The seafood tower was something else: the base held sweet and briny king crab legs. Next level up: massive shrimp and a cooked and cracked-for-us lobster – the kind we are accustomed to as residents of the northeast. On top was a perfect caviar service. We clinked our glasses of champagne and dug in.
Such a seafood feast implies a meal with an ocean view. However, this was our slopeside ski day lunch in a trailside yurt.
When it comes to a mountain resort nosh, that’s how they roll at Utah’s Deer Valley Ski Resort (https://www.deervalley.com/). While Deer Valley is known for top-tier lifts, trials, grooming, lessons and all the things that make a perfect ski experience, they’re just as kudo-worthy when it comes to food.
The choices all across the trails and base areas of the resort are plentiful and multiplying: this winter they debuted hundreds of acres of new skiing, where more foodie dream spots will be sprouting up. But even now, there are enough fabulous places to eat to make Deer Valley food-trip worthy. Here are some, but not all, of my favorites.
Fireside: Back in 2001, Deer Valley’s food and beverage team had a brilliant idea: Transform the resort’s Empire Canyon Lodge into a European flare dinner spot and use the many huge fireplaces to prepare each course. It worked. To this day, Fireside is offered Wednesday through Sunday nights each week and is hugely popular; enough that you’ll want to reserve way in advance.
The four course meal echoes the European Alps experience. From the guest favorite raclette cheese, to the meat roasted over an open fire to amazing desserts (and of course cocktails and an excellent wine list), you’ll be both wowed and charmed.
You can up the ambiance too by scheduling a horse-drawn sleigh to get you there. The free shuttles across the resort work well too.
Chute 11: When is a yurt a sublime ski food experience? When a DJ is on site spinning just the right background music and they serve dishes that astound you.
Chute 11, in its second year, is an unassuming-from-the-outside yurt at the Empire Canyon base that serves up fresh oysters, caviar, seafood towers, lobster mac and cheese sandwiches, craft cocktails and all the champagne you desire.
You can sit outside or in; or do what we do and split the difference: dine inside and then shift to a sunny outdoor table for dessert and bubbles. Chute 11 isn’t cheap, but you’ll always remember it – from the taste to the setting.
Deer Valley Turkey Chili: It’s said to be illegal to visit Deer Valley without scarfing down a bowl of their magnificent turkey chili. An in-house recipe that’s been beloved for decades, it is served at most every Deer Valley-owned dining spot across the resort. Not your everyday chili, the DV chili is a white-style chili (no tomatoes) with a velvety texture that comes from one of its semi-secret thickening ingredients: Creamed corn.
It’s hearty and flavorful and can you can even purchase a chili kit to make it at home.
Glitretind Skier’s Lunch Buffet: Stein Eriksen Lodge is a must visit (or stay if you can) at Deer Valley. Historic and charming – and named for the ski legend himself – it’s worth it to even swing through for a cocktail. But treat yourself and ski up to one of the most wide-ranging yet elegant buffet slopeside lunches in the biz.
Choices range from carved roast beef and turkey to so many cheeses to opulent desserts. The setting is beautiful and sun drenched with views of the slopes. You can up the experience by booking one of their Alpenglobes; your own little warm bubble to dine in right on the edge of the slopes.
There’s so much more: A few of the more of many musts to experience include the Dungeness crab tower at the Royal Street Cafe, the famed DV chocolate chip cookies (served pretty much everywhere) and a flashback to the 70’s experience at the Sticky Wicket where you can order a “Wong Banger,” the resort’s cocktail created in honor of freestyle ski legend Wayne Wong, who is an ambassador there.
Just next door to DV you can head to the Viking Yurt (https://www.vikingyurt.com/) for a one of a kind experience.
Park City’s main streets are just down the road, offering a whole other world of dining. No worries on indulging: you can ski it off.
