If staying out of the kitchen will make your Christmas Day merry, there are a ho ho host of restaurants that will be open to serve you. Just remember that a lot of restaurant industry folks will be spending Christmas Day or Eve working to serve you and others, instead of being at home with friends and family. So, please tip generously and thank them for their service. Here are a few of my choice picks for holiday dining this Xmas.
Yuta (pronounced the same as “Utah”) is a new fine dining restaurant located east of Park City in Wanship’s Blue Sky Ranch. The eatery serves up what they call “refined Western cuisine” created by James Beard Award-winning Executive Chef Galen Zamarra, who’s worked with the likes of Alain Passard and David Bouley. “PJ’s are welcome and encouraged” during Yuta’s festive holiday buffet breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. A special 4-course Christmas dinner will be served from 5:30 to 9 p.m. priced at $95 for adults and $50 for children.
Hearth and Hill just launched their new winter menu which includes dishes such as Desert Mountain beef cheek tostada, flank steak gyoza, pierogi, cornmeal dusted cuttlefish, and rapini flatbread. Executive Chef Jordan Harvey is cooking up a special Christmas porchetta, featuring an Italian style pork roast stuffed with vegetables and served with creamy Anson Mills grits and roasted broccolini.
Located in the Marriott University Park, Thistle & Thyme would be an excellent choice for dining out on Christmas Day, as they will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. serving their stylized, creative and eclectic American comfort food with a full beer, wine and liquor selection. We were very saddened to learn of the passing of Executive Chef Matt Tauszik who was killed in an avalanche earlier this week. Our hearts go out to Matt’s friends and family.
Solitude Mountain Resort offers a wide range of terrific dining opportunities, both on-mountain and at Solitude Village. The Yurt at Solitude is always a uniquely wonderful dining experience and even just grabbing a Belgian-style Liege waffle at the all-new Little Dollies Waffles at Moonbeam Center is a real treat. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, St. Bernard’s in Solitude Village will offer a specialty dinner menu and full buffet between 5:00 and 9:00 p.m. The cost is $65 per adult and $29 per person for kids. The Library Bar, located just steps from St. Bernard’s in the lobby of The Inn at Solitude, will have a specialty drink menu for the week of Christmas and also for New Year’s Eve. And, if you’re looking ahead to New Year’s Eve, St. Bernard’s will offer a special dinner buffet at the same price as Christmas, from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. They will also have a seafood platter and a carving station. Reservations are recommended.
In Park City, The Mustang will serve a limited 3-course price-fix menu on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Menu choices include crab cakes, shrimp potstickers fried goat cheese salad, local red trout, prime rib, filet mignon, pistachio-dusted elk chop, Chilean sea bass, rack of lamb, desserts and more. $115/adults; $75/children.
Looking for a not-so-traditional way to spend Xmas Day? You know you can count on your Uncle Bob. Owner Bob McCarthy and his Garage on Beck team will host Uncle Bob’s Chinese Christmas Buffet at The Garage on December 25th, starting at 2 p.m.
“Waywards are welcomed” to the 3rd Annual Chinese Christmas Buffet, which is priced to make your holiday happy at a mere $13 per person.
Matt Harris’ Tupelo in Park City will be serving an inspired five-course dinner on Christmas beginning with warm local burrata followed by frisee salad, roasted butternut squash, duck confit, bacon lardon, tarragon yogurt dressing and caracara orange. After a dish of coriander spiced Hawaiian tuna, guests will enjoy a petite Wagyu sirloin with brown butter and sage parsnip mash, ancho chile bordelaise, toasted benne crumb and roasted carrots. Dessert is chocolate cherry galette. $95 per person.
Lots of us will be traveling during the holidays and if you’re looking for Christmas Eve dinner near the airport, I’d recommend WingTips Bar & Bistro at the Holiday Inn & Suites Salt Lake City Airport West. From 4 to 9:30 p.m., WingTips will offer a three-course dinner featuring silky cauliflower soup; beef Wellington with roasted herb tournée potatoes, carrots and caramelized shallots; and strawberry bread pudding with Maker’s Mark caramel sauce for dessert. $30 per person.
Wherever you end up eating on Christmas, here’s wishing you and yours a happy and safe holiday season.
Culinary quote of the week:
Christmas dinner was something of a success; it passed off, at any rate, without bloodshed. — Kingsley Amis, Ending Up
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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.
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