I flew into Reno, known as the “Biggest Little City in the World,” and drove immediately up to the largest alpine lake in North America. Lake Tahoe, with a surface area of 192 square miles and depths of nearly 1000 feet, trails only the Great Lakes in terms of volume.
The topic of volume, in a very different context, came to mind as I looked over the lake and the menu at Fox & Hound Smokehouse, Grill & Bar, at 7,380 feet elevation, atop Kingsbury Grade, adjacent to Heavenly Ski Resort. It was a voluminous item I spotted: “The Menu Burger Challenge,” which has also drawn coverage on the “Man vs. Food” television show.
Fox & Hound’s owner Matt Grime set the stipulation: eat the “Menu Burger” in 60-minutes or less, and its’ $65.99 price is waived. Molly Schuyler’s name is listed on the menu as the record-holder because she swallowed it in three minutes and 44-seconds. Can’t be that much of a challenge, then, right?
Well…the listed ingredients on the juicy bacon cheeseburger are: a personal pepperoni pizza; BBQ pulled pork; two fried eggs; chili cheese garlic fries; smoked cheesesteak; chicken teriyaki; pineapple; jalapenos; one pound of boneless hot wings; and a “healthy” side salad.
I ate lightly, instead, in the casual setting to preserve my appetite for the dazzling dinner
down-mountain that night.
Wolf by Lisa Vanderpump
The recent grand opening night of Wolf by Lisa Vanderpump, at Caesar’s Republic in Lake Tahoe was quite a night,” said Jen Boyd Lemming, with Visit Lake Tahoe, who was in attendance. “It was quite the party: a very, very elegant, fun, big celebration. Lisa Vanderpump brought a lot of energy.”
Vanderpump’s hospitality kingdom is headquartered in the fanciful restaurants and the popular television series in Beverly Hills, and has a major footprint via the Caesar’s empire in Las Vegas, including an upcoming hotel product.
The theme of Wolf really ties in with the forests of Lake Tahoe and brings the outside inside. The restaurant has lots of wolf statues and cool sculptures and figurines, and there are incredibly delicious cocktails that are really extravagant…and lots of good food.
Large wolf logos accentuate Lake Tahoe’s main street skyline and an arrival to the ornate restaurant inside Caesar’s includes a dramatic portrait of Vanderpump seated in the forest next to a large white wolf.
Upholstered furniture is placed at marble tables in a woodsy yet glittering setting with both chandeliers and large wolf statues looming above. Deer with elaborate antlers stand beside the long, artsy bar serving suitably named cocktails, which, themselves, through the use of smoke and cotton candy, provide as much entertainment as an episode of “Vanderpump Rules.” Vanderpump Mules, Pumptini, and Sheep’s Clothing, to name a few.
Signature Wolf Bread is house-baked herb and gruyere pull-apart bread with hot honey butter and whipped lava salt butter. Under the “Wolf Bites” section, I tried the Famous Goat Cheese Balls with Napa cabbage and pear slaw. Vanderpump’s own Lisa’s Lobster Cobb Salad led the menu, along with her beau’s Ken’s Fish ‘N’ Chips.
Stars in the Skies and Under it
“Vanderpump Rules” isn’t the only television or film production to use scenic Lake Tahoe as its setting and backdrop. On a night when Jerry Seinfeld performed in the new Tahoe Blue Events Center (with another comedian, one-time Emmy Awards host Nate Bargatze, soon to come), Boyd-Lemming said the performance venue hosts lots of concerts and other events.
“Our ECHL professional hockey team, the Tahoe Knight Monsters, is affiliated with the NHL’s
Las Vegas Golden Knights.” The character of Fredo Corleone was iced while fishing in the Academy Award-winning “The Godfather: Part II,” when he was shot and buried in Lake Tahoe.
It was a different type of gun – Top Gun II – also filmed here, according to Boyd-Lemming. “There’s a scene through the Sierra Mountain Range where they do a lot of fighting and, near the end of the movie, the airport they blow up is our little local South Lake Tahoe airport. Don’t worry, though, it’s still standing. It was a lot of movie theatrics,” she revealed.
I suggested the vibrance of Lake Tahoe, to the naked eye, doesn’t seem real. “It’s an impossibly beautiful alpine lake with natural runoff water from the snow that makes it so beautiful, blue and clear. But it also has a lot of it has to do with our partners in the region that are stewards of the land who do a lot of work to preserve and protect the lake,” said Boyd-Lemming.
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “The Horse Whisperer,” “The Bodyguard.” Smokin’ Aces,” and more movies were made in the area.
Star Search
From aboard the M.S. Dixie II Lake Tahoe scenic riverboat cruise to Emerald Bay, with a Tahoe Blue Margarita in hand, I got a waterfront view of Edgewood Tahoe Resort and Golf Course. But I envied the fans who would flood that green golf course during the annual American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament. It has been held there in mid-July for nearly 40 years and has been seen on national television.
Colin Jost, Ray Romano, Annika Sorenstam, Larry the Cable Guy, Travis Kelce, Charles Woodson, Stephen Curry, Charles Barkley and Brett Baier are just a few of the golf stars accessible during that event for smiles, photos and autographs.
Some fans do watch play on the course’s closing holes from boats along the lakefront, but Boyd-Lemming suggested some dry-land spots where the stars can be seen at night, enjoying Lake Tahoe’s entertainment options.
“Caesar’s Republic, formerly Harvey’s, is the host hotel as well as our area partners such as Bally’s, Golden Nugget, and Margaritaville, which are all heavily involved. You’d have a good chance of seeing celebrities throughout the night,” Boyd-Lemming advised.
Then she gave the best insider tip: “A lot of the celebrities love to sing karaoke with ‘Arty the Party’ at Harrah’s. ‘Arty’ is Arthur Hervey, host of the tournament’s entertainment after golf at Harrah’s Center
Stage.”
Boyd-Lemming said it is a concert series at Harrah’s outdoor stage as well, including Rascal Flats. “The tournament is a vibe. It’s action-packed. Sleep the week before and the week after so you can party that whole week!”
Olympic Gastronomy
Golf is sometimes in the Summer Olympic Games, but it was the Winter Games staged in the Lake Tahoe basin in 1960. Los Angeles will host the summer games in 2028. Boyd-Lemming says Lake Tahoe may play some role in the preparation of the US athletes.
Echo Summit, in 1968, hosted the US Olympic men’s track and field trials on a high-altitude track.
“Maybe we will see some of the athletes doing high-altitude training, biking, running or taking
cold plunges, who knows?” Boyd-Lemming posited.
After a night of elevated cocktails at Wolf by Vanderpump (one might say I “overtrained, lol), I secured some sunrise soak up at The Red Hut Café, for local, casual, caloric cuisine. Red Hut, which began humbly in 1959, has four area locations.
The one in which I sat down opened in 2009 at the foot of the Heavenly Village Gondola, the 50-person ski tram in South Lake Tahoe, which also lifts summer adventurers to scenic mountaintop activities at 9,100 feet elevation.
The Red Hut was cute and had a couple of two-person chairlifts strung into the ceiling through the restaurant, hanging as decoration. The Red Hut Rosti was the menu item that drew my attention, and so I learned the dish is a classic Swiss round cake of crispy grated potatoes with melted cheese and breakfast meats.
In–N–Out
Speaking of meats, any visitor to the west might be drawn to try the hailed cheeseburgers of the In-N-Out chain, which you can do at the nearby location as you travel in and out of Reno Airport.
For something more sophisticated, the airport area also offers Beloved’s Bakery and Café, where a server named Jewel suggested I try that day’s drink special: an Orange Blossom Latte. The other special, Adaptogenic Golden Milk, from the Happy Mushroom Company, with Lion’s Mane, Reishi, and Cordyceps extract blend, was way beyond my depth.
There was plenty to do in Reno, so I lunched on empanadas at Brasserie Saint James, a now striking, brick-walled, industrial-yet-warm restaurant occupying a historically preserved building which was once the Crystal Springs Ice Plant.
Downtown Reno had an artsy minor league baseball park and a block-long display of former Burning Man art installations. (A large, silver rocket ship; gigantic Don Quixote statue and equally imposing Shogun warrior, a big bear in a chair, and a prancing horse, were among the less esoteric works of art.)
They are all across the street from the J Resorts Glow Plaza, a collection of iconic, vintage neon signs touting, for instance, Harold’s Club Horse Race Booking or the Downtown Bowling Lounge, in what is also an event venue.
On your way in and out of town, the expansive, entertaining, high-rise Grand Sierra Resort and Casino is the closest, most convenient airport lodging experience. In addition to the casino gaming, Grand Sierra is building a minor league hockey rink at the moment to add to their massive array of family-oriented activities.
These include an aquatic golf driving range; swank pool area with a giant Jacuzzi; colorful bowling center; magic theater; entertainment theater; LEX Nightclub; and banquet, event, and conference space. In addition, there are countless dining options, including Charlie Palmer Steak and ESPN favorite Chickie & Pete’s sports bar.
The ability to check in to Grand Sierra at any hour, and a short cab ride if you don’t need a car, makes getting in and out of Reno, or on to Carson City, Virginia City, Sparks or Lake Tahoe, convenient and fun.
Read more of Michael Patrick’s work at The Travel Tattler and contact him at MShiels@aol.com. Order his book Travel Tattler – Less Than Torrid Tales at https://amzn.to/3Qm9FjN
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