Whiskey Creek 2024
“A Real Breakfast”—Opens the day with new breakfast menu
By Christina Reed
The Hired Pen
“Breakfast is everything. The beginning, the first thing. It is a mouthful that is the commitment to a new day.”—A. A. Gill- British food and travel writing journalist.
Bishop, CA—It’s a “country inn since 1924 serving classic American fare & full bar amid cozy, lodge-like environs,” says Bishop’s Whiskey Creek. And, along with outdoor seating, a varied and popular lunch and dinner menu(s), and a Main Street presence, Whiskey Creek’s new “A Real Breakfast,” menu and dishes, resonate with the eastern Sierra landscape and locals.
Owner, Aaron Schat, and Horacio Rodriguez, General Manager at Whiskey Creek, sat down for a talk with The Sierra Reader, literally hours after they opened, about Whiskey Creek’s return to its roots, starting with their breakfast fare, Tuesdays-Sundays, 7-10:30 AM.
The Sierra Reader: What is “A Real Breakfast”?
Aaron Schat: “Everything is made from scratch. As much as possible. Back to the basics. High quality, real food.”
Horacio Rodriguez: “We cater to the locals.”
This speaks to ideas they are trying out for the new breakfast menu dishes.
Aaron Schat: “We have Valencia [California] oranges brought in weekly, for the fresh-squeezed orange juice.” The Valencia orange juice becomes a fresh base for their special breakfast drinks / cocktails, like their Mimosas, Screwdrivers, and Tequila Sunrises.
Other twists in their menu include the decadent Cinnamon Swirl French Toast, on a homemade brioche bread (brain child of Erick Schat Jr’s), dipped in a luscious, peach schnapps batter, toasted, and served with their own, you guessed it, homemade vanilla syrup. If Chicken Fried Steak is your order of the morning, Rodriguez notes, the steak is soaked overnight in buttermilk, which tenderizes the meat and enhances the flavors. Don’t ever forget how important homemade Hollandaise sauce is for topping your Eggs Benedict.
The Sierra Reader: What brought breakfast back to Whiskey Creek?
Aaron Schat: “Our customers main request has been breakfast from day one of reopening Whiskey Creek. Staffing is very difficult in the Eastern Sierra, no matter what your business is about, and staffing is everything, when it comes to creating a good breakfast experience. Luckly, we got the Imperial Gourmet Chefs and some of our own to make Breakfast happen.”
Whiskey Creek’s breakfast selections are wide, creative, varied, and fresh ingredients match the fresh ideas. They’re familiar and classic, and a friendly staff that greets you, by name, just starts the day off on the right footing. Early-risers, local business owners / staff, and locals looking for an early social spot, have more choices, and reasons to rise and shine!
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A Back Story: Serving up breakfast, and history, too!
ack in the day, The Kittie Lee Inn was a place that Hollywood royalty, would stay at, while they were filming in the eastern Sierra, during the 1920s-50s. The likes of John Wayne, Curly Fletcher, Cary Grant, Hop-a-Long Cassidy, just to name-drop a few, were names on their guest registers. And, the beautiful old Ohio Buckeye tree out front of Whiskey Creek, is from the first days in 1924, at the Kittie Lee Inn. Fast-forward in time. The old stately inn was torn down in 1965, and the new dinner house and bar, “Charlie’s Room,” was “the place” to dine in town. In 1976, a fellow named Sam Walker (and his wife, Shelly) bought the whole shebang from the son, Will Whorff, of the original Kittie Lee Inn family. Jerry Fendon, owner of Fendon’s Furniture, fell in love with Shirley, of the Kittie Lee Inn family, they married, and Jerry made renovations to the dining area of the current, Whiskey Creek, and some of what was the original dinner house. Shirley and Jerry lived in a little house nearby. Onward, Greg Alexander, who owned both Bishop and Mammoth Lakes, CA, Whiskey Creeks, was in business in the 1980s-2000s. And, current owners, the Schat family members (pronounced Scott in Dutch) have their own presence in the eastern Sierra since sheepherders’ bread and bakeries were household staples around here. The Schat bakeries are award-winning, artisan crafted businesses, and high quality, fresh ingredients are “the hallmark[s] of Schat’s Baking for more than 100 years.” (Historical references: Schat Bakery). Aaron Schat’s Roadhouse is also a Main Street restaurant, and the many business enterprises in and around Bishop, and the eastern Sierra, provide / employ hundreds of local, long-time residents. Talented staff, chefs and kitchen staff, bakers, bar tenders, hostesses / hosts, delivery people, grocery stores, caterers, food artists, office staff, and the hundreds of customer service staff create these successful ventures, and they are a vital part of the eastern Sierra’s memorable people, character and charm, towns, and lovely landscapes.
¡Enhorabuena!