Robyn
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's been a crazy busy summer and I've not made it up to Vail since May. 
Between cycling, training for races and gas prices it's just not happened. This weekend was based around helping with my ski team's bike-a-thon. Friday evening I drove up through pour rain only to near the Eisenhower Tunnel and see that it was no longer rain I was driving through but SNOW! Yep, folks, that's right snow on August 15th!
Saturday morning dawned dark and dreary with lightning, thunder and hail so the bike-a-thon was postponed to a later date and I tucked in with some coffee and a croissant to enjoy some Olympic coverage. Late in the morning the skies cleared so I was able to get out for a quick ride into Edwards to visit Cut! the newest sister business to my favorite restaurant. Cut! is an artisan butcher featuring extremely fresh and high quality meats and seafood along with prepared foods ranging from gorgonzola burgers to proscuitto wrapped asparagus to already marinated meats/seafood to on site made stocks, demi glace, shrimp butter, octopus salad, seaweed salad, soups and on and on. The also carry various hot sauces, marinades, cooking tools, cutting boards, knives and spices. When I walked in I was greeted by both an owner and the general manager (who was the sous chef at Dish) with questions of where the heck I'd been. :D While I was there one of the owners clued me in that the chef at Dish is celebrating her birthday this weekend. I hightailed out of there when I looked to the sky and saw that some new dark clouds were moving in since I had an uphill ride back to the house.
Dinner Saturday night at Dish was incredible as usual. I was greeted by hugs and introductions to the new team members, seated at my usual spot and the adventure began. Dish specializes in seasonal high quality foods with menus changing daily. I always choose the tasting menu which is advertised as 7 courses of small plates for $40. Inevitably though, I am treated to a special version of the tasting, this time 11 courses. Part of what I love about this place is sitting at the kitchen bar I watch as they prepare food for the entire restaurant see all the dishes that go out. A new line cook was on duty and I very much enjoyed getting to know her. As I watch their prep suddenly one of the dishes is placed in front of me and I feel like a child at Christmas. :D
My meal started, as it always does with The Original which is serrano ham, manchego cheese and sherry. Next was the traditional soup a roasted five lily soup with toasted garlic croutons. I was curious about the part until I realized that the lily family includes onions and it's sisters garlic, shallots and chives so this had red and yellow onions, garlic, shallot and chives and was delightful. It contained no beef broth so the roasted onion flavor shined. Next up was the One Fish Two Fish which was hamachi tartare on a wonton chip and house-smoked salmon salad on a cucumber slice. Following that was stuffed patty pan squash with olathe sweet corn and chive stuffing. Next up was King Canyon Ranch buffalo carpaccio with house made potato chips, capers and a lemon sauce. This is the second time I've had this at Dish and it's an all time favorite for sure. Dish often has diver sea scallops on their menu and I've enjoyed them many different ways here. This time the incarnation included organic quinoa, ruby red grapefruit buerre blanc and hawaiian lava salt Next up was chilled shrimp with an outstanding nuoc cham dipping sauce (no idea what's in it but it's good!) followed by hamachi cheeks quickly fried until the skin is VERY crisp and served with a mirin and lime sauce. This dish was designed by the new line cook for me specifically after she had been told about me before I arrived and she was very proud of it, rightfully so. I'm sure this one will make the menu soon and he will be an asset to this team. Next up was duck confit with olathe sweet corn salsa and blue corn chips. Ryan, their sous chef was up next with a specially designed dish not on the menu either. This was crispy quail legs stuffed with green bamboo minted rice served with port wine preserved ugly plums. OMG this was so good. For my final dish of the evening I was treated to a decadent dark chocolate brownie with cream cheese ice cream and a chocolate dipped strawberry.
Needless to say I was a bit full but I was very happy. I spent 4 hours there enjoying the food but more importantly the wonderful people of this establishment.
This morning I woke up to wet roads as the rain had only stopped a bit before so I relaxed and gave the streets some time to clear before a pleasant ride from Eagle-Vail up to through Vail Village to East Vail and back. I had to shorten it a bit because of more storms coming in so I didn't get to loop into Minturn as planned but maybe one of these days. The first two pics below are from Friday's drive and the third is from today driving down Vail Pass.
Between cycling, training for races and gas prices it's just not happened. This weekend was based around helping with my ski team's bike-a-thon. Friday evening I drove up through pour rain only to near the Eisenhower Tunnel and see that it was no longer rain I was driving through but SNOW! Yep, folks, that's right snow on August 15th! Saturday morning dawned dark and dreary with lightning, thunder and hail so the bike-a-thon was postponed to a later date and I tucked in with some coffee and a croissant to enjoy some Olympic coverage. Late in the morning the skies cleared so I was able to get out for a quick ride into Edwards to visit Cut! the newest sister business to my favorite restaurant. Cut! is an artisan butcher featuring extremely fresh and high quality meats and seafood along with prepared foods ranging from gorgonzola burgers to proscuitto wrapped asparagus to already marinated meats/seafood to on site made stocks, demi glace, shrimp butter, octopus salad, seaweed salad, soups and on and on. The also carry various hot sauces, marinades, cooking tools, cutting boards, knives and spices. When I walked in I was greeted by both an owner and the general manager (who was the sous chef at Dish) with questions of where the heck I'd been. :D While I was there one of the owners clued me in that the chef at Dish is celebrating her birthday this weekend. I hightailed out of there when I looked to the sky and saw that some new dark clouds were moving in since I had an uphill ride back to the house.
Dinner Saturday night at Dish was incredible as usual. I was greeted by hugs and introductions to the new team members, seated at my usual spot and the adventure began. Dish specializes in seasonal high quality foods with menus changing daily. I always choose the tasting menu which is advertised as 7 courses of small plates for $40. Inevitably though, I am treated to a special version of the tasting, this time 11 courses. Part of what I love about this place is sitting at the kitchen bar I watch as they prepare food for the entire restaurant see all the dishes that go out. A new line cook was on duty and I very much enjoyed getting to know her. As I watch their prep suddenly one of the dishes is placed in front of me and I feel like a child at Christmas. :D
My meal started, as it always does with The Original which is serrano ham, manchego cheese and sherry. Next was the traditional soup a roasted five lily soup with toasted garlic croutons. I was curious about the part until I realized that the lily family includes onions and it's sisters garlic, shallots and chives so this had red and yellow onions, garlic, shallot and chives and was delightful. It contained no beef broth so the roasted onion flavor shined. Next up was the One Fish Two Fish which was hamachi tartare on a wonton chip and house-smoked salmon salad on a cucumber slice. Following that was stuffed patty pan squash with olathe sweet corn and chive stuffing. Next up was King Canyon Ranch buffalo carpaccio with house made potato chips, capers and a lemon sauce. This is the second time I've had this at Dish and it's an all time favorite for sure. Dish often has diver sea scallops on their menu and I've enjoyed them many different ways here. This time the incarnation included organic quinoa, ruby red grapefruit buerre blanc and hawaiian lava salt Next up was chilled shrimp with an outstanding nuoc cham dipping sauce (no idea what's in it but it's good!) followed by hamachi cheeks quickly fried until the skin is VERY crisp and served with a mirin and lime sauce. This dish was designed by the new line cook for me specifically after she had been told about me before I arrived and she was very proud of it, rightfully so. I'm sure this one will make the menu soon and he will be an asset to this team. Next up was duck confit with olathe sweet corn salsa and blue corn chips. Ryan, their sous chef was up next with a specially designed dish not on the menu either. This was crispy quail legs stuffed with green bamboo minted rice served with port wine preserved ugly plums. OMG this was so good. For my final dish of the evening I was treated to a decadent dark chocolate brownie with cream cheese ice cream and a chocolate dipped strawberry.
Needless to say I was a bit full but I was very happy. I spent 4 hours there enjoying the food but more importantly the wonderful people of this establishment.
This morning I woke up to wet roads as the rain had only stopped a bit before so I relaxed and gave the streets some time to clear before a pleasant ride from Eagle-Vail up to through Vail Village to East Vail and back. I had to shorten it a bit because of more storms coming in so I didn't get to loop into Minturn as planned but maybe one of these days. The first two pics below are from Friday's drive and the third is from today driving down Vail Pass.
