Beginning with a mountainside funicular ride from the valet parking area up to the St. Regis Deer Valley and its signature RIME restaurant, you know you’re in for something special. And whether you’re hunkered down with a craft cocktail at the St. Regis Bar, enjoying gorgeous slopeside views and an al fresco meal on the Mountain Terrace, indulging in French bistro fare at Brasserie 7452, or being tempted by fresh seafood and prime cut steaks at RIME, you are in for a real treat.
In part that’s because the St. Regis Deer Valley has spared no expense in creating classy but comfy accommodations and dining/drinking spaces that are beautifully appointed and offer wonderful ambiance. But the pampered feeling you’ll get at the St. Regis is also the end result of a hardworking, very well-trained staff, from table bussers and valets to the top chefs there. Service just doesn’t get any more professional and you will not leave disappointed.
Shortly after being seated for dinner at RIME we were treated to a colorful and tasty amuse bouche of gazpacho topped with peekytoe crab and minced chives, the perfect beginning to an evening discovering many of the new dishes from the recently revamped summer menu.
One reason for updating the RIME menu is a seasonal transition from winter fare to summer. An additional rationale is the recent appointment of new Executive Chef Alex Malmborg, who now oversees all culinary operations at the Resort, including RIME, Brasserie 7452, The St. Regis Bar, banquets and events. He joins Consulting Chef Matt Harris in bringing world-class creativity and talent to the already strong St. Regis culinary team.
While perusing the mind-blowing RIME wine list – all 45 pages of it – my wife and I shared one of the new dishes from the Cru portion of the menu: Yellowfin Tuna Tartare ($21). The minced sushi grade tuna came with crispy homemade waffle potato chips, radish, chives, and topped with osetra caviar. It was divine. The “Cru” menu features raw foods such as tuna tartare; Wagyu beef carpaccio; hamachi with lemon and piquillo peppers; and King salmon with tomatoes, radish, garlic, lemon and caviar.
As I mentioned, the RIME wine list is mind-blowing with wine choices that range from Amarone to Zinfandel. We chose Les Tourelles Château de la Crée Montagny Premier Cru Burgundy to kick off our meal and to sip with the tuna tartare. It’s a lovely white wine to pair with fish and shellfish. Throughout our dinner we were assisted in selecting wines by RIME’s sensational Sommelier, Polina Jensen, who also put much of the wine list together. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of her vast enological expertise and allow her to spoil you with fine wines when you dine at the St. Regis, whether at RIME, in the Wine Vault, or at the Chef’s Table.
One of the more interesting new starters on the RIME summer menu is a Compressed Watermelon salad ($16) which featured watermelon and pickled watermelon rind, crispy prosciutto, frisee, fresh mint, shaved cheese, and aged balsamic vinegar. It’s a delicious crash of colors on the plate.
Another new starter is Octopus a la Plancha ($24). In Spain, la plancha usually refers to a style of food cooking that involves high-temperature searing with a small amount of smoking. At RIME, the octopus is incredibly tender with a smoky and spicy chipotle barbecue sauce, hot Fresno chile slices, frisee, spices, yogurt, lemon, and summer beans. It’s a creative, complex dish that, because of its spiciness, Polina suggested we sip Trimbach Gewurztraminer with – a perfect pairing. Other new starters such as Chilled Corn Crab Soup ($16) and House Made Burrata ($14) join longtime favorites like the Black Truffle Pizza ($30) on the RIME summer menu.
In addition to the talented Alex Malmborg and Polina Jensen, throughout the evening we were taken care of exquisitely by a top-notch, super friendly RIME server named Glenn Mast. If you’re lucky, he’ll be working the night you drop into RIME. He helped make our meal extra enjoyable. Tip: Brush up on your classic rock before you visit with Glenn; we discovered we’re both big Tom Petty and Creedence Clearwater Revival fans and I think you’ll find musical harmony with this outstanding St. Regis server, as well.
Main dishes at RIME are divided into two sections on the menu. There are composed dishes listed as Entrées, as well as a section simply called Land + Sea. The latter are a la carte selections such as Ahi Tuna, Halibut, Whole Roasted Branzino, Prime New York Strip, Ribeye, 32-oz Dry-Aged Porterhouse, and others that can be ordered with optional sauces and sides like mashed potatoes, honey-roasted carrots, asparagus with Hollandaise, heirloom tomatoes, French fries, etc.
Our server and Chef Malmborg were in agreement that we should definitely give the Roasted Maine Halibut ($48) a try. We were glad we did. This was a beautiful, generous portion of boneless Maine halibut served with a silky herb and potato puree and topped with a summer squash ragout. It’s one of the best fish dishes we’ve ever encountered.
Since the rhyme and reason behind RIME is seafood and steak, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to indulge in the Snake River Waygu ($125). This was a pair of gorgeous Snake River Farms Wagyu New York Strip filets served with a tower of crispy potatoes and mushrooms, garlic puree, Swiss chard, and basil chimichurri. The perfectly cooked medium-rare Waygu was stupendous and portioned generously enough for me to be able to enjoy an over-the-top steak sandwich for lunch the following day. At RIME, Polina made another spot-on wine choice: to pair Alda Nada Cichin Barbaresco Riserva 2012 with the Waygu. Very well done.
Time flies and it’s hard to believe that Chef Matt Harris’ tenure at the St. Regis Deer Valley dates back to 2009, when he was brought on board to open what was then the Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant called J&G Grill. That eatery had its moment, but eventually became RIME. And now, with the addition of Chef Alex Malmborg to the culinary team, RIME isn’t just one of Park City’s best dining destinations, it’s one of the best in the West.
Culinary quote of the week: “Everything I like is either illegal, immoral, or fattening.” – Alexander Woollcott
utahbitested@gmail.com
FOR MORE RESTAURANT REVIEWS GO HERE.
THIS CONTENT IS FROM UTAH BITES NEWSLETTER.
Subscribe to get the latest Utah Bites news and reviews
Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine & travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: click on their logos to visit their website
[nextcode_gallery id_gallery=”4″]
