Breakfast at Cafe DeLuxe, followed by lunch at Z Pie, then adieu to Reno. Holiday Trip to Las Vegas and Reno, Part 14 January 3, 2014

UPDATE: Z-Pie in Reno has since closed.

It was my last morning in Reno, and travel anxiety kicked in, though I'd have rather not come home quite just yet.

Yvonne took me to a popular haunt for breakfast, Cafe DeLuxe on S. Wells just a couple blocks north of the intersection with S. Virginia. Yvonne ordered a delightfully simple plate of scrambled eggs with avocado slices and sourdough toast, while I tried the Eggs Tacos with melted cheese, fried egg, black bean salsa, sour cream, and avocado, nestled in an organic soft corn tortilla. I added on a side of bacon from humanely raised pigs, quite possibly lightly killed. Each plate was garnished with a wee apple.

The combination of fried egg and avocado was refreshingly clean tasting. The added ingredients accentuated the overall flavor, heightened even more so by the oh-so-slightly crispened corn tortilla. No mealy masa here.

Pop art on the wall in Java Jungle.

I spent most of my morning downtown, zipping from casino to casino in a vain attempt to find a coffee shop without a lengthy queue. At the Silver Legacy the combined effect of frustration and cigarette smoke drove me out to the streets, and on to where I should have went in the first place… Java Jungle (now The Jungle).

With coffee in hand I retraced my steps back downtown, then further north to Walgreens – perched on a massive block-spanning bridge over Interstate 80 – for meat sticks and a gallon of water for the return trip home.

I then walked back almost as far south and west to revisit Noble Pie Parlor [see blog post] for some much needed slices, but that day's crew was quite occupied with other patrons and did not appear to be multitasking well. After a five minute wait for service I left in a huff for lunch elsewhere, eventually settling down at Z Pie on West St.

There I ordered the Spicy Black Bean Chili with Tofu Pie and a Tomato Basil Bisque soup. The soup wasn’t anything remarkable and could easily have come from a can. The pie on the other hand was substantial and filling.

With tofu, tomatoes, onions, black beans, bell peppers, poblano, cilantro, chipotle in a seasoned adobe sauce, it was pleasing to the palate, both in texture and taste. The pie crust was flaky and structurally sound. Overall it was quite good.

I spent the afternoon lounging at the Amtrak station and pacing the length on the Reno Trench, until the eastbound California Zephyr arrived, and I boarded for the long ride back to Iowa.

Dinner that night was the same awful pasta dish I had choked down days before on the westbound Southwest Chief [see blog post]. I fished out the bucatelli and edamame, and ate half a slice of cheesecake to compensate.

The only fresh air break we had on the long haul across northern Nevada was in Winnemucca. I had to forego stretching my legs much to accommodate a shot of insulin in my belly while the train was stationary.