Blue Water Bistro

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In the quest for a meal with a view, the scenery often upstages the food.

Not so at South Lake Tahoe’s Blue Water Bistro. Located at Timber Cove Marina at the end of El Dorado Beach, the casual 45-seat eatery (which in summer more than doubles with the addition of dock and balcony tables), boasts panoramic lake-and-mountain vistas from every table on its second-story perch—and offers menus to match.

Portland natives chef Kristin Mozzochi and her brother Jonathan, who works the front of the house, have owned the restaurant since 2004. Trained at Berkeley’s Bauman College of Culinary Arts natural chef program, Kristin aims to infuse a philosophy of healthy, fresh eating into Blue Water Bistro’s lunch and dinner offerings. That means starting with seasonal, sustainably produced and organic ingredients whenever possible.

The lakefront location inspires plenty of popular seafood options: The Blue Water crab cake appetizer is made with blue crab, pan-fried with green onions, red peppers, tarragon, cilantro and dill, placed atop a tarragon tartar sauce and a roasted red pepper marmalade. Jumbo spicy grilled prawns are brushed with jalepeño-and-cumin infused oil and served with a side of chili-lime mango salad. The Bistro bouillabaisse— jumbo prawns, blue crab, scallops, clams, Prince Edward Island mussels and fish simmered in a tomato-based broth with caramelized fennel, onions and saffron—will certainly warm your cockles on a cold winter day or night.

Though the menu includes a few chicken and beef selections, you may never miss the meat in veggie-based entrées like the hearty mushroom triangles: layers of phyllo dough stuffed with shiitake, portobello and white mushrooms, goat cheese and artichoke hearts, finished with a horseradish vin-blanc sauce. Around 25 wines—many of them organic—are available by the glass and Jonathan stocks the bar with a selection of organic liquors, such as El Papagayo tequila.

Kristin creates all the desserts using organic ingredients, fresh fruit and no white sugar. So save room for something sweet like the strawberry-mission fig crisp or vegan chocolate mousse cake with mint pesto. Go on, it’s good for you. By Susan D. Rock. TQ

Category: Wine & Dine