Stella

I honestly had a hard time giving this place 3 stars. First off the staff was amazing. Great service all around! That being said, the food wasn’t amazing… it wasn’t bad either. But for the money you pay, I guess my wife and I expected more? Like I said, the food wasn’t bad, but going in to it we expected dishes with extreme creativity and complicated schemes, but it was all pretty basic (again not that it tasted bad).
Also, the seating arrangement is like the Publican, it’s communal. This isn’t a bad thing, just pray to God you don’t sit next to someone who annoys you! My wife and I didn’t, actually sat next to and got to know a great couple from the bay area.
Also, it does get warm in there (saw some reviewers said the same thing), so don’t feel compelled to dress warm just because it’s cold outside! I was in short sleeves and I was perfect. Also, in a short sleeve dress shirt, I was overdressed. Attire is definitely casual.

The reviews look great — so I was very disappointed to learn when calling today (9÷9÷15) that they no longer serve dinner to the public on a regular basis. The fellow that I spoke to said they now only to «underground dinners’ a few times a year, for which you have to buy a ticket in advance on their web site.

While we are staying at our Truckee home, we like to mix up our dinning experiences for our family and visiting friends. Casual and fun breakfasts, light dinning, upscale and fine dinning included. We FINALLY were able to dine at Stella Culinary and I was not only impressed, but this dinner exceeded my expectations. The service and ambiance were perfection. Our server was knowledgable and proficient. It doesn’t get much better. Our guests and our parents loved their dinning experience and all agreed we would have to return each summer… and at least once a week. Bravo!

Excellent start to finish! Enjoyed tasting menu with wine pairings. Food, service, ambience-​all perfect. Will definitely go again.

This is quite a special place. We came for Valentine’s day this weekend, which was a price fixe menu for $ 85 per person without wine pairings and you pay ahead of time. All of that seemed fair to us.
The food was absolutely delectable. When we first sat down, my boyfriend asked me if I was going to take pictures of the food. I said no, but once the first appetizers came out, the presentation was too beautiful not to! Art.
Everything was extremely tasty and beautiful and blew our minds. My boyfriend’s favorite was the beef tar tar. My favorite was the scallops and the pineapple upside down cake (which I would never order, but the waiter highly recommended).
My only complaints are that a) there was no one to seat guests when we arrive. We waited about 2 full minutes, and by the time we were sat there were about 6 other people waiting behind us as well and b) the room is very small and intimate, which I like, but they had an issue with heat control. It began to get warm (which I like but most men do not), so they opened the door, but the freezing Tahoe air really chilled me. Both of these things are forgivable for the overall experience, though.

This review is possible because of prior fine dining experiences. Having traveled from Hawaii to New York and experiencing fine dining at it’s best in SF, LA, Denver, Seattle and Boston, who would believe that such a place as Stella exists in Truckee, CA.
I highly recommend the four course tasting menu and choosing items that maximize your experience, sharing is not only possible but highly encouraged. I witnessed other tables where couples were feeding each other or switching plates. The intermezzos between each of the courses were a delight.
Every bite of the butter lettuce salad, beets with radishes, scallops, beef poke, filet mignon, chilean sea bass, pear tart, and their special swundae brought the palate extraordinary combinations of textures and tastes that are reminiscent of dining experiences of Morimoto’s in NY and Hawaii and Aquaknox in Las Vegas.
This is a dining experience I would recommend to the most discerning diners as well as those seeking a romantic evening out with that special someone.
Go and enjoy the open kitchen, the friendly and attentive wait staff, and the talented chefs. A truly memorable evening with my wife made all the more special by Stella. Kudos to Jason Burton for a great dining concept.

Just had another «best dinner ever» here. Every time I come here I am so impressed at how amazing the food and service is. Yes the saying goes «you get what you pay for» is it worth it? Yes, down to the last penny! Do this crew a favor and DO NOT CHANGE what the menu says. No matter if you go for the tasting menu or order per dish, TRUST that you meal is being prepared exactly as it should be by professional Chefs. If it seems to spendy, don’t go out for awhile, save your $ and then go have an amazing meal at Stella.

Fine dining at its best! With an open kitchen and the freshest ingredients this place has nothing to hide… Watch as your chef creates works of art as you sit at your beautiful table the staff is professional and very intuitive. My wife and I were delighted with the wine and champagne pairings offered my
Our server… Lamb tartare was incredible… Hamachi appetizer was even better!!! Nose to tail ramen blew me away.
This place is by far the best in Truckee/​tahoe

This restaurant is incredible. Wholeheartedly and honestly I can say the meal I had a Stella in January was the best meal I’ve ever had! It was amazing!
We opted for the four course tasting menu with wines, which isn’t cheap $ 70, with wines another $ 50. However I’d say if you can, go for the tasting menu. The wine pairings were excellent, and the waiters knowledgeable and incredibly friendly. Excellent service.
I had the artichoke heart veloute, which I’d never had before and was lovely. I wish I could remember the wines as I’d list them too, but I have terrible memory for that kind of thing. I then had beef tartare, Chilean seabass, and the ‘swundae’, which is a house special of chocolate swiss roll topped with ice-​cream sundae. Our server misheard my order and brought me the original sundae first, which i didn’t notice. A member of my party asked me what I had and I explained the swundae, which our server heard and rectified his mistake very efficiently by saying ‘you enjoy that and I’ll bring you the swundae’. So I had two desserts, yay! Both lovely.
In between each course we were served an amuse-​buche. I can’t fault any of the food we had, including these! Each of the three of us in the party had something different for each course and we were all blown away.
Hats off to the chef and to the service team, as well as whoever is responsible for the wine pairing. Fantastic, all round. A wee gem in Truckee. The adjacent Cedar House Sport Hotel is a nice place to stay for skiing, although not ski-​in ski-​out, I’d stay there again because of the restaurant.

Delicious food and excellent service. I went with my three year old daughter. We split the scallops and filed mignon. We both loved the quality of all of the food, particularly the steak that had a demiglace with granny smith apple that was so tangy and meaty. And their bread, which they bake right there in their beautiful oven. For dessert we had some truffles that were out of this world.
I was expecting the staff to be put out by my daughter but everyone dodged her gracefully when she was too unruly for her chair. All of the staff were very nice and our server, Warren, was very accommodating.
It really made for a great first night in Truckee. Thank you and we look forward to making visiting Stella a new tradition.

Mmmm. Really excited to return but service was not what it should be.
Plenty of waiters. Couldn’t figure out why (with a 6pm res) it would take an hour for entrees to appear after apps. Well there was a private party in the adjacent dining room and the kitchen shifted to serve them at the expense of the restaurant. It was not a wait staff issue as there were plenty of waiters. it was a chef issue. Food was just not being produced. Wow. Especially when I saw the main chef in the kitchen. Well if you can’t handle it, add on cooks or close the dining room! Maybe people called out, but we were just left hanging… and hanging…
Food was great but that kind of service with the price tag is not acceptable.
And there was no attempt to explain or appease the dining room. We all just sat there.
Decide if you want to serve the hotel with catering or run a restaurant. Food was great but next time we go elsewhere for that price with that calibre of service.
I hate to say this after really loving it last time but consistency counts. A lot!
Hmmm.

STELLA!!!
This review has been long in the making. I think the reason I’ve held off is because words can’t describe how much I enjoyed my meal! From start to finish, I felt as if Chef Jacob was in my head and knew my palate inside and out.
Hubs and I just happened upon Stella and we are so glad we did. It was our first trip to Tahoe and we booked a room at the Cedar House Sport Hotel, which is also super cute and I highly recommend. But I digress. We wanted a nice place to have dinner, saw Stella’s menu, thought it looked pretty good so we made a reservation. AMAZING. We did the 4 course tasting menu with the wine pairing and everything was exceptional. The food was beautiful, tasted incredible — I wish I could re-​live this meal over and over again. And it was really reasonably priced for the quality of food and service. I definitely would have paid more, but I’m glad they’re not going overboard with the cost!

Outstanding evening with Chef Jacob and the staff at Stella. Artful, creative food, perfectly prepared, and impeccably served.
The hydroponic butter lettuce salad with sherry-​shallot vinaigrette was delicious, and artfully presented as a rosette. Lovely and scrumptious.
The petite rack of lamb was the youngest and tenderest I’ve ever tasted.
Super creative also on the braised lettuce beef cups, with a wonderful asian, spicy sauce.
Breads, fresh baked there, daily. Crusty, chewy goodness.
I went with a swiss roll for dinner (guilty pleasure) — also fabulous.
Add to these, amuse-​bouche, and a truffle finisher… perfect evening.

Our extended family has been big fans of Cedar House Hotel since they opened. Before Stella, their fantastic coffee bar & fresh breakfasts set the stage for a much anticipated restaurant.
The open kitchen, the eco-​friendly building and welcoming staff are the perfect set up for a party on your taste buds dance floor. If you want a night out, head to Stella. The menu changes frequently, but I have enjoyed everything there.

What an amazing restaurant!!! I was able to dine here this past weekend for a friends’ birthday dinner and we really, really enjoyed ourselves! The four of us wanted to try the tasting menu because everything looked delicious. The food was prepared to perfection and it tasted like the chef was just cooking for us. Since we opted for the tasting menu, we were able to taste a lot of the dishes from the menu. My favorite dishes were: the duck pâté
dry aged Wagyu sashimi
seared maine diver scallops
filet mignon
duo of ‘lemon pie’
madagascar vanilla bean ice cream
The only complaint I have about the tasting menu is the size of the portion of the filet mignon. If you decide to have the filet from the tasting menu, it’s an additional charge, which I don’t have a problem with but when my plate comes out with 4 slices of meat, I kind of get irritated. The meat was cooked especially well but I just wish there were at least a few more slices so I could savor all the goodness. Besides that, I don’t have complaints about anything else.
Our waiters were very attentive and super nice and the atmosphere of the restaurant is cozy, intimate, and romantic. We spent about 3.5 hours at the restaurant and not once did we feel rushed to finish our meal because they had other people waiting. The food, staff, and restaurant is exceptional! I would recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting the Tahoe area.
Quick tip: Make reservations!

My wife and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner here on Valentine’s Day. We opted for the tasting menu paired with wines. As always, the food was creative and lovingly prepared. The portions were more than ample especially considering there were four courses. I enjoy following Chef Jacob Burton. He is not only an exceptionally creative chef, but knows what tastes good. The service was great and Nathan, who runs the front of the house was attentive and very helpful. We had reservations for 7:45 and were probably there 2 ½ hours! Had a great time and highly recommend this restaurant.
You will love it!

As others have recommended, we came with a group of 6 and did the four-​course tasting menu — it was definitely worth it. A few of us also added on the wine pairing, which was a little pricey, and was easily shared between two people if you’re just looking for a taste.
There were lots of seafood options, but only a few vegetarian dishes. If you are a veg, be sure to tell them so the amuse-​bouche is something you want to eat. Our waiter was very friendly and knowledgeable about the food and the wine. At the end of the night, he even left us with some of the daily bread, since they wouldn’t be able to use it the next day. The bread was delish!
I’ll leave you with this: brioche bread pudding. Do it.

The hamachi with cantaloupe «caviar» is great:
The quality of the hamachi is amazing. However, I was hoping that the «caviar» would pop with a burst of flavor when biting into it, like real caviar; but instead, it’s like the tapioca pearls that you get in milk tea drinks.
The strawberry shortcake is excellent:
They soak the strawberries in syrup to candy-​ify them. But I wish the «cake» part were thicker: it sort of dissolves into a mush before you can eat it.
I don’t recommend the flourless chocolate cake:
It has the exact same flavor/​consistency as a gritty chocolate frosting, and really seems like it’s supposed to be a condiment, not a cake. I did not have it with the recommended port wine pairing, but I don’t think that would have changed things. It might be great when spread on bread, though I didn’t think to try it at the time.

Had heard nothing but excellent things about this place and finally got there!
4 of us went and we all had the tasting menu. At $ 60 per person, that’s quite reasonable. Now, I am NOT a foodie or very adventurous in my food tasting AT ALL. So no bone marrow appetizer for me! But there were plenty of delicious «non-​weird» things to choose from :)
I had the butter lettuce salad, pan roasted scallops as an appetizer and the short rib main course followed by a flourless chocolate cake dessert. I read in another review that the short ribs was bad. NOT my experience at ll. They were amazing. Everything was excellent and the portions were perfect to be full but not painfully stuffed Claim Jumper in Reno style.
Plus the bread they bring for the table was amazing fresh and warm. They also brought out an amuse-​bouche of some type of soup. I don’t remember what it was exactly, but it was tasty.
The waiter also brought the table the headcheese appetizer (on him) for us to try as I was joking about it when we ordered. Everyone else tried it and loved it. Pretty sure I avoided the actual headcheese part in my bite and I am OK with that :)
They had a nice wine menu and offered Schramsberg Brut by the glass which is not easy to find (I need my bubbly!)
Our service was excellent. Our waiter was both attentive (without being overbearing or intrusive) and funny. The ambience was cozy and warm.
I highly recommend it.

I was headed to South Lake Tahoe from Clio and Truckee was in route. I stumbled upon Stella on Unilocal but didn’t have reservations and it was a Friday evening. The restaurant is owned by the Cedar House Sports hotel which is located right next door. I was informed by our waiter Roger that the head chef is Jacob Burton and was employed at Fleur De Lys in San Francisco.
Parking here is a breeze due to the large private lot located in front and in the rear. All the bread is made from scratch and cooked in the wood burning stove and served with whipped butter topped with sea salt — yummy and so addicting! Oh did I mention, they have their own veggie and herb garden located in the back?
OK enough with small talk, we started out with the appetizer of Hamachi yellowtail sashimi served cold on a bed of seasoned seaweed, thinly sliced pickled cucumbers and topped with cantaloupe caviar. This was delish and flavors combined were outstanding.
My main entrée — choice fillet Mignon with a roasted broccoli & mushroom salad with wilted frisée, thyme demi glazed with a dressing made from white anchovy & honey. The Fillet was tender and flavorful and the mixed veggies were over the top yummy. This paired well with my glass of Mount Eden Cabernet.
I also sampled the fresh halibut served with a lemon caper sauce and it was so delish! For dessert we tried the coconut cream pie which had a chocolate cookie tart shell and was served with ginger-​lemongrass ice cream. This was so refreshing and hit the spot. A nice dessert to share.
I was impressed with the spot on service from our waiter Roger and all his team. This was a special dinning experience and was reasonably priced for
the superb quality of food and service received.
I highly recommend Stella and is a must try for dinner if you’re visiting or just passing through Truckee.