Ski to Eat

(The Canyons)

The Canyons Resort has been pumping up its dining options and the results are worth checking out.

It’s easy to talk numbers with regards to Utah’s Canyons Resort. After all, it’s the state’s largest ski resort, and one of the biggest in the country—4,000 acres sprawling across nine peaks. You’d better fuel up. Talisker, Canyon’s parent company, has invested millions into the resort since buying it in 2008, a good amount dedicated to sprucing up the dining scene. Mission accomplished. The palate-spoiling culinary options both on and off the mountain offer some of the best food at a ski resort this side of the pond. These five spots won’t leave you hungry.

The Farm

When the first thing you see on the menu is the Farmer Bag (caramelized gala apples, candied walnuts, boursin cheese and honey gastrique), you know you’re in for an atypical ski resort dinner. Starters such as the short rib pasties, basted with beef drippings, stoke the palate. Or go lighter with the tangy Autumn Harvest salad, with warm squash, chicory and roasted pumpkin seeds. Ingredients for all the main courses come from within 200 miles of the resort, including the falling-of-the-bone Osso Bucco and the pleasingly pink Columbia River salmon atop of a bed of creamy gnocchi. Too bad you can’t ski it off until tomorrow.

The Bistro

Yes, it’s the only certified kosher restaurant at a ski resort. But that’s not really the point. The food is good. Really good. The amazing pastrami is house-made with pickled slaw, sautéed onions and grain mustard on dark rye. The beef cheek gnocchi with roasted root vegetables and oven-dried tomatoes is savory and filling. The Bistro also serves Sabbath dinner every Friday night with the traditional soup, fish, salad and main courses.

Lookout Cabin

Alpine Mac-n-Cheese. That’s all you really need to know. Three cheeses—cheddar, fontina and gruyere—breadcrumbs, truffle oil. Meltedy goodness just when you need it at this on-mountain Euro-style sit-down chalet at the top of the Orange Bubble Express (Canyons’ heated chairlift). Only open for lunch, the cabin’s menu features goodies such as an artisanal charcuterie plate with locally cured meats and cheeses; a savory wild game and winter vegetable stew with rabbit, elk and buffalo braised in broth; and a house-roasted turkey, cheese and huckleberry Panini, a delicate yet heartily upscale version of a coldcut sandwich.

Cloud Dine

This new on-mountain cafeteria-style eatery opened last season at the top of Dream Peak. Cloud Dine is modern and funky, with circular glass windows and curvy lines that smack of space-station edginess. But the food beats dehydrated rations any day of the week: Italian sausage, pine nut and pesto flatbread, chicken pot pies, and complicated yet filling salads such as the Cirrostratus (pork tamale, white cabbage, black beans, corn, roasted peppers, jicama and avocado). Leave room for homemade cookies and brownies.

The Chocolate Bar

The five signature cocoas on the menu at this cozy little food stand are far from ordinary. The Farmer’s Market, for one, incorporates caramel, red salt and dark chocolate shavings; the Redtail is spiced with chipotle and cinnamon and uses dark Amano chocolate for deep flavor. Pair it with a homemade Goodness Bar (a honey-oat-granola concoction) and your afternoon snack just might become dessert.

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