The food revolution is alive and well in Reno at this one-of a kind spot serving creative dishes like Double Elk Chops with luxardo cherry demi-glace and Wild Boar Schnitzel with house-made rye spatzle and pickled mushrooms. Guy was floored by the schnitzel, “Wow. Please tell me this is on the menu forever.”
Diners head to Rowley Farmhouse Ales for upscale farm-to-table comfort food paired with homemade rustic farmhouse and sour ales plus some of the best brews in the world. Their cooked-to-order new England Clam Chowder is some of the freshest you’ll ever have.
Chef Mary Ting Hyatt was planning on being a schoolteacher but decided to open a bagel restaurant instead and ended up starting a bagel revolution in the Boston area. Customers rave that her house-made bagels and bialys are some of the best they’ve ever had. Her version of a BLT is made on a fresh onion bagel with spicy cream cheese, slow-roasted tomatoes, lettuce and a mound of crispy bacon. “You’re a dangerous woman,” said Guy after tasting the sandwich.
Chef and co-owner Ryan Goldhammer's specialty pies are a must-try, but don’t miss the award-winning wings either! The wings are double-fried and coated in their specialty wing sauce before they’re tossed with Parmesan, garlic and scallions, and served with house-made ranch. “If you want a wing that has more flavor in one than most do in a dozen wings, this is the wing to have,” Guy said.
This inventive pizza shop uses beer to make their dough instead of water, which gives each slice a soft inside and a perfectly crispy outside. Plus, they’re topping pies with unusual combos. Their Taco Pizza is layered with taco meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato and crushed nacho cheese chips and is finished with a sour cream swirl. Guy loved the combo so much, he couldn’t help but immediately get his son Ryder on the phone to tell him about it. “He’s going to lose his mind on this one,” Guy said.
While this pirate-themed restaurant has an international menu, their focus is local: 100% of the profits made go to running a local community center. Chef-owner Nick Traxler’s menu was inspired by his travels around the globe, and is full of surprising dishes like the Whiskey Thai Chile Pork Belly Lumpia, a crispy Filipino spring roll that’s served with homemade Irish cream sauce. Other notable menu items include unusual meats like camel and elk.
After working in Greece for a few years, chef-owner Greg Menke decided to take what he learned about Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food back to New Mexico, and this unexpected fusion restaurant was born. Guy was blown away by the Steak Shawarma: Beef is marinated for three days in a tangy yogurt sauce before it’s grilled and stuffed in a pita with house-made hummus, cucumber salad, daikon radish sprouts, beets and their unique quinoa tabbouleh. The sandwich is finished with tahini and a New Mexican green chile sauce. “This is way more than a sandwich, it gave me goose bumps,” Guy said of the dish.
Only a few miles from the Mexico border sits this family-run tortilla factory that’s been churning out fresh corn tortillas since 1973. Most of the tortillas they make—up to 1,000 per day—are sold to other local restaurants, but they also serve fresh Mexican dishes in house as well, like the Picadillo Tostada. Ground beef is cooked with tomatoes, jalapenos, green beans and a mix of spices before it’s added to a crisp tortilla along with beans and a house-made chile con queso. The tostada is then topped with cheese and fresh lettuce for an added crunch.
This modern Scandinavian eatery is bringing one of a kind dishes to the Midwest, like their savory take on strudel. Instead of a sweet filling, they stuff the typical puff pastry with a mix of roasted mushrooms and goat cheese before baking. The crispy pastry is then served over a cream made with aquavit, a Scandinavian spirit similar to gin, and is drizzled with a mulled wine sauce. One bite of the dish immediately reminded Guy of food he had as a student traveling in Norway: “The concentration of flavors is through the roof,” he said.
Head to Joseph's Culinary Pub for upscale food in a laid-back atmosphere. In addition to decadent dishes like Lamb Neck Confit, Guy was surprised by the Organic Crispy Chicken Tamale: After steaming chicken, green chile and masa in a corn husk, Chef Joseph then takes the tamale out of the husk and fries it in duck fat. Guy was impressed with the combination of flavors and textures. “This makes me wonder why I haven’t had more duck fat-fried tamales,” he said.
After meeting at El Paso’s culinary school, the chef-owners of this international joint decided to open a place downtown serving up the dishes they grew up with, like pupusas from El Salvador. These arepa-like breads are made from fine ground masa and are and stuffed with house-made Salvadorian chicharron, a spiced ground pork. Three come in a serving, but you won’t want to stop there: “I could have 500 of these,” Guy said.
Chef-owner Carlos Falcon grew up living right next to the ocean in Mexico, so when he decided to open a restaurant in landlocked Kansas City, he figured out how to bring in fresh fish daily to recreate the flavors of his childhood. The standout dish is the whole fried sea bass, which is salt brined for 24 hours before it’s fried to give it a crisp, salty exterior. It’s served with a side of fresh cabbage slaw and a drizzle of chipotle sauce, and is so incredibly simple. “I don’t care if this is the only thing on the menu, I will be back,” Guy said after his first bite.
The incredible flavors in this barbecue joint’s meats come from their specialty smoker, which runs on 100% oak wood fire. In addition to traditional barbecue cuts like brisket, they’re making serious sausages they call the Texas Hot Gut. Beef and pork are ground together with a house-made spice paste before being piped into natural casings. The links are then cold smoked for four hours to give them the perfect texture. “No dainty little sausage here, that’s meaty,” Guy said.
You’d never expect to find a restaurant with such big flavors tucked inside a strip mall, but that’s exactly what this off-the-beaten-path spot is doing. Nearly everything at the restaurant is sourced locally, from the potatoes in their Bison Fries to the meat in their Lamb Sandwich. To make the sandwich, homemade bread is spread with house-made tomato aioli and olive tapenade and is topped with feta, mozzarella, roasted red peppers and tender braised lamb. Guy was impressed with the combination of flavors: “It’s really a Greek lamb dinner inside of a sandwich,” he said.
Stop by this Japanese-Hawaiian comfort food spot for more than just burgers: they also pride themselves in making fresh sushi rolls, which their futuristic Sushi Robot can do at the speed of 1,400 rolls an hour. While most of their fish is caught off the island daily, one of the freshest fish is flown in from Alaska: the cod used in their Misoyaki Fish Burger. The fish is marinated and broiled until tender, topped with a miso sauce and a fresh arugula salad and sandwiched on a locally baked brioche bun. Guy loved how fresh the sandwich is. “When you are going to come to the islands and enjoy a fish sandwich, the last thing you want is to have it fried,” he said.
Make restaurant favorites at home with copycat recipes from FN Magazine.
Let Guy take you on a coast-to-coast tour Friday at 9|8c.