{"id":1251,"date":"2016-12-22T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.venividiedi.net\/?p=1251"},"modified":"2016-12-22T16:34:32","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T16:34:32","slug":"game-creek-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.venividiedi.net\/?p=1251","title":{"rendered":"Game Creek Restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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The twinkling lights of Lionshead below us with a stunning backdrop of the mountain. This \u00a0pic was just from my iPhone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These two rides will take you to the mountain restaurant which is so breathtaking.<\/p>\n

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If it looks postcard-perfect, it’s because it really is.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Inside, the decor has a very warm and lodge-y feel. Very welcoming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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We started with a moscow mule and D had a petite syrah.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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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.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Beans chose rabbit for his starter. It has purple potato, chorizo and tarragon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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D and I had crab – it had
bay scallops, leeks, saffron chive sauce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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For soup\/salad, Beans and I had trout chowder. it had fennel-potato hash, lemon cr\u00e8me fraiche. Not very photogenic, but it was excellent.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This is my entree. I had VENISON with
red onion jam, rutabaga, carrot, cassis. It was cooked perfect medium rare, not gamey-at all.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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D had BISON with
confit potato, zucchini, smoked mustard seed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Beans had COLORADO LAMB with
gingerbread, sweet potato, red cabbage, thyme sauce. This is the best among the three entrees that we had.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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My dessert!!! I had BANANA MOUSSE with
chocolate, cherry, salted caramel ice cream, peanut. Absolutely divine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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D had PEAR CREPE with
golden raisins, cinnamon ice cream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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And once again, Beans had the best order. He had CHEESES (blue cheese, goat brie and cheddar) with
truffle honey, crostini, cracker, fig jam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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What can I say, we are happiest when we share good food together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are far from being a perfect family but we will always find the perfect food!!! Happy birthday to me!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading Game Creek Restaurant<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures","category-i-me-and-myself","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p71dzN-kb","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/www.venividiedi.net\/?p=223","url_meta":{"origin":1251,"position":0},"title":"Celebrating Forty-Something","author":"certifiedfoodie","date":"December 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Spent my birthday weekend with all my favorites. 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