Hope Valley Cafe and Market prepares for upcoming season

Hope Valley Cafe and Market is off to a good start in 2009, after having taken over the operation at Hope Valley Resort late last summer. Having had a good run through last fall and the recent holiday season, Woodfords resident Leesa Lopazanski opens her doors everyday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. to offer hearty breakfast and lunch menus, her New York-style cheesecakes, original-recipe scones, a variety of desserts and baked goods and beer-on-tap.

After studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Actor's Studio in New York City and a professional acting/make-up artist career, Lopazanski brought her cheesecakes out west. From 1997 to 2000, she opened and operated two coffee shops in South Lake Tahoe: Coffee Thyme and Hot Gossip. Since then, she has become a proficient baker and perfected the dough for what she calls a killer scone. She is now obsessed with pies and creatively tries them every which way.

One of Lopazanski's more recent entrepreneurial successes was in creating an energy bar in 2004 for the active outdoor Tahoe lifestyle. The Tahoe Trail Bar energy snack is based with peanut butter for sustainability while doing sports or exercising. The Tahoe Trail Bars have been a solid success for many years, and are available at her Hope Valley Cafe and Market, as well as other retail establishments throughout the Tahoe Basin, Carson Valley, Carson City, and Reno areas.

Perfecting veggie and meat burgers, soups, salads, shakes and desserts, Lopazanski took over the Hope Valley Resort's Cafe and Market with high hopes of providing good quality, healthful foods and market products.

Open all year from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Lopazanski also offers specialty coffee drinks, beer-on-tap, a selection of fine wines, basic grocery supplies, ice and camping/recreation supplies. Her cafe also features a wall-mounted television for enjoying sports or special event viewing. Lopazanski also offers catering services.

"They are all very hungry up here on the top of the mountain," she said. "That's what I do " feed people."

Hope Valley Resort and Campground, where Hope Valley Cafe and Market is stationed, is located approximately one mile east of the Highways 88/89 junction in Hope Valley, approximately 20 miles south of Lake Tahoe and 14 miles east of Kirkwood. It is nestled in the forest along the cascading West Fork Carson River at the top of Woodfords Canyon.

It is a sister resort of Sorensen's Resort and operated under a special use permit with the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

While Hope Valley Cafe and Market is open all year, the campground opens the first day of the fishing season, the last weekend in April through October, weather permitting. Camping accommodations include full RV hookups, drive-in and walk-in campsites, a classic 1947 Spartan self-catering trailer and Hope Valley House, and a comfortable three-bedroom/two bath vacation home overlooking the river.

For more information, lodging and camping reservations, call Sorensen's Resort at (800) 423-9949.

To reach the Hope Valley Cafe and Market, call (530) 694-2323 or visit www.sorensensresort.com or www.hopevalleyresort.com.