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Upper Lake, Calif. – The Blue Wing Saloon Restaurant in Upper Lake, always a popular spot this time of year because of its comfortable garden seating under the sycamore trees, now has full bar service and is creating some unique new sushi and barbecue specials from Thursday through Sunday evenings.
Bar manager Jim Warren is happy that the restaurant is now able to supplement its list of Lake County wines and regional beers with a full bar service.
“We’ve waited for some time for our liquor license to come through,” he says. “Now we’re prepared to offer our customers almost anything they’d like. I’m looking forward to that.”
For those who love sushi, one of Lake County’s premier practitioners of the art, Ross Christensen, will be making the small pieces and rolls to order at the restaurant every Thursday evening. On weekends the restaurant will be smoking and grilling ribs, chicken, beef and fish on its custom-made barbecue.
“I got interested in sushi while I was in the service in Japan, and I made a point to learn from some of the real masters over there,” Christensen said.
“Since coming to Lake County, I’ve done a lot of it and I’ve enjoyed mentoring others and teaching college level classes,” he said. “The fun part to me is doing the traditional pieces well, and then experimenting with different ideas. We’ll be serving a nice selection at the Blue Wing on Thursdays from 5 p.m. to closing. It should be fun.”
In addition to the California and other traditional “Maki” rolls, Christensen has developed some unique local specialties such as the “Hamburger Hill Roll” and the “Hawaiian Roll” (spam sautéed in teriyaki sauce wrapped in nori). A favorite dessert specialty is sure to be the “Bartlett Roll” (pear cooked in five spice syrup wrapped in Upper Lake red walnuts, wined rice and soy).
Blue Wing barbecue chef Tony Chicarilli loves working on the Blue Wing’s “big boiler barbecue,” custom crafted from an old riveted industrial boiler purchased locally.
“The lid weighs a ton,” said Chicarilli, “but it works great as we smoke all our meats and fish over an oak fire for at least four hours before we finish on the grill. The ribs, chicken, beef and fish we prepare come out great and work well with our house made spicy or mild ‘root beer’ barbecue sauces. I think people will really enjoy these weekend specials.”
Offering a full bar service and an attractive base menu supplemented by some unique specials fits nicely into the strategy of Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing General Manager Travis Lipscomb.
“We want the Blue Wing to be a friendly place where people know they’ll always get a quality meal and good service in a comfortable atmosphere at a reasonable price,” said Lipscomb. “But our staff and our customers appreciate it when we offer interesting new things, and our barbecue nights and Sushi Thursdays fit well with this concept.”
The Blue Wing Saloon Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily and is located on the Main Street of the newly restored Upper Lake.
