News stations rumbled with rumors of a max exodus from Reno Public Market in May after Wandering Wyld and Far Out by Coalition Snow closed their retail stores. Then, food vendors Fuego Street Tacos and Brazilian Gourmet followed suit.
However, as favorites left the food court concept, others moved in. Among those was Cuzco Peruvian Cuisine, the newest vendor to join Reno Public Market on July 28 (which happens to be Peruvian Independence Day), the pasta concept Pasta La Vista and a second location of DOPO.
After being announced in May, Cuzco opened with much fanfare and a line stretching outside the RPM doors before opening at 11 a.m. They remained so busy throughout the day that they closed on July 29 due to a lack of ingredients.
Their menu focuses on traditional cuisine from Peru, where Owner Roberto Caballero was born.
Peruvian food is best described as a mix of flavors from all over the world. Popular dishes on the menu, like ceviche, hail from Japan, and arroz chaufa (a version of fried rice), comes from China.
The arroz chaufa from Cuzco is a delicious chicken fried rice made to order. The lomo saltado is another stand-out dish on the menu. Traditionally, it’s beef stir fry, but this version is made with filet mignon. The meat is cooked in a variety of spices that add many flavors, making it stand out from other versions of the meal.
The menu itself is small, with just a handful of items. One of those items, however, is alfajores, a Peruvian dessert made with shortbread sandwich cookies stuffed with caramel dulce de leche filling. The result is a perfectly soft shortbread cookie sprinkled with powdered sugar and boasting a sweet, creamy inside.
Pasta La Vista may have been new to the market when it opened in March, but it wasn’t Owner Can Uzay’s first RPM storefront. The computer engineer turned restaurateur also owns Mediterranean Bae, which opened in 2023.
We’ve already reviewed this punny pasta eatery, which made its mark by serving pasta made inside a Parmigiano Reggiano cheese wheel imported from Italy.
DOPO @ RPM, which opened in February, is a second iteration of the popular Midtown restaurant owned by Greg Buchheister, who also owns Coffeebar. While the ownership is the same, the concept is a pared-down version of the bigger space on Lawrence Avenue.
The RPM menu caters to a fast-casual crowd instead of nighttime diners looking for cool cocktails and date-night vibes. You’ll notice that DOPO @ RPM is serving mostly Neapolitan pizzas. There are a few favorites from the original menu, but there’s also the option to build-your-own 12-inch pie. You can even order gluten-free crust for an upcharge.
In addition to pizzas like the Cherrypicker (house-made tomato sauce covered in mozzarella and burrata cheese, cherry tomatoes, basil, balsamic glaze and cracked pepper) and Tony’s NYC (house-made tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, Italian sausage and oregano), there are wood-fired starters like warmed focaccia bread served with tomato sauce, a parma panini made with prosciutto and basil and meatballs with a side of focaccia bread.
Among those still slated for a 2024 opening are the chicken concept Chick-a-boom, which was announced alongside Cuzco in May but does not have a set opening date, and an unnamed poke place. FiftyFifty Brewing also plans to open in 2024, as does Beloved’s Bread, which has a private entrance and is a much larger concept than most of RPM’s tenants.
