Monthly Archives: December 2016

Vail Valley Food Tours

Food is a big part of a culture. Just like I mentioned in the intro of this blog, one of the best ways to get to know a culture is to sample their dishes. As I researched for the itinerary of our Vail trip, I came across this food tour called Vail Valley Food Tours.  There were several tours to choose from among which was a craft beer tour. However, I remembered the Alaska beer tour we had last year.  I still get a pounding headache every time I think about that. Beer is not for me. I decided on the gourmet Food tour instead. Beans opted to get snowboarding lessons today, so this will give me a nice distraction from my absolute fear that he will end up breaking both legs in the snow.

We started out by meeting our guide, Freddy, at Terra Bistro.

We had our welcome champagne.

Terra Bistro  is a sustainable restaurant. The menu is based off things they grow or locally raise. Even the water that they serve is from the mountain-tops, going through their own filtering system.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP – with spiced pepitas, chive oil, apple cider reduction. Beside it is the CHORIZO STUFFED DATES – Medjool dates, house-made chorizo, pancetta, roasted Peppadew pepper sauce.
This is Gore Creek. Because this is also a village tour, the guide also showed us “prime spots” for pics and a good historical background on how the city of Vail came to be.

Next stop is Blu Cow Cafe. This is an uber cool apres-cafe that’s been here since 1967. Click on the link and you’ll see how smug they are in their intro, because they really don’t need one!

Had to take this pic of D next to all the cool cowbells.
Their specialty is the Swiss bratwurst. It’s the only thing written on the menu board. There’s a whole bunch of craft beers so D was obviously delighted.
The covered bridge! This reminds me of the bridge in Lucerne
Next stop is Fuzziwig’s.

Fuzziwig’s is a candy factory. If you are a Kardashian fan, you will remember this as one of the candy shops that they use to frequent when they were younger. I don’t know why I have a memory for these kind of details…

Salted Caramel Fudge— yumyumyum!

Next stop is La Tour. Self proclaimed as the best restaurant in Vail, Colorado. Location is excellent, right at the heart of Vail. Menu is extensive and hip.

Enjoying our drink called The Remedy.
The Remedy — grey goose citrus vodka, st. germain elderflower liqueur and cranberry juice
Since octopus is “hip” now, the restaurant had it’s own take. Sizzling Octopus A La Plancha–with cumin almonds, charred scallion, water chestnuts, chile caribe aioli

We are so stuffed at this point but there was one more restaurant in the itinerary. Last but definitely not the least was AlpenRose Tea Room. This is a 30 year old German-Austrian pastry shop featuring home-made baked goods plus beer and wine.

Apple Strudel with home made vanilla ice cream on the side. It was served with home made gluwein. We also had bread pudding but had to box it up because there’s simply no room…

So that, in a nut shell, is the Vail Food Tour. It’s one of the most delightful food tours I’ve been to, and I would highly recommend it to those wanting to sample Vail food and culture. It is the priciest of all the food tours I’ve been to, but hey, Vail is not really synonymous to cheap… Plus, there really was a lot of food and drinks and the place is the most ideal to walk around due to so many sights to see. The 3 hours passed so quickly.

Before we knew it, it was getting dark. Beans texted that he is done and he still has both his legs. This day is a success!

On our way back, we saw these ice sculptures so we took this quick selfie before we literally froze our butts off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Game Creek Restaurant

I didn’t go out and celebrate my birthday last week. I got busy at work; had to cover for a co-worker who went on a medical mission to Mosul. Plus, I read about this awesome mountain dining experience that seems to be in vogue here in Vail. It is way out of my price range but I might be able to drive it closer under the guise of an important milestone event. So I decided to wait for a week for my 45th birthday celebration.

Game Creek Restaurant will come up as one of the best dining places in the Rocky Mountains. It is an adventure in itself because it entails going up to a mountain by a gondola then ride a snow cat to get you to the place. Of course I had no idea what a snow cat is. Naturally I googled it.

So a snow cat is not some sort of feline carrier. It’s a huge-ass vehicle which can plow through the snow, even in the most frigid conditions. Fancy.

Before we got to this snow cat, we had to take the gondola. Now that ride is majestic. I chose the hour at twilight so we would be able to take the best pictures as we rode up to the mountain.

The twinkling lights of Lionshead below us with a stunning backdrop of the mountain. This  pic was just from my iPhone.

These two rides will take you to the mountain restaurant which is so breathtaking.

If it looks postcard-perfect, it’s because it really is.
Inside, the decor has a very warm and lodge-y feel. Very welcoming.

They have a prix fix menu ranging from 3 course to 5 course. We opted for the 4 course because the five course had wine pairing and we had a minor with us. Besides, as I learned the hard way, you get drunk a lot faster in high altitude so we had to take it easy with the alcohol.

We started with a moscow mule and D had a petite syrah.
Chef’s complements. I totally forgot what these are. I know that the puff pastry had foie gras in it, I don’t know the mousse-like concoction. Fail.
Beans chose rabbit for his starter. It has purple potato, chorizo and tarragon

I’m really glad that Beans has taken the food adventure spirit like me. He is always up to try new things. He liked the rabbit. He was able to appreciate how it was cooked perfectly and look beyond the fact that he is eating his favorite cartoon character.

D and I had crab – it had
bay scallops, leeks, saffron chive sauce
For soup/salad, Beans and I had trout chowder. it had fennel-potato hash, lemon crème fraiche. Not very photogenic, but it was excellent.
This is my entree. I had VENISON with
red onion jam, rutabaga, carrot, cassis. It was cooked perfect medium rare, not gamey-at all.
D had BISON with
confit potato, zucchini, smoked mustard seed.
Beans had COLORADO LAMB with
gingerbread, sweet potato, red cabbage, thyme sauce. This is the best among the three entrees that we had.
My dessert!!! I had BANANA MOUSSE with
chocolate, cherry, salted caramel ice cream, peanut. Absolutely divine.
D had PEAR CREPE with
golden raisins, cinnamon ice cream
And once again, Beans had the best order. He had CHEESES (blue cheese, goat brie and cheddar) with
truffle honey, crostini, cracker, fig jam

Overall, it it one of my best dining experiences ever. From the commute, the views and food, everything was excellent. The only thing I regretted was that despite the fact that we specified in our reservations that it was my birthday, my dessert did not have a friggin greeting or a candle. D, of course, asked for the manager. After profuse apologies, they offered a bottle of champagne, but we were so full!!! We respectfully declined. I will let this go. I am not turning 45 for nothing. I can overlook a mishap and I can certainly recognize a sincere apology when I hear one.

What can I say, we are happiest when we share good food together.

We are far from being a perfect family but we will always find the perfect food!!! Happy birthday to me!