Cuisine? In the base lodge? For some ski resorts, the base lodge cafeteria has become a form of fine cuisine. And skiers have noticed, voting these resorts best for food year after year. How do the best food service operations get to be the best? And how do they keep pleasing skiers? We asked a few of the industry’s top managers their recipes for success.
“We don’t go to other ski areas for ideas,” said Wilson. “Our whole philosophy is based on hotel standards. Our main emphasis is on freshness and quality. Everything is prepared here. We make all of our own stocks, all of our vegetables are the absolute freshest. We do all of our own baking.”
Deer Valley chefs even have their own signature food line. The resort packages and sells its turkey chili, parmesan baked pita mix, cocktail mix, jumbo cookie mix. In addition to fresh, healthy is also a major emphasis at the resort.
“We have to have at least one vegen (no meat, no dairy) soup on the menu every day,” Wilson said. “We couldn’t take burgers and fries off the menu, but a lot of days we’ll sell more natural buffets (salad bar creations) than burgers.”
Wilson attributes the resort’s reputation for food to its core of longtime chefs, many of whom have worked there for 15 years or more.
At Sun Valley, Id., the chefs also get much of the credit for the top-rated food.
“The chefs have been given a lot of autonomy over the resort’s four-mountain food service operations to the extent where I think a lot of times the chefs are trying to impress each other as much as the customers,” said Andy Christensen, beverage manager. “They all have to do the basics, but they’ve been given a lot of creative license. A Caesar’s salad at River Run and a Caesar’s salad at Seattle Ridge are two very different things. One chef might do something absolutely glorious, another one sees it and says, ‘I can do better than that’ and off he goes. One chef might make a champagne vinaigrette and the next thing you know all we’re doing is taking champagne to the kitchens because they’re all making it.”
The facilities the chefs have to work with at Sun Valley also get a lot of credit. “We’re really blessed to have the facilities we do,” Christensen said. “Not many ski resorts have a live fire pizza oven or a live wok station.”
Variety is another priority in Sun Valley’s food service. “Variety’s super key,” Christensen said. “We have so much stuff, we have the opportunity to provide just about anything that anybody could ever want.”
At top-rated Tremblant, Que., the emphasis is not on variety so much as the resort’s unique European ambiance. “Even in our basic fare, we try to add a touch to everything we serve,” said Marc LaRoche, food and beverage manager.
Garnishings, presentation and value are all major emphases. “If you have too much stuff, you lose a little bit of freshness,” LaRoche said. “We have variety, but not too much. We concentrate on garnish and value.”
Healthy food—salad bars, vegetarian burgers and hot dogs, healthy sandwiches—are another emphasis, as is fresh-baked breads and pastries and homemade soups. Fare is not exotic so much as fresh, hearty, homemade. Regional products, especially maple syrup, are promoted throughout the resort’s menu, along with the French flair.
At Stowe, Vt., food and beverage manager Roland Czekelius is introducing more multicultural influences, especially from the Caribbean, Asia and Austria, into the resort’s menu. The trend is called “fusion cuisine.” It combines culinary influences from other countries into traditional dishes.
Czekelius also emphasizes food “merchandising.” “The whole kitchen should be displayed. Skiers standing in line in their ski boots with their trays should see the chefs, see the products. Fumes have a lot to do with the experience as well. We do all of our own baking of fresh bread, desserts, homemade soups. Nothing is frozen anymore.”
Food presentation is another priority. “You can’t just put it on a styrofoam plate,” Czekelius said. “We’re trying to move into washable plastic, and phasing in china little by little.”
If freshness is the key to a good food service, top-ranking Lake Louise, B.C.—with its six-day delivery time—is especially impressive. “My delivery people have to deliver every day,” said Dan Jeffrey, food and beverage manager. “Even then it’s six days old.”
Being in cattle country helps. Lake Louise promotes beef and other local products on its menu. “We always have fresh carved beef, prime rib on our buffet,” Jeffrey said.
But like all the top resorts, Lake Louise must also offer vegetarian fare— “and I’m not talking just tossed salads either,” Jeffrey said. “Vegen is not a huge part of the market, but it has to be on the menu, breakfast, lunch, dinner.”
Last year Lake Louise purchased several large baking ovens, and now bakes all of its own breads and pastries. “Skiers are looking for more quality products, especially fresh-baked goods,” Jeffrey said. Made-to-order products such as pizzas, pasta and burgers are another trend, as are sandwich “wraps.”
At Aspen Mt., Colo. trends are not as important as themes. The Little Nell hotel runs the mountain’s three restaurants—the Sundeck, Ruthie’s and Bonnie’s—but gives each its own identity. So, for instance, the Sundeck is known for its “incredible, complicated salads and soups,” explained Eric Calderon, vice president and general manager of The Little Nell. Ruthie’s is a scramble-type deli; famous for its corned beef, reubens and other deli sandwiches and soups; Bonnie’s is famous for “serious” made-to-order pizza.
All food is served on china, and each cafeteria includes reserved table dining. “A good restaurant is a good restaurant, I don’t care where you are,” Calderon said. “That’s our philosophy.”
Added Czekelius: “I think the ski industry has put a lot of emphasis on the skiing experience, ski school, grooming, lifts. Everything is great around skiing, but not always so great around food.”
Thanks to a few ski resorts, food, too, is getting downright awesome.
