The New Gold Rush: Chefs help redefine local cuisine

A NEW GENERATION OF CHEFS, who enjoy the foothills’ laid-back lifestyle, lower costs, and seemingly endless bounty of fresh, local ingredients, is bringing renewed energy and sophistication to our region’s dining scene. Besides Zach Sterner at Twelve 28 Kitchen, others include Chef Jesse Hanshaw of The Stone House in Nevada City, owner-chef John Weatherson of […]

“Cooked”: Exploring culinary experiences in the Sierra Foothills

AWARD-WINNING FOOD AUTHOR Michael Pollan and Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney are receiving widespread praise for their Netflix documentary Cooked. In Cooked, Pollan explores how cooking transforms food and shapes our world. Each episode examines one of the physical elements used throughout the ages for cooking: fire (barbecue), water (pot cooking), air (bread making), and earth […]

Winter: An ideal time to sign up for a cooking class

“No one is born a great cook. One learns by doing.” — Julia Child WINTER IS AN IDEAL TIME TO SIGN UP for a cooking class in the foothills or Truckee. We’re indoors more, thanks to the wintry weather, and a cooking class helps you master new recipes, perhaps with the kitchenware you received for […]

Restaurant Trokay in Truckee: A four-star dining experience

FOUR YEARS AGO, JOHN AND NYNA Weatherson moved to Truckee from the East Coast, where John had graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY; worked as a station chef at a three-star Michelin restaurant in Manhattan; and honed his skills under renowned chefs such as Daniel Boulud. Nyna had […]

Destination dining in the Sierra Foothills and Truckee-Tahoe

GREAT FOOD IS A PART OF EVERY adventure. In our region, imaginative chefs and restaurateurs are invigorating the dining scene, and a growing number are winning rave reviews—from the James Beard Foundation, OpenTable, respected restaurant critics and food magazines. Farm-to-fork restaurants are a way of life in the foothills, not a fad, thanks to an […]

Sous Vide Cooking: Coming to a Kitchen Near You

IN THE NEW YEAR, WE HAVE BEEN enjoying a fine-dining cooking method that is making its way into home kitchens, including ours: Sous vide. The words are French for “under vacuum.” It was adopted by Georges Pralus in 1974 for a restaurant in Roanne, France. In 2009 Thomas Keller wrote the acclaimed Under Pressure: Cooking […]

Winter farm-to-table at Stella and Trokay restaurants, thanks to Produce Plus

Though the ground where Stella restaurant’s garden grows was frozen solid, we recently enjoyed a four-star meal with fresh, seasonal ingredients, thanks to Chef Jacob Burton and his staff. The ingredients ranged from microgreens, to Maitake and Shitake mushrooms, to baby vegetables cultivated for perfection. Across town, Restaurant Trokay chef John Weatherson and his team […]

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