LAKEPORT >> Restaurant Week of February 27 to March 2 saw a flurry of activity that revitalized a taste for commerce and saw the heating up of deferred purchases like spring temperatures to prompt the public to get back in the shopping game with gift ideas for the latest must haves as Easter and graduations approach.
It is a great opportunity to celebrate Lake County and California restaurants by experiencing delicious dishes and deals in 2025. It is a timely event where restaurants offer reduced or fixed price menus, so customers can try different types of food that they normally wouldn’t, explains a Lake County Chamber of Commerce Restaurant Expo flyer. It is a happening hosted in hundreds of communities nationwide, during the lull of mid-winter blahs that typically slackens a normal bull market to get back in the black with full throttle trade. Restaurant Week appeals to locals and tourists alike, and most operations see a tick up in shopping traffic.
The Chamber and Lake County Economic Development Corporation partnered with several local restauranteurs to create a Restaurant Week in Lake County and recommends lucrative tips to stimulate the bottom line by: Offering a multi-course prix-fixe option, (an alternative to ordering a la carte—or picking specific menu items. Instead, customers order within a set of guidelines for their meal) offering small plate specials and special menu items that feature local ingredients.
At Red’s Sky Room adjacent to Lampson Airfield, business was not quite like Napa Valley’s hospitality draw but they are getting there noted Nicole Zabel co-owner with her husband Jeremy. “There’s more interest than I’ve seen in years past,” Zabel said. “A lot of Lake County restaurants are becoming more hospitality focused.” And their neighbors across HWY. 29 the Mercantile does it well Zabel noted. “They just had a Valentine’s Day celebration. “When we first opened, we did a Taco Tuesday and a Where’s my wife Wednesday; discounts on sparkling wine and oysters- something we’ll come back with.”
Zabel call’s Red’s Sky Room menu California comfort style. The menu sees changes every few weeks. Some of the customer favorites include: Firecracker Shrimp, in a sriracha aioli, shrettuce, walnuts and green onions, Aunt Den’s French Chicken, pan fried chicken breast in lemon-caper butter sauce, and No. 44 Forever Fish & Chips, which has a name that pays homage to Zabel’s grandfather, who raced modified sprint cars numbered 44. Brunch is served every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Specials include: Eggs Benedict, Breakfast Burrito. Chicken Fried Steak n’ Eggs, also, Chicken & Waffles garnished with a bourbon-maple syrup. Anything on the regular menu is available on Sundays too. Prices range from $15 to $36, such as the Pan Roasted Angus Sirloin Steak, a softball sized cut prepared in sous vide manner.
This is done by essentially vacuum sealing food in sturdy plastic bags with a pat of butter, salt, pepper and herbs that retain juices and aroma that otherwise would be lost in the process. Placing the packaged food in a water bath, with the temperature set at the desired final cooking temperature of the food prevents overcooking because the food cannot get hotter than the bath it is in, as in bain-marie … As a result of precise temperature control of the bath and the fact that the bath temperature is the same as the target cooking temperature, very precise control of cooking can be achieved. Additionally, temperature, and thus cooking, can be very even throughout the food in sous vide cooking, even with irregularly shaped and thick items. The steaks are pan seared in butter.
Zabel’s favorite is the sushi and the restaurant’s name Reds is in homage to her late mother-in-.law. What Zabel particularly likes about the business is the interaction with all the locals. Being at the airport gives her a rare opportunity to meet people flying in from California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada. On weekends, pilot clubs arrive for lunch in groups as large as 25.
“We were actually working at a different restaurant in town previously, then the owner of this building approached us and asked if we’d be interested in opening a concept here. At that time, we worked at the Yard, which served bar/pub style food, long since shuttered. Our food we call California comfort. “I think the experience we have in Lake County is similar to Napa,” Zabel said. “But I think we have more of that down home feel. It’s not as stuffy but more of a welcoming feel.”
