Best Ski Resorts For Food
What's better than dinner in your snow boots?
When you think about a ski lodge, generally you think about gulping down hot chocolate and hamburgers under heat lamps. At least, that was my experience growing up skiing on the East Coast. But that's all changed. Now, in premier ski destinations like Park City, Utah; Aspen, Colorado; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, high-end dining is becoming the norm, which means you can chow down on everything from Asian chicken salads to Oregon truffles—without removing those clunky ski boots.
① Park City, Utah
Edgar Stern, who founded Deer Valley Resort in 1981, was one of the first to recognize the opportunity for on-mountain fine dining. As the owner of San Francisco's famed Stanford Court Hotel, he had plenty of firsthand experience with five-star service to pull from, and he aimed to bring that standard of hospitality to the slopes.
Today, Park City offers a bevy of great dining options. At the Royal Street Café, you'll find a flatbread slathered with local sheep's-milk cheese and an app "tower" consisting of Dungeness crab, tomato, avocado, pea sprouts and crispy wontons. Even Cloud Dine, the typical cafeteria-style ski lodge atop Park City Mountain, kicks it up a notch with an ahi tuna salad and Wagyu beef hot dog.
② Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Jackson Hole's dining scene follows suit. At the base of the mountain, tucked on the third floor of the Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, sits Michael Mina's Handle Bar, an American pub serving potato-and-leek soup with Colorado trout roe, crispy potato and smoked chile oil, and for dessert, s'mores with homemade graham crackers. Meanwhile, Piste, which opened in December 2015, has quickly become the hottest on-mountain restaurant in town. Located at the top of the Bridger Gondola in Teton Village, the delicious joint incorporates local organic ingredients into dishes like duck breast with sweet potato gnocchi and beetroot sponge cake.
③ Beaver Creek, Colorado
In Colorado, 8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek has introduced organic fare (and microbrews!) to the slopes in the form of entrées like veal Marsala osso buco with blistered cherry tomato bacon sugo, celeriac Gruyère grits and gremolata, and sea bass with cauliflower parsnip purée. Après-ski junkies can enjoy gourmet s'mores—made with handmade marshmallows in flavors like raspberry, Grand Marnier and vanilla—out on the patio.
④ Aspen, Colorado
And in Aspen, Viceroy Snowmass's Toro Kitchen and Lounge is perched on the slope, meaning you can ski right up to it, have a meal, and then ski down to the lift after you're done. And let's face it: There's no better way to work off Colorado bass ceviche and a margarita than by taking a few adrenaline-pumping runs down the mountain.