Reno Passport Magazine - December 2010

w w w . r e n o p a s s p o r t . c o m

Vol.3 - Issue 12

Francovich Egg Nog >> pg 10

Buy Local This Holiday Season >> pg 20

Santa Crawl >> pg 22

HolidaySpecial:

Five Holiday Cooking Tips >> pg 8

3:00pm-8:00pmwednesday thru sunday

happy hour

outdoor entertainment plaza now tented and heated

for event information

freighthouse.com

EatsFuego ...............................................................pg 4Five Holiday Cooking Tips ....................pg 8

DrinksFrancovich Egg Nog ..............................pg 10

BeatsMoondog Matinee ..................................pg 14

cover storyBuy Local Art This

Holiday Season.....................................pg 18

ski sectionSki & Snowboard Area Guide ..........pg 20

communitySanta Crawl ...............................................pg 22

shopsCredo Computers ...................................pg 26

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10>>>>

My goal for last year’s feature story was to focus on buying from local merchants to support our friends and neighbors and to help strengthen our local economy. My goal this year is the exact same but with a little twist - buying local art and supporting our local creatives. Keep Reno interesting and buy local this holiday season. Cheers! -mm-

FROM THE EDITOR:

pg14

pg4

pg20

on the Cover:

Everybody knows Kris Kringle likes his cocoa, but this is Reno. And in Reno, Santa drinks a Pabst. 2009 Santa Crawl. Photo by David Calvert.

Writers: Hunter Blackburn, Clint Jolly, Izzy LaBranch

.Photography: Juliana Bledsoe, David Calvert

Content and design ©2009 Reno Passport, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction

of any portion of this magazine without written permission from Reno Passport LLC

is strictly prohibited.

Steve WhiteSales Director

[email protected] 775.223.0436

Baldo BobadillaGeneral Manager

[email protected] 775.762.1875

Hernán SosaArt Director

[email protected]

Michelle MontoyaEditor

[email protected]

David CalvertPhoto Editor

[email protected]

Gina AdamsAccount [email protected]

775.848.9460

Kristian WaltersAccount Executive

[email protected]

Distribution Manager:Matt Dickens: 775.530.6442

Become a Fan of Reno Passport on Facebook

Bazar and Spek of the Using The Imagination crew (UTI) collaborate on a split mural inside Wurk in Downtown Reno. Bazar was responsible for “WU,” Spek, “RK.” It took the duo a night and change to complete to the project.

Photos by Juliana Bledsoe

4 www.renopassport.com

Fuego is the newest and only Spanish restaurant in town. They specialize in tapas,

a fairly new concept to most Renoites. Any-body who has been to Spain knows tapas are a Spanish culinary tradition and a standard at any Spanish bar. For those who have not been to Spain, let me explain: tapas are small plate appetizers to accompany your wine or beer. Legend has it that tapas were conceived when king Alfonso X of Castile could only eat small meals with wine while recovering from an illness. After recuperating, the king ordered that taverns would only serve wine to customers if it was accompanied by a snack or “tapa.”

The small servings are meant to be shared with friends and inspire socializing while eating and drinking, because you are not required to sit and focus on eating a full meal. Fuego is the creation of Ron Mc-Carty, owner of Ceol Irish Pub and McGale Perez, former manager of the

FUEGO 170 South Virginia St. | 775.322.1800 | www.fuegonv.com

Hours: Mon 11am-3pm, Tues-Thur 11am-10pm, Fri 11am-11pm, Sat 4pm-11pm

4 www.renopassport.com Continued on pg 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_X

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castile_(historical_region)


Hacienda. Both men known for their exem-plary customer service, came together to fill a

void in the Reno international food selection. “We have something here for everybody; Spanish, South of the

Border, and a little Ameri-can,” Said owner Ron Mc-Carty. “Anyone will find something they like.” The range of tapas at Fuego can please any palate. There are the spicy Skewers Del Fuego, a steak or chicken skewed along with cherry tomatoes and green peppers. Also prosciutto wrapped scallops and charbroiled tiger prawns cooked in garlic with a marmalade dip. Fuego features traditional Spanish en-trees like paella, a seafood rice dish made with scallops, prawns, chorizo, salmon and calms. The menu also has American options, such as New York Steak. My personal favorite was the asparagus straws dipped in a chipotle aioli. The thicker asparagus made for easy dipping in a delec-tably spicy aioli. Fuego’s Happy hour occurs every day from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and includes $4 Sangria, wells drinks and draft beer. Your first drink comes with a complimentary tapa. The bar-tender served me flat bread topped with salmon, white anchovy, and a Kalamata olive. For someone who isn’t a fan of olives or anchovies, I was surprised I enjoyed the

flavor combination. Maybe it was all that deli-cious sangria I drank. Speaking of sangria, Fuego plans to host a sangria contest during the wine walk every month. Winos can sample a few different sangria recipes, vote for their favorite, and it will be served in the restaurant for the next month. And if you aren’t into sangria, Fuego boasts a sophisticated wine list, with wines from Argentina, Chile, and of course Spain. Fuego is upscale and a bit pricey, but the at-mosphere and bold flavors are worth the cost. Text by Izzy LaBranchPhotos by David Calvert


1049 S. VIRGINIA STREET, RENO, NV | 775-322-9445 | WWW.MELTINGPOT.WS

THE MELTING POTWorld Emporium

Peruvian Winter Hats

Hookahs &Accessories

SpiritualObjects

Music, Greeting Cards & Journals

Hip Global Winter Fashions

Ornate BodyJewelryDoorway To The World

Mucklucks & Mittens

Himalayan

Salt Lamps

MoroccanLanterns

AustralianDidgeredoos

Global,

Think

Shop Local.

NepalesePrayer Flags

RENO’S COOLEST COUNTER CULTURE STORE SINCE 1996

8 www.renopassport.com 8 www.renopassport.com

1-START FRESHFresh turkeys and roasts always have more flavor and tenderness. You also

save the hassle of defrosting a large piece of meat. Look for all natural meats with-out additives and concentrate on seasoning to enhance the flavor, not cover it. It doesn’t cost much more to buy a superior piece of meat for your holiday meal.

2-BRINE FOR MORE FLAVORWith turkeys and pork roasts, the best way to infuse a ton of flavor is with brining. Basic brines start with one cup of sugar and one cup of kosher salt per gallon of liquid. Add aromatic spices, fruit juices, molasses, garlic and onions to build more flavors. Soak the meat in the brine for about one hour per inch of thickness. Turkeys can go overnight. Make sure to remove the meat, pat it dry and let rest for at least a few hours before cooking.

3-DON’T RUN OUT!It’s always hard to guess your portions when serving a large group. A good guideline is about half a pound per person of boneless meat or one pound bone in. For side dishes, shoot for about 2/3 of a cup each for starches and vegetables. This should allow for some leftovers as well. Remember that folks tend to splurge a bit on holidays!

4-ROASTING BASICSThere are a few musts when roasting meats, regardless of the type or cut. Always use a rack, a stand or potatoes cut in half to raise the meat away from the pan. This helps it cook evenly through and keeps it out of the grease as it cooks. Use the pan drippings to baste about four times during cooking then turn them into delicious gravy to serve alongside your masterpiece.

5-MUST HAVE LIBATIONSWhat would a good meal be without the proper beverage? When picking out wines to please a group, look for fruit forward wines with low acidity. Merlots, California Cabs and Syrah are good choices for red wines while Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio are good picks for white. You can also make it memorable by fixing up a unique cocktail that fits the evening. Text by Clint Jolly

After many years at Butcher Boy, Clint is now in the midst of building a new legacy with Great Thyme Catering. Find out more about his new catering company and learn party planning tips and tricks at greatthyme.com. He’s

happy to answer any food related questions via email at [email protected].

FIVE HOLIDAY COOKING TIPS

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Sometimes a family recipe is so good it doesn’t stay in the family. This has been the case with Francovich Holiday

Nog, a recipe that has been in the family for over 130 years. The holiday nog is based off a family recipe from their ancestral home-land in Petrovac, Yugoslavia. The nog has got-ten so popular is has been distributed to local markets in the Reno area for over ten years.The holiday beverage has been bottled and given away as gifts for generations. It began its run in America at the Wine House, a res-taurant opened by Eli Francovich in down-town Reno in 1867. Eli Francovich, one of Reno’s early settlers, chose to serve the nog around holiday season to his patrons and guests. Eli Francovich is the great great grandfather of the Sam Francovich, owner of the Grill restaurant in South Reno. The Francovich Family has been a historically relevant family to the Reno food and beverage industry. From the Wine House to the Hilltop Restaurant and now The Grill, Francoviches have been dedicated to providing Reno with good restaurants. As for the nog, that just used to be a hobby the family partook in around Christmas time in Grandma’s kitchen.“It’s my favorite day of the year,” said Marisa Francovich, daughter of Sam Francovich. “We’d all go to grandma’s house, watch foot-ball and be mixing up eggs and cream.”

Marisa said every year near the end of October, the family gets together for a few Sundays and makes the nog together. There are no hired em-ployees to help, just the family working to-gether to meet the locals demand for the holiday beverage.“I end up loving it and hating it,” said Marisa. “But the older I get, the more I love it. It’s a family affair.”The traditional holiday nog is made with cream, eggs, spices, bourbon and gold rum, with no preservatives or artificial coloring. Francovich Nog has all the ingredients of a classic holiday nog with a delicious creamy smoothness that is not overwhelmed by the liquor content. It only contains 7% of alco-hol, which is less than most wines. “There’s no other nog like it,” said Travis Mitchell, a local who was turned onto the nog by his mother. “It’s creamy and fresh. It’s almost like a local delicacy because you can’t get it anywhere else.” You can find Francovich Holiday Nog at Sco-lari’s, Smith’s, Costco, SaveMart, Raley’s, Walmart, WinCo Foods and Ben’s Fine Wine & Spirits. Bottles go for around $14.Text by Izzy LaBranchPhoto by David Calvert

FRANCOVICH EGG NOG130-year-old beverage

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Good ForOne

Drink95 N. Sierra St

(next to the movie theatres)

Download Reno’s Best Entertainment

iPhone App!

App developed by www.bigrobotstudios.com

vHit all se en powder bowls.Seven times.

SkiAlpine.com

NIFTY Celebrate our 50th anniversary with Nifty 50. As a member of the Alpine Club, you can ski select days for just $50, or ski any day with a fi ve-pack for only $250.

WE KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING

14 www.renopassport.com 14 www.renopassport.com

Local band Moondog Matinee is an eclectic collection of musicians with a lot of blues, rock, folk and indie influ-

ences and sounds. The band’s name comes from an album released in 1973 by The Band. According to bass player Adam Carpenter, the collec-tion of cover songs, known as Moondog Matinee, “was the only thing everyone could agree on.” It was telling that no one was timid about expressing their dis-taste for something when drummer Ben Ingle gave Steve Wid-mer (Guitar/Keys) a hard time for pluck-ing out a Tom Petty song on his guitar. Back in 2008, a week before Moondog Matinee’s first show (known then as The Great Pretender), Pete Barnato (Lead Vocal/Keys/Guitar) discovered his ability to sing. Accompanied by Carpenter, Widmer, Travis Axe (Harmony/Sax/Harmon-ica), and their former drummer at the time,

they took the stage and did what they had done for the last two years. “We basically jammed on stage for half an hour,” Barnato said, adding, “I was so ner-vous that day.”

Whatever it was that Barnato discovered during that time has obviously tightened into a distinct and unique vocal styling that complimentst an equally-talented five piece, including now Ben Ingle. With bachelor’s de-grees ranging from history and philosophy to computer science and math, they’re a refreshing spin on blues, folk and classic rock at a time when other musicians are more likely to depend on software and sam-

pling rather than their instruments. Signed with the Las Vegas record label Out-box Records through Carpenter’s childhood friend Danny Fiorentini, their first album is now digitally available on the green label’s website.

MOONDOG MATINEE

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Seed cards are also available for purchase, which can then be planted in the ground to grow wildflowers.

An almost extreme degree of dedication and loyalty has helped the group to log enough hours in a Reno studio. “Danny just sold his car to help us get it done,” Widmer

said. According to Carpenter, his friend’s faith in the band has helped to build their resolve and faith in themselves.

Moondog Matinee has worked on bringing back the album as a complete work that is meant to be enjoyed from beginning to end. There’s no doubt that Barnato’s unique voice, reminiscent of Tom Waits combined with Joe Cocker (or even David Byrne as they do an amazing rendi-tion of Psycho Killer), has finished off a polished sound that incorporates steel strings and round organ tones into an often danceable beat under Ingle’s heavy foot. According to Barnato, no single person can be given full credit for any one song. Whether the song is about women or social issues, everyone has contributed lyrics and ideas. Their next show is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 4 at the Tonic Lounge, where they’ll be headlining. Also keep an eye out for a possible date later in December when they may open for a slightly larger act at the Knitting Factory. To get their album online, visit their label at http://out-boxrecords.com or check out their website at http://moondagmatinee.com. You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook.Text by Hunter BlackburnPhotos by Sixteenth and Broadway/Courtesy Out Of Box Records


Buy

Local

Art thisHoliday Season

We all know that buying local food

supports local farmers and their

farms. Similarly, buying hand-made

items from local artists and craftspeo-

ple supports our local creative friends

and neighbors while helping to create

a greater sense of community. In this

day and age of mass-produced items,

it is refreshing to purchase something

that is handmade from someone you

may know. Not only do you know the

work is quality and made with indi-

vidual attention, but you are also sup-

porting a local artist and not a factory

in another country or a box store.

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Text by Michelle Montoya

www.renopassport.com 19

• ARTISTS CO-OP GALLERY OF RENOAt the Artists Co-Op Gallery of Reno, you can find original art by the 20 local member artists every day. Lo-cated at 627 Mill St. in Reno, the small, eclectic gallery fea-tures art pieces that depict many local and regional themes that aredone in oil, water-color, pastel, pen and ink, pencil, mixed media and photogra-phy. The gallery is a great place to find handmade ornaments and unique holiday gifts made by its 22 members and over 100 other local artists. For more info on this Christmas Exhibit, visit www.artistsco-opgalleryreno.com.

• BURNT KNUCKLE GLASS Located at 1236 Glen-dale Ave. in Sparks, Burnt Knuckle Glass is a glass-blowing shop that specializes in glass blowing, torchworking, fusing, etc. They also offer lessons, shop space, and custom works by local artist Ryan Adams. For more information, visit www.burntknuckle.com.

• THE MELTING POT WORLD EMPORIUMSince 1996, The Melt-ing Pot has been sell-ing counterculture goods, such as hemp products, incense, yoga apparel, hookas and local artwork. Owners Eric and Mo-nique Baron’s primary goals are to help cre-

ate community and in-spire creativity in others. You can find them at 1049 S. Vir-ginia St. in Reno and online at www.meltingpot.ws.

• WILDFLOWER VILLAGE This unique art com-pound hosts the art of over one hundred mostly local artists. You can purchase as-tonishing art pieces here, from paintings and sculptures to art glass and jewelry. There is art available for purchase, and there is an on-site cof-fee shop as well. Wild-flower Village is located at 4275-4395 West Fourth St. in Reno (look for Nana – the large, voluptuous and brightly painted female figure – to

welcome you). You can see a list of the artists online at www.wildflowervillage.com.

• NEVER ENDERNever Ender is a bou-tique and art gallery that sells clothing and accessories made by mostly local up-and-coming artists and de-signers. It was founded more than six years ago to give local artists a chance to show their art and other merchan-dise in a professional setting. Never Ender has something for ev-eryone, from baby clothing to one-of-a-kind accessories, from men’s ties to women’s dresses. Find them next to The Hub at 26 Cheney St. in Reno and online at www. myneverender.com.

Buy

Local

Art For this holiday season, buy locally-made art. The

gift will be a unique piece for the recipient

and your purchase will help to stimulate our local economy, support local creatives, and keep the Reno area a unique

place to both live and grow.

http://www.artistsco-opgalleryreno.com

http://www.artistsco-opgalleryreno.com

http://www.burntknuckle.com/

http://www.burntknuckle.com/

http://www.meltingpot.ws

http://www.meltingpot.ws

http://www.wildflowervillage.com/

http://www.wildflowervillage.com/

http://myneverender.com/


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SKI & SNOWBOARD AREA GUIDE We have selected three ski areas for the Reno Passport Ski Area Guide for 2010-2011. In this year’s guide, we show you what’s new for the 2010-2011 ski season at Alpine Meadows, Homewood Mountain Resort and Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe. As another winter rolls along, skiers and boarders throughout the area are wondering if we are going to have a wet winter. Some crawl through websites and read forecast discussions multiple times a day. So what’s your poison? The Farmer’s Almanac, NOAA.com, the Weather Channel, or Unisys.com? The best thing you can do at this point is make sure you have good snow tires on your car, some decent winter snow gear and head on up to the hill. Each of the ski areas below offers discounts and special programs. Let’s hope for numerous powder days in 2010-2011.


ALPINE MEADOWS SKI RESORTThe legendary slopes of North Lake Tahoe’s Alpine Meadows Ski Resort will unveil several new ame-nities for winter 2010-2011. Guests of all ages can zoom down the new snow tubing lanes at Tubev-ille, located adjacent to the base lodge, accessible via the new Tiegel Carpet surface lift. Kids ages 3-12 will enjoy a completely redesigned children’s center, offering additional indoor play space and automated check-in. Kids will also enjoy the latest in chair lift safety technology: Alpine Meadows is the first resort in the United States to install Mag-nestick, a chair lift safety system that will be of-fered at the Meadow and Subway beginner chair lifts at the mountain. Skiers and riders can also look forward to immacu-lately-groomed slopes and trails at Alpine Mead-ows. The mountain has purchased two state-of-the-art grooming machines. One, named “The Beast,” can groom 40% more terrain per hour. Also new this winter, Alpine Meadows’ frequent skier program, the Alpine Club, will offer members exclusive access to the “Nifty 50” lift ticket five pack for just $250, which includes five adult lift tickets that can be used any day, including holidays during winter 2010-2011. For more info, visit http://ski alpine.com or follow @skialpine on Twitter.

MT. ROSE SKI TAHOELake Tahoe’s closest ski area to Reno is Mt. Rose, a quick 25 minutes from Reno and 10 minutes from Tahoe’s North Shore. At the top of Mt. Rose are over 1,200 acres of north- and east-facing ter-rain with 1,800 vertical feet of Lake Tahoe skiing and snowboarding, topped off with the now leg-endary Mt. Rose Chutes, which offers some of the steepest, sweetest, and longest inbounds slopes in North America. Check out the signature daily spe-cials, such as “Two ‘fer Tuesdays” (two lift tickets for the price of one), “Over the Hill” and Student Wednesdays ($35 lift tickets), “Ladies Day Thurs-

days” ($35 lift tickets for ladies) and the new “Third Day Free” (three consecutive day lift ticket package for $138). Save time and money by get-ting your First Timer packages, Rosebuds kid’s camps and lift tickets online. Got an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch? Download the Mt. Rose app for free through the Apple iTunes store to get the latest snow and weather conditions, lift sta-tus, road conditions, lift ticket prices, Pic of the Day, webcams, how to get here, bonus feature trail map and more. To find out more, visit http://skirose.com and follow @MtRoseSkiTahoe on Twitter.

HOMEWOOD MOUNTAIN RESORT Homewood Mountain Resort offers the Lake Tahoe region’s best view of the lake from every slope, signature groomed slopes and a family-friendly atmosphere that’s become fa-mous with locals and visitors alike. New this winter is the opening of the West Shore Café, a mere 30 steps from the slopes of Home-wood. With lakefront lodging and fine dining, the West Shore Café will offer delicious cui-sine, magnificent scenery and convenient ac-cess to Homewood. Homewood offers several ways to save on lift tickets all winter. An online exclusive, full-day adult lift tick-ets go for just $42 Monday through Thursday (a $7 savings) and for $47 Friday through Sunday (a $10 savings). Other ways to save include the famous “Homewood Dress-Up Days,” the active military dis-count program, and “Ski Free on your Birthday” pro-gram. Shopping at Truckee, CA or Tahoe City, CA Savemart® Supermarkets? Save the receipt for a $5 savings on adult, full-day lift tickets, which is valid every day including holidays January 1 to March 31. To find more details on how to save on Homewood lift tickets, visit http://skihomewood.com or follow @skihomewood on Twitter.

Text by Steve WhitePhoto by Jonathan Selkowitz

SKI & SNOWBOARD AREA GUIDE


Founded ten years ago as a charity fund-raiser, Reno Santa Pub Crawl is now over 5,000 strong - that’s 5,000 people dressed in appropriate holiday attire, “crawling” from bar to bar (pub to pub) in downtown Reno. This year, all proceeds will benefit donorschoose.org (an online charity that connects you to classrooms in need). Because of their growth, they have added bars and some pre-crawl fun on Friday night and have even added Santa Skiing at Mt Rose. The entire weekend (December #-#) will consist of charitable holiday fun. Check in with www.renosantacrawl.com and www.facebook.com/renosantacrawl and be sure to follow @SantaPubCrawl on Twitter.

SANTA CRAWL


Special

Holiday Section


Eric Johnson is running a different kind of computer repair and services com-

pany. Credo Computers’ creed is “To help those in need by paying I.T. forward.” “I want to help people,” said Johnson. “Computers are what I know, and I want to use that knowledge to help others.” Credo Computers offers business and resi-dential computer repair and services whether it’s online or on-site. Johnson can remotely login to your com-puter through CredoRescue.net. All it takes is

a login and a quick download, which allows Johnson to diagnose and fix the issues on your computer from his own desktop. Online service is 25% cheaper than on-site service. Credo charges $45 an hour for online help and $60 an hour for on-site visits. Johnson claims that service through Cre-doRescue.net saves people money and has higher security than online purchases. With the online service, Johnson does not charge for the time it takes to scan your computer. A unique aspect of Credo Computers is


CREDO COMPUTERSwww.credocomputers.com | 775.636.8378


Johnson’s drive to help out non-profits and small businesses on tight budgets. John-

son offers special discounts to certain non-profits. “Save your money so that you can put

it toward your cause,” said Johnson. “I will work with anybody.” Johnson also offers price cuts to seniors, churches and civil servants. Credo Computers services include virus, spyware and malware removal with aide in installations and troubleshooting, PC Repair, preventative maintenance packages, small business consultations and even web design and graphic design services. According to Johnson, Credo Computer’s specialty is preventative maintenance - keeping your computer from having prob-lems before they happen. Johnson said he can teach people how to surf the web safely and prevent their com-puters from getting viruses by staying away from specific websites and downloads. “Anti-virus software is not an all encom-passing shield,” said Johnson. “It’s more like a bullet proof vest. If you stick your head out, you’ll get shot.” There is no store location for Credo Com-puters; however, Johnson is quick to respond to any inquiries on the website and is always available for any computer emergencies over the phone. The website includes a blog on topics from web design to anti-virus soft-

ware. Johnson even wrote a guest blog for the Natural Nevadan, an environmental is-sues blog, where he discussed how to make your computer more energy efficient. It nice to see a small business owner who has stayed in touch with what business is all about: serving the general public with care and compassion. Eric Johnson can be reached during regular business hours at 775.636.8378, or for any other inquiries, check out http://credocom-puters.com.Text by Izzy LaBranchPhotos by David Calvert

Join UsTuesday, December 14th for our

Industry Appreciation Party!!* 2011 Calendar Release

* New Menu Tasting* Body Painting

Don’t Miss Our New Years Eve Celebration!!

(775) 786-7800 270 Lake Street, Reno Nevada 89501www.renomensclub.com

Reno Passport Magazine - December 2010

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