Dish of the Gods
by Kay Fahey
Lobster is the ultimate treat for many Americans—pure ambrosia! At two Tahoe restaurants, this spiny dish is served up in a variety of forms and combos as every-night specials.
For some of us, lobster is the one, the only, ambrosia. Something about that succulent, moist texture, that hauntingly sweet/ briny taste, seduces us into paying whatever "market price" may be. It brings out both the gourmand and the glutton in us. (My cousin Brian once enjoyed a complete lobster dinner, and then devoured another massive Maine lobster tail ordered secretly for him by my father-in-law). Indeed, this briny "bug"—as Food Network host Alton Brown dubs it—is universally regarded as one of the blessings of the deep. It wasn't always so. When the Pilgrims arrived on these shores, lobster were so plentiful (and perhaps so scary looking) that they were considered cheap food fit only to serve to the help. Indeed, as proof that you can get too much of a good thing, servants in colonial New England demanded contracts specifying they would be forced to eat lobster no more than three days a week. Ah, the good old days! In these hard times, the best hope for top-quality, affordable lobster in most locales is a weekly special. But fortunately for those of us in the Tahoe area, two restaurants make lobster an every-night specialty.
Crystal Bay Club Steak & Lobster House
The venerable Crystal Bay Club has been rejuvenated under new owners Elise and Roger Norman. This energetic couple has gutted much of the old interior, including the steak house, and rebuilt it with a stateof- the-art kitchen.
The new Steak & Lobster House brings an up-to-date appreciation of the classic, comfortable opulence of the genre. The main dining room is a richly appointed octagon featuring a massive alabaster chandelier, Baroque-style sconces, granite and wood-paneled walls and velvet upholstery.
Chef Wolfgang Loeschner has created a menu that combines respect for the classics with modern reverence for fresh ingredients. The majority of the appetizers (not including tapas, which change nightly) are seafood. My dinner partner and I opted for the Appetizer Tower, which is simply a choice of three appetizers presented on a tiered "tower." We sampled a meltingly-soft smoked salmon with crème fraîche, plump sautéed shrimp in a creamy white wine sauce and spicy crab cakes with a lemony dilled rémoulade.
A highlight of any meal at the Steak & Lobster House should be (of course) lobster tail—in this case, an 8-ounce Australian- grown cold water lobster tail. You can order twin tails any night for $48, or add a lobster tail to any entree for $24. The lobster is robustly flavored, steamed tender and juicy and served with drawn butter.
Since we were drinking wines by the glass, our choices of accompanying beverages were restricted, but we found the Highfield Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand to be a delightful complement. The sweetness of the lobster brought out a lemony tartness in the wine.
The wine's melon tones also went well with the citrus zip of our veal piccata, a tender scallopine of veal bathed in a lemony caper butter. It came with a choice of starches; we opted for the old fashioned (no lumps, no skins) creamy garlicky mashed potatoes. The veal was heavenly—piquant and meaty, delicate and filling.
The restaurant's surf and turf offering combines lobster tail with a 6-ounce tenderloin coated in a meaty mushroom wine sauce. This fork-tender steak was so good it didn't need the sauce—purists should consider ordering it on the side.
Although most desserts at Crystal Bay are not made in-house, we can heartily recommend the Chocolate Decadence, made especially for the steakhouse by a very talented fellow in Auburn, California. Three layers of progressively darker, richer mousse stand proudly atop a dark fudge sauce surrounded by raspberries, the mousse itself topped with whipped cream and colorful berries. Decadence, indeed!
Steak & Lobster House, Crystal Bay Club Casino, 14 State Route 28, Crystal Bay, NV, (775) 833-6333. Open Tuesday through Sunday 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Josh's Steakhouse
At Josh's Steakhouse in South Shore's Horizon Casino, tender lobster meat comes two ways: in a steamed tail, or in chunks floating in lobster bisque. Much as we love the pure satisfaction of digging into a meaty lobster tail, it was the bisque that was the clear winner at our table. This was certainly one of the best lobster bisques I've ever inhaled, including my mother's phenomenal recipe! A lopsided, oversized bowl was filled with bite-sized pieces of lobster meat floating in a sauce as silky and rich as charmeuse, exploding with the seductive flavor of lobster spiked with pepper. We could have made a meal of the bisque and bread basket alone.
Not to dis the lobster tail. Josh's tails are from what Maître d' Keith Price calls "lobsters in training": wild Canadian lobsters with tails weighing in at a petite four ounces. Their flavor is less hearty than the full-grown Australian variety served at Crystal Bay, yet they are sweetly delicate and every bit as desirable. You can order an individual tail with any entrée for a mere $8, or simply order a whole lot of them.
"I saw one guy eat six of them," says our waiter, who like the rest of the staff was informative, friendly and attentive. Josh's has a generous ratio of staff to customers, even when the place is full of lobster fanatics.
The decor at Josh's feels like that of upscale, long-time Italian eateries back east. Brick-red upholstery sets off white tablecloths and gleaming silver breadboats. Danish-style glass and metal vases on the tables each hold a single red rose.
You may head to Josh's for the lobster, but the rest of the menu is too tempting to ignore. Entrées include salmon, lump crab and shrimp topped with hollandaise, sesame- crusted yellowfin tuna and a 20-ounce "cowboy" ribeye. We sampled the rack of lamb—meltingly tender, well trimmed of fat and cooked on the juicy side of medium (which is how we ordered it). Vegetables, too, were noteworthy, including buttery, salty potatoes gratinée.
California and Australian wines dominate the list at Josh's, but it also carries a smattering of wines from Italy and other countries. A fair number are available by the glass.
Two desserts—Bananas or Strawberries Foster—offer the classic tableside performance (it may not be trendy, but who cares?) of blue flames leaping from a skillet of spiced rum sauce, a sprinkle of sparkling cinnamon and the subtle, almost invisible lick of blue heat as the sauce is ladled over creamy vanilla ice cream. What could be a more appropriate ending to a meal fit for the gods?
Josh's, Horizon Casino, 50 Hwy 50, Stateline, NV, (775) 588-6211, Open Monday through Thursday 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.