Full Oval, a Farewell to Sacramento and Return to LA
Written by Jack Rasmussen, American Author and Actor
Jack Rasmussen is a leader in the worlds of performance science, the food industry, religion, education, and entertainment. Growing up in Silicon Valley and studying Business, Cinema, and Journalism at the University of Southern California has allowed him to explore creative pathways to raise people's vibration and meta-awareness within their respective fields.
Every city leaves a distinct color on the palate of memory. In 2026, my life underwent a seismic shift across California’s golden landscape, a transition measured not just in miles from North to South, but in the vibrant interplay of light, flavor, and texture. In summer 2025, I found myself hypnotized on a glowing stage at the California State Fair under the heavy 90-degree heat of a Sacramento night.
This summer, I was looking out over the flickering expanse of Los Angeles from the Hollywood Hills while savoring a Yamashiro roll and chasing the city’s best Taiwanese boba. From runway shows during New York Fashion Week, savoring the famous honey maple butter pancakes from Golden Diner and the thickest Indonesian Pandan French Toast at Wayan with Leiti Hsu and Monet, to deep-rooted culinary stops across the Southland, this summer has been a testament to how places define us, color our perspectives, and continually call us home.
During an unforgettable visit to Eleven Madison Park, I watched the staff glide gracefully across the grand dining room like grandmasters moving across a chessboard. Guided by the chef’s keen recommendations, I savored a crisp, refreshing green apple concoction alongside a vibrant banana cocktail, leading seamlessly into an exquisite, sweet berry dessert that felt like pure edible art. Sitting in that celestial dining room, enveloped by psychedelic circular artwork that felt almost like a sleek, futuristic spaceship, the atmosphere was deeply calming and beautifully ethereal. It was a sensory dreamscape I’ll undoubtedly return to for fresh ingredients from Magic Farms and Chef Daniel.
June 2026 in Sacramento carried an unmistakable atmosphere. The early summer heat settled over the Central Valley, filtering through the dense canopy of plane trees and oaks that define the city. As my moving date approached, I felt a quiet, deliberate momentum to life here, a steady rhythm of river breezes, leaf-shaded avenues, and focused work. Leaving Sacramento at this precise moment in June felt like stepping out of a tranquil sanctuary just as it reached its fullest bloom.
Yet, as I packed up for my move south toward Los Angeles, the departure became less about leaving something behind and more about answering a familiar call. After completing my undergraduate education at the University of Southern California (USC) and spending formative time in Los Angeles–my 21st birthday in Santa Monica, a baptism in the waters of Santa Monica, and a taste of drama studios–returning to the Southland felt like returning to a city that shaped the earliest chapters of my creative and professional life.
The character of Sacramento: Detail, craft, and sanctuary
Sacramento possessed a grounded, intimate quality that I came to appreciate deeply. It is a city defined by its relationship with nature, labor, and tactile craftsmanship. My daily work there, managing client relationships, mastering the intricacies of specialized automotive paint pigments, and observing the interplay of color, texture, and light, offered me a foundational lens through which to view the landscape. As I prepared for my new role in Los Angeles, I looked forward to transitioning my deep expertise in automotive color into the vast world of architectural coatings, collaborating directly with interior designers, visionaries, and builders to bring structural spaces to life.
Rich greens, deep earthy river tones, and the brilliant, golden clarity of valley sunlight defined Sacramento's visual palette. Transitioning from automotive refinishing to architectural paints introduced a distinct artistic discipline for my projects in 2026, where automotive finishes rely on dozens of specialized toners to adjust hue and effect, while architectural paint relies on the nuanced precision of tinting using just 10 core colorants. Mastering these ten pigments to evoke mood, light, and ambiance across vast interior and exterior surfaces demands both meticulous science and intuitive design sensibility. In many ways, the Valley's steady pace gave me the ideal sanctuary to hone handmade paint while measuring different toners and binders, blending technical chemistry with artistic storytelling. Now I focus on color rather than mixing.
The call of Los Angeles: Scale, motion, and reconnection
If Sacramento was a study in focus and grounding, my return to Los Angeles in summer has been an essay in scale and infinite movement. Re-entering this metropolis, bathed in coastal haze, golden-hour light, and unmistakable energy, immediately reignited my passion for large-scale creative endeavors.
Los Angeles demands active engagement every single day. It is a city of distinct neighborhoods woven together by freeways, where my creative ambition, commercial enterprise, and narrative art intersect at every turn. From revisiting the theatrical echoes of Southland drama spaces to diving into expansive networks of sales, strategic business development, and architectural design projects throughout 2026, LA has given me a broader stage and a dynamic canvas.
Looking ahead: Journaling my 2025 experience
Moving in June 2026 marked a major turning point for me. This transition required balancing nostalgia for what I built in Sacramento with boundless anticipation for what lay ahead in LA. Sacramento provided me with a foundational space of clarity, discipline, and practical mastery. Los Angeles has offered the horizon to synthesize those lessons, applying my refined sense of color, narrative, and strategic growth to a larger, ever-shifting landscape.
As the valley heat gave way to the coastal winds of the Southland, this journey felt less like a simple relocation and more like the next logical chapter in my continuing exploration of craft, place, and creative expression. Now fully settled in late 2026, my work in Los Angeles on architectural paint initiatives and design collaborations has been deeply fulfilling, bringing renewed joy, inspiration, and personal connection to every project. Looking back across 2026, it feels surreal how quickly the months flew by, a whirlwind of creative energy, warm afternoons, and dynamic new beginnings that made this transformative year feel like a single moment.
This full oval journey underscores a broader truth: life rarely moves in a perfect circle drawn around a single point. Instead, it traces the geometry of an oval, defined by two distinct focal points that pull against one another in balanced tension. Sacramento and Los Angeles exist as those two centers in my own life, one grounded in quiet focus, detail, and sanctuary, the other expansive in scale, momentum, and creative drive. Tracing the curve between the valley and the coast, my 2026 journal on ovalism shows how returning to familiar spaces allows us to see them through fresh eyes. As I transition from Sacramento's reflective spaces back to Los Angeles, and from automotive refinishing to architectural paints, each focal point holds the path in equilibrium, transforming what could be a simple round trip into a continuous, evolving loop of growth, refined perspective, and creative renewal. Looking ahead, I am deeply excited to experience fall in Los Angeles and embrace the upcoming holiday season as a 26-year-old.
Journal entries (June through September): Experiences in the City of Angels
June 2026: Marked a major turning point with a bittersweet farewell to Sacramento's tree-lined avenues and river breezes before returning to LA. Celebrated the move by visiting Takagi, a sleek, minimalist Japanese cafe where soft natural light and subtle earthy aromas created a serene environment. I tried their famous soufflé matcha pancakes, delicately airy and cloud-like, dissolving instantly on the tongue, with a velvety, bittersweet green tea flavor balanced by a gentle, milky sweetness. I visited my old stomping grounds, including Cafe Mak, where I usually get the Royal Black Milk Tea.
July 2026: I kicked off summer outings with social meet-ups and creative networking, including a visit to Tu Madre in West Hollywood. Set against a vibrant, eclectic atmosphere filled with neon accents and lively street-art flair, I savored their artisanal jackfruit tacos. The tender, slow-simmered jackfruit mirrored shredded meat with a satisfying, fleshy chew, bursting with smoky grilled spices, bright citrus tang, and a fresh cilantro aroma. The avocado taco and fish taco topped the list, along with the special red velvet churros.
August 2026: I stepped into the vibrant, spice-scented haven of Cobi’s, quickly crowning it my new favorite culinary sanctuary in LA, to savor an unforgettable feast featuring their soul-warming African Curry with tender grilled chicken and their legendary, velvety Butter Chicken. I celebrated a milestone 26th birthday with close friends, starting in the warm, nostalgic, retro-diner setting of Max and Helen's. There, I indulged in a sweet feast: a blueberry pancake featuring crisp, buttery golden edges and a pillow-soft interior brimming with warm, bursting sweet-tart berries, paired with a custom rich, thick banana Oreo shake blending creamy tropical sweetness with crunchy, cocoa-rich cookie bits. Later, in Scarlett's cozy, intimate, candlelit dining room, I enjoyed a comforting chicken parm with a golden-fried, crunchy breadcrumb crust wrapped around juicy chicken, layered under gooey melted mozzarella and a bright, zesty tomato sauce. The next day culminated high in the Hollywood Hills at Yamashiro, surrounded by historic Japanese architecture, koi ponds, and sweeping city views, where I tried the Yamashiro Roll, a luxurious sushi creation offering silky, melt-in-your-mouth fresh fish layered with crisp cucumber and creamy avocado, delivered with a delicate balance of umami and subtle sweet-glaze accents. Spent a delightful afternoon catching a screening of The Odyssey at AMC The Grove, then explored the incredibly diverse Original Farmers Market next door, an expansive culinary haven whose wide variety easily rivals Sacramento's renowned market offerings. I also tried Veggie Grill for the first time, enjoying its bright, casual, and welcoming modern aesthetic while tasting their savory plant-based veggie steak. Cooked to order, it offered a surprisingly hearty, tender-chewy texture and a rich, smoky umami flavor highlighted by a deeply seasoned, caramelized sear.
September 2026: Started September with my first stay at a Michelin Key hotel, spacious, grand, quiet, and moody. I enjoyed late-night culinary adventures, starting with the Twenty Pho Hour challenge at Twenty Pho Hour on Sunset. At this sleek, modern, neon-lit noodle spot, I immersed myself in a deeply savory broth brimming with star anise, roasted cinnamon, and fresh herbal top notes, served steaming hot over tender, silky rice noodles. I beat the previous record for the 24-hour Pho Bowl Challenge at the new LA spot within a half hour and almost finished the whole bowl in 45 minutes. Later in the month, I grabbed a matcha at Café de Leche on Hollywood Blvd, enjoying its relaxed, neighborhood-coffeehouse vibe while sipping a smoothly whisked latte with a silky finish and earthy, vegetal sweetness. Closed the month with a trip to Wurstküche in Venice, soaking in its industrial-chic beer hall atmosphere before tasting their exotic rattlesnake and rabbit sausages. Encased in a snappy natural casing, the sausage offered a firm, juicy bite with a lightly gamey, herbal profile, accompanied by double-fried Belgian fries that were shatteringly crispy on the outside and fluffy within. They had four mustards to try for free: Honey, Dijon, Spicy Brown, and Whole Grain. Of the four sauces we tried, my favorite was Curry Ketchup, which was sweet and tangy. We also tried Buttermilk Ranch, which was classically delicious, as well as the spicy Chipotle Aioli and savory Sweet & Sassy BBQ.
Read more from Jack Rasmussen
Jack Rasmussen, American Author and Actor
Jack Rasmussen is a leader in the worlds of performance science, the food industry, religion, education, and entertainment. Growing up in Silicon Valley and studying Business, Cinema, and Journalism at the University of Southern California has allowed him to explore creative pathways to raise people's vibration and meta-awareness within their respective fields. He is the award-winning author of Fine Dining: The Secrets Behind the Restaurant Industry (2022) and Yin Yang: The Elusive Symbol That Explains the World (2023). He has worked with the National Science Foundation, California food banks, and international directors to help alleviate food waste and teach cultural literacy, among other expressions of his storytelling interests. He wants to continue to help serve and inspire global citizens to explore the unexplored and become more cognizant of and comfortable with their authentic presence through sharing his own. His artistic aim stays true: spread thought-provoking peanut butter and connective jelly.
