By Mary Orlin, Bay Area News Group

After 38 years, Tahoe City’s Wolfdale’s is a dining institution. When the restaurant first opened in Homewood, chef Douglas Dale’s mix of Japanese, Italian and California flavors was revelatory.

Now Dale has chronicled his culinary journey and the evolution of his restaurant, which moved to Tahoe City in 1986, in a new cookbook “Wolfdale’s Cuisine Unique” (Wolfdale’s Publishing, $35). Among the chef’s charming tales: Dale credits being a “cookie passer” in his New York kindergarten class with his career inspiration. And his fascination with Japanese culture and cuisine began during a college study-abroad stint in that country.

That experience still influences Wolfdale’s approach.

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