by Antoinette May Herndon

Is it fair to play favourites? Not usually, but once in awhile you get a free pass. For the past two years, since Sierra Lodestar’s inception, I’ve written Foothill Flavours. Being a weekly columnist requires frequenting a lot of restaurants. Recently, I received a special assignment: “Tell us your nine favourites.” How cool is that!

Except the task wasn’t as simple as I’d expected. There are so many good eateries out there. To make the task a little easier on myself, I limited my choices to dinner houses— temporarily forsaking all the great breakfast and lunch Meccas. It was still difficult—just three restaurants each from Tuolomne, Calaveras and Amador counties. Believe me, what follows are blue-ribbon bistros, special favourites where my husband, Charles, and I eat often.

Giannini’s—Pine Grove’s Italian Treasure

“Welcome to Giannini’s.”

My host was a small boy, perhaps eight, with a smile almost as big as he was. If the Pine Grove bistro wasn’t already a favourite foothills restaurant, Nico Lee’s gallant welcome would have made it so.

Nico is the scion of a dining dynasty. Watching him, it’s easy to see the pride in good food and warm generational ties that bind the family business. Originally founded in 1933 by Al and Rosalie Giannini Sr., the restaurant specializes in Roman Provience cooking—a culinary spin unique to Rome itself. Nico’s mother, Lisa Giannini Lee, granddaughter of the founders, enriched the culinary tradition further while studying in Rome as an exchange student.

A large, rambling board and brick building with warm, knotty pine walls, the restaurant is alive with history. The place is haunted in a kind, comforting sense. Ghosts come alive through the collective memories of generations of friends and families who’ve enjoyed robust Italian dinners at Giannini’s while heading to or from the lake or ski trails.

Here’s a warning: Don’t go to Giannini’s if you aren’t hungry. The deluxe dinner is a five-course no holds barred event. It begins with the famous polenta board—Italian corn meal covered with meat and tomato sauce—unique and tasty. The salad is crisp and green, an excellent foil to the full-bodied minestrone soup. Pasta, Giannini’s signature dish, is always good.

There are so many entrees, it’s difficult to choose—lots of standard Italian fare, but also some rarely seen dishes like sweetbreads and chicken liver sauté. Steak Romana is a perennial favourite—sirloin cooked with garlic, lemon, and olive oil.

Charles frequently selects eggplant parmigiana, prepared with red and white sauce and dipped in egg and bread crumbs. I generally go with scampi (jumbo prawns sautéed in olive oil with white wine, mushrooms, butter and garlic) but recently surprised myself by ordering the salmon special. It may be the best I’ve ever had—anywhere.

Giannini’s spumoni ice cream is rich and flavourful, truly outstanding, but their zabaglione is to die for. If I had one night to live, let me live it eating zabaglione at Giannini’s.

PICTURES:

Meghan Herndon is a lively and efficient server at Giannini’s.

The interior of Giannini’s is familiar to many.

Pioneer Chic

The Amador Café & Bakery is a seven-table treasure waiting to be discovered. Tiny Pioneer’s even tinier bistro is one classy operation.

Think country cafe and you think function. Hopefully, you also get friendly, cosy, fast and efficient. At any rate, you’re in, you’re out, the décor a blur of Formica, chrome and plastic.

Take my word, the Amador Café & Bakery is a world removed from that. We entered expecting same old, same old. Our anticipations never strayed far beyond the hope that the food would be passable and the service adequate. Were we ever in for a surprise!

Have you ever been to a roadside restaurant where the utensils and napery were stored in an antique walnut dresser? I surely haven’t. Think butcher block tables polished to a silky sheen. Visualize the exotic allure of Chinese chairs made of faux bamboo and painted antique gold. Contemplate the romantic potential of eating beneath the sparkling glow of crystal chandeliers. Floors covered in red and white square tiles are an unexpected touch of chic.

That’s it, there just isn’t anything casual or routine about the Amador Café & Bakery. The place is capital E elegant, a little gem out in the middle of the woods, a sophisticated bistro in a tiny mountain village.

Owner Robert Dasch is the man behind the magic. He’s a local boy, an Amador High grad who went off to Hungington Beach to seek his fortune. After pursuing a love of art and antiques at the Newport Design Institute, Robert became an interior decorator. It was fun for awhile, but before long the lure of the foothills drew him back.

What this area needs is a good restaurant,” he decided and the rest is history. Naturally, Robert being Robert gave the place more than a touch of class. The exciting news is that the cafe has been expanded to include dinners on Friday and Saturday nights.

A full course dinner can begin with bruschetta as an hor d’oeuvre. Delicious. Charles chose the French onion soup. Distinctively spicy. Bleu cheese salad dressing is my favourite but I found Robert’s to be especially rich and creamy with an exotic extra ingredient. The prime rib dinner was everything we could have wished for and more.

To say something is to die for is such a cliché, but once and in awhile it’s true. Such was the case with the Amador Café & Bakery’s caramel apple bread pudding. Ask for it and decide for yourself.

PICTURES:

Robert Dasch has a good thing going at the Amador Café & Bakery.

Antiques define the décor at the Amador Café & Bakery

Prime rib is a highlight at the Amador Café & Bakery (2 shots)

The Matter of Taste

It’s a given that there really is no better restaurant around than tiny Plymouth’s no longer secret treasure, Taste.

Charles and I have been sneaking off to indulge ourselves at Taste ever since it’s opening some six years ago. In those early days frequenting the sophisticated bistro was a little like belonging to a private club.

Just entering the restaurant is a startling “through the looking glass experience.” Plymouth is a time-warp, the town that time forgot. Maybe, “town” is an over statement, it’s more like one street. And, with its simple frame exterior, Taste looks just like its century-old neighbours.

Be prepared for a surprise. One tug on the big fork-shaped door handle and you’re catapulted from ordinary to urbane. Suddenly you’ve stepped into an art deco paradise of wood-plank floors, ochre-hued walls, golden light and dark wood furnishings. The resulting ambience is sleek and suave, but also warm and friendly.

Perhaps you recall Taste’s owners, Mark and Tracey Berkner, from their days at Volcano’s St. George Hotel. In this elegant newer incarnation, Tracey manages the restaurant while Mark mans the kitchen. Backed by a splendid staff, the couple offers the polished food and wine service that could as well be found on Union Square, in Mayfair, or on the Champs Elysees. The food presentations, always gorgeous, are cooked to perfection.

Dinner with friends at Taste frequently begins with a round of cigars— “mushroom cigars” (crimini, shitake, and oyster) wrapped in phyllo dough. They’re “only” fantastic.

The fig salad has possibly the best vinaigrette dressing I’ve ever tasted. It’s hard to skip, though there’s much to be said for the butternut soup.

Over the years I’ve worked my way through Taste’s splendiferous menu, though there are always beguiling new surprises. My all time favourite remains the tender, succulent short ribs. With them, I generally enjoy a glass of Hand Made—a wine which really is hand made especially for Taste. It’s a rich, full bodied pinot noir. Just right for the ribs.

Another favourite is rock cod. Choice and elegant. Hather voignier is a nice accompaniment. Two killer desserts are chocolate beet mousse with red beet coulee and the Meyer lemon cheesecake with a graham cracker pistachio crust.

Time now for a caveat. Perhaps you wondered when or if I would get to it. Taste is expensive, no getting around it.

Is it worth the tab?

In my own opinion, yes. You don’t have to be wealthy to dine at Taste, but you do need to consider food, wine, service, and ambience to be key components to a life worth living. Taste consistently

offers top quality. Sometimes that involves a little financial planning to make it happen.

I think peace of mind is worth something too. For most of us, Taste is reserved for celebrations: anniversaries, graduations, promotions and birthdays. Isn’t it worth a bit more to just relax and know that everything will turn out perfect?

PICTURE:

Polished wood paneling adds to the elegance at Taste

At the Leger: Everything Old is New Again

“Just a job” took on a whole new spin 25 years ago when Jane Canty, the bartender at Mokelumne Hill’s Leger Hotel, met Ron Pitner, the maintenance man and resident musician. Love at first sight? Maybe. Work surely became lots more fun. Still, no one could ever have guessed what fate had in store for them.

Jane and Ron became a couple, then a married couple. Ten years ago they leased the historic hostelry that had brought them together with an option to buy. Since then they’ve not only exercised the option but received seven Calaveras County awards for excellence.

“We’ve got something for everyone,” Ron points out. A genial man with a performer’s enthusiasm for people, he enjoys playing “master of the house” in a bar-restaurant that’s morphed into the town living room.

Check out the Leger on Thursday’s—Martini Night—when guests gather at a long family table adjacent to the bar. Warning: get there by six or you’ll be banished to Siberia (the dining room where the action isn’t on Thursdays.) I rarely miss Martini Night—a cocktail party that I don’t have to set up for or clean up after.

Man about Mok, Ed Cline, master -minded Martini Thursday, but the hotel chef, Myron Turk, is its heart and soul. Myron features comfort food like chicken cacciatore, spaghetti, or polenta. It’s all good padding for the martinis and nothing costs more than $11.95

Another of Myron’s successes—Dinner in the Dungeon—has taken dining at the Leger to a new level. The cellar, formerly reserved for storing wine, was not a popular destination for Jane and the wait staff. No one really wanted to venture there alone.

Now, thanks to Myron, it’s become the “in spot” for a private dinners. The dungeon’s a time trip. Think: original 1854 floor, stone walls and vaulted ceiling. This area of the hotel was impervious to a series of fires that ravaged early Mok Hill. It’s the real thing, a piece of Gold Rush history that remains unchanged.

The dungeon vibes are warm and inviting. It’s clean and dry down there. Not too hot, not too cold. Perfect. No damp, musty smell either. Guests dine by candlelight at an antique table on elegant overstuffed chairs. While soft music plays in the background, they choose from menus specially created for them by Myron.

Whatever might have scared people in the past must have been exorcized. Spirits run high but they are definitely of this world.

PICTURES; Chef Myron Turk has transformed the menu at Mokelumne Hill’s Hotel Leger.

Localites enjoy dinner in the dungeon at the Hotel Leger in Mokelumne Hill.

BJ Wallace serves Barry and Ginger Griffith in dungeon of the Hotel Leger.

In Murphys: a Good Sign

On some of these dark and stormy nights, the sight of a martini glass twinkling in the distance seems like the holy grail. Many are the times that Charles and I have followed the bright neon triangle anchored by a cute little olive to its origin, Murphys Hotel and Restaurant.

Yes, I know there’s a shade of controversy attached to the beacon. Owner Dorian Faught has had his ups and downs. One might say the sign shines cheekily as well as cheerily, but to me that’s part of its charm. Happily, the bar lives up to its sign with iron window shutters dating from the days when miners paid their way in gold dust. There’s a long wide bar, just the kind you want to belly up to, and lots of western memorabilia accumulated since the hotel’s opening in 1856.

Thought to be the oldest operating wooden hotel in California, Murphys restaurant drew the likes of Mark Twain, Black Bart, Henry Ward Beecher. John Jacob Aster, Ulysses S. Grant, and J.P. Morgan.

Which brings us down to Charles and me. Just your ordinary hungry couple. We go there often, working our way through the extensive menu. On a recent evening we decided our favourite entrees are Lamb Shanks and the Grilled Maple Leaf Duck Breast. The shanks are braised, then slow cooked in vegetable gravy and served with creamy polenta. The duck breast is topped with dried cherry shallot port demi glace.

An added feature is the excellent spinach salad—lots of tang to it with plenty of bacon bits, sliced egg and sesame seeds added to the crisp spinach leaves.

As always it was an excellent dinner, fine service, pleasant low-keyed atmosphere. Outside again on the dark, rainy street, I looked back at that feisty sign twinkling against the blackness and heard the lively spirit of fun and good times.

PICTURES:

Better to light one martini than curse the darkness.

Murphys Hotel and Restaurant is a good time place.

Megan Shires makes you right at home at Murphys Restaurant.

A Feast Fit for Angels

People who live in and around Angels Camp are so lucky. Crusco’s in downtown Angels is a dream restaurant that never fails to live up to expectations.

The sign as you enter says it all: “THIS IS NOT FAST FOOD.” Here’s a place to relax and enjoy the moment as well as food. One step in the door and you know you’ve come to the right restaurant.

Crusco’s is romantic and so Italian. I just know if there’s a Godfather out there, he’ll be ensconced in a back booth. Invariably I scan the dark interior hopefully. Nobody quite matches Marlon Brando but there are always intriguing possibilities.

The atmosphere is definitely right: rich burgundy and plum napery, dark wood chairs and tables, a mural of Venice, lots of family pictures. The background music is perfect: either Italy’s favourite son belting out “My Way”, arias from grand operas, or romantic mandolins. I love all that. Don’t you?

Crusco’s Ristorante is family owned. Gil Lusher is the host, his wife Celeste (Crusco) Lusher is in the kitchen cooking, and their daughters and sons-in-law serve. The family’s pride in, and attention to detail, whether it be food, service or ambience, is obvious. “Everything served here is from scratch,” Gil says. “If we don’t make it on the premises, it comes from one of our local organic farms or artisan vendors.”

Our last visit to Crusco’s was on a wet, rainy night. Brandishing our umbrellas, splashing through puddles, Charles and I tried hard to stay under overhangs. There’s lots of window shopping to be done in historic Angels Camp but it was too cold to linger long. Once inside Crusco’s, we were welcomed by the wonderful smell of garlic. Visions of pasta danced in my head. Gil showed us to a pleasant window table fronting on Main Street. We immediately felt consoled and protected, so good to be on the inside looking out.

An added plus for Crusco’s is that here—upon request—Caesars salad comes with anchovies. Lots of anchovies. What’s a Caesar salad with other anchovies? Definitely not a Caesar salad. Crusco’s is also loaded with parmigiano cheese , homemade garlic, and croutons. It just may be the best Caesar in the foothills.

The zupa del giorno (soup of the day) is always good at Crusco’s. Most frequently it’s minestrone. Wouldn’t you expect an outstanding Italian restaurant to put out a great minestrone? Crusco’s does not disappoint.

Another house specialty is San Lucchese, a sautéed beef tenderloin topped with apples, prunes and a sweet brandy demiglaze served with a house blend of mixed greens. Mare e Monte, a grilled choice New York topped with sautéed prawns in garlic butter sauce served with garlic mashed potatoes, is popular too. Most recently I had Gamberoni alla Mediterraneo, a delicious concoction featuring spaghetti with prawns, spinach, kalamata olives, tomatoes and pancetta in garlic white wine sauce.

Mama Mia! It was good.

The National Stands Out in Jamestown Tales of floating Flo hooked me in the first places. A ghost chaser from way back, I determined to check out Jamestown’s National Hotel Restaurant. There are lots of Flo sightings at the National. One theory is that they’re induced by the very excellent pom-tinis served there. Think: Absolut vodka, triple sec, pomegranate juice with a splash of lime. Also, the “classic” martini listed on the menu truly is a classic—as good as they get.

We’ll save Flo’s tale for another time. For now, expect to be wined, dined and delighted at the National, a restaurant that’s received 30 consecutive years of Triple A 3- Diamond Awards.

Heinrich and Hannah Neilson established the hotel and restaurant in 1859 and the place has been in continuous operation— surviving two damaging fires—ever since. The present owners, Stephen and his brother, Michel Wiley, began restoration in 1974 and are still at it. The result is a jewel. Expect19th century elegance transformed to 21st century comfort.

Some say I’m too generous with my praise, but no question my superlatives once they’ve tasted the National Hotel’s scampi etoufflee. Just try the prawns sautéed Cajun style with scallions, fresh, tomatoes, and mushrooms with white wine and herbs and try telling me that they aren’t fabulous. The sauce is just spicy enough to show character, theprawns and scallions are plump, tender and succulent

Another of the National’s signature dishes is garlic roasted prime rib, served au jus with creamed horseradish. Expect it to be cooked to perfection and you won’t be disappointed. The restaurant staff tries hard to be perfect and actually succeeds.

Pictures:

Jamestown’s National Hotel is a window on the past.

David and Marion Lauter enjoy dinner in the restaurant of Jamestown’s historic National Hotel.

Sonora’s Sublime Talulah’s

Katharine Payne had a vision. While enrolled in the culinary program at Columbia College, she dreamed of a perfect restaurant, an elegant eatery that she would own and operate herself. Three years later that dream has come true.

Not only does the tiny bistro enjoy a loyal Sonoran following, but the excited buzz has crossed the New Melones Reservoir. In Calaveras and Amador counties people are also talking about Talulah’s. “What! You haven’t been there?” “The food is marvellous, absolutely marvelous.” “Talulah is so French.”

The food really is marvellous, though, I, myself, wouldn’t call Talulah’s French. The wait staff is too nice for one thing. Another factor is the disarming lack of pretension. Katharine is as likely as not to seat you herself.

The restaurant fronts on main street (in this case it happens to be called Washington). One wall is used brick, historic bricks that ooze history. The opposite wall comprises a galley of eclectic modern paintings against a hot mustard backdrop. Beyond is the busy galley-style kitchen. There are possibly 12 tables, their effect intimate and inviting.

One thing that does remind me a little of France is the satisfied expressions on the diners’ faces. These are real eaters, definitely into and enjoying their food. Many seem to know and like one another, though the bistro ambience is in no way cliquey.

There’s a sense of dedication about the tiny but tasteful bistro. Katherine sees good food as a kind of mind, body and spirit thing, but she’s a realist as well as a visionary and uses only the freshest ingredients. All the house-made dressings are made with Rancho Torales Olive Oil. The olives are grown just up the road.

Waitresses at Talulah’s are smart, New Yorky looking in their black tailored outfits. I guess it isn’t P.C. to notice such things, but everyone of them is pretty. We’ve felt specially lucky to have Berit Brown and Malory Russell as our servers.

New since our last visit is the house bread—loaded with enough garlic to stave off a squadron of vampires. As a daughter of Transylvania, I love it. Charles is such a traditionalist, at least when it comes to Talulah’s. He always orders a bay shrimp cocktail served with Talulah’s special cocktail sauce as well as Talulah’s signature linguine. The linguine, made with chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage tossed in a light creamy Creole sauce, can be spicy or mild. (Charles likes it spicy.)

Soup or salad comes with the entrée. Two kinds of soup and, on our most recent visit, there was one only one cup of each left. That’s how good they both are. Charles wanted clam chowder and I potato leak. We were both got lucky. My entrée, clam casserole, is not always on the menu. Ask about this dynamite dish.

Talulah’s, a downtown eatery with an upscale reputation, has become an “in spot.” Don’t miss it.

PICTURES:

Berit Brown serves a great crab casserole at Talulah’s in Sonora.

The interior of Talulah’s in Sonora is lively and inviting.

Willow is a Jamestown Gem

Jamestown’s picturesque Willow Steakhouse is Charm Central.

Owners Siobhan and Roger Stevens have gilded it with Gold Rush ambience. Imagine flowered wallpaper atop oak wainscoting, cozy oak booths flanking a row of tables with high-backed chairs. It’s easy to picture the illustrious celebrities of the past who’ve dined there: the gunslinger Bat Masterson, the gracious Mrs. Robert E. Lee and the illustrious President William McKinley.

Impressive antecedents, but if you’re thinking of making a little dining history of your own, there’s plenty of opportunity. The authentic old bar dispenses great martinis. From there it gets better and better. First there’s the fondue. What an inspired alternative to same old, same old bread and butter. It’s thick, lush with a strong cheddar flavour.

Willow is full of neat add-ons. Sour or salad? It’s hard to choose. The salad is crisp green and served with creamy garlic-ranch dressing. The soup is New England clam chowder with lots of clams.

Everything always looks good on the menu, making choices difficult. Still my favourite remains the New York Pepper Steak. It’s covered with green peppercorns and a fantastic brandy cream sauce. The meat is tender and invariably served as I like it. (Mooing) The steak is very large and the sauce quite rich. I defy you not to need a doggie bag.

Stuffed Petrale Sole is another possibility. The fish is filled with shrimp, scallions and mushrooms and toped with a piquant caper sauce.

We generally share a dessert, a strawberry shortcake. A sin! But what can I say? Some of us are bad while the shortcake is very good. The service at Willow is good too. We’re going back soon—perhaps we’ll see you there.

VITALS: Giannini’s, 10945 Pine Grove. Phone: 296-7222. Open Thursday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9. Bar opens at 4. Credit cards accepted.

Amador Café & Bakery, 26590 Hwy. 88 #3. Pioneer. Phone: 295- 7794. Open Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 3:30, Friday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Credit cards are accepted.

Taste, 9402 Main St., Plymouth, 245-3463. Open Monday, Thursday and Friday from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30, and Sunday from 4:30 p.m. to 9. Taste packs in crowds every night, so make your reservations early. Credit cards accepted. Here’s an additional suggestion: Taste’s wine list showcases excellent local foothill wines as well as an impressive collection of international selections. The wine service is top notch, but if you want a cocktail before dinner, walk a few doors up to the Dancing Bear.

Hotel Leger, 8304 Main St., Mokelumne Hill. Phone: 286-1401. Open Thursday through Monday. Credit card accepted.

Murphys Hotel and Restaurant, 457 Main St., Murphys. Phone: 728-3444. Open seven days a week including all major holidays (Christmas is fun there, we’ve tried it). Open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Reservations on weekends advised. Credit card accepted.

Crusco’s Ristorante, 1240 South Main. Phone: 736-1400. Open Thursday through Mondays for lunch from 11:30 to 3 for dinner from 5 p.m. until 9. Reservations advised. Credit cards accepted.

The National Hotel, 18183 Main Street, Jamestown. Phone: 984- 3446. Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Credit cards accepted. Reservations advised.

Talulah’s,13 South Washington in Sonora. Phone: 532-7278. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Friday for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 8:30. The restaurant is open from l pm to 9 on Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Reservations definitely advised. Credit cards accepted.

The Willow Steakhouse, 18723 Main St., Jamestown. 984-3998. Open Monday-Saturday for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday dinner from 4 to 9 p.m. and Breakfast from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Credit cards accepted.