination you’ve ever tried? And, did you like it?

One day in 2019 when I was still Chef de Cuisine here at The Firehouse, our Culinary Director Jay was on an episode of “The Sporting Chef” with Scott Leysath. Basically Scott hunts/catches wild game in a certain area and then helps prepare and eat his haul with a local Chef. So, the previous day Scott had caught shad on the American River but almost no one eats shad because they’re so bony. So Jay showed Scott how he butchers shad in a way that you can eat them and while he was doing that, some were females and had roe sacks in their bellies so Jay took those out and fried them whole to go with the dish. I’d definitely never eaten pan-fried shad roe sacks before, but I tried them, and they were a lot better than I expected.

6. Have you ever cooked for a celebrity? Do you have a story to tell?

We get a lot of celebrities. I can’t think of all of them off the top of my head, but last fall John Cena was here. Of course, we couldn’t see him so he was difficult to serve... Kidding of course, he’s huge and you can’t miss him. We asked if he wanted to be seated in a private room and he said no, he wanted to sit in the main dining room with everyone else. Usually, that’s not the case. Another funny thing that I learned later from people who were at the show, is that he showed up way late. And I knew why, it was because he was still enjoying his dinner over here at The Firehouse.

7. What’s your Instagram so readers can follow you?

You can check out @chefashley8653 or @firehouseoldsac.

8. Do you have any awards or achievements you’d like to mention?

We’ve been awarded Wine Spectator’s “Best of Award of Excellence” every year since 2002, and just got the 2024 award. We just got our 2024 OpenTable “Diner’s Choice Award” which we also get just about every year. This year we got a DiRōNA award as well. In 2023 we received a Burnett Award from the Sacramento History Alliance which goes to a small handful of legacy businesses in Sacramento each year. With that one we got a recognition letter from the US House of Representatives and the CA State Senate which are in a cabinet now at the front of the restaurant, so that’s pretty cool.

9. What cocktail or beverage do you enjoy most?

I like our New York Whiskey Sour. I’m a whiskey guy, so I usually drink whiskey cocktails or just whiskey on the rocks.

10. Tell our readers why they should visit The Firehouse Restaurant?

The history of this building is incredible. Ronald Reagan had both of his inaugural dinners here when he was elected for his two terms as California Governor. John Wayne has eaten here, John Madden, Clint Eastwood, Andy Warhol. The list goes on and on. The building was first erected in 1853 as California’s first fully-staffed firehouse, and it’s been a continuously operating fine dining establishment and event venue since 1960. The table of contents on our wine list is longer than most wine lists, white tablecloths, stellar old-school staff and service, plus classic American cuisine with daily specials, and one of the most amazing outdoor dining areas in the whole state. It’s a legendary place that you really should experience at least once whether you’re a local or a visitor.

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