For anyone who has skied our slopes or biked our trails, chances are they’ve refueled — and indulged — at a number of Park City’s award-winning restaurants. While we continue to garner international recognition for our world-class food scene, five of our hometown chefs will soon join an exclusive club of culinary greats when they don their aprons at the historic James Beard House.
James Beard, renowned as the pioneer of the American food industry as early as the 1940s, dedicated his life to food through his work as a chef, cookbook author, restauranteur consultant and teacher at his own James Beard Cooking School. The James Beard House, an 1840s townhouse in New York City’s Greenwich Village where Beard once resided, now serves as a “performance space” featuring visiting chefs from all over the country. Of the more than 200 dinners hosted a year, this Park City-studded event is a well-deserved honor.
“Professional chefs and culinary enthusiasts dream of the opportunity to share their talents in the kitchen of the James Beard House,” said PCARA Executive Director Ginger Ries. “To have not only one, but five, chefs selected from Park City speaks volumes to the caliber of culinary talent we have tucked into our mountain destination.”
Deer Valley Resort’s Jodie Rogers, Handle’s Briar Handly, Riverhorse On Main’s Seth Adams, Stein Eriksen Lodge’s Zane Holmquist, and Tupelo’s Matthew Harris will collaborate on a sumptuous meal for up to 80 guests. The evening will begin with a passed hors d’oeuvres reception, followed by a 5-course tasting menu and wine pairings for each course. Chefs are tasked with creating the menu, each bringing his or her own flavor and expertise to the table. For those lucky enough to score reservations for the September 20 event, the experience will be nothing short of unforgettable.
MEET THE CHEFS
Jodie Rogers, Deer Valley Resort Food and Beverage Director An Australian native, Rogers’ 20-year cooking career includes stints in several hotels in Sydney as well as a successful opening of Toast Bar and Restaurant in London. She was also invited to the James Beard Foundation’s 2017 Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change. Rogers oversees all of Deer Valley Resort’s 14 restaurants, bakery and banquet operations.
Briar Handly, Handle Chef and Partner Formerly the executive chef of Talisker on Main, Handly opened Handle in 2014, earning “Best Restaurant in Park City” for both locations respectively. In 2017, Handly collaborated to prepare a multi-course meal for Sundance Film Festival’s “An Artist at the Table” and was selected to cook as part of the James Beard Foundation’s Celebrity Chef Tour.
Seth Adams, Riverhorse On Main Executive Chef and Owner Adams’ love of skiing led him to Utah where he worked with Deer Valley Resort, Morton’s Steak House, and Grand Summit at Canyons before becoming executive chef at Riverhorse On Main in 2004. Under his direction, the restaurant has earned the Forbes Travel Guide Four Star rating for 17 consecutive years, and he has been a reoccurring host of the James Beard Celebrity Chef Dinner.
Zane Holmquist, Stein Eriksen Lodge Vice President of Food & Beverage and Corporate Chef Holmquist trained at the Culinary Institute of America, refined his style in Hawaii and California, and returned to his native Utah in 2000 to join the Stein Eriksen Lodge team. He has cooked on NBC’s Today Show and at the James Beard House, and he was named the Utah Restaurant Association’s “Chef of the Year” in 2017. Holmquist oversees the food and beverage operations at Stein Eriksen Lodge, The Chateaux Deer Valley and Stein Eriksen Residences.
Matthew Harris, Tupelo Chef and Owner Harris’ culinary career began with the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group in Atlanta. He opened Atlanta’s Market by Jean-Georges and trained at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s famed New York establishments before opening Park City’s J&G Grill at St. Regis Deer Valley and ultimately Tupelo. A true mountaineer, Harris has summited Mount Rainier, Mount Hood and Cotopaxi, among other impressive peaks.
— Amy Brown,
on behalf of the Park City Area Restaurant Association
Read all of Salt Lake magazine’s food coverage here.
