ThEsE aRe ThE bEsT dAyS Of Our LiVeS!!!

So we had a day off… myself, 2 other South Africans and 3 Americans so our plans were as followed…10 o clock Reno, 2 cars…that’s it…

We hopped in the cars and off we went, after entering Reno from different sides (lack of communication, too much excitement and poor driving-in -convoy skills) we all ended up at the right place to start our day of FUN… we had breakfast (as every awesome day WOULD start with food) after a great breakfast of laughs we had come to the consensus that BOWLING and beer would be the plan. Off to the Grande sierra we went, where we slipped into our comfortable bowling shoesies and getting two pitchers of beer….THIS IS AMERICA!! We then played some good bowling, some better than others. The next plan was realised when we saw a commercial for go-karting and adrenalin rides… off we went to the most boring go-kart ride ever! And if it weren’t for the OBVIOUS buzz (2 pitchers of beer)…that money would have been wasted!

As we headed home we struggled to keep our eyes open with the oh-so-welcome sunlight on our faces, we bought red bulls and chocolate. Got dressed up and went for dinner at MANZANITA, in the Ritz-Carlton…WHAT an Unbelievably AMAZING Experience!!! Firstly driving up into valet parking and having doors opened for you… walking up the spiral staircase through the lobby in our NORMAL clothes (i.e. not uniforms)…as MasterCard would say…PRICELESS…please do HOWEVER note that these things take time as we had to ask permission to be on the property off schedule…


We then entered Manzanita…from the FRONT DOOR…where our hostess took us to our table, table 53, the first table number I learnt…front and centre in front of the open-plan kitchen , in view of all the chefs.

As our server came by he took away our menus, ‘it has been a request from the kitchen, to remove all the menus from you ladies and to leave u in the hands of the chefs…’ BOOM now THAT’S what I’m talking about,(.. BLUSH…they like us…they really like us :D) so we get styled out like never before..one dish after the next, small plates of AMAZINGNESS…we were in heaven and we felt special and proud.


A 6 course culinary experience this was –I cannot even explain to you how amazing it felt to really feel that you are part of this something. This experience started off with some tuna crudo, hamachi, flatbread and harissa aioli. Followed by the grilled asparagus, endive, deep-fried soft poached egg –HEAVENLY and buratta cheese, with the herb profile of Treviso, frisee and mezzuna. Then we had a dish that my description will do no justice for… it was scallops served on a crab and black truffle nage, alongside, foie-gras and prawn stuffed pearl onions…..the textures the flavours… the sheer INGENIUTY of the dish….AMAZING…this was followed by the New York special , which was a new York steak served with green vegetables which I cannot remember and then a raviolo – a masterpiece…a ravolini, filled with egg and cheese…as you cut open the raviolo, the egg yolk just poooours out….W.O.W. For dessert we had the smore which is a little bit of chocolate heaven and I had a trio of ice-creams, caramel-Jameson, toasted marshmallow and pinot-noir frozen yoghurt!! This was DEFINITELY one of the most heartfelt, amazing culinary experiences of my life and I thank everyone involved for the effort time and day.


Two more days followed in the weeks to come, best day of my life since the previous one as I went playing on the beach…ski boots, beanie gloves and jacket…we’re all dressed and ready for a day on the beach!!!!...? Been to the lake many times again, saw a parade in the tiny town of Kings Beach –experience in its own….had lunch on the lake, walked, rocke climbe, hiked, and tiptoed in the lake, tried our luck at hitch-hiking, found good red wine, drank red wine, had cheese, watched American movies, drank wine at Donner Lake, LOVING LIFE!!!


OK so these days were quite a while ago and the memories, emotions and feelings are not that fresh anymore….the environment around us was brown and dry till a day ago when it started pouring with rain and we all longed home. When I woke up this morning on the 30th of March, the world was once again WHITE…ready for the last week of ULTIMATE skiing and AMERICA as we know it!


So I’ll post this one so that I can get started on the new ones…seeing that…there is something like 9….NINE days left….. HAU?! I can’t belief! :D