If you have driven by the old Mellow Fellow building at the state line in North Lake Tahoe and wondered what has gone into the space, you’re not alone. While the inside and outside of the building has gone through a complete makeover, there is no signage out front to let people know what lies inside.  

Even searching online brings up limited information, which is partly by design by the restaurant that’s serving up a unique dining experience for its guests. Smoke Door – Lake Tahoe Saryo doesn’t currently have a website and the only way to contact them is via phone – or by walking through its doors.  

“The owners definitely don’t want to have a sign. They want to be very incognito,” says maître d Ria Kim. “They want to be very hidden and the people who know, know, or don’t, don’t.”  

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The Lake Tahoe location is a sister restaurant to the other Smoke Door operation in Yokohama, Japan, both opened in part by executive chef Tyler Burges. Burges is currently at the Japan location leaving head chef Phillip Mireles to lead the cooking duties.  

“This was supposed to be a sushi place initially – that was going to be the concept before Smoke Door got involved. That’s why it has the Japanese feel to it,” says Mireles.  “After Yokohama got started, this was on the back burner and once that was up and running, they started in on Tahoe.” 

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According to Kim the Tahoe location goes back about three years when Burges was flown to Japan as part of a pop-up restaurant where one of the Smoke Door owners was attending. They liked Burges’ personality and cooking style and a friend that was also attending the pop-up mentioned the location in Tahoe. And in mid-July of last year, the Kings Beach location opened its doors.  

“During that time it was a totally different concept,” added Kim. “It was just an al-a-carte menu so people could just walk in and order things off the menu. We had to pivot because the guests would come in and leave after just one dish and we really wanted to showcase what we were up to so that’s why we changed it to a tasting menu.” 

Guests have the option for either a six or ten item tasting (with choice of main entrée) at a fixed price. Guests also have the option for a beverage pairing that includes everything from their signature cocktail (their take on a lemon sour), to sake, to wine.  

“We do try to accommodate for allergies or dietary restrictions and we can also come up with a vegetarian tasting menu,” adds Mireles. “A lot of it is seasonal, and for the most part, smoke is the consistent factor – either smoke or directly over the embers from the hearth. That’s what ties the food together.” 

One of those dishes that’s getting buzz from customers is their avocado toast, which is something that Burges brought to Yokohama.  

“It’s one of those things that we can’t get rid of,” jokes Mireles.  

The dish is made with country bread that comes from a local bakery in Reno where it is cut into planks and served with a house made sauce containing brown butter and tamari and thinly sliced avocados before getting finished off with a spritzing of their citronette, which includes their house-made dashi.  

Mireles adds that another dish that people like is their sashimi course. The fish is picked by a person at their Yokohama location and then flown two to three times a week to the Reno airport.  

Kim also mentions that the restaurant has a bar program.  

“People are more than welcome to walk in and ask if we have seating at the bar. We have an a-la-carte menu and if someone wants half a chicken, they can get it or just try a few things and order drinks. Everything is tailored, so if someone wants to do a wine paring or sake pairing they can do that – it’s totally up to them.” 

The restaurant only has seating for about 24 to 26 guests and the first seating starts at 5:30 p.m., with the last seating capped at 7:30 p.m. Depending on which tasting and the guests pacing, the whole experience could last about two and a half hours.  

Because of the hidden nature of the business most of their guests have simply come from word of mouth and Kim says that about 80% have been locals. 

Whether locals or visitors, each guest is sure to have a distinctive dining experience with attention to food at the forefront – something that Mireles stresses.  

“For me, I don’t want to compromise – even if it’s hard. That’s the bottom line.” 

Smoke Door – Lake Tahoe Saryo is located at 9980 N Lake Tahoe Blvd in Kings Beach. For reservations or more information they can be reached at 530-553-1064.