Blog

Outdoor Dining

By Ramon Gomez, Jr.
Jul 29, 2020

Judy and I have enjoyed eating dinner out on our deck this summer, but sometimes we still like to get out. This week we are sharing the outdoor dining options in Park City and the surrounding areas. And, as with all public gathering places these days, please wear a mask, maintain social distancing and stay home if you are feeling sick.

The Park City Restaurant Association has lots of information about dining in Park City as well as a current list of all open establishments (over 50 are open now) - click here to see them. While restaurants are following guidelines to ensure that dining in a Park City restaurant is safe; some businesses are taking additional steps to protect our community further by including additional social distancing measures, arriving at a specific time or the adoption of no walk-in policies.

Main Street in Historic Park City is also a little different this summer as Sundays are now car-free. The Historic Park City Alliance announced car-free Main Street Sundays will go through September 6, 2020. The 0.8-mile stretch of shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants invites merchants to expand into the street to welcome visitors to the district. Cars will be prohibited on the street from 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. On-street dining, shopping, and experiences will vary each week.

There are many beautiful places in Utah with outdoor dining options and Melissa Fields of Ski Utah shares some of the other Utah mountain towns and resort restaurants serving up great food—with a side of fantastic views—on outdoor patios for the 2020 summer season in Bluebird Day Summer Dining.

Little Cottonwood Canyon  - At Alta Ski Area, The Snowpine Lodge's Gulch Pub patio is open daily from 12 a.m. - 8 p.m. Wednesday - Sunday. The Alta Lodge will open for Saturday lunch (dine-in and take-out, noon - 2 p.m.) on August 1; Sunday Brunch service begins on August 2 (9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., reservations required).

Down canyon at Snowbird, the patios at Snowbird SeventyOne and The Forklift are open daily. Or head into the Snowbird Center to grab a sandwich from Snowbird General Gritts, a pie from Tram Car Pizza or coffee and housemade pastry from Baked & Brewed to enjoy on the ‘Bird’s large Plaza Deck.

Big Cottonwood Canyon - The iconic Silver Fork Lodge and Restaurant located just 1.5 miles west of Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon, is open daily for the summer season (8 a.m. - 8 p.m.). Dine inside the restaurant or on the lodge’s large back patio. Or grab food to-go from the Silver Spoon Food Truck, parked in the lodge’s upper parking lot Wednesday through Sunday (noon - 7 p.m.).

Millcreek Canyon - The rustically charming Log Haven serves dinner nightly on its cool and verdant patio surrounded by the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. 

Park City - While several restaurants operate seasonal patios along Park City’s Historic Main Street in warm weather months, on Sundays this summer, the entire thoroughfare is dedicated to walkers, cyclists and outdoor dining. During Car-free Sundays, cars are prohibited on Park City’s Main Street from 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. through September 6, 2020. On-street dining, shopping and experiences will vary each week.

At Deer Valley Resort, the deck is open (8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.) at the Deer Valley Grocery ~ Café—as is Pebble Beach, the stand-up paddleboard beach and pond located adjacent to the café’s deck. On June 26, the patio Royal Street Cafe opened for the summer season (11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., daily).

Sundance Mountain Resort is serving up tasty meals at the Foundry Grill by reservation only with plenty of outdoor seating, as well as grab-and-go options from The Deli and Foodtruck on the lawn. Snag a table and enjoy a sandwich with breathtaking views of Mount Timpanogos. 

Over in the Heber Valley, the same culinary team responsible for Tupelo Park City, is opening Heber City’s newest eatery, Afterword. There, local producers will be highlighted in a farm-to-table experience on Afterword’s spacious patio.

For hungry hikers, climbers and bikers traveling to or from the 450,000-plus-acre High Uintas Wilderness (located east of Kamas along the Mirror Lake Highway), a stop at Samak Smokehouse & Country Store for a sandwich, stickie, smoked trout or cold drinks (and Uintas Recreation Passes) is de rigueur. For those looking to stick around awhile at this Wasatch Back institution, check out the Smokehouse’s Summer BBQ, held outside on the lawn next to the smokehouse on Sunday nights (5 to 8 p.m.) through Labor Day weekend.

Whether you are dining at home or at your favorite local restaurant - our friends at Alpine Distilling have wonderful, locally crafted spirits that are an expression of the rejuvenative effects of time spent outdoors. When Alpine Distilling isn’t making hand sanitizer to help combat Covid-19 they’re busy crafting award-winning spirits that capture the taste of life in a mountain town. Alpine donates a percentage of proceeds to the Park City Swaner Nature Preserve, the Utah Olympic Park, and many other local nonprofit organizations and community initiatives.

Alpine Distilling specializes in botanically-inspired spirits, gin, and spiced bourbon. Their unique Preserve Liqueur was inspired by sunset at the Swaner Nature Preserve and encapsulates notes of blood orange, black tea, raspberry, lemon balm, and ginger. This inspired liqueur just earned Double-Gold Medals at both the World Spirit Awards and London’s Women Wine & Spirit Awards. Their Alpine Gin also scored Double-Gold at London’s Women Wine & Spirit Award. Try this lovely recipe tonight:

ALPINE DISTILLING'S THYME TO PRESERVE

  • 1.5oz. Alpine Gin
  • 0.5oz. Preserve Liqueur
  • 0.75oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 0.5oz. Cane Syrup
  • 2-3 Sprigs of Freshly Cut Thyme
  • 1-2 Lemon Slices
Preparation - Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Cover and shake well until chilled. Double strain over fresh ice and garnish with lemon slices and a fresh sprig or two of thyme.

Tags: Park City, Utah, Food, Outside, Alpine Distilling, Dining
Posted in Local Events, Things To Do in Park City, Food and Beverage | 0 Responses to "Outdoor Dining"

Our Park City Gin Adventure

By Ramon Gomez, Jr.
Aug 29, 2018

As Summer comes to a close the wife and I have gotten out as much as possible and wanted to share some of the fun things happening in Park City. We always like to get out on the water and hike with our dog Zorro, but last week we visited our friends at Alpine Distilling and made our own Gin right on Main Street in Park City. We had an amazing time and wanted to share Visit Park City's Gin Making Experience article to give the inside scoop on the coolest event in town.

Park City businesses Alpine Distilling and 350 Main Brasserie have partnered together to give adults the ultimate educational experience: gin making. While kids are preparing for days back in the classroom, visitors and locals 21+ can reserve a spot to spend an evening learning about and making their very own bottle of gin with a team from Alpine Distilling while dining on a 4-course gourmet dinner prepared by 350 Main's Executive Chef Matthew Safranek.

Upon arrival to 350 Main- an upscale mountain dining restaurant serving contemporary American cuisine- located on Historic Main Street, guests of the gin making experience work their way downstairs to the private Vintage Room. Newly renovated to include a distilling laboratory, this cozy environment is arranged with a private dining table for the group, each place holder equipped with a flight of four unnamed gin samples.

To kick off the night, Founder of Alpine Distilling, Rob Sergent, highlights the bar topped with glass jars full of botanicals. These are the tools to create aroma notes and flavor profiles of the desired taste. Upon explanation that gin is, in short, plain vodka infused with botanicals- fifty percent of which must be Juniper- and diffused, or “cut” with fifty percent water, the group of guests pick out the botanicals of their choice by creating and weighing out their own ratios. Depending on the number of stills set up in the lab compared to the party size, guests may need to pair up with a friend to concoct one bottle of gin to share. Currently Alpine Distilling is able to provide one 750 ml-size bottle per still. Here is a sample of botanicals that may be found in gin: Herbal mint, rose hips, cinnamon, cucumber, lavender flower, licorice root, carnation, ginger root, coriander, pepper, rye, orris root (from an iris plant), malted barley, orange peel, celery, anise, carrot, grapefruit peel, chamomile, corn and, of course, juniper. Note that the options are pretty endless, and botanicals can include floral, spicy, grainy and fruity components. Alpine Distilling has set up a nice assortment to provide a range of flavor preferences.

Once each person or pair has established their flavor profiles in a copper bowl, the experts step in to set up the stills while guests enjoy a two-hour gin tasting and dinner experience- enough time to allow the distillation process to turn plain Alpine Distilling vodka into a personalized gin creation so that, by the end of dinner, guests can take home their personalized bottles. Distillers work behind a glass door to set up each guest or pair’s unique “recipe” while Rob treats guests to scent sticks of aromatic notes and has the group continually taste each unidentified glass of gin in front of them to appreciate how dominant, binding, and accent notes bring out different qualities and flavor appreciations.

Throughout the evening, Executive Chef Matthew Safranek brings out four-courses of his own creation to highlight impeccable flavor pairings, aligning with the key takeaway of the evening: that having fun with flavor and creativity mean a lot for not only gin, but for delectable menu items. By the end of the meal, guests will have experience approximately 10 different aromatic scents, surprising themselves with how much those aromas can change their appreciation for the different gin sample. The evening is an opportunity to learn more about an often times lesser-known alcohol, and leave with a personalized bottle of delicious liquor.

To reserve your space for the Gin Experience, please call 350 Main Brasserie at 435-649-3140 and ask about availability. Bottles of Alpine Distilling’s gin, whiskey, bourbon, liqueur and vodka are on display at the restaurant and can be purchased onsite.

Though this glorious Park City summer is coming to a close and the area’s main claim to fame—snow—is still on its brief hiatus, calling fall the “off-season” is simply a misnomer. But since weeklong vacations are a rarity for most of us, Park City Magazine has put together a itinerary for an idyllic 48 hours in Utah’s most famous mountain town; one that, while nowhere near comprehensive, hits many of the highlights, both well-known and more obscure in Celebrating Summer’s Last Hurrah with a Jam-packed 48 Hours in Park City by Park City Magazine.

Friday - 5 p.m. - Check in to the Washington School House Hotel - Built in 1889 as a working school to service families flocking to Park City during the 19thcentury’s silver mining boom, this historic building has been meticulously restored and luxuriously appointed in a way that’s anything but old fashioned.

7 p.m. - Take in a live show - Mosey down to Main Street for a cocktail and soak up some wicked riffs and vocals at The Spur Bar & Grill (live music nightly). Big name acts also make their way to these here hills. So, if that autumn sojourn happens to align perfectly with, for example, Jason Mraz’s September 3 show at Deer Valley’s Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater, pack a picnic and hop a free city bus to the gorgeous on-slope setting. The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts and The Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre also host shows of note this fall: the Egyptian’s classic Charles Dickens tale Oliver!, September 7–16; and The New Chinese Acrobats’ circus spectacular on October 26 (The Eccles Center).

9 p.m. -Late supper at Shabu - More than 200 eateries dot the Park City landscape but few offer the attention to detail, knowledgeable staff, consistently fantastic fare, and funky vibe found at the Asian-fusion Shabu.

11 p.m. -Sip a nightcap at Butcher’s Chop House & Bar

Saturday

8 a.m. - Breakfast is served at the Washington School House Hotel

9 a.m. - Hit the trail - In case you’ve been living under a rock, Park City, riddled with more than 400 miles of trails, has emerged as a nationally recognized mountain biking mecca.

1 p.m. - Refuel at the Red Tail Grill

3 p.m. -Poolside chill time - Head back to the Washington School House Hotel, slip on your swim suit and retire to the upper-level pool and hot tub where the friendly and attentive staff will deliver wine, cocktails, and beer at your request.

5:30 p.m. - Cocktails and dinner at The Nelson Cottage

Sunday

9 a.m. -Play nine holes at Park City’s newest course, Canyons Golf

Though most of the holes here are par 3s, don’t underestimate the lack of yardage for less-than-challenging play. Winding fairways and angled greens provide plenty of difficulty on Park City’s newest track. And don’t worry about being too tired after your ride to walk this mountainous course—carts are required with all rounds of play.

Noon -Brunch at Tupelo Park City for ethereal chicken and biscuits

2 p.m. -Gallery hop on Historic Main Street - A stroll through Park City’s historic Main Street is just what the doctor ordered after an action packed fall weekend in the mountains. More than 200 shops, galleries, and restaurants pack this quaint and appealing thoroughfare.

Not bad for a weekend getaway, click here for the entire article from Park City Magazine.

In Utah News - Utah County ranks #2 among nation’s large counties for job growth! Click here for the entire article.

Tags: Park City, Whiskey, Alpine Distilling, Gin
Posted in Local Events, Things To Do in Park City, Food and Beverage | 0 Responses to "Our Park City Gin Adventure"

 
 
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