This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Park City • I grew up knowing Canyons ski resort as ParkWest. It was there, in 1986, that I saw my first outdoor concert on my first date, too. Howard Jones will forever hold a sweet spot in my heart. I hadn't yet had my food epiphany (that came when I was 26), so the fact there were so few food options at ParkWest didn't bother me.
The place already had a long history, launching in 1968 as Park City West, followed by ParkWest, then Wolf Mountain, then The Canyons Resort, and most recently, changed simply to "Canyons."
With the latest facelift, the resort's dining options have improved, including the newly opened The Farm, which serves New American dishes — the industry's new "it" cuisine.
The Farm's chefs source many ingredients from local growers, including cheese from Beehive Cheese Co. and Gold Creek Farms, produce from Zoe's Garden, and meats from Creminelli Fine Meats, Colosimo's, Heritage Valley, Morgan Valley and Mountain Valley Trout Farm.
The restaurant's look is rustic, yet sophisticated, with abstract paintings decorating the dining room. It features dark wood tables, Moroccan-red upholstered chairs and rich hardwood floors, while servers are smartly dressed in pin-striped shirts and vests.
The vibe is even more evident in the restrooms, where a vibrant abstract painting of two pigs greets you. The rectangular, stainless steel wash basin with three faucets looks like a trough — in a hip way — and antique farming implements such as hoes, scythes and rakes are affixed to each stall's back wall. The look is striking, but no farm tools are found elsewhere in the restaurant. (Perhaps they didn't want to risk the chance of them falling on some diner's head.)
The menu's home-spun classics such as smoked turkey casserole, meatloaf and chili, share space with pricier items like beef and pork ribeyes, sturgeon and lamb shank. It is clear ambition is high and in some cases, so is execution. Taken as a whole, however, the restaurant still has yet to hit its stride.
Of the 13 starters, I homed in on the chicken liver mousse ($16). It arrived in a cute squat Italian canning jar, and rested on a slab of marble that held a swipe of grainy mustard, kicky, pickled green beans and riesling-soaked currants with grilled toasts alongside. It could easily feed two — or three.
On the other hand, the house-cured steelhead gravlax ($11), was enough for one. Halved Tom Thumb-sized Yukon gold and purple potatoes mingled in a tangy horseradishy sauce flecked with green onions. A few small shreds of glistening, orange fish sat on the salad — one of the most upscale potato salads I've tasted. But the salmon was oily, and the fish's sweet nuances got lost. More salmon per serving would remedy that.
Other appetizers sounded intriguing but their executions didn't live up to the menu descriptions. This was the case for the oxtail beef onion soup ($8). Used to piping hot bowls of French onion soup, I was bewildered that this broth was served tepid and the flavor wasn't as rich as other versions I've had.
Short rib-stuffed pasties ($12) (that's "pass-tees" to Americans) were an unusual menu item, and when the two puffed, smallish crescents arrived, I doubted having ordered them. The short-crust dough broke on teeth-impact, but the dough's texture was oily on the tongue while the meat and potato filling was dry and didn't taste of much.
Entrée explanations were also perplexing. Thinking "bourbon-braised" pork ribeye ($32) would be fork-tender from a long cooking time, what arrived was a grill-marked chop cooked to medium. (I would have asked for medium-rare, if the question had been posed.)
A plate of overcooked rigatoni ($24) with imported and local cheeses came dotted with seriously zippy sausage when the menu mentioned nothing about heat. "Pan-seared scaloppine" of game hen ($28) turned out to be a whole "spatchcocked" or butterflied bird complemented by nubs of sunchokes, pears and mushrooms. Though seeing a whole bird was a shock, it turned out to be one of the most successful dishes I sampled. Another great menu item is the smoked turkey casserole ($27), where fingerling potatoes mingle with spicy sausage, walnuts, cranberries and torn-up bread.
Desserts ($9) varied in size from a tennis-ball size lemon meringue tart with cranberry compote to a huge apple crumble with two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream. Also, there's a runny pecan pie served with High West whiskey sauce and a peanut butter mousse and chocolate cake that tasted store-bought.
The wine list is another problem. To the right of each wine, there are narrow columns denoting the vintage and price by the full bottle, half bottle and glass. With all those numbers, the list quickly gets confusing. To find a wine by the glass entails picking a lonesome numeral — lonesome because there are only six whites and five reds offered by the glass out of 63 and 172 bottles, respectively. A by-the-glass section would be so much friendlier.
Another gripe is instead of sections such as Germanic/Spanish/Italian White Grapes, Rhone Red Blends, etc., headings by varietal seem more friendly to me. Last, I've recently noticed at local restaurants the presence of minuscule, etched markers on wine glasses that indicate where a 2.5-ounce and 5-ounce pour are. It may help the person pouring the wine but, from a drinker's standpoint, I know the quantities are required by law, but it feels stingy.
Service is also in its infancy. One visit we seldom got water refills and were served the opposite dishes my friend and I had ordered. Another time, service was much better, including a delightful and accommodating host and manager.
Note to Salt Lake Valley diners: The Farm faces the mountain and is near the ski resort's plaza. The best parking bets are either by valet at the Grand Summit Hotel (remember to have the restaurant validate or it'll cost you $8) or free if you drive up and to the left of the Westgate Park City Resort and Spa and walk toward the Red Pine Gondola until you see a sign for The Farm.
The Farm isn't yet running seamlessly. That said, its list of local purveyors is already impressive and I'm sure the restaurant will continue to add to the list. I'll be eager to check it out again in a few months, when summer is in full swing, the patio beckons and live music, though not Howard Jones, fills the plaza.
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HHH
The Farm
Food • HHhj
Mood • HHH
Service • HHH
Noise • bb
The Farm is all about local ingredients, whether they're in the warm horseradish potato salad and gravlax appetizer, pan-seared game hen or whiskey sauce beneath pecan pie. And we're all better locavores for it.
Location • On the Ski Beach, across from the Red Pine Gondola, Canyons; 435-615-8060
Hours • Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Children's menu • No
Prices • $$$
Liquor • Full bar
Corkage • $15
Reservations • Recommended
Takeout • No
Wheelchair access • Yes
Outdoor dining • Yes
On-site parking • Valet at Grand Summit Hotel or Sun Dial Hotel
Credit cards • All major