Culinary Adventures in Park City

Last night I joined some clients for dinner at the Viking Yurt at The Canyons. For anyone visiting Park City during the ski season, the Viking Yurt dinner should be high on their list of places to go.

The meal begins with a sleigh ride from the base of The Canyons resort to mid-mountain at about 8,300 feet in elevation. The sleigh holds about 30 people and is pulled up the mountain by a Snow Cat. This in itself is quite enjoyable, cruising up the ski runs after dark, enjoying the lights from the town below. After about a 2- minute sleigh ride we arrive at the Viking Yurt. The Yurt is a round, tent-like structure, with wooden support beams, a pot-bellied stove for heating and a small kitchen. The Yurt has no electricity or running water, so it is lit by gas lanterns and the meal is brought up by Snow Cat during the evening. Coming in from the cold to the warm Yurt, we are warmly greeted by the hostess, who presents us with a steaming mug of hot grog. There are 4 tables in the Yurt, each seating around 10 people. So unless you have a large group, you will enjoy your meal with soon-to-be new friends. As most are visitors from around the country, conversation is lively and topics range from the day’s skiing to current events. We are treated to a 4 course dinner and the meal is always extraordinary, and last night was no exception. At the end of the meal, and several bottles of wine, we board the sleigh for a beautiful trip down the mountain to the base. This is such a different and relaxing way of dining, a far cry from the hustle and noise of Main Street.

Another dining experience not to be missed is the Fireside Dining at the Empire Lodge at Deer Valley. The Empire Lodge is located at about 8,500 feet up on the mountain, but is accessible by car. The Empire Lodge, which is one of Deer Valley’s Day Lodges, is transformed from the day cafeteria style meal to this fine dining experience. The Empire Lodge boasts five very large stone fireplaces and all of the meals are prepared at the fire places, thus the name “Fireside Dining”. The first station is Swiss Raclette. For this several large bricks of cheese are hung by hooks in front of the fire. The heat of the fire melts the cheese and it drips onto plates, which the quests will then pick up and add to it all of the condiments one would expect for raclette. The second station is hearty stews and soups. Here, several large cast iron pots are hung from the fire with a variety of delicious soups and stews. At the third station, a leg of lamb is hung in front of the fire and slowly spun to cook evenly and deliciously. The fourth and final station is my personal favorite…dessert of course. Here we have several fondues, chocolate, white chocolate and caramel with a variety of fruits and Deer Valley cookies. During the dinner your group can take a short break and go for about a 20 minute horse drawn sleigh ride around the base area and some of the ski runs. On a snowy night this will be a memorable experience.

Other adventures around Park City include early morning hot air balloon rides, snowmobile tours in the back country, and cross country skiing or snowshoe trips in either the Park City Mountains or the surrounding Uinta Mountains. These can either be guided, or for the adventurous, you can strike off on your own. Being a true destination resort, we understand that not everyone comes to ski, or wants to ski everyday. The days are getting longer, the sun is higher in the sky, so plan your trip to Park City. But leave time to try something different.