As an unrepentant Francophile, I was thrilled when I learned a couple years ago that restaurateurs Galen and Katie Zamarra were planning to open a French-style brasserie in Park City, in the space that formerly housed Robert Redford’s Zoom restaurant.
Galen and Katie came to Utah when Galen took over the Executive Chef position at The Lodge at Blue Sky, following the success of his popular NYC restaurant in Greenwich Village, Mas (farmhouse). I’ve written about Galen before, including his garnering prestigious awards such as being named Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2001 from the James Beard Foundation. He is not only one of the most talented and creative chefs I’ve ever encountered, but also just a helluva nice guy. His wife, Katie, attended hotel and restaurant school and worked in the hospitality industry before launching her own public relations company.
Via their Galen Hospitality Group, the Zamarras provide consulting services in addition to operating restaurants, and recently opened the much anticipated Le Depot Brasserie and Union Patisserie in Park City. There’s a lot of excitement going around about both.
Persistence is the word that comes to mind regarding the creation of Le Depot – a process that took more than two years to complete. As anyone who has ever been involved in updating a historic building in Park City knows, it ain’t easy. The Depot is located in the old Union Pacific Train Depot (hence the brasserie’s name), which dates back to 1886.
Delay after delay prevented the Zamarras from opening the Depot in the fall of 2024, which was the original plan. Talking to Galen about the construction of The Depot he told me that the building, he discovered bit by bit, was in very poor shape. Every time he’d lift a piece of flooring or look into the electrical underpinnings or pipes, he’d find another challenge awaiting him and his design and construction team. Costs kept rising and since the space that was Zoom is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, even getting a door to Le Depot installed – “I told them we HAVE to have a door!” Galen said, – meant jumping through many, many hoops.
“We didn’t move or knock down any walls,” says Galen of the space as it transitioned from Zoom to Le Depot. The “bones” are still the same. But everything else about the restaurant has changed. Walk into Le Depot and the first thing you might notice is the golden-hued light which will remind many of the unique light of Paris that so many artists have pursued. Also notable is the abundant artwork that lines the walls of the brasserie. Galen told me that he and his design coordinators haunted consignment shops and such to obtain unique frames for all of that art. “Some frames cost me a dollar; some were a lot more,” he said.
Brasseries and bistros in France are casual places to dine, with functional furniture, minimal fuss, simple place settings and such. Le Depot is a very inviting spot to enjoy French-inspired cuisine with gorgeous decor and design – the creation of the Zamarras and New York architecture and design firm, Workshop APD. Galen and Katie are fans of Balthazar brasserie in New York City, as am I. The cuisine and overall vibe at Le Depot is very reminiscent of Balthazar and a funky, now closed all-night bistro in the West Village called Florent, where Galen says he and his cook colleagues used to go to eat and drink after their own restaurants closed at night.
Le Depot offers the type of cuisine that I like best: classic French dishes – no tweezers required – such as Steak Frites, Côte de Boeuf, Frisée aux Lardons, Moules Frites, Paillard de Poulet, and the like. It’s not fussy food, but it’s cuisine that’s all too easy to get wrong. Kudos to Galen for bringing French chef Thomas Bernard, a native of Avignon, in as Executive Chef at Le Depot. Galen said that traditional French cooking and techniques “are in Thomas’s blood.”
Petit Fruits de Mer
A good place to start a meal at Le Depot is with fresh seafood – Fruits de Mer, Oysters, and Mussels. We kicked off dinner with a Petit order of Fruits de Mer ($60) which is a half-dozen oysters on the half-shell, four chilled mussels, and four shrimp with housemade mignonette, cocktail sauce, and tartar sauce. For bigger appetites there is a Grand Fruits de Mer ($105) and Royal Fruits de Mer ($200), both of which include lobster and crab. Guests can also enjoy mussels and oysters a la carte. The mussels are Moules Froides au Pistou ($10/dozen). Rounding out the shellfish portion of the menu are Lobster Louie ($28), Crab Rémoulade ($25), Shrimp Cocktail ($14), and Caviar Kaluga ($55/30g.).
Terrine de Foie Gras
I never pass up the opportunity to indulge in foie gras when it comes around and the Terrine de Foie Gras ($22) at Le Depot is sensational. Three generous slices of foie gras terrine are served on toasted pain d’epices with clementines and a sprinkling of imported French sea salt.
Salade Depot
In France, a lightly dressed simple salad can be a wondrous thing. That’s also the case at Le Depot, where the Salade Depot ($17) is a shareable serving of bibb lettuce with avocado, radish, tomato, and perfect Dijon vinaigrette. Guests can add shrimp to their Salade Depot for an additional $8. Salad lovers will also enjoy the Frisée aux Lardons ($15) which is a curly chicory salad with a soft poached egg, pickled red onion, croutons, and yummy bacon vinaigrette.
Slated for the near future at Le Depot, brunch will be coming as well as apres which, in warm weather, will be terrific out on the restaurant’s patio. The patio chairs and tables are unique: crafted from original train depot railroad ties and 200-year-old wood that was salvaged from the Main and Sky Hotel.
Cabillaud Noir
A spectacular fish dish from Chef Bernard’s kitchen is Cabillaud Noir aux Artichauts ($39), which translates to Alaskan black cod with braised artichokes and carrots, mushrooms, and pine nuts. Another tempting fish dish at Le Depot is Truite á la Sauce Noisette ($29). That’s seared trout filets with roasted beets, spaghetti squash, Brussels sprouts, and brown butter Hollandaise.
Steak Frites
Of course, Steak Frites ($34) is de rigueur at any French brasserie and the steak frites at Le Depot is an admirable rendition: a 10 ounce grilled New York Strip steak served with a scrumptious bearnaise sauce. I was a tad disappointed, however, in the French fries. I had hoped for skin-on, twice-fried, from scratch fries. But alas, I suspect the fries that accompanied my luscious steak were previously frozen. I mean, they were fine – just not what I’d expected given the superb quality of everything else we tasted.
Crème Brûlée aux Bananes
Cassidy Cabel is Executive Pastry Chef at Le Depot and its sister establishment, Union Patisserie. You won’t want to pass up dessert at Le Depot, that’s for sure. I couldn’t resist Crème Brûlée aux Bananes ($15). It’s heavenly banana crème brûlée made with banana bourbon compote, fleur de lait ice cream, and topped with a housemade madeline.
A unique Le Depot dessert – one that would be especially refreshing in warm weather – is Salad D’Agrumes Brûlée ($12). This is a colorful melange of burnt citrus fruits (cara cara navel orange, blood orange and grapefruit) with vanilla syrup,grapefruit-hibiscus sorbet, garnished with fresh mint leaves and edible flowers. Wow.
Fondant au Chocolat Noir
Other enticing desserts include homemade Sorbets and Ice Creams ($4 per scoop), Macaron Citron ($15), Profiteroles ($14), Mille Feuille ($19), and a comforting Fondant au Chocolat Noir ($18) – decadent warm chocolate cake served in a hot cast iron skillet with fresh seasonal berries and vanilla ice cream.
Fromage Fort Gratinée
In addition to Le Depot’s regular food menu, the restaurant also offers guests a bar menu which includes charcuterie and cheese selections, burgers including a Le Depot Burger with foie gras, truffle jus, Comte cheese, sauteed onions and fries, gougères with mushroom duxelles, and delectable Fromage Fort Gratinée ($14) – a terrine of warm cheese dip with endive spears and homemade potato chips.
Since the closing of Au Bon Appetit in downtown Salt Lake City (now Takashi) and L’ Avenue Bistro in Sugarhouse (now The Dodo), I’ve been longing for an authentic French bistro/brasserie to emerge. We have enough sushi, ramen and fussy hipster food, thank you very much. With the opening of Le Depot from the Galen Hospitality Group, my dreams of again enjoying French cuisine in an energetic, enticing atmosphere have been realized. Stay tuned soon for more from Galen and Katie Zamarra when I visit Union Patisserie.
Photos by Ted Scheffler
Culinary quote of the week:“In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.” – Julia Child
