The recently opened Trokay Cafe in downtown Truckee is a taste of the big city in a small town. Owners John and Nyna Weatherson are both New York City foodies who moved to Truckee last winter. They want their new coffee shop — soon to offer dinner and a more diverse menu after the kitchen undergoes some improvements — to embrace the best of both worlds.
‘It’s a modern cafe with communal seating, avant-garde cuisine, and the finest beverages the world has to offer,’ John said.
John graduated at the top of his class from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, in New York City and has since worked under some of the most reputable chefs there. Nyna comes from the world of cheese and most recently worked with Murray’s Cheese, New York’s oldest cheese shop and a major cheese distributor responsible for bringing some of the finest West Coast cheeses to the East.
‘We really thought it [the cafe] was a superb way to introduce ourselves and our cuisine to the community,’ John said.
Trokay Cafe gave Moonshine Ink the recipe for their Point Reyes Manila clams with watermelon radish, ichiban dashi, petite shiso, and chanterelle. Try it yourself and then stop by the Trokay Cafe for more unique dishes created by and for foodies like you. Bon appetite!
Ingredients:
1 lb. Point Reyes Manila clams
1 watermelon radish
1 lb. chanterelle mushrooms
1 bunch shiso
1 sheet kombu
2 c. bonito
1 qt. water
1/2 c. dry French vermouth
salt and freshly ground
white pepper
Method:
• Rinse the kombu under cold tap water until the white bloom on the outside of the seaweed disappears.
• Combine rinsed kombu, bonito, and 1/4 pound chanterelle mushrooms.
• Bring water to boil, add kombu, bonito, and chanterelle mixture. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Strain and reserve. This is the ichiban dashi.
• Cut batons of watermelon radish.
To serve:
• Saute chanterelles until lightly brown around the edges, add clams, saute for one more minute. Add vermouth and reduce until almost dry. Add ichiban dashi and watermelon radish batons.
• Cook until clams are open and radish batons are tender to the tooth.
• Plate the soup and garnish with shiso and raw shaved chanterelle and watermelon radish cross-sections.
