I went to Wyoming this past week with Jonathan's family. It was fantastic in part because I had a full 9 days off work.
The Hotel
We left Sunday morning and flew into Jackson Hole, WY. We got to our hotel, The Snake River Resort and Spa, and it was pretty cool. There are wood carvings all over, mostly of bears. The even funnier part about it is that the artist's name is Jonathan, he goes by Jonathan the Bearman. My favorite bear was in a pillar in the lobby, you could see his little face and paws poking through and underneath it said "Jonathan 1997," but what I didn't see at first is that on the other side, his little bottom and back paws were there, so it was like he was crawling the post. Super cute.
When we got to our room, it was fantastic! It was a three bedroom, three bathroom condo. There was one door that went out to the main hall. Then there was a little mini hallway that opened to two doors. Over to the left was the main part of the room. There was a full kitchen with granite counters, a dishwasher, fridge, mircrowave, oven and range, everything. It was fully stocked with pots and pans, dishes, silverware, etc. Then there was a dining room table that seated eight. And the living room area with a couch, two chairs, a fireplace, TV, etc. Basically, it was bigger than some apartments I have seen. There were two bedrooms then, each with their own bathroom and TVs. That's where Jonathan's parents and sister slept.
Then to the right in that entry way was another room. There was a giant bed, a fireplace, a table and chairs, a comfy chair, closet, and all the shelves and things around the fireplace were carved wood. The bathroom was fantastic too, the shower was floor to ceiling glass and had this handy little feature called Mr. Steam. You pressed a button and steam came out and made the shower all fantastic and steamy. Jonathan's stuff was in there, but they said he was going to sleep on the couch. That didn't last for very long because at about 5am Monday morning, he showed up because his mom wanted to watch TV. (The next night, he went to go to sleep on the couch and his blankets and pillow were gone. After that it didn't really matter and he just slept there every night.)
Sunday
When we got to the hotel, our room wasn't quite ready yet so we sat down at the Fireside Bar, part of the gamefish Restaurant, to grab some lunch. I ordered the southwest chicken fajita flatbread, but the waitress got a little confused and brought me the tomato caprese flatbread, which I had been considering anyway, so it was ok. I also got the cinnamon-brown sugar sweet potato fries. Pretty tasty. Jonathan's mom, Jaye, got white truffle fries. I had never had truffles, but as I feared, I was not a fan. But at least I tried them for the first time. Jonathan ordered the pulled elk quesadilla. Let me tell you about this: braised elk shoulder, onions, peppers, oaxaca cheese, pico de gallo, and sour cream on a spinach flour tortilla. My first experience with elk meat too. It is pretty stinkin' awesome. Super tasty stuff.
After hanging out for a while in the lobby, wandering around Teton Village, and squandering our time, they finally let us into half of the room. The bigger half, so everyone else got settled while Jonathan and I took the car and went to get groceries. We stopped at the nicest Albertson's I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, it was more like a Whole Foods than your average grocery store. When we got back, supplies in hand, complete with cookie dough, the other side of the hotel was ready and we were able to settle in.
After settling in, we all went into Jackson. We wandered around the Town Square and went into some of the shops. We were super hungry, so we stopped at Billy's "Giant" Hamburgers (I'm not sure why giant is in quotes, that is how it is on the building.) I got a cheeseburger, along with everyone else, except Jaye. She got the buffalo brisket that is part of the menu at the Cadillac Grille. It was pretty tasty stuff, though it smelled awful. The smell of it reminded me a little bit of Otto's breath when it is particularly bad. But the taste was good and the texture was nice and juicy. It was served with pearl onions, carrots, and cheddar mashed potatoes, all of which looked pretty good and she said that they were.
When we got back to the room, we made cookies because nothing looked good for dessert at the restaurant. We got all ready for bed and went to sleep after a very long day that was full of activity for such a short day.
Monday
On Monday, we woke up and had breakfast in the room. Just bagels and such. I burned my stupid thumb on the toaster and it hurt a lot more than I anticipated. After everyone was ready for the day, we headed into Jackson again. We went to The Bunnery for lunch. I had a delightful spinach and onion quiche that was made on homemade pie crust with swiss cheese. It was served with a house salad. A nice, light, but filling lunch. We wandered around Jackson for the rest of the afternoon and Jonathan and I stumbled across my new favorite store shortly after lunch. Vom Fass is this amazing store where they sell oil, vinegar, spices, wine, whiskeys and cognacs. The one that we were in is one of only five locations in the U.S. They weren't quite done filling it yet, and Jonathan was disappointed that they didn't have the whiskeys and cognacs yet. But they did have the oil, vinegar, spices, and some wines. You can taste everything in the store. There are all these things that you would never even think about trying, but they are incredible. I bought Pear Waldburg Basam and Avocado Oil. Together they are fantastic. I could drink the pear vinegar straight from the bottle with no problem. It is similar to apple cidar vinegar, but with a more tart and crisp flavor. The pear vinegar is from Waldburg, Germany and the avocado oil is from New Zealand. Jonathan got his mom some Calamansi Waldburg Basam and Basil Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The calamansi is a fruit found in the Philippines and it is really citrus-y and fresh. You can taste how incredible it will be on a fresh green salad. Especially with the basil oil. The calamansi vinegar is also made in Waldburg, Germany and the oil is EVOO infused with basil. I also tried the Mango Waldburg Basam with Chili Oil at the suggestion of the woman working there. If I had not already bought the pear and avocado, I would have gotten some of that too. Basically, it was the best store ever. I highly suggest visiting the web site and looking around, or visiting one of the few locations if ever given the chance.
We also found a great little book store, Valley Bookstore, where I found a book by my favorite author, Tamora Pierce. It's not strictly by her, it is an anthology that she compiled with Josepha Sherman. It's called Young Warriors: Stories of Strength and I recognized quite a few of the authors that contributed short stories to the anthology. I also found another book by Cinda Williams Chima. She wrote a book that I brought with me, The Demon King, that I devoured once I started reading it. Basically, after Vom Fass, Valley Bookstore was my favorite shop in town.
Monday night, we had the fanciest dinner of my life. We went up the mountain over 9,000 feet to Couloir. We took a gondola up the mountain, which was beautiful, but also terrifying if you thought about the fact that people ski down that mountain in the winter. It is a gorgeous view and a gorgeous meal. It is a four course dinner and you pick one of a few choices for each course. It is also available with a wine pairing for each course, but we didn't have the wine, except with the entree. Now about this meal!
It began with a little gift from the chef. It was a watermelon mojito sorbet ball. It was about the size of a melon ball and it was absolutely delicious; the perfect start to an amazing meal. They brought out a basket of bread that had three different breads. There was a flat bread with a lot of seeds, a crusty bread, and a super soft delicious focaccia type bread. They served that with an aged port balsamic and extra virgin olive oil. We tried not to fill up on the bread, but it was really, really good bread.
For the starter course I chose the Locavore Pasta. It changes daily based on what is available locally. That evening it was a homemade pappardelle herb pasta with shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes, green beans, and fresh goat cheese dressed in a lemon oil. It was delightful. Jonathan ordered the Pan-Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras and it was my first time ever trying foie gras, though I had heard great things. It was served seared on top of Melba toast with fresh peaches and a habenero syrup. You know those little ends of bacon that are a little bit fatty and just melt in your mouth like butter? That is foie gras. In taste at least, the texture is a little different. It is hard to get over the idea of what foie is, but once you taste it, it is worth the time spent getting over it. Not something that I could eat a lot of, or that I would want to, but it is such a rich taste that it is definitely worth trying.
For the intermezzo course, I ordered the soup, which of course changes daily. It was a sweet pea soup, served cold, with a dollop of fresh yogurt sprinkled with chives. It was good, but I couldn't physically take a big bite of it. It was the kind of soup that you can only nibble at, though it was very tasty. Everyone else got the mixed greens, which was a little lame. Jaye got Wyomato "Panzanella" with watercress, sapphire blue, and a black garlic vinaigrette, which I considered, but didn't chose because I don't like the blue so much. It did have some of the super soft bread that was in the basket in with the Wyomatoes (there is a town called Wyomato, that is where Wyomatoes come from, go figure!)
For my entree, I chose the Kurobuta Rack of Pork. It was served with corn-poblano hash, collard greens and a peach-chipotle glaze. It was cooked medium, which was new for me, but it was really good. When it is in season, that particular entree is a rack of lamb, which I was eager to try, but fate decided it wasn't to be. The pork definitely did not fail to please though. It was paired with J Pinot Noir, a delightful red wine that paired perfectly with the pork. Jonathan got the Grilled Snake River Farms Wagyu Beef with "creamed" arugula, heirloom potatoes, and a red onion marmalade. I tried some and it was pretty darn tasty too.
Dessert was great, because I didn't have to make a choice. Instead of listing the options on the menu, everyone was given a trio of desserts. There was a rhubarb-strawberry tartlet with meringue, a chocolate cake with peanut butter and chocolate ganache, and chess pie. The tartlet was all right, but frozen and difficult to eat with my sensitive teeth. The chocolate cake was good, but not the star. How can chocolate not be the star you ask? Because chess pie was the star. And if you were wondering how it could be something without chocolate, clearly you have never had chess pie. It was my first chess pie experience, but will absolutely not be my last. Here is a recipe for chess pie that I found, though ours did not have a crust. It is this deliciously custard-y sweet pie that has a crusty top, almost like it has been bruleed. I hope that I can find a recipe that will stand up to the wonderful first impression that I had.
We went back down the mountain and to the hotel where we collapsed into our beds. It was an exhausting day.
Now, that was only the first day and a half, but I realize that this is a ridiculously long post, so I will stop for the moment and continue with the rest of the trip in a later post. But just imagine, if that was only a day and a half, the rest is bound to be even more! And that thought is just nuts. Completely pistachios.
Now, that was only the first day and a half, but I realize that this is a ridiculously long post, so I will stop for the moment and continue with the rest of the trip in a later post. But just imagine, if that was only a day and a half, the rest is bound to be even more! And that thought is just nuts. Completely pistachios.
