Tahoe Quarterly

The Eagle has Landed

by Susan D. Rock 

For a long time, the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe’s Lone Eagle Grille was known among locals as an impressively designed and decorated lakefront spot where you could drop a spectacular chunk of change on a stunning sunset and mediocre hotel food. The only thing that changed seasonally was the chef, and unless you came specifically to hear Luke Stevenson croon “Fire and Rain,” the most memorable part of the meal was the view.

   Cue Mark May, who stepped in as Lone Eagle Grille’s chef de cuisine this summer following a highly successful six-year run as executive chef at L’Auberge de Sedona in Northern Arizona. A four-time guest chef at the James Beard House, the engaging Kentucky native quickly took his Santoku to the restaurant’s tired menu and transformed it into a bird that can really fly.

   “There’s much more seasonality now,” says May, whose version of contemporary American cooking he calls “High Sierra Cuisine” is inspired by fresh, regional ingredients.

   “We now serve different vegetables with each dish, more forest products, more non-demi-glace based sauces, all in a more contemporary presentation,” adds May, already on his third menu since landing at the Incline resort. “The food is brighter, fresher.” And definitely lighter.

   Although he studied business and accounting in college, May followed his passion for cooking and moved to New York where he honed his culinary chops at icons like the Essex House, Capsouto Frères and the now-closed Mortimer’s. “I was always cooking,” says May, “but knew that a business curriculum would open up a lot more opportunities in the workplace.”

   In the kitchens of Monte Carlo’s Michelin-starred restaurants, May learned his way around Southern French/Provençal cuisine and perfected his technique under the tutelage of famed French chefs Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV and Francis Jacquey at La Salière. He returned to New York to continue his craft at La Colombe d’Or and his own Upper East Side bistro, May We.

   This wealth of multi-cultural culinary experience means that Lone Eagle Grille diners will now find more creative and complex fare on a more frequently updated menu: Starters like red cabbage and watercress salad with enoki mushrooms, crisp Walla Walla onions and sherry-soy vinaigrette; or rosemary grilled quail stuffed with goat cheese served atop a capellini frittata.

   May gives Lone Eagle’s traditional focus on game birds and meats a fresh, seasonal treatment: Seared elk chop with pear-parsnip puree and poivrade sauce; buffalo tenderloin (that falls apart with a fork) with whipped parsley potatoes, grilled leeks and foie gras demi. Enduring favorites like the slow-roasted prime rib and mashed garlic potatoes with whole grain mustard red wine jus, remain.

   Seafood, often wild, sustainable and regionally sourced, now gets a higher, more flavorful billing: Day boat Alaskan halibut served on a bed of beet tartar, crisp onions and vegetable coulis; grilled wild king salmon with baby lettuces, cascade mushrooms and jus de poulet; seared diver scallops with braised endive, broccolini and orange butter.

   May, who manages a staff of 18 employees, enjoys getting out of the kitchen and making the rounds in Lone Eagle’s soaring 162-seat dining room (there’s another 62 spots in the bar). He’s also out and about during the restaurant’s wine dinners, for which he creates special menus.

   Sommelier Kristi Snyder, who presides over those monthly gatherings, manages the restaurant’s wine list of mostly familiar Napa favorites. The A.B.C. sections (Anything But Chardonnay, Anything But Cabernet) offer surprises like a 2006 Twisted Oak viognier from Calaveras and a 2005 Scott Harvey reserve barbera from Amador County. The Rare and Extraordinary list tops out at $470 for a 2005 Hundred Acre cabernet sauvignon.

   Executive pastry chef Guido Landholt’s huckleberry cheesecake on a raspberry basil coulis and decadent chocolate sampler are two good reasons to read the dessert menu first. But if you’ve run out of steam at this point, worry not: There are now lots of good reasons to come back to the Lone Eagle Grille—soon.