Would you like to eat like Domantas Sabonis? Kings Star credits this treatment with its durability – and it’s portable

Sacramento Kings three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis was just one of 17 NBA players to appear in all 82 games last season. He owes his endurance in part to a carefully composed diet.

Sabonis explained his diet in a recent video interview with Men’s Health, and excerpts from it appear in “Starting 5,” a Netflix documentary released last month that follows the lives of a quintet of basketball greats. His father Arvydas says on the show that he taught his boys from an early age to take care of their bodies, a lesson that Domantas appears to have taken to heart.

Sabonis starts every off-season morning with avocado, eggs, some kind of protein like sausage and oatmeal, or a small salad, he told the magazine. Coffee is also essential: “Starting 5” shows him making it at home or driving with a cup of espresso behind the wheel.

Protein shakes and creatine also supplement the diet of the 1.90 meter tall and 110 kilogram center. The secret to a decent protein shake, he told Men’s Health: Use milk, not water. He typically eats one for every lunch, while dinner usually includes salmon or steak prepared by his private chef.

After the Kings were eliminated from the play-in tournament in April, Sabonis returned to Spain, where he grew up, for a month. Paella, croquettes, jamón serrano, meat-filled potato pancakes – everything is on the table, he told Men’s Health.

However, during the season, Sabonis is committed to the results of a test to limit inflammation. Gluten, beef, apples, asparagus, yoghurt and even egg whites can cause him to bloat, according to the test, which is why he will no longer have them on his menu from October.

The cardio of games and practices may cause Sabonis to lose weight over the course of the season, but he still needs to be strong enough to compete with Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis or Phoenix Suns’ Jusuf Nurkić . Post-game meals like chicken and rice provide him with satiating protein and carbohydrates.

Sabonis lives in Loomis during the Kings season but makes his home in Napa during the offseason. In “Starting 5,” viewers see him, his then-teammate Chris Duarte and musical duo JavyPablo toasting the end of the final season with a bottle of Ones from Sabonis, Domantas and his wife Shashana’s private Cabernet line.

Previous Kings teams have retreated to Sabonis’ Napa home before the season to drink, eat and socialize. Last May, he performed a cooking demonstration on Bottlerock Napa Valley’s culinary stage alongside Kings guard Kevin Huerter, former San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence and chef Shota Nakajima.

What about the food scene in Sacramento? “Sabonis doesn’t eat out much,” he told my colleague Chris Biderman, which is understandable given his tight diet.

His favorite local restaurant by far is Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, Billy Ngo’s high-end concept in East Sacramento at 3315 Folsom Blvd. But don’t expect the Sabonis to tower over the rest of the dining room; Kru makes an exception to his no-takeaway policy to feed the big man.

“Kru is the only one,” Sabonis said. “We just order everything. (Ngo) just takes care of us. Every time I order I get three extra bags, so it’s great.”

What I eat

Sacramento’s hottest Asian restaurants are opening in Elk Grove, a trend I explored in a long article to be published later this month. Washoku may not be of the newest class, having opened in July 2022, but the dignified, cozy dining room in dark wood gives it its own homely touch.

Japanese food can be broadly divided into two categories: Yoshoku, dishes adapted to or influenced by Western tastes, and Washoku, traditional dishes prepared with a sense of harmony. While the special menu at Daniel Yim’s Izakaya in the Stonelake Landing shopping center focuses on old-fashioned offerings – Salmon sashimi ($17 for six pieces), Beef tongue or Eel Skewers ($6/$7) — The main menu consists of more yoshoku dishes, some trending now and others popularized in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Hambagu Ironyaki ($19)In particular, it feels like an updated relic from the days when TV dinners ruled. A homemade ground beef patty is fried to order, then coated in a rich, teriyaki-like glaze and served pan-fried with corn, a simple salad, and rice or boiled potatoes.

Curry became a Japanese home staple in the 1960s, a way to utilize pantry supplies and use up excess meat. At Washoku, fish katsu, tofu And minced pork ($15-19) Take the ultra-umami brown sauce along with vegetables and (in some cases) ajitama, the jammy eggs commonly found in ramen.

Speaking of ramen and savory, that Hokkaido ($20) The cloudy, nutty beef kombu broth flows through the fried onions, basil oil, and still sous vide beef tenderloin to the cartoon fish in the bottom of the bowl. Tan Tan Tacos ($10 for two) Add the spice of another ramen to an appetizer of minced pork nestled in avocado slices in wonton shells.

Washoku

Address: 2513 W. Taron Court, Suite 120, Elk Grove

Hours: 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday – Thursday; Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Closed on Monday

Phone: 916-686-6683

Website: waskueg.com

Drinks: Sake, beer, tea and lemonade

Vegetarian options: Other than tofu curry, spicy garlic edamame and a cold tofu starter in soy dashi, there isn’t much to choose from.

Noise level: Relatively quiet

Outdoor seating: None

Openings and Closings

▪ Marilyn’s Pizza began its soft opening last week at 2011 J St., the downtown Sacramento space that formerly housed Café Marika. TJ Bruce’s New York-style Slice House is open until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and until 2 a.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

▪ Burning Barrel Brewing & Spirits opens Friday at 640 Main St. in Placerville. It’s a distillery and restaurant expansion for father-son duo Jack and Duncan Alexander’s brewery, which has been producing kettle sours, IPAs and barrel-aged stouts in Rancho Cordova since 2018.

▪ Dolan’s Bar & Grill announced its closure on social media last week. The Irish pub at 199 Blue Ravine Road, Suite 170, in the Natoma Junction Plaza in Folsom has struggled since closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic began, the owners said, and its liquor license was suspended for several months last year.

The Bee’s Chris Biderman contributed to this story.