Fish for your dinner, then let the chef take over.
People often frequent restaurants to avoid the shopping, prep, and cooking involved in creating a meal at home. But every once in a while, a restaurant dining experience comes along for which it’s worth rolling up your sleeves.
At Everline Resort & Spa in Olympic Valley, diners are invited to catch their own dinner in the property’s trout-stocked lake. The experience typically is available from early summer through fall, and while the actual fishing is the guest’s job, the food preparation is completed by the resort’s culinary team.
This isn’t some half-baked excursion either. Those who sign up for the trout-to-table experience (advance reservations are required) are outfitted with fishing gear at the recreation office on site before the team leads them to the fishing pond a few minutes away. After guests have caught their fish — with as much or as little assistance as they need — the team helps bring the prize back to the resort’s own Sandy’s Pub, where chefs there prepare and serve the finished dish: a sautéed trout in meunière sauce with a side of rice and broccoli.
Another benefit of the program (besides a fresh-as-can-be fish dish) is that the experience is family friendly, recommended for guests as young as 5 years old. And if you’re giddy at the idea of foraging your own filet, just imagine how amped the smaller humans in your party will be to have a primary part in the dinner process.
There is a wait time between fishing and dining. Typically, guests will head to the fishing pond between 1 and 3 p.m., with dining beginning at 4 p.m. After you’re seated and settled, your personal catch will be delivered to your table.
Get Hooked on Fresh Fish
While Everline is the only location we know of that offers this complete experience, other area resorts provide the fishing without the finishing.
In Sierra County, Sierra Pines Resort — offering rustic, Yuba riverfront lodging — has its own trout pond on the property, open to guests daily from May through October. The culinary team serves trout for both breakfast and dinner, and people are allowed to fish in the pond and keep what they catch.
If you choose to fish for your own food, it can be prepared in the barbecues in the meadow or taken home to cook later.
“Each morning, we catch what we serve in the restaurant,” says Cindy Haubl, co-owner/president of Sierra Pines Resort.
Desolation Hotel in Hope Valley is another property with a stocked, on-site pond offering more than one type of fish. Here, guests are welcome to cast their lines, and fly fishing is quite popular. Instead of having a chef prepare your meal, however, you’ll have to go it alone.
“The cabins at Desolation Hotel Hope Valley are all equipped with full kitchenettes, so guests could absolutely catch and cook their own fish,” says Erika-Rose Larsen, a spokesperson for The Desolation Hotel.
Got a taste for trout now? Fortunately, the chefs at Sandy’s Pub have shared a recipe with us.
Trout in Beurre Blanc Sauce
(courtesy of Sandy’s Pub at Everline Resort & Spa in Olympic Valley. Serves 1)
1 trout, fileted and skinned
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tablespoon onion powder
½ tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
Combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge fish filet in flour mixture until evenly coated. Sauté filet in 1 tablespoon oil, turning once, until crispy on both sides. Top trout with beurre blanc sauce (recipe below) and serve.
For beurre blanc sauce
½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tablespoon shallots, minced
1 tablespoon white wine
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon thyme
In heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots, then stir until soft and translucent, 1 to 2 minutes. Mix in dry white wine, white wine vinegar, and thyme, stirring occasionally to reduce until 3 tablespoons remain. Pour sauce through fine-mesh strainer and press down with spoon to extract liquid. Rinse saucepan and return strained sauce to pan. Reduce heat to low. Add remaining butter slowly, a little at a time. Continue adding until sauce is creamy. Add salt and pepper. Pour over trout and serve immediately.
RESOURCES
Everline Resort & Spa
400 Squaw Creek Road, Olympic Valley
530-412-7034 · Everlineresort.com/resort-activities/experiences
Sierra Pines Resort
104 Main St., Sierra City
530-862-1151 · Sierrapinesresort.com
Desolation Hotel Hope Valley
14255 CA-88, Hope Valley
530-694-2203 · Desolationhotel.com
