Sunny Cafe del Rio makes a home in snowy Virginia City

VIRGINIA CITY - Brian and Ardi Shaw have settled down for good. And so has Cafe del Rio, their sun-splashed southwestern restaurant, which has opened and closed in three different places in Carson City.

After three years out of operation, the Shaws will open Cafe del Rio in Virginia City on Feb. 3. It will operate inside the old Cider Factory building on South B Street until renovations on the historic Werrin building are completed.

Ardi Shaw said their love of the Cider Factory building may bring them to open a Grande del Rio inside the historic building they bought nine months ago, and call this one Poco del Rio.

The Shaws said they are making Virginia City their retirement home. Their time in Carson City was marked by a series of unfortunate events that may have caused other restaurateurs to throw in the dish towel.

Their first restaurant on South Carson Street closed after a fire. The Shaws lost their lease on the Rinckel Mansion. When the ownership of the St. Charles was up in the air three years ago, Brian Shaw decided to take a corporate chef job in Lake Tahoe.

Cafe del Rio is between two units of Edith Palmer's Country Inn. A stone path leads guests up to a salmon and sage-green building sitting at the base of a snow-covered hill. He estimates it has cost about $10,000 to move into the Cider Factory.

Brian Shaw said Edith Palmer converted this building from a cider factory, hence the name etched on glass windows and on several other details around the 1,300-square- foot cafe. Palmer used it as an exclusive dining room from the 1950s to the '70s.

The brick-walled dining room is warmed by a fireplace and thick paisley carpet. Other details catch the eye, including a floral stained glass accent above the kitchen door and an iron candle holder that covers the back wall like English ivy. Built in the 1860s, many a famous face has graced the Cider Factory's sunlit dining room, including Marilyn Monroe and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

The Shaws bought a house on B Street that's just a short walk from the cafe. It clings to the side of the cliff, just above the Werrin building, but that doesn't cause Ardi Shaw any fear. She grew up in the Bay area.

In this frontier town they are seeking to evoke a Spanish atmosphere. Cafe del Rio gets its name from a Texas town on the Rio Grande.

"I just liked the way it sounds," he said. "I've been through it once and that stuck in my mind."

Framed pictures of Southwestern icons, such as American Indian baskets, lean up against the wall, waiting to be hung. Before they ever opened in Carson City, Shaw said, they looked into Virginia City.

"The seasonality of the place kind of scared us off, its booms and its busts," he said. "But we've always liked its character."

The Shaws are content to rent the old Cider Factory until renovations on the Werrin building are completed. He said the Werrin building, which was built in 1873, should be completed in the late summer. The first floor will be used as the restaurant, and the 11 rooms upstairs could be used as an inn.

Carson City sous chef Mark Benamati will once again take the chef's hat at Cafe del Rio. He has worked with the Shaws at the St. Charles and the Rinckel Mansion restaurants.

Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.

NEW HOME

Cafe del Rio

420 S. B St.,

Virginia City

847-5151

The cafe will have a full bar and serve brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Dinner begins at 5 p.m. with such entrées as Yucatan enchiladas, chipotle-rubbed ribeye and steak and scampi.

The menu will range in price from $8 to $20.

In the winter, Cafe del Rio will be open Thursday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and for brunch.

Summer hours have yet to be set.