Reborn Reno steals the limelight from Las Vegas

Reno began as an opportunistically positioned log toll bridge across the Truckee that became a busy settlement after gold and silver were discovered in the area in the 1850s. The railroad soon arrived and Reno prospered in agriculture and business.

Silver prices eventually plummeted so, when the state of Nevada legalised open gambling in 1931 and further loosened its already liberal divorce laws, Reno opened its desperate doors to that world. By then, its unique tagline was already arched in lights across the main drag of Virginia Street.

Before the new millennium ticked over, Reno's gaming industry was seriously suffering from legislation changes in neighbouring states, particularly the advent of Californian tribal casinos. People no longer needed to travel all the way to Nevada now that slots and craps were in their own state. Then, during the global financial crisis of 2007-8, Reno's real estate market was one of the nation's hardest hit and its single-industry gaming economy buckled.

So, like a farm in a drought, Reno decided to diversify. Change also occurred naturally as people relocated from congested cites such as LA and San Francisco.

One of the biggest shifts has been in food.

Not so long ago, locals say, Reno was "a softball community that ate burgers and fries". Now, this desert-dwelling late bloomer is coming of age and these days farm-to-table is often on its lips. Several people privately confide in me, wide-eyed and flushed, about recently having their first home-grown tomato or organic meat.

One mover and shaker in this revolution is Mark Estee, who has his finger in the pie of various restaurants, including Campo. Estee develops his menus based on local seasonal availability and practises nose-to-tail and root-to-stalk to use each part of all ingredients. Nowadays, a summer's evening meal beside the Truckee has a distinctly European flavour.

Reno also has a food co-op and over summer there's a different farmers' market almost every day of the week. Bake sales have never gone out of style.

Once a week in the warm months locals flock to Idlewild Park after work on Food Truck Fridays, for everything from pulled pork burgers and vegan cabbage hand salads, to homemade mulberry ice-cream and local craft beer on tap. Some vendors have since opened a local restaurant, and the event has been so successful that some of the city's restaurants now have a food truck.

Sushi restaurants ride on the back of Reno casinos flying their buffet seafood in daily, and offer all-you-can-eat on their menus. Contrary to most all-you-can-eat scenarios, this one is actually a good deal on great food. Local tip: "If you don't choose the all-you-can-eat option your waiter will think you're weird."

Immigrants from Europe's Basque Country came to northern Nevada from around the 1880s, and some local sheep herders still speak Euskara. Restaurants such as Santa Fe and Louis' Basque Corner plonk you at a long table with strangers until that table is full – it's the Basque way. I end up in deep conversation with California's first elected female sheriff. We toast the table with Picon Punch, the so-called Basque cocktail of the West and now the official state drink, which is an interesting beverage to try once.

Louis' is on 4th Street, which stretches east from the city centre into what locals call the "seedy" end of Reno. It's been edging towards gentrification for the last decade and is now hitting its stride as indie businesses, from community bike shops to craft breweries, move in. The Depot brewery is in a historic railway building and Under the Rose has foosball, boules and a food truck often parked inside near the vats.

Wine and cocktail bars, such as 1864 Tavern, the Chapel, and Death & Taxes, are dotted throughout leafy historic midtown. In the outlying town of Fallon, Churchill Vineyard is the region's first estate winery and is also now producing Nevada's first legally distilled spirits.

Festivals are relatively non-stop in Reno, especially over summer, with events such as Gay Pride, River Fest, Stewart Indian School pow-wow, Octane Fest motorsports and Country Crossroads music festival. I happily catch BBQ, Brews and Blues. There's also a monthly Wine Walk, where $US20 buys a hand-painted glass and unlimited tastings at 24 locations.

Burning Man Festival is held in the Black Rock Desert about 200 kilometres north of Reno; its artworks are sometimes repurposed by the city. An articulated sculpture of the state's dinosaur, ichthyosaur, now hangs motionless yet still magnificent from the ceiling of kid-focused Discovery Museum. The official Burning Man hotel is Morris Burner, on 4th Street, where Jungle Jim hugs guests on arrival.

The annual Reno Rodeo is pushing a century, but there's nothing tired about this slick 10-day production. Every evening, cowboys compete in bronc and bull riding and steer roping, before cowgirls steal the show with the barrel racing. With inspirational music, local heroes and motorcycle stunt displays, it's one of the country's best. I extend my Reno stay to see more.

"People like to celebrate the outdoors here," locals say. Wingfield Park, in downtown Reno, is like a huge free waterpark where people fish, tube, raft, swim and boogie board the Truckee while the warm weather lasts. Various public runs and cycling events also leave from there. On the front of Whitney Peak Hotel is the world's highest climbing wall. Near Carson City, Wrangler Rich teaches me to canter a sandy riverbank, American-style, with the Sierra Nevada in view.

In winter, the inner-city skate park becomes an ice rink and, within 90 minutes of Reno, are 18 ski resorts, the highest concentration in North America.

Then there's Lake Tahoe.

Mention Tahoe to a Reno local and you might as well have whispered the name of their first love. North America's largest alpine lake is only a 45-minute drive from Reno and has more than 300 days of sunshine.

The so-called beginner-friendly Incline Flume Trail is one of the area's many mountain biking trails through outrageous wildflowers and with vertiginous views of the lake. When Tahoe's glassy, I launch a successful virgin voyage on a stand-up paddleboard. There's also a hiking track around the lake's 116-kilometre shoreline and a Shakespeare season at Sand Harbour. Over winter, there are 14 ski resorts within 95 kilometres of Incline Village, with Diamond Peak only a five-minute drive away.

Lake Tahoe drains into the Truckee River, which flows northeast for nearly 200 kilometres through Reno and into Pyramid Lake at Nixon near the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Museum and Visitor Centre. Among the exhibits, a wall of black and white photos introduces me to some faces of the local Native American communities.

Someone in Reno has decided that "Biggest Little City in the World" needs an update. Other locals think that's crazy talk and have launched a countermovement. They believe the original tagline perfectly defines the gritty, quirky, fun, wholesome, dynamic city they know and love.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

visitrenotahoe.com; gotahoenorth.com; travelnevada.com; discoveramerica.com

GETTING THERE

United Airlines flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Reno-Tahoe International Airport (via LA or San Francisco). See united.com. Collect a rental car at the airport from Alamo. See alamo.com.

STAYING THERE

Whitney Peak is a centrally located non-gaming hotel at 255 N Virginia Street, Reno. Rooms from $124 a night, see whitneypeakhotel.com.

Hyatt Lake Tahoe is lakeside at 111 Country Club Drive, Incline Village. Rooms from $208 a night, see laketahoe.hyatt.com.

DINING THERE

Campo, 50 N Sierra Street, Reno, see camporeno.com; Lone Eagle Grill, Hyatt Lake Tahoe, 111 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, see laketahoe.hyatt.com.

The writer travelled as a guest of Nevada Commission on Tourism, Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority, Grand Sierra Resort, North Lake Tahoe Resort Association and Lake Tahoe Accommodations.