We fell in love with Jimmy’s Restaurant, which is the foodie’s home base when staying at South Lake Tahoe’s Landing Resort, a cozy yet luxurious boutique resort that lies immediately across from the lake’s edge.
Imagine the following options for starters: carrot keftedes, served with carrot tabouleh and tahini yoghurt, a wood grilled octopus with barley salad and fennel seed dressing, wood roasted confit chicken wings, served with an orange, radicchio, olive & mint salad, a wood grilled halloumi, clementine & chili marinated prawns with a cauliflower skordalia, roasted beet and apple salad, a chicken orzo soup with grape leaves, herbs and lemon, wood grilled sardines, kalamata toast with pulled lamb, baba ghanoush and pomegranate, house cured salmon with quinoa, blood orange and fennel, Kataifi wrapped feta with raisin oregano dressing and honey, the wood grilled lamb cutlets with black tzatziki or the rabbit spanakopita with pickled cabbage and Greek ranch.
Below, the roasted beet salad is served with apples, feta curd and hazelnuts and its presentation couldn’t be more perfect. It had me at hello!!
By now, you must be noticing the heavy Greek influence? And, we haven’t even started with our entrees yet. How about a pulled lamb burger with beetroot feta and watercress brioche, a whole grilled fish or a Wagyu New York Strip (which we tried btw and loved), or the wood grilled eggplant souvlaki served with tahini sauce and dukkah (Yum!!).
If you want to go a little more traditional, opt for the spit roasted chicken with lemon roasted potatoes, wilted greens and capers or the spit roasted pork belly for two with fennel seed, anchovies, sage and soft polenta. Below is the scrumptious wood roasted artichoke appetizer, which was served with spring onion skordalia. Notice the rustic yet elegant look of the plates as well as the overall presentation.
On the lighter side (and one of my favorites), was the Seared Ahi Tuna, which was served with an avocado skordalia and olive relish.
The Kalamata Toast with pulled lamb, baba ghanoush and pomegranate.
Fresh fish is always on the menu….as a fillet or a wood grilled whole fish.
The classic Lamb Chops, served with an Israeli cous cous, nantes carrots and harissa.
The Painted Hills Flat Iron with lemon roasted potatoes, greens and capers and the California Wagyu with baby carrots, sweet potato hash and braised endive.
The other thing to note is their small plate experiences, which is a series of five dishes for $35. They include unique choices — many of which you’ll notice carry the Greek influence throughout — such as Beet Ketfedes, Kataifi Wrapped Feta, House Cured Wild Salmon, or you can go for a few sides, such as wood roasted squash, local white polenta (this was so perfectly prepared btw), wood grilled broccolini and a unique but simple preparation of Hand Cut Chips, which the chef served with oregano and lemon sea salt.
For wines, we paired our dishes, starting off with the Vie de Romans “Dessimis” 2010 Pinot Grigio from Venetzia Italy, followed by the 2000 Vaeni Xinomavro from Naoussa Greece and ending with the 2009 El Pedrosal from Ribera Del Duero Spain.
Desserts were out of this world, ranging from Grilled Manouri and blackberry puree with Mavrodaphane, a delicious Greek dessert wine , Blackberry sherbert with lemon and blackberry curds and vanilla butter cream or how about the Chevre and goats milk and lemon Greek cheesecake pistachio brittle and candied lemon. Also worth trying is the Brandy Hot Chocolate Shot with walnut and cinnamon marshmallow!
What’s with the Greek influence? The owners of course. As a result, they also had a fabulous selection of dessert wines and liqueurs on the menu including Aphrodite OUZO, Plomari Isidolzos Azvantiz and Plomari Isidozos Azvantiz to name a few. The Vinsanto Santorini, which we did try, is a sweet dessert wine and tastes a bit like a Sautern, or more like a “where a Sautern meets an Amaroni.”
The restaurant features several private dining alcoves – each with its own fireplace. Five additional fire pits invite guests to linger on the patio or rooftop deck overlooking the lake and of course in-room dining is also available, which considering how many have fireplaces with their own private decks, is a great option.
They locally source from nearby purveyors and farmers and whole heartedly believe in farm-t0-table as much as they’re able to and provide fresh seasonal dishes.
Try to also stay at the resort if you can (see our write-up on this fabulous gem), so you can be sure to catch their delicious breakfast offerings in the main dining room, which have fabulous views of the ocean from every window seat.
We kept it simple given how much we devoured the night before, but there are a range of heftier options to choose from including pancakes and waffles. Below, eggs and toast with ham and an unusually prepared low calorie option, which is a simple plate of grapefruit with pistachios and dates. Yes, really. The combination is to die-for, particularly with a freshly brewed pot of hot tea.
We LOVED Jimmy’s as well as the resort, which we stayed at for a few days. We give both a solid two thumbs up. For more details, ask us and/or leave comments here.
Details:
Jimmy’s Restaurant at the Landing Resort | 4104 Lakeshore Blvd. South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Note: we were hosted by the local tourism board and The Landing while in South Lake Tahoe, but all opinions expressed here are most definitely entirely my own.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
