Snowbasin: Dinner at the Top of the Mountain
I recently covered Snowbasin’s Caribbean dinner for a Standard-Examiner story.
It’s been quite awhile since I last visited Snowbasin — February of 2000, when I tore my ACL and MCL in a nasty fall that, unfortunately, ended my skiing days.
Things have changed a lot since then. The flag-lined entrance gives off the reminder that this was a 2002 Winter Olympics site. I was impressed with the lodges built for the Olympics, constructed from giant logs that give a rustic-but-elegant ambience.
We rode the gondola up to the Needles Lodge, where the dinner took place.
I’d never ridden up the mountainside in summer; it looks a lot different when it’s covered over with several feet of snow. Needles is just over 8,700 feet, and provides a majestic view of the Ogden Valley and Pineview below.
With all this nice ambience, the folks at Snowbasin are hosting a series of “Culinary Expedition” dinners to lure
more people up the resort outside of the ski season.
The Caribbean buffet featured dishes such as herb-and-coconut crusted black-tip shark, Jamaican jerk goat, frog legs, pineapple fried rice, Mofongo (mashed plantains in sofrito with shrimp and crab) and a shredded beef dish called Ropa Vieja.
Chef de cuisine Aric Glanville said a lot of his recipes were inspired from a recent
trip he took to the Caribbean.
There were platters of luscious fruits such as papaya, mango, pineapple, guava, and rambutan (a hairy-looking ball that when cut open, reveals a translucent white globe of sweet fruit).
Desserts were banana bread pudding, guava pastries, black cake (a rum-flavored fruit cake), and coconut rice pudding.
Steel drum music from The Cabana Band provided a nice backdrop. Several times I 
was tempted to get up and dance, but I didn’t want to embarrass myself or anyone else! It all reminded me of the Beach Boys’ song, “Kokomo.”
A highlight of the night was seeing Marisela Sanchez, the resort’s pastry chef. When she was around 15 years old, she and her mother, Rosa Sanchez, won the World Championship Dutch Oven Cook-Off. As a judge, I was wowed by Marisela’s Heavenly
Berry Pie. It’s no surprise that she ended up baking as a career.
Some of the upcoming “Culinary Expedition” dinners are:
Flavors of India, Aug. 30: Menus includes samosa, lamb vindaloo, fish curry, and mango cheesecake and much, much more. Belly dancers will provide entertainment. Cost is $70 per person, which includes tax, gratuity and the gondola ride to the lodge.
Winemakers Dinner, Sept. 5: Menu will be paired with wines from Iron Gate Winery in Southern Utah. The price is $75.
Farm-To-Table Dinner, Sept. 27: Menu includes yak from Yakety Yak Farm in Huntsville and produce
from Borski Farms of Kaysville. Other local suppliers are Mountain Valley Trout, Slide Ridge Honey, Gold Creek Farms and Beehive Cheese. Price is $70.
Whiskey Dinner, Nov. 15: Featuring High West Distillery takes place Nov. 15.
The schedule and full menus are available at http://blog.snowbasin.com/tag/dinner. Reservations can be made at 801-620-1021.