Welcome to our annual COOKS! edition. We created this issue in 2011 after noticing that cooking was more like a spectator sport (i.e. Hell’s Kitchen, Chopped, Chef’s Table, Top Chef, Iron Chef) than a home activity. We have all this gorgeous local food available throughout the year — meats, produce, herbs, and prepared items — and not enough inspiration to get into the kitchen to cook. We hope this motivates you to prepare lovely meals for your friends and family members.
In these pages, we turn our attention to one of my all-time favorite dishes: pasta. I love a big bowl of gemelli with potatoes and green beans, swimming in basil pesto, or a heaping plate of capellini with olive oil, mozzarella, garlic, and tomatoes. I’m a fan of simple, flavorful pasta brimming with fresh vegetables.
La Strada is well known for its mushroom ravioli. I ordered the dish as an appetizer a few weeks ago, and it’s as delicious as I remembered. The Kitchen Table in Reno offers delicious pasta dishes, such as fettuccini carbonara and pappardelle Bolognese. And how about the lasagna — beef or vegetarian — at 86-year-old Casale’s Halfway Club in Reno? Calafuria in Reno — open Thursday to Saturday — is always wowing me with pasta dishes. As a bonus, its chef/co-owner, Tim Magee, just started offering Italian cooking classes. Speaking of cooking classes, Nothing To It! Culinary Center in Reno always offers Italian cuisine workshops (mark your calendars for Taste of Venice on May 18 and Handmade Pasta on June 10). The owners and chefs at these businesses offer tips and tricks to make great pasta (and more) at home.
In this issue, you’ll also discover features on creative grilling ideas from local chefs, chili advice from award-winning home cooks, and knife recommendations for every kitchen. In addition, we’ll introduce you to four interesting local personalities who love to cook. And for something totally different, check out our feature on how to build your own cob pizza oven.
We hope you enjoy our COOKS! content. Let it entice you to stand behind the stove and create healthy, nourishing meals full of love.
Get cooking!
Amanda
About the Cover Ivano Centemeri — vice president Northern Nevada executive chef for the Eldorado and Harvey’s and Harrah’s, Lake Tahoe — demonstrates how to make fresh pasta in the Eldorado Pasta Shop in Reno. Photo by Lou Manna
Clarification In the Edible Traditions column in edible Reno-Tahoe’s January/February Drinks edition, Greg Allen, not Chris Allen, should have been credited for his photo of Abby’s Highway 40 bar. We regret the error.
