Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Squaw Creek

When we arrived at the Squaw Creek Resort back in December, the halls were thoroughly decked with Christmas cheer. Since we got in so late and it was so cold, we happily ordered pizza and sat by the fire, reminiscing about our first few dates which ALL consisted of ordering pizza. For a nice dinner out the next night, we carried a luscious bottle of Prevail 2004 down to the Six Peaks restaurant in the resort. The menu was interesting with "New Cuisine" taking up a full page. Upon asking, I learned that liquid nitrogen would be used to slowly cook the food...so obviously I had to try it. Rather than try to pigeon-hole this celebratory meal with a beginning, middle and end, I ordered three delicious-sounding appetizers.
The butternut squash soup tasted like Christmas. The menu said candy cane and blackberry marshmallow but it tasted more like poetic sugared plums. A little crunch, a little sugar, a little squash. Ok, it was, um, interesting. But I was having too much fun. My next "New" course was the foie gras (as if I could pass that up on the menu). I think foie gras tastes best in Europe. Just sayin. This version was pretty light on flavor but had the texture nailed. The menu read cranberry air, currant caviar and cinnamon apple pancake. In any case, it was sweet, creamy, had elements of cooked currants that really did pop in my mouth like caviar and the delicious fluff of real pancake.

When the waiter brought out John's elk steak (yes, that is how he celebrates) I got my lobster pot pie. This is my new obsession. And why not? Lobster. Pot pie. This version was like soup but oh so delicious. I could taste what I think was brandy in the cream sauce - it was superb. It was so nice to stretch out the evening through three courses. Being engaged has major perks too! Our corkage was comped and nearly all of the staff stopped by to say congratulations. It was snowing outside but we were radiating with excitement!