WEST SACRAMENTO -- They say you never make it until you get a sandwich named after you.
If that’s the case, Brent Rooker has truly arrived.
Old Soul, a popular local coffee shop with four locations around the Sacramento area, has immortalized Rooker by naming a sandwich after the Athletics slugger. The "Brent Rooker," which is available exclusively at the Old Soul location at The Alley off L Street near downtown Sacramento, is constructed on a plain bagel and includes scrambled eggs, bacon, roasted garlic, tomato chipotle crema, avocado spread, chives and hot honey.
The tribute to Rooker was inspired by his first visit to Old Soul. Ahead of their inaugural season at Sutter Health Park, Rooker and fellow A’s teammates Lawrence Butler, JJ Bleday and JP Sears spent some time in January exploring their new community by partaking in several events around the area. One of those activities involved the A’s serving as guest baristas at Old Soul’s Capitol Mall location for the morning.
The sandwich was officially unveiled just before Opening Day, and though Rooker was not involved in the creative process, he approves of the final product that was put together by Old Soul’s head chef Daniel Bear.
"It sounds great,” Rooker said. “I’m trying to think if they had asked me for my input if I had done anything differently. I don’t think so. It sounds pretty good.”
Rooker, whose eating journeys have been well documented on his social media channels, has a history of customizing his food. In 2023, we chronicled his personalized double-double order from In-N-Out Burger.
Never, though, has Rooker had an actual meal named after him. Until now.
"That’s a first,” Rooker said. “It’s exciting.”
While Rooker shares an equal affection for all meals of the day, breakfast holds a special place in his heart. It is the most important meal of the day, after all. So, whenever Rooker is on the road during the season, he makes it a point to discover new breakfast spots. For the past two offseasons, Rooker has compiled a list of his favorite restaurants to share online, making a breakfast sandwich his ideal food item to be named after him.
"I think that’s the one where you can get the most creative with it in terms of what you want,” Rooker said. “And I feel like with breakfast, you kind of eat the same thing over and over again, whereas the other meals you kind of switch up a little more, so I think that’s good.”
Rooker has yet to officially taste his own sandwich. The start of a new season and getting settled in with his family at their new home in Roseville -- about 30 minutes from the Old Soul location -- has made it difficult for him to carve out some time. But Rooker does plan to try ‘The Brent Rooker’ later this month -- pairing it with his go-to coffee order of two or three shots of espresso over ice with milk -- with a full report of his assessment shortly after.
"If I have my own sandwich there, I’ve got to go test it out and frequent it,” Rooker said. “As we get more time here and more off-days and day games with nights off, I’m sure we’ll get a little more familiar with it. … I’m looking forward to going to try it.”