Grate Thyme Kitchen

It takes courage to start up a business at any time, and even more so in a relatively depressed area like Fernley in a time when elements of the media and at least one political party continue to repeat endlessly that we're a horrible depression; however, here in Fernley, a chef is taking a chance by opening up a breakfast/lunch cafe called Grate Thyme Kitchen in Fernley's Old Downtown district, at 150 E Main St just east of Main Street's only traffic light, at the Alt-95/50 junction. They opened last Thursday. Lisa and I had seen the preparations (the place is on the path we walk between the house and the post office), and decided to try them for brunch on Saturday. We're glad we did.

( Funny Name, Nice Cafe )

People have made fun of us for moving to what they consider a rural desert backwater that might as well be in Death Valley by their standards, but we now have five different restaurants (admittedly one of them is a burrito stand) within three blocks of our house. Grate Thyme is trying to bring some French-style charm to what some people disparagingly call "Ferntucky," and Lisa and I look forward to dining here again. And for those of you planning on coming to next year's Burning Man, you might want to stop in here on your way out to the Playa as well. If you happen to be passing Fernley on I-80, get off the freeway at exits 46 eastbound or 48 westbound and give this place a try.

They don't seem to have a web site (yet), but if and when they do, I'll link to it. They are working hard, serving good breakfasts and lunches at a reasonable price, and deserve good fortune. I hope I can do a little bit to help them out with some positive word of mouth.

Lucky Break

It's just as well that I wasn't taking the train back to San Jose today, because the westbound California Zephyr was delayed by several hours. While that would have meant not having to get up so early (the regular departure is about 8:30 AM, meaning we need to leave Fernley shortly after 7 AM), it also means that I would have missed the final connecting Capitol to San Jose and instead would have had to wait for the bus that wouldn't have got me to San Jose until nearly Midnight. That would not have been fun. I hope the train next Sunday is running somewhat closer to schedule.