Our Favorite Stories of 2025
To close out the year, edible Reno-Tahoe team members thumbed through all six issues we produced in 2025 to choose our favorite stories. It was hard to pick! We covered so many great topics and people, including Reno-Tahoe chefs and farmers, leaders in the food and drinks community, important issues that impact us all, recipes, food gift ideas, and much more. We hope you like this look back at some of our favorite features. Itโs just a taste of our vast coverage. For more stories, recipes, and guides, peruse the website here, here, and here.
Happy reading and discovering!
TikTok Star Cook
In late 2023, Kevin Ashton traveled to rural Florida to visit his parents. While he was shopping for dinner in a local grocery store, the bagger recognized him from his TikTok cooking videos and excitedly told Ashton how much she loves his recipes.
Bye-Bye Beer Bro Culture
For about 10,000 years, beer fermentation was cloaked in mystery and, thus, left to the women. Ninkasi, the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing, oversaw the unknown chemical process that created the much-loved beer and the women who made our favorite frothy drink.
Soul Food
Tucked away in The Basement, the bottom half of Renoโs historic downtown post office building, a newer restaurant named Papa What You Cooking has quickly captured the hearts (and appetites) of locals since opening in August 2023.
A Perilous Palette for the Palate
โI do not like green eggs and ham! I do not like them, Sam I am!โ
With those lyrical, rhyming words, Dr. Seuss gave us one of our first lessons in the incredible power that foodโs color holds over us. What we didnโt know at the time was that itโs a cautionary tale.
The Plastic Paradox
Everything Everywhere All at Once is not just a movie title. Itโs probably the best description of the prevalence of plastic in modern times.
Fighting Food Insecurity
One in seven Nevadans faces hunger daily. One in five children in Nevada doesnโt know when their next meal will be. These statistics, cited by national nonprofit Feeding America, outline the stateโs current food insecurity issue in numbers. However, hunger has far-reaching disadvantages beyond pangs in the belly.
A Slice of Heaven
When we think back on some of the most special memories in life โ birthday parties, moving days, post-win team celebrations, and classroom rewards for students โ pizza was there. Itโs how we say, โThanks,โ โCheer up!โ or โTake a load off!โ
Fungi Frontier
Do mushrooms prefer classical music? Nate Rosenbloom, owner of Mountain Mushrooms farm north of Reno, says it depends upon who you ask.
A Drink with a View
Bears do it. So do groundhogs, skunks, and bats. What are we talking about? Hibernation. Fortunately, humans have far more sophisticated options for when temperatures drop, none of which requires digging a hole โ thereโs a puffy jacket and scarf, of course, or a visit to one of Reno-Tahoeโs cozy locations offering delicious cocktails, hot toddies, fine wines, or ice-cold beers with swoon-worthy views to warm your soul.
Zero Proof to 100% Fun
In the not-too-distant past, folks who opted to forgo alcohol while out on the town had limited choices. Few venues offered much beyond soft drinks, club soda, or the bland virgin versions of classic cocktails.
Cultivating Resiliency
Soulful Seeds nurtures more than crops.written by Heidi Bethelphotos by Donna Victor With a mission to foster connection and resilience through neighborhood gardens, Soulful Seeds has been providing healthy food to vulnerable populations in the Reno-Tahoe area since 2017. What began as a community garden at Saint Maryโs Regional Medical Center in Reno evolved into…
Changing Lives from the Ground Up
Hampton House Garden Project gets down to earth to fight hunger.written by Sandi Solomonsonphotos by Jake Maynard On an unpretentious street in North Reno, youโll find a modest house abuzz with activity inside and out. Itโs a place where locals gather for Sunday potluck dinners, groups of chatty schoolchildren get their hands dirty in the…
For the Love of Sports
As a mountain lover, Meghan Ochs measures the number of years she has lived in Reno by its winters: โThis is my 13th,โ she says while we sit down in her living room in early spring. Originally from Pennsylvania, she considered herself โa casual skier.โ
From (Football) Field to Fork
Food is certainly fuel for Jesse Felker, a personal trainer and veteran quarterback on the Nevada Storm, Northern Nevadaโs female full-contact football team โ but itโs also about family, in all its forms.
Leveling the Playing Field
We all come to the kitchen via our own path. I personally never dreamed of any greatness as a cook other than being able to make good dishes to eat for family and friends. I like to think I do an OK job of it โ better than some, not as well as others. I wouldnโt say I learned from the best, but I learned from the best I had: my mom.
Blast from the Past
The bag of vintage cookbooks sat on my office shelf for a year. Pat Ferraro Klos, local historian, author, and longtime friend, gave it to me. She was cleaning out her own shelves and thought the contents might be useful to me in my ongoing search for local food history.
True Tiki
A true tiki bar is about more than fruity drinks in imaginative glassware, and the husband-and-wife duo behind Pele Utu in Reno are only interested in providing the real deal.
Homemade Ginger Beer
My love of bubbly water began overseas with confusion over how to answer a waiter when asked, โFrizzante or naturale?โ A bottle of bubbling mineral water arrived after I ventured a guess.
Crispy Perfection
Thereโs something special about a tower of crispy, golden onion rings piled high, the steam wafting their savory aroma. Although preferred cooking methods and coating preferences vary from person to person, one fact remains certain: Onion rings are a beloved treat.
Get Jerkin’
Jerky makes an excellent snack for outdoor activities or even during the 3 p.m. slump at work, when a candy bar wonโt cut the post-lunch munchies. And, according to Austin Pollard, a social work professional in Reno, it is easy to make, which saves money compared to buying bags of jerky at the store, connects you to the origin of your food, and provides opportunities for customization.
Let the Sunshine In
A burst of fragrant blossoms and tangy juice in the middle of a Reno-Tahoe cold, snowy winter sounds like a Mediterranean fantasy.
The Art of Peking Duck
In the memorable Christmas dinner scene from the โ80s film A Christmas Story, the Parker family gathers around a magnificently roasted Chinese duck, a funny and improvised solution to the unexpected loss of their turkey.
Washoe Valley Wagyu
Nick Colonna has worn a lot of different hats in his lifetime โ psychology student, stockbroker, mountain guide, metal fabricator, and, now, rancher.
Staple Soups of Asia
Across Eastern and Southeastern Asia, soups composed of layers of distinctive-yet-subtle fresh flavors are culinary staples reflective of the diverse cultures from which they originate.
Globally Inspired Gift Baskets
From the thicketed banks of the Truckee River to the meandering alpine creeks atop Mount Rose, plump, ground-dwelling quail skitter about in search of seeds and insects.
Quail Quest
From the thicketed banks of the Truckee River to the meandering alpine creeks atop Mount Rose, plump, ground-dwelling quail skitter about in search of seeds and insects.
Careers on Wheels
Itโs not just a food truck; itโs a career-readiness classroom on wheels. Thatโs how Lindsey Habtemicael, Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadowsโ director of food services, describes the organizationโs workforce-readiness food truck, which was designed to teach lifelong career skills to teenagers.
