My husband, Stephen, and I have back to back birthdays and so we usually will take a fun trip as a birthday present to ourselves. Thus far we’ve done Zihuatanejo, Mexico and Santa Barbara. This year, after having a fantastic skiing experience in Red Lodge Montana over New Years, we decided to go skiing at Park City. Neither of us had been before. We were particularly attracted to it because there are direct flights to Salt Lake City from Austin and the drive to the ski area is only about 40 minutes! Additionally, there were supposed to be excellent restaurants. We were not disappointed on either front.
Park City is a quaint little town with a main street full of little shops and restaurants. There are three main ski resort areas - Park City Resort, Deer Valley Resort and The Canyons. We skied Park City Resort and Deer Valley. Park City was particularly convenient for us since we stayed down town - there’s a lift straight out of town up to the resort. Additionally, the range of runs is amazing! We highly recommend going there! Deer Valley is more luxurious and doesn’t allow snow boarders. While we really liked the cushy experience, we found
the runs to be really great for intermediate-advanced skiers, but not beginners. Stephen just began skiing over New Years, so we skied all of the greens. If you’re a beginner, we would recommend Park City; intermediate or advanced, check out Deer Valley!
Below, our dining experiences:
60 Main Street
Park City, UT 84060
435 - 649-9108
Zoom is located in a beautiful old building that actually used to be a train depot. It is owned by Robert Redford and part of his Sundance empire. The restaurant is laid back but rustically elegant. The food is similarly comforting with Americana favorites. We particularly enjoyed the buffalo onion rings and the grilled pork tenderloin with pistachio mole and whipped yams. Yum! The wine list is California focused, but has a nice variety. While not necessarily going to knock your socks off, a meal here will definitely satisfy after a hard day on the slopes.
201 Heber Avenue
Park City, UT 84068
435-658-2500
We stopped in here for a quick drink before dinner on our first night in Park City. It has a nice little wine list and a well-equipped bar. I had a Qupé Viognier and Stephen had a local beer, Squatters Hop Rising Double IPA (a whopping 9% alcohol!). The decor is on the modern side, but the seating was still comfy. Also, there is a nice view over Park City out to the mountains. Stop by for an après-ski drink.
2300 Deer Valley Drive East
Park City, Utah 84060
435 940.5760
I had high hopes for the J&G Grill as it is a Jean-Georges Vongerichten venture (I fell in love with his food dining at the Mercer Kitchen almost ten years ago, egad!). Unfortunately, I was less than pleased with our dining experience. The restaurant is very elegant and luxurious with a large fireplace and windows overlooking the gorgeous mountain views. The menu is Americana with a bit of fusion thrown in. I really enjoyed their goat cheese fondue - served with roasted beets, grapes, walnuts and endive - as well as their passion fruit souffle (I have a small passion fruit addiction). Stephen’s filet mignon was prepared to perfection. Now for the cons. I found the waitstaff to be wanting. They were polite, but left us sittin
g forever before bringing us water or our next course, etc. The sommelier was awful. I was excited because the wine list was supposed to be great. We get there and everything has been marked up 300-400%, literally; the average price was $100+! When I asked the sommelier about his Rhone offerings, he only recommended the
most expensive bottle - $300 - and then when I demurred he muttered a few things about vintages before scuttling away. Highly irritating. Overall, I think this place thinks extremely highly of its self but has yet to deliver!
Spruce at Dakota Mountain Lodge
2100 Frostwood Drive
Park City, UT 84098
435-647-5566
Spruce, a San Francisco transplant, is located in the brand new Dakota Mountain Lodge. It is gorgeous. All dark mahogany, delicate, filigree chandeliers, and soft leathers inside. The service is excellent - our waiter was very helpful and the sommelier was fantastic (a great contrast to J&G Grill). We each started with a glass of white wine - I had one of the many Reislings on offer and Stephen had a Malvasia - and then split a half bottle of a Bandol. The food was interesting - a strong farm to market focus combined with subtle exotic flavors. I had a roasted chicken coated in Moroccan spices while Stephen had a lovely elk loin wrapped in bacon. The desserts were tasty as well! A lovely, elegant experience - I highly recommend!
Glitretind Restaurant at Stein Eriksen Lodge
7700 Stein Way
Park City, Utah 84060
435-649-3700
The Stein Eriksen Lodge is a 5-star hotel located in the heart of the Deer Valley Resort. It is the epitome of ski-in ski-out. Stephen and I had brunch at the Glitretind Restaurant on our last day in Park City. It was one of those all you can eat buffets, but oh the quality. We had several kinds of smoked salmon and trout, huevos rancheros, sushi, roast tenderloin, salads, a smorgasbord of desserts. All of it was well-prepared and delicious. Plus we had a view of the mountains before us. The lodge is rustic, but elegant with a lot of pine wood, leather, and woven fabrics. If you can afford to stay here, I would. If you can’t, at least check it out for a meal. I hear that dinner is fabulous as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment