On this episode of FoodNotes*, we get fresh breakfast with a side of Reno history at T Then we visit Dolce Caffé for sweet and savory pastries and some pasta too.

♪ jazzy theme music ♪ Funding for FoodNotes* is provid Nevada Humanities Meg and Dillard Myers Respiralogics Gregory.

Nelson.

and by PBS's Reno members.

Hello.

Welcome to FoodNotes*.

I'm Enrique Sandoval.

And I'm Christina Le.

Food trucks are a huge part of f culture in Reno, Nevada.

The city even dedicates several a year to gathering people and trucks that serve all kinds of comfort Yeah.

Here's a story about a gourmet f that over the years grew into a full breakfast resta with multiple locations.

We hope you have a great time wa You've had many, many years to hone some of these culinary skills.

Is there now an expectation at home with your families where it's got to be this restaurant quality?

Nope, we go to Two Chicks.

Meet Haley and Jessie, the co-owners behind Two Chicks, a popular brunch spot in Reno, Nevada.

They aren't just the co-owners, they are the chicks.

And they didn't always make your classic breakfast with a little twist.

They started out as a food truck, which developed into the multiple brick and mortar restaurants you see today.

On their menu, they've got Bloody Mary's.

“Come with a little snack” Bumble Brie, “There's almost like two different sources of crunch.” and biscuits and gravy.

“Real hearty gravy.

It needs a hearty biscuit.” that looks so good.

I'm ready for breakfast.

Let's go.

jazzy music *paper sounds* bouncy guitar music We have Bumble Brie, which is one of the sandwiches that was on the GourMelt truck.

So that is Brie cheese, ham, apples, honey and on sourdough.

That's if you're a fan of charcuterie, like, this is your sandwich because it's toasty buttery on the outside, but you got that melty gooey brie.

You get a nice snap from the green apple and then the saltiness from the ham comes in and does this fun melding.

With this, there's almost like two different sources of crunch.

From the apple and the toast there's the savory ness from the ham cheese.

But you have that fruitiness cutting through.

I'm proud of you for thank you.

Trying that, a lot of people are a little nervous about that sandwich.

but then they try it and they love it.

Thats I think one of the ones that you and I gravitate to, if we have like, a stressful day or like we're sharing a Bumble Brie today, it's a bumble brie kind of day.

You mentioned GourMelt also, So it initially was a food truck, correct.

How did that come about, that conversation to get into it?

We worked at a restaurant next to the college together both of us kind of left and came back that restaurant a few times, but always remained friends and stuck with each other.

Yeah, I called Jessie and I said, I have an idea, and that's the only person I could think of that I would want to be in business with.

Because we had managed together.

We knew each other's work ethic We started as a food truck.

We were government grilled cheese truck.

It was a gourmet grilled cheese concept.

And I think it really worked out for the best, and it was such a great start for us in the community.

A food truck is a mobile kitchen meant to serve meals at different locations, events or neighborhoods.

Food trucks have evolved a lot from their roots in early America.

They were known as Chuck Wagons, and they served the basics like beans and coffee to cowboys.

The first real food truck as we know it was probably the Wienermobile in 1936, which toured the country selling hot dogs.

Fast forward to the 1950s when ice cream trucks became a neighborhood staple.

In the 1960s and seventies, Mexican Longcheras and L.A. taco trucks hit the streets, transforming old ice cream trucks and vans to food trucks.

Finally, in 2008, food trucks truly took off.

Driven by the rise of social media and the economic recession.

Gourmet chefs were faced with fewer restaurant jobs, so they turned to food trucks, creating gourmet street food that changed the game forever.

joyful country music You two created one of the first few food trucks that was in the area.

There was one gourmet truck that did nights, and then there was nobody that really days.

It was a brand new scene There weren't any ordinances when we first started.

And I remember that first summer.

Was it Riverfest?

Yeah, we just thought we could pull right up on the bridge.

We thought we could pay the meter and we were good to go.

We got shut down for that one.

So, you know, it's nice to not have to learn all those lessons the hard way and to have those, you know, rules and regulations.

It's like that saying like, there's a rule because someone broke it at some point.

So there was actually city ordinances we went to City council for and, you know, worked out a deal that was best for everybody.

Yup.

Just like traditional restaurants, food trucks have specific rules, regulations and ordinances they need to follow in order to operate.

Most of these rules are about food safety and sanitation.

While city ordinances give the rules on where and when food trucks may operate.

Some of the regulations in Reno include the following Food trucks cannot operate in one location for more than 4 hours.

They cannot be within 100 feet of a permanent restaurant entrance, and they may only operate between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.. joyful guitar The eggs Benedict don't really stay on my plate for too long.

For this dish, you've got poached eggs sitting on top of a cheddar and jack grilled cheese.

The bread is a garlic parmesan crusted sourdough bread We were kind of shocked with ourselves that it took us as long as it did to come up with that and put it on the menu.

We were like, How come we've never done a grilled cheese base before?

I don't want to always say explosion.

What are synonyms for explosion?

It's a lot of flavor.

There's a complexity to it and by themselves.

The hollandaise sauce and the eggs have this very warm, savory flavor to them.

You get those earthy undertones and the punch of acidity kind of dancing together around the classic egg taste.

The texture ends up being this fun combination of the buttery and creamy hollandaise sauce mixed in with the crunchiness of the bread.

even though it sounds like it might be from Holland.

Hollandaise sauce actually comes from France, The name means from Holland, probably because France was importing butter from Holland during World War One.

Hollandaise is one of the five French mother sauces made with butter, egg yolks, lemon juice and pepper.

The sauce was first used on Eggs Benedict in 1860 at Delmonico's, a famous New York restaurant.

so we can thank Delmonico's for this classic breakfast meal.

We don't keep things on the menu that we don't like.

Yeah.

Theres not anything on the menu that both of us don't love.

this mimosa.

take a sip and it's light.

I would describe it crispy because of the bubbles.

Yeah.

And then the hash browns.

Yeah.

With the parmesan on it, like it has a nice crust on the outside, but it's like soft on the inside, but still has a good bite to it.

So you can feel the different shreds of potato, which is really fun texture to have.

With a nice salty cheesiness inside.

We bake them, actually.

okay.

and then they grill them to brown them up to order.

If we're going to do hash browns on the menu, we were going to make them different.

funny because we don't always eat like the French toast.

You can't just eat French toast every day.

Well, you can.

That's what I like about breakfast, I personally can eat it at any time of day.

Yeah, breakfast for dinner.

bouncy music trails off I'm very curious to kind of hyper focus in on specifically the juxtaposition between working in a food truck and then making that switch into a brick and mortar.

Think both of them in their own way were harder and easier.

You know, having it just be Haley and I in the food truck really made it easier, you know, like it was just us.

We were reliant on each other it's just you chopping, prepping, cooking, cleaning and then, you know, doing it all over again sometimes if we would do a night event also.

But that also meant if one of us was sick, like the truck was closed that day, And then the restaurant, there's so many more moving parts, we have amazing managers and team members now that really help us.

And they're the reason that we've been able to open multiple locations.

But I don't think we'd want to go back to the food truck.

No, I was for our younger days, that was a young person's job.

We were exhausted.

and I mean, that's the hardest I've ever worked physically.

120 degrees in there in the summer, and it's freezing cold in the winter.

And So yeah, that was a really physical and demanding job.

When we first opened the midtown location and we were there from four in morning to like 8:00 at night when we very first opened.

But, it was a different kind of fatigue and, you know, it was temperature controlled.

So that wasnt bad.

rock pop music Renos known for so many events.

and we got to participate in so many of them, which I think is what I miss the most about it.

you're at work, but you're still like in the event and part of it, which was so cool.

that kind of led into a whole event, right, that we have locally, which is Food Truck Fridays.

yeah, we came up with Food Truck Fridays, which was in the city center, which is an old bus station.

So we thought that it would be neat to use the two lanes where the bus is parked.

There was seating and then there was a little built in stage.

So we had live music and there was only about seven trucks at that point.

Food truck gatherings, also known as food truck rallies, have become more popular across the United States.

These events bring together multiple food trucks in one place, offering a variety of high quality meals.

For example, Reno, Nevada, hosts a regular gathering called Food Truck Friday, featuring over 35 rotating gourmet trucks.

These rallies and traveling food trucks are also vital in rural areas, providing quality meals in small towns that don't have the resources for traditional restaurants.

The red chick skillet.

a lot of different textures.

sort of an overarching umami slash kind of meaty texture and taste because you've got those mushrooms in with the texture of the potatoes and the egg.

the spinach makes it feel lighter.

Its healthy!

Yeah.

That makes it a healthy and the ham coming together with the mushroom and the egg.

It's all scrambled together with cream cheese.

Yes, Which just makes those eggs so creamy.

gentle guitar The level of friendship you both have I've worked with friends before and I love them to death.

But sometimes you're like, I dont like you in a work setting I dont like working with you.

We just know what the other one is thinking a lot.

It's gotten to the point where you really dress alike almost accident almost every day.

Like today.

This one we planned out for the show, but yes.

We have our strengths and weaknesses and we balance each other out really, really well.

Not just that we like each other, but we trust each other to where she's gone.

She knows that, I'll make a decision that's right by both of us.

And yeah, vice versa.

Is it meaningful to be such integral, part of the food truck history?

I think that's an amazing thing to say.

And I don't know that a lot of food truckers even know who we are anymore.

But I love it.

I don't know, somewhere I'm proud, you know?

Yeah.

You know, they may not know you by name, but they can run because you crawl, you know.

Awe.

Thats very sweet to say.

we do love to see how it's grown and just how there's so many more opportunities for food trucks these days.

When people walk into two chicks.

is there anything you want them to walk away with?

Its the way you're starting your day.

we're hoping to provide you your classic comfort foods, but with a little, kick that it's bright and cheerful in here and that you walk away feeling like that was a damn good breakfast We should.

Cheers.

Yeah.

Cheers.

With a giant celery stick *laughter* Grilled cheese, eggs, French toa mimosas.

That's a brunch.

I'll take any time of day.

It's so cool and really inspirin to see two friends who grew up t grow their business together.

Ye And to learn more about two chic two chicks.

Reno dot com.

Now I think I can eat something Let's go to an Italian cafe here in the biggest little city.

We're often reminded of what a small world w Dolce Caffé is no different.

Bringing family traditions and a for baked goods to Reno from Sic Yeah, Whether it's nostalgia or culinary education.

Each family member behind Dolce brings their own unique passion to the table.

*gasp* Theres chocolate inside!!

That is called an Iris But we'll get into that in a moment.

We're here at Dolce Caffé, a family owned bakery run by Claudio, Giuseppe and Melissa.

They create a variety of different Italian and Sicilian foods.

we have a dinners, we have a charcuterie, pastry, we have a bread, the fresh bread.

Every day scacciata, cannoli, we have a pasta, Im doing pasta every day.

Come in and try hahaha ♪ theme music ♪ Italian music This is a iris I grew up with this.

I was in high school ate one everyday when we decided open our Dolce, I tell my daughter we need to have a iris The iris is a Sicilian brioche.

That looks like a round donut and is usually filled with ricotta cream or chocolate.

It's breaded in batter and fried to get a crispy outside and a soft inside.

The name comes from Antonio Lo Verso, a Palermo pastry chef who made the iris to celebrate the premiere of Pietro Mascagni' opera Iris in 1901.

The iris pastry was a hit in Sicily and is still loved for its amazing mix of textures and flavors.

This Iris was baked by Melissa, and she has even more to share with me.

as what we have right here for today, we have our Scacciata which is a very Sicilian dish.

It's a very comfort dish, I should say.

I make this once or twice a day.

I kind of was raised by it.

So today I'm going to show you guys how to make it Scacciata is a Sicilian stuffed flatbread made from thin, rectangular layers of laminated dough.

The name comes from a Sicilian word, meaning to drive away.

Similar to the Italian word Schiacciata which means to crush or to flatten.

Originally, it was a simple peasant dish made with leftover bread, veggies and meat.

But then Prince Moncada of Martorano asked for it at his 1763 Christmas celebration.

Now Scacciata is a beloved favorite in Sicily.

This version, made by Melissa is a classic way, but really you can add anything you want.

♪ italian music the ingredients is for today we have our ham, which we import from Italy.

We have our mozzarella cheese, our spinach and red sauce.

we layer the ham first.

We'll start that.

That's kind of like our first base and then second, third and fourth.

So we'll just start off right now.

Well just start out with our ham.

so what is the name of Dolce Caffé mean?

Sweet, sweet, sweet cafe.

Sweet cafe.

Yes.

after high school, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do and all of the sudden, my mom was making tiramisu and I was like, I want to make tiramisu.

And I started making it and then fell in love with baking and just doing different things and trying different things.

And all the sudden my mom goes lets open a bakery and it just clicked, just look like that.

So now that we're finished with the ham, I'm going to start with our cheese So you're from Sicily?

Yes, I am from Sicily.

I am half Sicilian, half Spanish Basque.

But I was mostly grown up six years in Sicily.

And then we kind of moved around because my dad was in the Navy, I loved it there.

It's like it's my home.

Sicily is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, just south of the Italian peninsula and is one of Italy's 20 regions.

Although it's part of Italy, Sicily is distinctive due to its unique culture shaped by Greek Roman Arab Norman and Spanish influences.

This rich history contributes to its varied food, architecture, music, arts and overall lifestyle.

Sicily also holds a special place for Italian-Americans as nearly one third of Italians who immigrated to the U.S. between 1880 and 1930 came from the island.

next up, I'll do the Spanish.

I was just going to just mix it all around here, when you finish doing all the layers, you roll it up so I have a second layer.

okay.

I'm going to just pat it down and put egg wash And then the final step would be a Red sauce I just cover it all around the spinach.

I'm going to just do some egg wash and I just do it on the sides.

So what's the purpose of the egg wash?

It just stays so that the second it's like the glue.

Glue.

Yeah, sure.

I'm going to close this up.

Melissa puts the sketch out in the oven.

After some time, the kitchen is filled with a delicious smell, and I can't wait to taste it.

when you take that bite, you get the ham, the cheese, the red sauce, spinach all in your mouth.

It just melts into it.

Yeah.

And then I can see all the layers in there, the cheese and ham get some of the spinach, really cheesy and warm, mix really well with the tomato sauce and the spinach.

And the pastry part is so flaky.

I could definitely eat this whole slab.

Well, here's a thing with the Scacciata You can definitely use it for breakfast.

Lunch or dinner.

Melissa actually went to Sicily to train with Giovanni, a family friend who also happens to be a successful pastry and chocolate maker.

He then came back with her Torino to teach her the things that they don't mention in books like adapting to the climate and different seasons.

even with her training Family has been her constant stream of support.

my parents are amazing.

My sister is amazing, too.

Seriously.

And I'm learning as I'm going, I am not perfect, but my my parents are guiding me as well they support us as much as possible.

They actually supported me with this dream, so without them, I wouldn't have this dream.

While Christina talked to Melissa, I got to sit down with Claudio, who has a significant impact on Dolce.

His history in the U.S. Navy showed him how much he enjoyed Italian food, So much so that he made something for us today.

this dish in particular, even though it's not necessarily from Sicily, it's a simplistic dish.

Very easy.

It is basically bucatini with black truffle butter and some parmesan cheese.

it's a very simple dish to make, but it just goes to show you that you can make an incredible dish with very simple and few ingredients.

Bucatini is a type of pasta that consists of long, narrow tubes made from durum wheat flour, Traditionally from Rome.

Its name comes from the Italian word bucco, meaning hole Even though it may look similar to spaghetti, Bucatini is thicker and has a distinctive hole running through the center, which gives it a unique texture and makes it excellent for catching sauces to absorb flavors both inside and out.

this smells amazing.

I can smell a bit of the black truffle.

It's a little pungent in the way that truffles are very earthy and I can get a hint of the Parmesan.

I'm pretty excited about it.

Is there a way you're more used to eating it?

That I should, Which is a great question.

You see, we have a spoon, we have a fork.

Yeah.

Typically what we do is you just use the spoon as a guide for your pasta.

no, no big deal.

You just kind of do that for a little bit.

Gets a hold.

And I'm so pleased with this because it's such a simple dish.

It is so good.

I mean, it's an explosion of flavor.

I get a lot of nuttiness off of that.

The Parmesan cheese again.

There's a almost woodsy ness from the black truffle.

And I love the way you cook the pasta.

Pasta is cooked.

I believe it's called al dente?

Al dente.

Thats correct.

And I accompany it with some white wine.

it just complements, by the way.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Thank you so much.

In addition to the daily bakery, Dolce Caffé also does three dinners a month.

It's a four course dinner for 20 to 30 guests, and they're usually sold out several months in advance.

It's a tradition that's carried over from before Dolce Caffé even existed.

I think the beauty of it and the premise behind doing them is not only the quality of the food, it's getting to watch everyone out there on the tables that don't know each other.

Yeah.

Talking, conversing, is we have folks as young as you mingling and talking with folks my age.

It doesn't get better than that.

And they all say we had such a good time.

And how do you top that?

You can't you can't top that.

Dolce Caffé to me is basically the culmination of my wife, my mother in law's cooking, even to a small extent.

My mother's cooking all come to fruition when my daughter said, I think I'd like to be a pastry chef.

my parents brought me over to this country when I was about two and a half years old from Mexico.

they sacrificed a lot to bring us all over here.

every time I make a slight wrong turn, make a mistake, they'd be like, Come on, You know, like, we've got a lot on this.

We were doing what we can, but you got to put in your part to, like, do your best and But on the other side of that as well, even the tiniest, tiniest success.

they'd be like, That's awesome.

That's great.

Keep going, keep going, How does it feel to see your daughter?

You know, with this small business, to watch her maturation as a baker just get better and better and better is a huge joy.

And people because of her come here wanting to see her.

Hey, My goal is to have someone come in here and to feel a little bit of Italy, of Sicily of some sort, And that's what I've always wanted for people to come in and to try my pastries and savory items and to feel comfort and feel good and feel like, Wow, this is really good.

But she takes so much pride and to her for her to hear somebody say, wow, this was so good.

We love your bakery, you know, and they come back and yeah, Enrique It's just it doesn't get more satisfying.

Well said Claudio.

We learned so much from everyone at Dolce Caffé, and we are so grateful for everything Giuseppe, Melissa and Claudio shared with us, I can't wait for the next time I can grab lunch at Dolce Caffé Those crissants were as big as M dreams.

She made both a reality.

Yes, she did.

My day was filled with pasta and You know, the savory hits just as hard as the sweet.

And if you want to learn more ab Caffé, visit their website.

Dolce Caffé, Reno, dot com.

That's all the time we have today on FoodNotes*.

If you'd like to see more, there of different places where you ca Check us out on the PBS app.

Stream at PBS dot org or go to t Reno YouTube channel.

And while you're there, click the subscribe button so you don't miss any of our new You can find the footnotes playl to watch more episodes.

Thanks for joining us today.

All right.

Time for lunch or breakfast or d Bye!

guitar music ends ♪ jazzy theme music returns ♪ There you go.

Yeah.

You like to a little hit the glass thing huh?

I just took the Sicilian flag and put it in the background but I dont know if I like it.

Wait, what is it?

Its the thing with the legs.. Ooohhh yeah yeah, They had it in Dolce it was on their wall Uhhhh maybe we should look it up Yeah lets look it up lets look it up!

It says the three bent legs on the Sicilian flag represent the three corners of Sicily Oh I see cuz Sicily is like a triangle shape.

I guess its a lucky talisman that many Sicilian homes have?

Behind doors or windows to protect them from- The one in Dolce was next to the windows Got it.

That makes so much sense.

It makes so much sense.

Dang we should fit this in someh Yeah we should... * laughter * Funding for FoodNotes* is provid Nevada Humanities Meg and Dillard Myers Respiralogics Gregory.

Nelson.

and by PBS's Reno members.