Picnic opens in Tahoe City for gourmet “to go”

A new cafe called Picnic has opened in Tahoe City for gourmet sandwiches, fresh salads, homemade soup, artisan ice cream and — yes — picnic baskets. Its motto: “fresh, seasonal & sweet to-go.”

“Just found this little gem over where Baskin Robins used to be,” in the Safeway shopping center at 950 North Lake Blvd, as one reviewer on Yelp put it. “The sandwich menu changes daily, and they also have a sweet build-your-own salad bar.”

Examples include: Turkey, pesto, oven-dried Romas and provolone on Panini; roast beef, horshradish mayo, red cabbage slaw and tomato on Baguette; and Lox, capers, red onions, dill creme on Flatbread.

The soups are creative too, such as tomato bisque. The salad dressings are yummy.

Our sandwiches, one with roast beef and the other with chicken, were delicious with fresh ingredients.

Picnic also sells excellent ice cream and frozen yogurt to round off your meal.

The picnic baskets include “Commons Beach” (baguette sandwiches, slaw, fruit and berries, chips, cookies and lemonade); “Sugar Pine Point” (flatbreads, Caprese salad, chips, brownies, berries and mineral water); and “Emerald Bay” (quiche, Greek yogurt with berries, cookies, melon and prosciutto, mineral water), among others.

The cafe already is building a loyal following. The culinary team is Sydney Earley and Margaretha von Welczeck. Picnic previously was Tootsies, focusing on ice cream and other treats.

You can sit outside and “people watch” on a cute picnic table, or take your order to nearby beaches or parks.

This is just what Tahoe City needed. It reminded us of another one of our favorite gourmet sandwich shops: Plutos Fresh Foods. Pluto’s, started in 1995, and fills “a much-needed niche in the vast nothingness between fast-food and full service restaurants,” as its owners point out.

We see a lot of upside with Picnic too.

(photo credit: Picnic)