Foothill Flavors

In Jackson: Everything old is new again

By Antoinette May Herndon

Move over Taste, you’ve got competition. After much toe-tapping and conjecture, Stanley’s Steakhouse in Jackson is finally open for business.

The steakhouse is part of a $4,000,000,000 renovation project undertaken by Stan Lukowicz, a Sacramento pawn broker who made good. Very good.

Still, it takes real cojones to risk that kind of money on a dilapidated hotel. Stan would have been right at home during the Gold Rush.

Built originally as the Louisiana House in 1852, the hotel (which houses Stanley’s Steakhouse) has a rowdy history dating from the days when Jackson was a Mecca of gambling halls and bordellos. In fact, for a time, the Louisiana House was itself a bordello.

Maybe the establishment was too hot not to cool down because the Louisiana House burned to the ground in 1860. Two years later the hostelry rose from its ashes, bigger and badder than ever. By now the Civil War had erupted, California’s sympathies were hotly divided. The hotel’s canny owners were business men first, southerners second. The newly rebuilt Louisiana House was re-christened the National Hotel.

The wild times rolled for nearly a century. Old timers still talk about the state legislators who flocked to the National for party girls and poker games.

Mark Twain stayed there. John Wayne stayed there. Wayne’s poker games are legendary. There’s also talk of conga lines winding their way throughout the hotel, in and out of bedrooms into the bar.

Then along came Jerry Brown’s killjoy daddy, “Pat,” then attorney general. Brown senior put a lid on things. The National Hotel—and, one might say, Jackson itself—never quite recovered.

Now along

comes Stan Lukowicz with his magic money wand to transform the National back to its glory days.

Let’s start with ambience. Stanley’s Steakhouse oozes charm with its friendly wait staff in saloon outfits. The adjacent lobby has antique artwork, a player piano and soft, plushy couches.

If you have to wait for your table —which invariably happens anywhere--this is a delightful place to relax. (At Taste patrons await their tables on hard wooden chairs directly in the path of oncoming servers. The staff is marvelously adept, but still . .

Another plus for Stanley’s is the saloon. (The only drawback to Taste is the lack of one.) Bar tender Daniel Bryan mixes a mean martini but there are other spirits as well. Ghosts of gold panners, “working” girls, and faro dealers are everyone. Just look around, see those restless shades bellying up to the bar? Sure you do.

When it comes to the restaurant itself, Chef Matt McKnight set the starting bar high with a large and varied menu.

On my first visit, I ordered Stanley’s spinach salad ($8). In ten years of living in the Foothills, this is the first time I’ve seen spinach salad on a menu. Wow! It was like glimpsing an old friend from another life. The salad was good, too--crisp baby spinach, chopped eggs, dried cranberries and fried red onions tossed with grain mustard vinaigrette—a real winner.

That same evening, Charles selected crab soup ($8) for a starter. The menu describes the dish as “decadent beyond belief.” Doesn’t everyone deserve a little decadence once in awhile. Charles allowed me one spoonful. Imagine crab meat, cream, sherry, with a dash of hot sauce. I can’t wait to go back and have a whole bowl of my very own.

For a main course I opted for lamb shank ($22). That’s another favorite dish that I

rarely see on local menus. If you’re a lamb lover like me, you’ll be crazy over Stanley’s innovative touch. A splash of zinfandel added to the lamb juice is a surprise pleaser.

A steakhouse has to have good steaks. Right? Charles decided to see for himself by ordering the eight-ounce beef filet ($30). He rated it “perfect,” cooked exactly to his taste and served with cilantro-garlic steak butter.

All entrees come with two “supporting roles.” These may be fingerling potatoes, wild mushroom risotto, Brussels sprouts, a beet trio or baby vegetables.

Like Taste, Stanley’s Steakhouse weighs in on the pricey side. Whether it’ll become your special occasion place or a regular hangout depends on your pocketbook. Pasta of the day ($15) is one economical option. Another way to go is the deconstructed salad ($10) with an addition of chicken ($4), shrimp ($6) or beef ($8).

The steakhouse burger is $15 but that’s a 12 ounce patty. Pretty big! I could imagine two friends splitting it then each adding soup or a salad. Though obviously upscale, Stanley’s is unpretentious. The staff is enthusiastic about a new venture and eager to please. People had been having fun at the National for more than a century. Now, it looks like the good times are about to roll again.

VITALS: Stanley’s Steakhouse, 2 Water St., Jackson. Phone: 223- 0500. Open daily for dinner from 5 p.m. to 9. Credit cards accepted. Reservations advised.

PICTURES:

1 & 2) Michael Lusk is a fine additional to the wait staff at the National Hotel in Jackson.

The lobby of the newly refurbished National Hotel in Jackson is filled with vintage art and antiques.

Tiffany glass and Victorian art from the 19th National Hotel in Jackson may be seen in Stanley’s Steakhouse.

Stanley’s Steakhouse in Jackson is warmly inviting.