Park City Chefs Headed to James Beard House

Five Park City chefs will be strutting their stuff in the Big Apple next week, at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Jodie Rogers, Deer Valley Resort’s director of food and beverage; Briar Handly, chef/partner of Handle; Seth Adams, executive chef and owner of Riverhorse on Main; Zane Holmquist, vice president of food & beverage and corporate chef for The Stein Collection; and Matthew Harris, chef/owner of Tupelo Park City will be showcasing their innovative dishes at a special dinner Thursday, Sept. 20. 

For a chef, being invited to cook at the James Beard House is akin to a musician being asked to perform at Carnegie Hall. James Beard, a cook and food writer, is widely recognized as the father of American gastronomy. After Beard died in 1985, chef Julia Child and other friends bought his New York City house and preserved it as the foodie gathering spot it was throughout Beard’s life.

Distinguished chefs are regularly chosen to present a dinner at the James Beard House. Over the years, about a dozen or so Utah chefs have had the honor in the past. I suspect one reason why more chefs haven’t had the opportunity is because it’s pretty costly. The participating chefs and their sponsors must foot the bill for the food costs for the dinner’s 74 guests. The Park City Restaurant Association is sponsoring the trip through the Summit County Restaurant Tax Grant.

Obviously, New York foodies are interested in what Park City chefs have to offer, as the dinner — priced at $140 for Beard members and $180 for non-members — sold out within a week.

These distinguished Park City chefs have individually garnered accolades such as TV cooking appearances on the Today Show; Forbes Travel Guide Four Star ratings, the prestigious DiRōNA award, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, Zagat Top 10 Utah Restaurant honors from magazines such as SKI, Bon Appetit, and Sunset. But the James Beard House is a huge achievement for any chef.

“Being asked to cook at the James Beard House is one of the highest honors for a chef,” said Jodie Rogers, who is also co-president of the Park City Area Restaurant Association. “Each chef will lead a course, but this is truly a collaborative effort. As a team, our goal is to be a great representation of Park City’s talented dining ensemble.”

Last week, the Park City Restaurant Association hosted a “dress rehearsal” of the menu at Deer Valley’s Snow Park Lodge. I was one of the lucky food media invited to test-taste the dishes that the chefs designed to wow discriminating palates at the Beard dinner.

The evening began with Utah-centric hors d’oeuvres presented by Matthew Harris: Compressed Green River melon, Tupelo Farms sunburst tomatoes, and Hop-smoked Utah trout, paired with two signature cocktails from Park City’s own High West Distillery.  I was too busy taking photos of the beautiful mountainside and chatting with other guests that I didn’t think about getting shots of the appetizers. Sorry!

Jodie Rogers’ first course was a Soup & Salad combination of Fresh Pea Soup and Watercress Salad that’s “Full of surprises,” as she described it, with meaty-tasting mushrooms, peppery watercress and duck confit.

Second course Briar Handly’s strip of Smoked Parsnip with Granny Smith apple and beet root, with a little crunch from puffed rice and candied seeds. Parsnips are pretty much the wallflower of the veggie world, but Handly dressed them up like Cinderella heading to the ball, with edible flowers, beets and onions.

Zane Holmquist’s third course was Rabbit Saddle Porchetta and Cider-Braised Rabbit Leg, with foie gras, carrots and mushrooms, and apple Mostarda. In the Italian tradition, Porchetta is usually a savoury, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast, stuffed with liver.  Holmquist used rabbit instead of pork, and stuffed with with foie gras. Mostarda is a Northern Italian condiment made of candied fruit (in this case, apple) and a mustard-flavored syrup.

Seth Adams of Riverhorse of Main presented an interesting combination of 44 Farms Wagyu Beef Short Rib, with King Trumpet Mushroom, huckleberries, oxtail toast and ricotta pierogis. The short ribs were meaty, tender and flavorful. Although they look pretty rare in the photo, they had the taste and texture of long, slow braising; and the huckleberries added a hint of sweetness. This was probably my favorite dish of the night.

Dessert, from Matthew Harris of Tupelo, was Chargrilled Figs with Goat’s Milk Ricotta and Honeycomb, with a playful puff of cotton candy in between.

 

 

The James Beard Foundation’s mission is to celebrate, nurture and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse and sustainable for everyone. Chefs from across the country are invited to “perform” at the Beard House by presenting dinners to Foundation members and the public—a 74-guest maximum capacity. Chefs are recommended by the Chef Selection Committee and invited by the director of house programming based on a high criteria standard. Tickets for the exclusive Park City James Beard dining event sold out within a week.