02/28/13

VIVA VINTO!

A profile of new Park City restaurant, Vinto Pizzeria.

Posted at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

01/29/13

You Win Some, You Lose Some

“Congratulations, boys, you have just experienced your first Sundance Stinker! And the world premiere of a Sundance Stinker at that!” I whisper this to my 16-year old son and his 16-year old buddy as we do our best to walk, not run, out of a film that constituted 91 minutes of the most strange, boring, confusing time these boys have thus far experienced in their lives. The infamous Sundance stinker.

You peruse the Sundance film catalog, you read the descriptions, you envision in your mind what the film will be like, and then … it’s not. It’s not even close. And you start thinking about the wasted $15, and the wasted time, and how contemplating navel lint might have been a better choice of activity for the day.

Each...

Posted at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

01/21/13

Reasons We Know That Sundance Is Here

It’s the only time, all year long, that there are yellow cabs going up and down Parley’s Canyon and driving around town. Like real yellow cabs. From the “big” city down in the valley.

The local newspaper, The Park Record, is uber fat with ads and a special real estate section chock full of dream-fulfillment for all of those people from L.A. and New York City who are out this week seeing the gorgeous sunshine, blue skies, white snowy mountains and realizing they want to have a place here.

There is pretty much no parking, anywhere. (Take the bus).
 

Whole Foods is absolutely packed with people wearing Sundance credentials, the staff is constantly whispering and speculating about who’s who, and...

Posted at 08:56 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

01/27/12

Sundance Report: Traffic Jam

When I say traffic jam, I’m not talking about the cars on the road during the first few days of Sundance. I’m talking about how when you’re on the press list for the Sundance Film Festival, suddenly, you get 100 emails a day (literally), from not only the Sundance office itself reporting on the official business of press conferences and awards, but from an outpouring of public relations agents representing everything from the films, to the event sponsors, to the non-event sponsor guerilla gift lounges and other off-shoot events that attach themselves to the Festival,...

01/24/12

Sundance Report: Guerilla Restaurant Comes and Goes like the Mist

Just as the Sundance Film Festival swoops into town each January, puts on a feast of entertainment and then whisks away, the Mist: Salt Lake guerilla restaurant puts on a moveable feast of food and wine for one month only, offering a dining experience just as spontaneous, curious and inspiring as the famed film festival itself.

The Mist Project is the brainchild of chef Gavin Baker (he’s worked at a lot of famous U.S. restaurants and our...

01/22/12

Sundance Report: Robot and Frank and Liberal Arts Crowd Pleasers

I happily hit the motherlode this weekend, and I’m not even talking about the foot of fresh powder we FINALLY received yesterday, making the pre-movie-viewing skiing out of this world. Even though I sat through two films in snow-drenched  ski clothes (totally worth it), my first opening weekend Sundance films were both wonderful and hugely popular with the sold-out Eccles Center crowds (1,200 people). And both were world premieres, meaning there is a palpable excitement in the air when you're part of an audience that is the very first to see a...

01/19/12

Sundance Report: Here Come the Kennedys!

If you’re in town this week and want to do a little star watching on a Friday afternoon, you might want to hang around outside the MARC (the newly renovated Racquet Club, 1200 Little Kate Rd) to watch the parade of Kennedy family members slated to do the Red Carpet Arrival walk for the film “Ethel.” Scheduled to appear at 1:15 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, January 20 are Ethel Skakel Kennedy, Rory Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Bobby Kennedy Jr., Sheila and Chris Kennedy, Max and Vicki Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Patrick and Amy Kennedy, Michael and Mary...

01/18/12

Sundance Report: Air on the Side of Beauty

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I’m a pretty low maintenance kind of girl. My daily “beauty” routine consists of sticking my face in the shower spray in the morning, putting on a thin smudge of kohl eyeliner (the same shade I’ve worn since college) and trying to remember to take my daily vitamin so that I might glow from within.

 But when the Remède Spa at St. Regis Deer Valley called pre-Sundance inviting me to sample an oxygen facial and a makeup consult (since it’s what all the stars do to freshen their look before a big Sundance gala or red carpet walk), I thought why not? Living at this Park City altitude (roughly 7,000 feet) I can always use more oxygen, and any chance to hang out at the...

Posted at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

01/17/12

Sundance Report: Free Films for a Cause

One of the Sundance events I’m most looking forward to is next week’s Paradigm Film Project. It promises to be one of those Sundance offshoots that ends up being a gem. Here’s an event you...

11/23/11

A Taste of the Season

Let’s face it. Even though Thanksgiving isn’t quite here, the eating season is already upon us. Crisp temperatures and grey skies foreshadowing snowstorms get us thinking about (or actually making) warm comfort foods like soups, stews, roasted meats and gooey baked goods. Nothing gets me more excited about winter cuisine than the annual menu tasting at Deer Valley Resort, held for some very lucky members of the media. In the gleaming kitchen mid-mountain at Silver Lake Lodge, we gather around the table as Deer Valley’s chefs cook, eat and talk so proudly about their newest creations for the upcoming winter season it’s as though they were their beloved children. The amazing food and beverage staff shares their passion for creating in the...

Posted at 07:07 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0