Last month, a brand new restaurant opened its doors, offering diners an opportunity to try culturally diverse farm-to-fork food at their downtown Angels Camp location.
Red Ridge Restaurant, owned by Angels Camp couple Ken and Madeline Anderson, features a monthly changing menu of diverse foods made from local ingredients.
“The plan always was that we were going to start doing kind of a farm here and a ranch here, and ultimately use the products that we produce in a farm-to-fork or farm-to-table restaurant,” said Ken.
The Andersons moved to their Calaveras County ranch—called Red Ridge Ranch—on Bear Mountain in Angels Camp two years ago, with a four-year plan to start a farm-to-fork restaurant. When they saw an opportunity to start a restaurant in Angels Camp, however, they “decided to jump instead of waiting for our four years,” explained Ken.
The couple, who describe themselves as “huge foodies,” say that they have been cooking together “pretty much since the day [they] met” and created the restaurant to fill a niche that they found missing in the local food scene.
“The idea was a place that we would like to go out to dinner,” said Ken.
At their new restaurant, the Andersons’ goal is to source as many local ingredients as possible. The restaurant currently sources produce from Central Valley growers, but owners say they are “excited about working with local farms and local producers to bring some great tastes to the county.”
“We think local is best. … Farm to fork means you try and stay as close to the community as you can,” said Ken.
Serving dinner Thursday through Sunday, breakfast Wednesday through Saturday, and Sunday brunch, the restaurant seeks to provide something for everybody with their menu crafted from locally sourced and organic foods.
“Traditional, upscale breakfast” options include a skillet dish of potatoes, tomato, onion, mushroom, peppers, cheese and eggs with a choice of fresh ham, bacon, or housemade sausage. Other options are eggs Benedict with housemade hollandaise and choice of meat, a frittata egg muffin with veggies and choice of meat, and quiche.
The restaurant also makes its own fruit compote and jam in-house, and offers locally made Todd’s Bread sourdough for toast. Motherlode Coffee, roasted in Sonora, is offered alongside juices and teas. For Sunday brunch, waffles and sparkling champagne and mimosas are a special treat.
The current dinner menu features Italian dishes like spaghetti Bolognese with housemade meatballs and Italian sausage, chicken Parmigiana, shrimp scampi, and potato gnocchi. The Andersons say they plan to offer a beef, pork, chicken, fish and vegetarian option with each menu, to “make everybody happy.” They also offer local wine from Aloria Vineyards and ice cream from local JoMa’s Artisan Ice Cream.
The cozy restaurant on Main Street has family-style banquet seating along one wall, which Ken says is an “homage to the gold miner days, to the history of the town” that allows guests to introduce themselves to one another. On the other wall, a bar with counter seating serves a selection of local wines and beer.
Madeline, who serves as the restaurant’s head chef, uses her learned experience to create the restaurant’s upscale menu. Madeline’s background is in the salon industry—she still owns and operates Red’s Salon, which sits across from the couple’s new restaurant on Main Street.
Ken, whose background includes real estate, sales, and business management, said of his wife, “She is super creative. I think that’s why cooking is such a great outlet for her creativity.”
Ken also said that Madeline “is an amazing cook/chef,” adding, “she has an excellent palate and really knows how to put spices and flavors together.”
Madeline first learned to cook from her Irish mother and grandmother. Then, when she married her first husband who had a Sicilian family, she learned about Sicilian food traditions. Her former in-laws shared their culinary knowledge with her.
“You go over there every night, and they teach you how to cook,” said Madeline.
The young woman’s culinary education didn’t stop there. A friend introduced her to Thai food, giving her a Thai cookbook. After that, she began to branch out to more exotic foods and spices.
“I just started experimenting with every single spice I could possibly imagine, and I’ve been doing that for 32 years,” said Madeline.
Living in the culturally diverse Bay Area also informed both Madeline and Ken’s food knowledge, where they were exposed to Japanese, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Persian, and Filipino food.
Madeline said she “got really invested” in learning how to make these culturally diverse foods. Having access to authentic spices was key.
Seven years ago, after relocating to Calaveras County, Madeline discovered Murphys-based store, The Spice Tin, which quickly became a favorite source of culinary spices.
“I finally found a place where they have the true spices, not grocery store stuff. It’s real, authentic, and I loved it,” she said.
The couple’s new restaurant in Angels Camp will use The Spice Tin’s spices to season dishes from their culturally diverse menu. The menu will change every couple of weeks, allowing Madeline to show off her skills with a sampling of the wide variety of foods she has learned to make.
So far, the Andersons say they have received “a lot of local support.”
“Everybody we've talked to has been very, very positive about [saying] ‘we want you guys to be successful. We’re really excited about having a new restaurant in Angels Camp,’” said Ken.
“One of the reasons we were so excited about doing a restaurant here is because the folks in Angels Camp and Calaveras County are just awesome,” said Ken.
Madeline says she loves hearing from customers, who so far have only had positive things to say.
“They’re just really enjoying having good, fresh food,” she said.
The Andersons have worked hard to ensure the freshness of the food, getting fresh produce delivered daily and making nearly everything by hand.
“The thing we feel is that the best ingredients make the best food. Having fresh ingredients going in is going to make the best food coming out,” said Ken.
The couple says that they believe in “going back to the roots of food,” looking back to the early gold rush days, when food was always purchased from local producers.
Red Ridge Restaurant is located at 1259 S Main Street in Angels Camp. For more information, follow them on Facebook, call (916) 257-4663, or email redridgerestaurant@gmail.com.
This article has been updated from its original version.