25 Jun Side Dish

North Shore

DELICIOUS MEALS DELIVERED

San Rafael-based Jessie & Laurent, which has been cooking and delivering restaurant-quality meals to Bay Area customers for some 30 years, has expanded its reach to Truckee and North Lake Tahoe. Using fresh ingredients sourced from Niman Ranch, Fulton Valley Farms and regional purveyors, the generously portioned, ready-to-heat-and-eat dishes are trucked up the hill overnight and personally delivered by a team member who can even transfer food direct to your fridge. Rotating offerings include breakfast/brunch items like poached eggs with smoked salmon spinach hash and an artichoke-asiago frittata, as well as entrées such as Santa Fe chicken enchiladas with tomatillo salsa, along with salads, sides and sauces, both fresh and bottled. The order-as-you-go, non-subscription service includes free delivery with a $70 minimum order. www.jessieetlaurent.com

MANZANITA MENU UPDATE

The latest executive chef at Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe is Diogo Porto, who has worked his way around Ritz properties in his native Portugal, the Canary Islands, Dublin, Vienna, Doha, Puerto Rico and, most recently, Santa Barbara. Porto’s updated menu at the resort’s signature restaurant, Manzanita, reflects his international experience, bringing lunch options like a steak banh mi with a Thai basil aioli and a rosemary ham and mojo-roasted pork-stacked Cuban sandwich; look for dinner selections such as salmon and tuna tartare, foie gras, short rib croquette, Dover sole with a caviar beurre blanc, and scallop and pork belly combo with a tarragon emulsion.

LONE EAGLE GRILLE GETS NEW CHEF

Justin Barroza was named chef de cuisine at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe’s Lone Eagle Grill in Incline Village. Promoted from banquet chef at the property, Barroza, who has also worked at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Yountville and at the Plumed Horse in Saratoga, replaces Shane Hammett, who opened his own breakfast and lunch eatery, the Sage Leaf, in Incline last year.

South Shore

TAHOE BLUE VODKA HELPS KEEP TAHOE BLUE AND WILD

South Shore-based Tahoe Blue Vodka donated $100,000 toward removing more trash from Lake Tahoe, matching money raised by the Tahoe Fund, with help from Vail Resorts. Nonprofit Clean Up the Lake’s SCUBA professionals and volunteers, who last summer pulled over 2,000 pounds of litter from 6 miles of shoreline, started a six-month effort in May to grab garbage from the rest of the way around the water’s 72-mile perimeter.

Tahoe Blue also partnered with South Lake Tahoe’s Azul Latin Kitchen, which had to cancel its annual December fundraising party, to make an $11,000 donation to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, the South Shore nonprofit that rescues, rehabilitates and releases orphaned and injured local wildlife.

TALLAC COFFEE CO. TAKES OFF

South Lake Tahoe natives and brothers Jake and Kyle Miller launched Tallac Coffee Co. with a small-batch 4-pound roaster and a focus on organic and fair-trade beans. Fifty cents of each bag (packaging is biodegradable and compostable) of their premium coffee is earmarked for the Sugar Pine Foundation and Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. A retail outlet is in the works, but for the time being, their three offerings—Desolation Dark made with beans from Colombia, Big Mountain medium roast from Peru, and Full Moon Light sourced from Ethiopia—are available online at www.tallaccoffee.co.

SOUTH TAHOE SWEET SPOT

Self-taught baker Sunanda Sullivan swapped San Francisco and her software engineering career for Snowflake Bakery in South Lake Tahoe, moving here with her husband and two small daughters last year. She specializes in custom-created artistic cakes covered in buttercream and fondant, as well as cupcakes and cakesicles; her French chocolate-flavored macarons are especially popular. www.snowflakebakerytahoe.com

NEW SOUTH SHORE FARMERS MARKET

In addition to the Tuesday El Dorado County Farmers Market, shoppers can head to the Meyers Mountain Market, which sets up at 3 p.m. on Wednesdays this summer at Tahoe Paradise Park along the Upper Truckee River. Vendors at this California Certified Farmers Market sell fresh locally and regionally produced fruits, vegetables, meat, honey, eggs, baked foods, flowers, and arts and crafts. Crepes & Crafts food truck and live music are also on the schedule. www.meyersmtnmarket.org

PICK A POLISHED PICNIC

Local pals and UNR grads Jordan Stiteler and MacKenzie Cortez, who met while working for Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada, launched a luxury picnic business that caters to couples or a crowd. Pick one of their themed packages or go custom and they’ll take care of the rest, staging everything from a low-slung picnic table and cushions to an artistic charcuterie grazing board and Bluetooth speakers. They set up on Round Hill Pines Beach in Zephyr Cove and Enchanted Gardens in Reno, or can work with just about any location, including your home or backyard. www.reveriepicnics.com