A taste of the continent
By Jon Gubman, Outpost staff
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Where can I get some food around here? |
Anyone complaining about a lack of culture or sophistication in Reno's restaurants obviously has not been to Bricks. Bricks is a bastion of fine food and gourmet dining. One look at the outer facade -- a long, graceful awning covers the entrance and gives way to French doors, laden with etched glass and attached to an elegant stone building -- and you know this restaurant has style and good food. Oh, and did I mention spirits?
Bricks is also a wine bar, and it lives up to that billing. Bricks serves more than 30 wines by the glass, ranging in price from $4 to $12. The restaurant also carries 20 single-malt scotches, 20 premium vodkas and has an extensive martini menu. Bricks even sells cigars in the lounge area and is one of the only cigar-friendly restaurants in town.
Bricks is a partnership of three people who have been in the local restaurant industry a long time. Geannie and Steve Budija both worked at Famous Murphy's before opening Bricks. They were looking to start a mid-sized restaurant in Reno that catered to locals. They found a partner in Dennis Medina Jr., who worked for 13 years as a seller for Southern Wine & Spirits -- a wholesale establishment that sells wines and spirits to restaurants.
The three partners started Bricks, says Medina, with the goal of providing locals with a casual, fine-dining restaurant where they could get some of the best continental cuisine in town. They opened the doors in August 1996, and 15 months later, the number of regulars indicates they are living up to their goal.
"We have a lot of regulars," Medina says. "Some dine here as often as eight times a month. It's not unusual to see the same people dining here twice a week."
And the clientele is strictly locals. Medina estimated that less than 10 percent of the customers are tourists, unusual for a restaurant just blocks from Reno's downtown strip.
Any night of the week, customers can be found swarming the wine bar/lounge area. The atmosphere is relaxed as people sit in the overstuffed chairs and share appetizers and stories in front of Bricks' roaring fireplace. The food is contemporary continental. Dishes such as teriyaki chicken skewers dipped in sesame seeds fill the menu.
"It's a nice place," says customer Joe Gosen of Reno. "You can go in there for a casual, relaxed visit and enjoy a cigar with a buddy. Or you can go there and have a very nice dinner with your wife. They also have a great happy hour, where all their appetizers are half price."
copyright 11/15/97 Nevada Outpost
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