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With executive Chef Brian Bryan Doi joining the Alpenrose Sierra Grill family in the winter of 2006/7 bringing with him his personal brand of “Asian-Pacific Fusion cuisine”, this long-established, always good restaurant has shifted its style, its cuisine, its interior design and taken several steps up the culinary quality ladder all at once. The cutesy Alpine Interior design reminiscent of folksy restaurants in the mountains of Austria is largely gone. But the warm ambiance remains with a more refined motif as a reflection of the same change in the cuisine.
The former German/Austrian approach to food is largely gone as well with just a couple dishes retained to please long time patrons. Instead, we are treated to beautifully crafted grouping of American and European based "fusion" Pacific Rim dishes as well as brand new unique dishes from Chef Bryan Doi’s imagination. This is most obvious in Chef Doi’s starters, salads and desserts. His main dishes have subtle twists of Asian tastes that give new life to well-established dishes whether they are classic American stand byes or trace their heritage to Europe. He is deft at cooking meat and fish, his passion for vegetables is only exceeded by the quantity on the plate, always interesting, always given new life with a spice here and the flavor there.
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Where the mouse turns to a hand over any photo, click for a larger version.
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Left owner Tony rojas with Executive Chef Bryan Doi.
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Quail Salad - figs wrapped in ham sitting on a thin round of Asian pear. The quail sat on an Arugula salad topped with a julienne of Asian pear and carrots.
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Five Mushroom Soup.
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© 2000/8 photos Peter D'Aprix
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The Alpenrose Sierra Grill has always been a good place to eat in Mammoth for over 27 years with reliable quality and enjoyable surroundings. Today, it is one of the best restaurants in Mammoth (both in our opinion and that of several patrons who went out of their way to tell us), certainly a must on the Sierra culinary trail. Whether you're in Mammoth to ski in the winter or hike in the summer this is the place to go for really good meal.
Starters range from $8-$15, mostly right in the middle of the range with main courses following suite ranging from $25-$35, most falling right in the middle of that price range too.
One of our first litmus tests of a restaurant is the quality of the bread served before the meal begins. The Alpenrose Sierra Grill passed this test with flying colors. The bread was yeasty and moist; the basket of artichoke bread and olive bread was excellent. The starters here were, without a doubt, our favorite part of the meal. I tried a chef special “off the menu” Quail Salad of figs wrapped in ham sitting on a thin round of Asian pear. The quail sat on an Arugula salad topped with a julienne of Asian pear and carrots. It was superb, especially noteworthy for its interesting blend of flavors that opened themselves sequentially in the mouth. This made for a constantly changing landscape of tastes all on one plate with each flavor transitioning seamlessly into the next. A lovely exploration of tastes. Linda sampled their mushroom soup made with five different mushrooms that was rich and delicious. Probably more appropriate for cooler weather than we were enjoying in the summer.
Other choices ranged from a lovely sounding Chinese Chicken Salad of red cluster tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, navel oranges, baby Arugula, thinly sliced red onions, with balsamic vinegar reduction and extra virgin olive oil. The Asian Caesar Salad served with Seared Rare Ahi is an example of how Chef Bryan Doi takes a basically American dish and with delicate Asian touches guides a standard Caesar dressing into the sublime. He also presents on his menu some standard dishes such as Escargot En Croute, Soft Shell Crab Cakes, Baked Raclette Crostini, and his House Salad is a very un-standard green salad of baby mixed greens with goat cheese, candied walnuts and a Fuji apple vinaigrette. More to explore on a subsequent visit!
Chef Bryan Doi possesses too active an imagination to be confined by a written menu, so you will always find interesting additional dishes on a daily basis inspired by what is freshest from his suppliers. For our main dishes I wanted to try his Rack of Lamb that was served with a Chipolte Sauce (Chipoltes are smoked, dried jalapeno peppers that hold a very unique and exotic taste) that could easily have overwhelmed the lamb – but his touch was delicate and it complemented it instead. This was also an off menu item. The lamb with wildly generous, enough for two, and was served with a heaping assortment of vegetables served mainly whole arranged around the mound of garlic mashed potatoes.
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”Chinese Five spice Maple Leaf Duck Breast with creamy roasted garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables”
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Restaurant in snow
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Evening summer sun streaming into the newly remodeled and expanded dining room.
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The smaller dining room with updated color scheme.
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Entry door surrounded with Tyrolean images.
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”Rack of Lamb " that was served with a Chipolte Sauce and copious vegetables with garlic mashed potato.
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Linda ordered the Breast of Duck what is actually described as a ”Chinese Five spice Maple Leaf Duck Breast with creamy roasted garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables”, and that's what it's certainly turned out to be; also enough to feed a small village. While my lamb was perfectly cooked (I like it very rare in the French style), Linda's duck, while ordered rare, actually came a little overcooked for us. It was delicious but probably "rare" in the US is never quite as rare as it is in Europe, US chefs never quite believe us when we say we want it really rare.
Other choices for the main course offer a range of tastes and styles for everyone. For Italian lovers there is a Portobello Mushroom Pasta in a creamy goat cheese sauce and white truffle oil. For the loyal patrons of Alpenrose from way back, there's still the cheese fondue for two with the blend of Gruyere, Emmenthaler and Kirshwasser cheeses served with bread, assorted vegetables and Fuji Apples. Fish lovers will enjoy the Pan Roasted Salmon, a Scottish salmon, with herb compound butter sautéed white corn and garlic mashed potatoes – “Day Boat Scallops in the Miso Beurre Blanc with assorted veggies. Those leaning to meats will enjoy the Sautéed Natural Skinless Chicken Breasts topped with grilled herbed tomato vinaigrette with garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables – Australian Kobe Beef -- Aged Bone in Ribeye with Maytag bleu cheese truffle compound. For those who always enjoyed the Germanic approach there is a chef's new and improved of the Wienerschnitzel, a veal cutlet with mushroom cream sauce and white truffle oil mint chutney vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes.
Asian influence shows its face more noticeably with a Short Ribs and Orange Hoisin Glaze and the Wasabe mashed potatoes, while California is represented with Espresso and Ancho Chilie Rubbed Filet Mignon, a blend of espresso and Ancho chilies, garlic mashed potatoes, and espresso infused to demi-glaze.
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Trio of very unusual and delicious home made sorbets Strawberry/Kaffier Lime, Mango/Cardamom and Honeydew/Shiosho
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Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Strawberries marinated in 12 year old Balsamic with a Balsamic Caramel sauce.
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Chef Bryan Doi's creative juices really flow with the deserts. I enjoyed the marvelously delicate goat cheese ice cream (yes Goat cheese! Before you have visions of strong, goat tasting ice cream let me assure you that there is no goat cheese flavor just a very subtle difference in taste from standard vanilla ice cream, just enough to make it interesting) matched with strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar - a wonderful dish. For those watching their waistlines, there is an ever-changing trio of home made sorbets. Linda's choice was a group of Strawberry/Kaffier Lime, Mango/Cardamom and Honeydew/Shiosho sorbets. The combinations were immaculate with subtle hints of herbs and other spices. If we knew we were going to burn off the calories we could've had the Banana Bread French toast White Chocolate raspberry swirl bittersweet chocolate chip, ice cream, peanut butter caramel and candied macadamia nuts known as “PB&J”. Then there's the "Adult Float" for beer lovers which is a housemaid hazelnut ice cream and Young's double chocolate Stout beer; Chocolate Port Pudding with a Port Chantilly cream; Crème Brûlée de Jour; Warm Apple Strudel à la mode with Häagen-Dazs ice cream and a balsamic caramel sauce; Chocolate Fondue for two served with fresh fruit of the season concludes the menu.
A wide range of special coffees is offered which they serve in an individual French Press. I am not against a French Press coffee maker at all, but I find it does not do justice to a large range of coffees as was the case here. Unfortunately they don't have an espresso machine. They do have a decadent hot chocolate and excellent fine loose teas from Jasmine, Selimbong Darjeeling Organic, and more as well as caffeine free tees from Egyptian Chamomile to Red Chi, Chocolate Mint Rooibos and Macadamia Nut Rooibos to name just a few.
Chef Bryan Doi is a talented and imaginative young chef with a bright future before him. Unlike so many chefs today who cram in so many tastes into a dish, often conflicting, often too aggressive, he has a light and deft touch. He allows the indigenous style of a dish whether it's of Germanic, American or Asian origin to dominate. Then he subtly blends in riffs from other cultures, mainly Asian but he allows no global restriction on his creative juices. He is a culinary musician. He is still young and has many years to hone his craft and get closer to perfection. His meals are a joy, fun and a must when in Mammoth. You can visit the Alpenrose Sierra Grill's own web site to catch more of his history, but he has a solid background and training plus excellent experience before coming to Mammoth where he loves the hiking and fishing in the great outdoors. So perhaps we will be lucky and will have him in Mammoth for sometime to come.
I think owner Tony Royas and his wife Maureena, lucked out in finding this young chef who is not only added his culinary talents to make this restaurant a food destination has helped them modernize their interior taste to give the restaurant a more upbeat feel without losing the warmth of its aged wood interior, stone fireplace and open plan ceiling. The smaller dining room is done in dusty mint green and burgundy for a different feel. But they are counting their blessing now.
The Alpenrose Restaurant
343 Old Mammoth Road (near the shopping center)
P.O. Box 1255
Mammoth Lakes, California 93546
tel: 1-760-934-3077
fax: 1-760-934-1517
Web: www.alpenrosemammoth.com/
Email: contact@alpenrosemammoth.com
Hours of Operation: Dinner Nightly from 5:30 p.m.
Credit cards accepted: Visa, American Express, MasterCard & Discover
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