Carving it Up

I’m pro-choice. When I spend time skiing, I like to have plentiful choices, lots of options and abundant alternatives for dining out. And I don’t want to have to get into the car and drive. That’s what makes The Canyons such an attractive skiing and dining destination: Along with the wide-ranging terrain options at The Canyons are a multitude of easy-access opportunities for eating out. There’s everything from Pizza Hut Express and BBQ to gourmet fare at The Cabin. And the bonus? No Main Street crowds and plenty of parking.

In a hurry to get to the slopes? Then kick off a day at The Canyons at Starbucks in the Grand Summit Hotel. Along with Starbucks world-renowned coffee and espresso, light breakfast is served daily throughout the ski season. Or, for a more substantial start to the day, enjoy a sit-down, full-service breakfast at The Cabin restaurant, also located in the Grand Summit. The Belgian waffles with whipped orange blossom honey butter are simply awesome. So is the smoked salmon breakfast wrap.

Lunch options at The Canyons are so abundant that you can pretty much pick a different restaurant for each day of your ski vacation. Lookout Cabin, located at the top of 9,000-foot Lookout Peak is the place to be for a fine dining lunch on the mountain. Be sure to make a reservation in advance and then sit back and enjoy spectacular views to match the cuisine. Especially tasty are the signature ahi tuna rolls, the Kobe beef burgers and the “Mountain Man” homemade chili — quite possibly Utah’s best chili. Lookout Cabin has a terrific wine list to boot. The Cabin restaurant also offers a first-class lunch in an über-rustic setting, with delectable choices such as the creamy tomato bisque, wild game meatloaf sandwich, buffalo chili, and famous Cabin PLT, made with tender braised pork.

Red Pine Lodge is a popular — maybe too popular — mid-mountain cafeteria-style lunch spot with good soups, sandwiches, pizzas, and grilled entrées. So arrive at Red Pine early or late to miss the lunch throngs. Or, ski over to the less crowded Sun Lodge, just above the Sun Peak Express chair. Along with soups, sandwiches and a nifty salad station, Sun Lodge offers a rotating menu of hot entrées like a succulent prime rib, tender roasted chicken and juicy pork tenderloin. For a rapid reload, the Dreamscape Grill near the Daybreak chairlift is a smart lunchtime choice for a quick burger or sandwich to get you back on the slopes ASAP.

Now let’s talk après-ski. Doc’s at the Gondola is open for lunch but really starts hopping as the ski day draws to a close. Settle in by the fire with an array of hors d’oeuvres and a warm winter cocktail while you make new friends and toast old ones. Both the young and the young at heart tend to prefer Smokie’s Bar & Grill at the base of the mountain for a slightly more raucous après-ski experience. Pitchers of suds are de rigueur at Smokie’s with an abundance of beers on tap, a busy pool table, big screen TVs, and a spacious, sunny deck where you can watch folks biff coming down the mountain on their last run. Nachos, Buffalo chicken wings, and Cajun specialties are the most popular fare at Smokie’s, a true local’s après-ski hangout for many years. Another nice deck for après-activity is at the Westgate Grill at the Westgate Resort & Spa. Take in the beautiful views and enjoy the scrumptious artichoke, spinach and Brie dip with a good glass of wine.

For dinner, The Cabin restaurant in the Grand Summit Hotel features award-winning cuisine and exquisite ambiance. Talented Chef de Cuisine Phelix Gardner prepares delicious dishes like his wild boar riblets with sarsaparilla BBQ sauce, a melt-in-the-mouth 16-ounce bison T-bone, fennel-crusted ahi tuna with mascarpone gnocchi, masa-crusted Utah trout, and the dee-lish Berkshire bone-in pork chop with grilled stone fruit and infused BBQ sauce. Save room for the goat cheese panna cotta, fresh beignets and berry cobbler desserts.

Those looking for a more adventurous dining experience will love the moonlit sleigh ride up to the 8,000-foot Viking Yurt, where Chef Adam Findlay wows Yurt visitors with his first-class cuisine. Be sure to ask how the baby grand piano made its way clear up to the Viking Yurt. On Saturdays, ride The Flight of The Canyons gondola up to Red Pine Lodge for the all-you-can-eat Western BBQ. Kids and adults both love the slow-roasted prime rib, stick-to-your-ribs barbecue buffet, and live country-western band. Reservations are required for both of these special dining experiences.

Over at the sophisticated but family-friendly Westgate Grill, there’s something for everybody with menu items that range from mac ’n cheese and “Ultimate” mashed spuds to the luscious BBQ duck chimichangas, pan-seared sea scallops stuffed with jumbo lump crab meat, and heavenly roasted Colorado lamb with figs, raisins, apricots, Port demi-glace and roasted fingerling potatoes. Are we hungry yet?

See parkcitymagazine.com for recipes from The Canyons, or thecanyons.com for more info.

Ted Scheffler is Dining Editor for the Salt Lake City Weekly and a regular contributor to KSL’s Studio 5. He’s eaten more than his share of meals at The Canyons dating back to its days as Park West.