Dinner at Cottonwood - A Truckee Classic

Like a lot of places, the Tahoe/Truckee area hosts a 'restaurant week' where the local eateries offer a discounted prix fixe menu for a limited time. We took advantage to this promotion to visit one of the oldest and best known restaurants in Truckee: The Cottonwood.  The restaurant sits on the site of the first ski hill in Truckee and has an excellent view of our little town....

The restaurant has an old Truckee ski lodge feel...because that's what it is, not because of any high concept design. Couple the comfortable feel with excellent service and good food and you've got a good choice after a ski day!
Here's a look at what we had...starting with Wine, of course...

Sabon Estates Zin from Plymouth. Excellent cycling around there too.

Then some appetizers .....
 

Roasted yellow corn polenta gratin with fresh mozzarella, tomato and roasted garlic with an almond & red bell pepper romesco. This was the item that really jumped off the menu. Warm and hearty. 

Corn meal-dusted Canadian crab cakes topped with toasted macadamia nuts and a mango drizzle. The corn meal complemented the polenta. And lots of crab perfectly set off by the mango/citrus flavor.  Our shared salad...

Whole leaf Caesar salad. Nice and garlic-y! And big! Pretty impressed so far. So, we were looking forward to our entrees...

Seafood stew with shellfish, prawns, scallops and Andouille sausage in a saffron-tomato broth over linguini. Flavorful with well controlled spice. Noodles, cheese and lots of distinct fish flavors. And....

Flank Steak with a fig demi-glace and garlic mashed potatoes. Tender (for flank steak) with a nice crusty char. The fig flavor really came thru and worked well. Perfect veggies. Maybe the potatoes needed some punching up to keep up with the rest of the plate. But overall really good. And then.... 

Dessert! A Chocolate Brownie and a Berry Crisp. Very tasty and larger than average portions too.

Another view from our table after the sun had set. And the bottle was empty.

So, thanks to The Cottonwood for a really pleasant evening and some excellent dining. More about The Cottonwood on their website.