BROADCAST
QUALITY MPEG 2 B-ROLL FOOTAGE - Available after 10:00am PST,
Dec 11, 2009.
STORY
SUMMARY: (NORTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA – December 11,
2009) – James Beard Award Winning Chef Traci Des Jardins announced
today that her new restaurant Manzanita is now open in The Ritz-Carlton
Highlands, Lake Tahoe in Northstar Resort, located mid-mountain. Just
in time for the holidays, both the resort and Manzanita have opened
their doors and welcome guests to come enjoy the holidays and the winter
ski season on the mountain.
FOOTAGE
INCLUDES:
- Panoramic footage of The Ritz-Carlton Highlands resort with new snowfall.
- Brief footage of Opening night of Manzanita.
- Brief interview with Traci Des Jardins, Chef/Partner at Manzanita
- Footage of stunning interiors of Manzanita and The Ritz-Carlton Highlands,
Lake Tahoe.
Footage shot Weds, Dec 9, 2009, plus recent broll.
Still photos available below.
SOUNDBITES:
- Traci Des Jardins, Chef/Partner at Manzanita
LOCATORS:
- Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort, CA.
COMPLETE
RELEASE:
(NORTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA – December 11, 2009) – James
Beard Award Winning Chef Traci Des Jardins announced today that her
new restaurant Manzanita is now open in The Ritz-Carlton Highlands,
Lake Tahoe in Northstar Resort, located mid-mountain. Just in time for
the holidays, both the resort and Manzanita have opened their doors
and welcome guests to come enjoy the holidays and the winter ski season
on the mountain.
Manzanita,
named for the ubiquitous California tree, is a beautiful 94-seat restaurant
along with a 71-seat bar and lounge area inside The Ritz-Carlton Highlands,
it is all about the kitchen and acclaimed chef Traci Des Jardins. From
the moment you enter the restaurant, the design radiates warmth, texture
and natural materials. The open kitchen is visible from all vantage
points in the restaurant, showcasing the chef’s organic cuisine.
Manzanita includes an eight-person chefs table along with a tasting
counter adjacent to the open exposition kitchen. The restaurant faces
out onto the slope side terrace of Northstar-at-Tahoe with a sweeping
view of the slopes and the outdoor seating on the fireside terrace.
“We
wanted the restaurant to have an authentic feel, so the materials are
real, stone, leather and wood,” said Bill Johnson, principal of
The Johnson Studio, the restaurant designers. “The space as a
warm, modern feel and yet is appropriate to Tahoe,” he added.
“Skiing
and cooking have always been two passions of mine and I’m thrilled
to now have a destination restaurant in the gorgeous Ritz-Carlton Highlands,”
said chef Traci Des Jardins. “After a day of alpine activities
and physical exertion I want people to sit back and relax while they
enjoy a hearty and delicious meal at Manzanita. Our goal is take inspiration
from the mountains and the seasons and to prepare quality food that
has been sourced locally whenever possible.”
The Manzanita
menu is a combination of Des Jardins’ signature French inspired
California cuisine, with a regional mountain resort influence, sourcing
organic, sustainable and locally grown meat and produce when available.
The menu ranges from bar menu items of Fried Olives, Herbs de Provence
($8), Liberty Farms Duck Meatballs with Mission Figs and Lucques Olives
($12), Dungeness Crab Sliders ($14), Oysters on the Half Shell, Champagne
Mignonette and Fresh Horseradish (AQ), Five Dot Ranch Grass-fed Burger,
Homemade Pickles, Smoked Bacon and Pommes Frites ($15); to starters
of Roasted Beet, Chevre and Winter Citrus Little Gem Salad ($12), TDJ’s
Warm Bread Salad ($14), Pizza of the day (AQ); to entrees featuring
Red Wine Braised Short Ribs with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Herb
Salad ($28), Moroccan Tagine, Cous Cous, Chickpeas, and Dried Apricots,
Cumin-Scented Pinenuts ($24), to Rotisserie Chicken, Chanterelle Mushrooms,
Parsnips and Pears and Crispy Farm Egg ($26). Desserts include Warm
Bread Pudding with Kumquat Marmalade and Bourbon Crème Anglaise
($9), Butternut Squash Soufflé with Mascarpone and Brown Sugar
Ice Cream ($9), to Chocolate Lava Cake with Champagne-Passion Fruit
Sorbet ($9). More information and the complete menu can be found at
www.ManzanitaLakeTahoe.com.
In addition
to Manzanita, Des Jardins recently announced that she is opening two
new San Francisco restaurants spring 2010. Public House located adjacent
to AT&T Park the home of the San Francisco Giants is designed to
be a year-round destination for great sports watching with a menu that
takes a local and sustainable approach to classic pub food and will
feature one of the largest draft beer and cask ale offerings in San
Francisco. Des Jardins will open her second Mijita taqueria also located
at AT&T Park. Mijita is a taqueria with a Bay Area flavor and will
feature Mexican food from Traci’s childhood, which was inspired
by her maternal grandmother, Angela Salazar.
Traci Des Jardins is also co-owner of Jardiniere Restaurant located
near San Francisco’s Civic Center area and the Opera House. Prior
to opening Jardinière, she spent time in Los Angeles and New
York working with some of the country’s top chefs, further honing
her craft in France where she apprenticed with legendary chefs including
Michel and Pierre Troisgros, Alain Senderens, Alain Ducasse, and Alain
Passard. In 1998, Traci opened Jardinière and has made it one
of the most sought-after reservations in San Francisco.
Des Jardins
was raised on a farm in California’s San Joaquin Valley and developed
a deep love for the earth and its bounty at an early age. The Des Jardins
dinner table featured produce from the garden and game from the land
in dishes reflecting her family’s rich Mexican and Louisianan-French
Acadian heritage. She had first dreamed of being a downhill ski racer
and then a veterinarian, but always found herself drawn to the heat
and creativity of the kitchen. Manzanita gives Des Jardins the opportunity
to merge both her love for skiing and culinary excellence in her new
Lake Tahoe destination restaurant.
The Ritz-Carlton
Highlands, Lake Tahoe is the first new-build resort development in the
Lake Tahoe area in decades. Anticipated to be the premier Northern California
contemporary mountain retreat, the $300 million project, situated mid-mountain
in the Northstar at Tahoe ski area features ski-in, ski-out access with
mountain concierge services. Manzanita, the resort’s signature
restaurant has been created by San Francisco’s James Beard Award
Winning chef Traci Des Jardins. The Highlands Spa is a 17,000 square
foot spa and fitness center with treatments and therapies themed around
water and the woods.
The new
Highlands Gondola also opens today and will connect guests between the
nearby Village-at-Northstar and The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe
resort. Perched slope-side within a 15 minute drive of both Lake Tahoe
and the historic town of Truckee, the year-round destination includes
170 guest rooms, 23 private Ritz-Carlton Residences and 25 Ritz-Carlton
Destination Club residences.
The Ritz-Carlton
Hotel Company, L.L.C., of Chevy Chase, Md., currently operates 71 hotels
in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean.
More than 30 hotel and residential projects are under development around
the globe with future openings including Dubai International Financial
Centre, United Arab Emirates; Dove Mountain, Tucson, Arizona; and Los
Angeles at LA Live. The Ritz-Carlton is the only service company to
have twice earned the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award, which recognizes outstanding customer service. For more information,
or reservations, contact a travel professional, call toll free in the
U.S. 1-800-241-3333, or visit the company web site at www.ritzcarlton.com.
****
Still
Photos: Provided by Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe
More photos available upon request.
Footage/Release
provided by: Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe
Contact:
Steven H. Holt, Director of Public Relations
Email: steven.holt@ritzcarlton.com
(530) 562-3016
TAPE
COPIES AND DUBS: To request a hard copy/dub of any segment
on BetaSP or Mini DV, please call (530)583-4206 or email eric@tahoemediacenter.com
