Lefty’s Grill: White tablecloth dining

TWO AWARD-WINNING CHEFS WHO ARE friends, and happen to be left handed, have teamed up to create one of the best casual dining experiences in the foothills.

Lefty’s Grill, on Broad Street in downtown Nevada City, is a popular spot for “casual, white tablecloth dining.” The restaurant is regularly crowded—a testament to its stylish but affordable menu and its casual atmosphere in a historic, brick building.

“He’s my left-hand man,” jokes John Cammack about his partner, Chris Duncan.

“I don’t wanna kill you. I wanna help you,” retorts Chris, borrowing a famous line from Pulp Fiction, one of the pair’s favorite movies.

The congenial teamwork, with a dose of fun, shows up in the cooking.

Lefty’s burgers are to die for. Our favorite is Gorgonzola cheese with home-made Cabernet onion jam, but the S.O.P. burger (a burger and a bun or “standard operating procedure”) also is delicious.

The flat-bread pizzas are award winners. Lefty’s “Napa Style Pizza” (grilled flat bread, a blend of cheeses, sliced pear, a balsamic syrup drizzle and fresh oregano) won an international competition in Las Vegas.

The pizzas are topped off with fresh basil from local farms. Pizza connoisseurs also order them to go—a cut above any local pizza joint—for $9 and up.

Lefty’s menu extends well beyond burgers and pizza, however. It offers gourmet dishes including mussels simmered in garlic, fennel, tomato and Chardonnay, with pesto garlic bread. Nevada City Seafood provides the fresh fish, delivered several times weekly from San Francisco.

Other entrees include chicken saltimbocca, butternut tortellini, fettuccine alfredo and cedar-planked roasted salmon. We also like the Caesar salad, which comes with roasted prosciutto (a step up from bacon).

John and Chris met in the kitchen at the Fountaingrove Club in Santa Rosa. John officiated at Chris’ wedding in Sonoma. As John sums it up, “We take classical cooking techniques and apply it to everyday food.”

Lefty’s Grill
221 Broad Street, Nevada City
530-265-5838 LeftysGrill.com