Reno: Crème Cafe

Subject: FOOD

Place: Crème Cafe

Locale: Reno (Midtown)

Crème Cafe  Website

Visits: 1 (02/26/16)

Food:     4.5 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Venue:  4.5 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Will I return?: Definitely

NARRATIVE:

There is no getting around my penchant for one-off, unique places to eat. I stumbled onto Crème Cafe while in the waiting room at the eye doctor's office. I am a sucker for breakfast and while looking around the Midtown location in Yelp found Crème pop onto the selection list. Hmmmm, looks good, although I know I have visited other places on the same small block before, never even gave this place a good once-over (probably a little beer-fueled at that moment in time). 

Crème has that old Reno brick building look on the outside and sits next door to the Wedge Cheese Shop. I love these types of building reuse places -- at times the interiors are kept to the original rustic (and rusty) ambiance, in other cases like Crème, the interiors are spoofed up nicely into a very clean, hip, yet warm place to sit and enjoy a meal. Deceptively, the seating available inside is plentiful and varied - a main "coffee counter" near the front glass, conventional table/chairs in the center, a few high tops along the crust, and another small counter facing the semi-open kitchen. Nice music appropriate for the time of day and meal playing in the air.

Okay it is a weekday, so we know crowds are not going to be an issue. Regardless, just based on the quick welcome and seating by the young lady working out front and serving, I can just tell this is the way we would be serviced any time or day of the week. Opted for a regular old table and chair set up on this morning visit. 

I really enjoy when you are provided with a "pot" of coffee at the table - doesn't it just make sense? I can warm my cup up whenever I choose and not have to wave my hands in the air to catch a server's attention. Not only was it a nice old pot of coffee, it was a French press! Nice touch! My dining partner also enjoyed having a nice teapot from which to draw her own beverage. Good start!

My initial reaction to pre-screening Crème's menu online ahead of the visit today was that it was a less-populated selection to which I would be attracted. Additionally, the prices, depending of course on the choice, seemed a little elevated. Eventually, the lure thrown out in reviews and pictures I checked out made at least one visit essential regardless of what my wallet thought.

I would reiterate that the menu is not like Denny's - there are not three-hundred different "Slam" breakfasts available here. BUT I thought everything listed on the menu sounded really, really good. I could have gone several directions here. Surprisingly, my company also reached outside of her usual breakfast cereal box and went for one of their specialties. I went for the Breakfast Tacos; she rolled with the Breakfast Sandwich.

The Breakfast Sandwich included two scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, leeks, mushrooms and a choice of meat (bacon for m'lady today). It comes with choice of fruit, side salad, potatoes or hashbrowns (again, m'lady opted for the hashbrowns). She thought the sandwich was excellent (or "eggsellent" for Micheal) and were complemented by nice, crispy hashbrowns. 

Breakfast Sandwich

The Breakfast Tacos were three (yes, 3) corn tortillas filled with eggs, cheddar cheese, black beans, chorizo, and salsa. I too had the choice of fruit, salad, or taters. Roasted potatoes on my plate today. I am proud to admit that I am a chorizo fiend of sorts.

Breakfast Tacos - CHORIZO!!!

Actually though, I really prefer that nice greasy chorizo you can get in the packages in the supermarket. I really avoid the Spanish (versus Mexican) style whereby the sausage is really just that - sausage. I enjoy the chorizo that melts away in the pan and melds with nearly everything else on the dish. Thus I was thrilled to have these lovely molten chorizo tacos this morning. I inhaled this tortilla triumvirate allowing the resulting chorizo drippings to float onto the roasted potatoes on the plate. Call me Maytag today because of the way I washed those dishes clean.

I would add that along with all of their restaurant fare (including several crepe dishes that almost grabbed me), Crème also offers baked goods that looked delicious. Also, lunch is also served at Crème, and just based on our first breakfast visit today, I see visiting here again soon. I really suggest that you visit their website (linked above) and look their menu over -- you will not be disappointed here. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

--BG

Sparks, NV: El Rosal Tortilleria, Panaderia, y Deli

Subject: FOOD

Place: El Rosal Tortilleria, Panaderia, y Deli

Locale: Sparks, NV

El Rosal Website

Visits: 1

Food:     3.5 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Venue:  3 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Will I return?: Likely, when in the area

NARRATIVE:

"You had me at the word 'Tortilleria...'"

Okay, call me a simpleton. I get sucked in if I see the following words on an establishment: "taqueria", "torta", "tortilleria", "menudo" (the dish, not the boy-band). These luring words can reel me in better than the most-skilled fisherman. So this was the case when researching new places to sample (on Yelp I think) a couple months back.

Stumbled onto El Rosal Tortilleria, Panaderia, y Deli and initially I was interested primarily in finding a good source for fresh, locally-produced tortillas (hard to beat those homemade style torts!). It was only after looking much closer did I see that a bakery (panaderia for my gringo friends) and deli are attached onto this factory of goodness.

El Rosal is tucked back into a light industrial area in Sparks, but really close to the I-80 corridor. An ample parking lot out front provides quick access into the large building. The majority of the building is dedicated to their tortilla production, although the rest of the complex is not lacking in space whatsoever. Walking into the combination bakery and deli (restaurant/market) area, at first seems cavernous but at the same time welcoming. For anyone who has been inside one of the small family operated Mexican markets or restaurants in Southern California, the look will be familiar. Piñatas in the air for sale, cans of Mexican food products lining multiple shelves, and of course El Rosal branded tortillas and tortilla chips packaged to go. But we were here to eat lunch.

Ordering food at El Rosal is counter based and counter pick up. The seating is simple table and chairs, nothing fancy. The menu is simple and straight-forward (for anyone vaguely familiar with Mexican food). Now when they refer to the "deli" here, they are including the in-house/take-out food counter as well as the shelved product area (market). The bakery offers all of the sweet bread (pan dulce) one would expect at an authentic Mexican bakery. The tortilla chips are made using in-house tortillas and are quite good. Bottled beer is available along with the usual beverages (Horchata being one).

On the day of our visit, there was a really diverse mix of customers - from business-dressed folks doing take out to spanish-speaking laborers and tradesmen. In my opinion, always a good sign to see a mix of peeps like those present here.

While the menu was not a multi-page, extensive listing, it covered all of the wants anyone looking for a good, homestyle Mexican meal might enjoy. On this day, we opted for a carnitas burrito, wet-style and an enchilada/taco plate. The burrito was gigantic and very good. I think this one would have been just as good done without the enchilada sauce and cheese over the top, but I had to try it with all the bells and whistles on this first trip. Linda also enjoyed her standard "go to" Mexican plate of a cheese enchilada and chicken taco with rice and beans. Some folks might scoff at using disposable (styrofoam) plates as they do at El Rosal, but on the contrary, I would say this makes it seem even more like one of those truly "authentic" places in Southern California that we grew up enjoying.

Overall, this was a very good stop. A revisit for us is encouraged.

Lake Tahoe: Austin's Bar & Grill

Subject: FOOD

Place: Austin's Bar & Grill

Locale: Tahoe (North - Incline Village)

Austin's Bar & Grill Website

Visits: 1

Food:    2 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Venue:  2.5 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Will I return?: The kitchen jury is still out on this one.

NARRATIVE:

For the most part, I gather ideas for new stops during drivebys. This is especially true around Reno. Outside of our home base, I rely on interesting reflections collected from other sources. In the case of Austin's Bar & Grill, it was more of a hybrid. While looking for a good lunch spot to take visitors from the Atlanta area to Lake Tahoe three years ago, I stumbled across reviews in Yelp. These were mostly favorable, so it ended up on the shortlist. As it turns out, we ended up eating elsewhere (at Jake's on the Lake) simply because we wanted to dine "on the Lake". Austin's was thus put on the backburner.

Fast forward three years. As often as possible (and possible happens a lot), I tune into a locally-produced program on the telly called "Tahoe Life with Meghan Burk". She provides really good half-hour sessions highlighting otherwise little-known eateries, shops, and activities in and around Lake Tahoe. It was on one of said segments that I witnessed a supplementary view of Austin's. The hybrid reviewing had me locked in once again.

We had kin staying with us for the weekend. They were in from England (one of them from Northern Ireland originally), and have traveled extensively throughout the world. One place they had not seen was Lake Tahoe. This couple took Linda and I on a wonderful personalized tour of the Antrim Coast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland two years removed during our visit across the pond. Here then was an opportunity to return the favor in the States.

One thing Linda and I love to do with visitors is to tour them around Big Blue, so it was a no-brainer for our latest guests. All told, we circled the entire shoreline, making stops at significant spots along the way (Emerald Bay, Sand Harbor, Heavenly Village, etc.). By this time, as a group we got hungry, surprise! There were a couple new places I had in mind to try near Heavenly Village, but due to the holiday weekends, parking was ridiculous as were the throngs of people. Time to unlock my rusty steel cage of a mind....AUSTIN'S it is!

Austin's is almost directly across the street (Country Club Drive) from the Hyatt at Incline Village. It is within a multi-purpose strip mall. The interior is much smaller than what I imagined in my mind and saw in online pictures, a little deceiving (not meaning any harm however). There is a bit of an outdoor dining area also, but on this February day, no tables were in place to go al fresco. Although it was a mixed crowd of skiing families alongside people just out for the holiday weekend (like us), our foursome was seated immediately.

Austin's has a bit of that log cabin look inside - faux timbers along the walls, etc. Along with the usual table and chair seating, there were a good handful of seats for dining in their small bar area (yes, alcohol is available). While it is not an open kitchen, it is very close in proximity to the dining room. 

Not sure whether it was the helter skelter of a crowd on this day in particular or whether the staff was not completely organized, but the service was initially lagging. Our server was quite nice and friendly, but I felt that a certain expected flow of service (drink orders, drink serving, menu order, food delivery) was a tad disjointed. 

In any case, we were seated, we were hungry, so no turning back to the streets just yet. The menu is not huge, but the choices I thought were ample and varied enough for anyone to find a well-suited choice. The chicken-fried steak sandwich with buttermilk fries and garlic aioli called out to me and I answered. This is where time started to stand still. There was a step missing here between the time we ordered and the ultimate arrival of our meals. It was too long a stretch to discount as just resulting from a busy kitchen. Whomever was expediting in the kitchen had apparently fallen drowsy at the wheel. To Austin's credit, they brought out complimentary mini cornbread muffins and honey butter for the table - a nice touch, but not enough to discredit our hungry tummies.

Eventually (had to be at least 25 minutes) our plates were settled into place. To be honest, I have had much better chicken-fried steak, although it was not all that bad. The house steak sauce listed on the menu was not really noticed by me, so I ended up dipping my sandwich French-style into the aioli (which was quite tasty). The best bites for me were actually the buttermilk fries, also drenched by me in the aioli. As I think about it today (a couple days removed), were it not for the fries, I could easily

forget I even ate here. 

My dining partners ate their choices up just as did I, but none of the quartet offered anything in the way of glowing reviews. Remember I said that we were quite hungry when we arrived, so some of our acceptance here was merely to avoid driving away to find another eatery. 

In retrospect, I think I would choose to ignore my growling stomach and continue driving further down the road. A revisit is leaning more to a "NO" vote methinks.

-BG

Reno: Beefy's

Subject: FOOD

Place: Beefy's

Locale: Reno (Midtown)

Beefy's Kitchen Website (Facebook)

Visits: 1

Food:    4 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Venue:  4 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter
Drinks:  3 out of 5 on the Burp-O-Meter (please see my comments)

Will I return?: Yes

NARRATIVE:

Looks like an old, small diner, and in fact I believe it is just that many years removed. The new owner/operator had only been in place for roughly six months during my visit as I recall. Make no mistake, this place it small and seating is what I would term "diverse" - a booth here and there, small table and chair over that way, more seats nearing the back doors, plus the expected diner stools at a tiny counter. 

Another thing that added to the unique atmosphere: there is a TV playing in the dining area, and on our day there specifically, a classic, early James Bond movie (Sean Connery era) was on the air. Magic!

The kitchen and serving areas are also unique. Somehow, in very limited space, this tiny kitchen and front counter operates efficiently. Incredible to see just how much equipment can be made functional in this puzzle. To some, this crunched kitchen might cause fear - "it just can't be very clean in there" - but to me it is all good atmosphere! The two guys cooking in the kitchen worked sardine-like, poking their eyes and orders through a small porthole of a window out to the server. The server (I believe it was the owner) is a true multi-tasker. He was taking orders from customers, serving the beverages, taking payments (via iPad), expediting and serving orders from the kitchen window. All the while he joked continuously with the customers, and not in a phony way. It was engaging listening and responding to him. Felt very welcomed. In many ways, the customers become part of the entire process here.

I want to address my low rating of the "Drinks" section higher-above. The one and only reason I gave this three (3) burps is simply due to a lack in numbers of beer choices on tap. There are only a couple of taps here. BUT I hasten to add that the beers (which rotate as needed) offered this day were in fact EXCELLENT choices. I just wish they had more from which to choose. There are some good bottled varieties also available. Given the lack of room here, quite understandable.

On the food front, it was all really, really good. The jalapeño and pepper jack burger, called the "Vaquero" was awesome. Savored each bite. The slices of jalapeño were deep-fried, which provided some crunch. The patty was juicy (and, well, "Beefy"). It has been a while, but I think the fries were twice-fried, which I really enjoy. A truly satisfying lunch. Funny because one of my dining partners on this occasion had NO intention of eating lunch - "I am not hungry" said he. Once he got a gander of what was being served up, he quickly changed his mind and dove in with both fork and knife.

I have not yet been able to return, but I certainly plan to do so. So many places to go.