Frank Vargas, chef at Louis’ Basque Corner, shows off a spread of dishes.
PHoTo/eric marKs
What’s
Reno’s food?
In search of the city’s signature dish
by
Brad Bynum
bradb@newsreview.com
C
hicago has deep-dish pizza. Kansas City has barbecue. Philadelphia has cheesesteak. But what’s Reno’s food? What’s the one item that every visiting tourist arrives in town dying to try? Or the one dish that, if a Renoite were to taste a convincing facsimile, even if concocted far away, would taste like home? Reno food culture has changed substantially over the course of the last decade or two. Local tastes have moved away from casino buffets and toward locally grown farm-to-table produce, from chain diners to gourmet gastropubs. Food is both how we understand ourselves as a community—we are what we eat—and part of how the rest of the country sees us. Every local resident probably has a short list of local restaurants where they like to take visiting friends and relatives. But these restaurants are probably chosen more for their overall quality—the best food and ambiance—rather than for representing some unique regional identity. However, there is one ethnic cuisine that is on almost every resident’s list: Basque food.
“Basque is usually mentioned, but we only have two restaurants in town, and I bet more people will say they had a taco than sweetbreads in any given week,” said Todd South, the RN&R’s resident foodie and restaurant reviewer. “Boise has a much larger selection of Basque food and culture than we do.” Yes, there are only two Basque restaurants in Reno, but that’s two more than most cities. And both restaurants—Louis’ Basque Corner, 301 E. Fourth St., 323-7203, and Santa Fe Hotel, 235 Lake St., 323-1891—are staples of the local culinary landscape— long-running, family-owned joints that have been popular for generations. Debates about which of the two places is better can grow fierce and bitter. Either way, the misleadingly named sweetbreads—which are neither sweet nor bread—are worth trying, as is the picon punch, the cuisine’s signature drink. Still, two beloved restaurants don’t really constitute a region-defining culinary movement—especially not when the food in question already represents a region and ethnic population on the other side of the planet.
“What’s reno’s food?” continued on page 14 OPINION
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THIS WEEK
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FEBRUARY 25, 2016
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RN&R
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