Food with Thought: A Toast and Taste of Summer

At the invitation of Yelp's Community Manager in Reno, Michael Tragash, and generous complimentary tickets from the Atlantis, I found myself not making dinner last Thursday evening. Instead, I happily attended "A Toast and Taste of Summer" hosted by The Atlantis to benefit the Nevada Diabetes Association, and found myself sampling some of the best in local cuisine and wines from wineries too overwhelming to count. There was also a silent auction of local art, wines, and more. All profits from the event would go to the Nevada Diabetes Association, which aims to "improve the lives of children and adults affected by diabetes, through prevention, education, and service."

I have diabetes strike in both sides of my family and it is not something to be proud of. My father had contracted it in his fifties and I've seen too many family members fall off early because of it. And that is why I am making different lifestyle and diet choices in my life to hopefully reverse the trend in my geneaology of not making it past 65. When not attending food events like these, I commit to an active lifestyle of high interval training, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, etc. and balancing my diet and eating habits with my activity levels.

But for some nights, I do make concessionss. Happily. And this event was to be one of them. It is great to have events benefitting this cause, and I am behind Nevada Diabetes Association in eradicating the disease by shedding light on it.

Also, for a local blogger, it was an amazing opportunity to meet and mingle with local restaurateurs I've never met or heard of before. And there were plenty of them! Again, special thanks to The Atlantis for the opportunity to attend this annual fund-raising event, and to Michael Tragash for looking out!

And here's my honorable mention list from that evening:

Best Apparent Culinary Talent: The Grove

I've never eaten or heard of The Grove before, and perhaps it has to do with the fact that they are a catering company. They had a chilled corn soup which drank like a corn-y milkshake sans ice, paired with pancetta, tomato puree, cilantro microgreens on a cheddar biscuit.

Boldest Move: Campo's Beef Tongue

Slapped in between house-baked sourdough and served with kohlrabi slaw, it was a bold move from Campo to serve beef parts not commonly found in mainstream restaurants in Reno. I love tongue to begin with and seasoned perfectly to resemble corned beef (at least in my palate), it was a bold, brilliant move.

Best Tasting Handheld Food: Atlantis' Bistro Napa

Pork, chicken, shrimp, all in one tasty handheld beauty. Need I say more?

Intriguing Italian Restaurants I've Not Been To Yet: Villa Donato and Un Caffe

I have a penchance for Italian food and these two - Villa Donato in Midtown (the pork belly and bruschetta with capers pictured below had something to do with it) and Un Caffe on Double R are on my list to try.

Place You'll See Featured on the Blog Soon: Rounds Bakery

These pinwheels of chicken bbq are yummy and since I'm a huge fan of made-from-scratch, there's a chance I get to make rounds at Rounds this summer! Stay tuned!

Wines of Note

There were way too many wines to try and if I had kept drinking, I would surely have lost track of good wine versus bad wine. Before that happened, here were my absolute favorites. Some, like Nevada City Winery Zinfandel and a Petite Syrah by Newsome-Harlow, were big suprises.

Most Worthwhile Personal Rulebreaker: Atlantis Dessert Spread

I keep my sugary food intake to a bare minimum and relative to the majority of the population, some would say that avoidance of sugar and dessert results in a pretty boring, pathetic life. This evening, I sort of made up for those nights I skipped dessert - which is ironic because it was an event to raise diabetes awareness! I will tell you though that the four desserts I had were lovely and not worth any regrets!

As mentioned, this is an annual event so if you missed it this year, there's always next year!

FULL DISCLOSURE: Special thanks to Atlantis for the complimentary tickets and to Michael Tragash of Yelp for the event notice. Full disclosure in compliance with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) is that although I was able to attend the event for free, all the abovementioned is a statement of my own personal opinion. Atlantis had no influence whatsoever in what went in this post.

#renotahoe #food