High Cuisine | Vermont Slopeside Dining
At these Vermont slopeside dining destinations, big views are served up along with delicious food.
By Gina Vercesi|Feb 04 2017|
Epic’s sleek style greets visitors atop Okemo.
Credit: Courtesy of Okemo Resort
The Bierhall at the Trapp Family Lodge.
Credit: Courtesy of Trapp Family LodgeCredit: Courtesy of Trapp Family Lodge
It was an odd feeling hopping onto the lift without skis. The attendant slowed the chair as my friend Mike and I climbed aboard and I clutched my backpack, heavy with a bottle of wine, two Switchback Ales, and a pair of snowshoes. We were headed up Sterling Mountain at Smugglers’ Notch for the resort’s Snowshoe Adventure Dinner—the first one of the season. At the summit, the wind kicked up clouds of snow and as we scurried through the bitter temperatures, toward the warm glow of the Top of the Notch summit cabin, I reminded myself yet again that I would never be a candidate to climb Mount Everest.
But a dinner atop a ski mountain? That’s something I’ll sign up for. After all, why should ski vacation adventures stop with the last chair? Several Vermont resorts have dialed in on unique ways to après, bringing the party back up the peak and giving folks a chance to get into the snow well after the lifts stop spinning.
Here are eight trailside eateries well worth a visit this winter. The catch? They’re only accessible by snowcat, sleigh, skis, or snowshoes. Not to worry though—each one has been designed to appeal to both the adventurous and the adventurous at heart.
» KILLINGTON RESORT
Motor Room Bar Perched atop Bear Mountain, the drive terminal of Killington’s now defunct 1980s era Devil’s Fiddle Quad has been christened the Motor Room Bar and serves as the venue for the resort’s retro cocktail shindig. Hop aboard a snowcat and claw up Bear’s 3,262-foot peak. The old terminal’s metal stairs lead to a horseshoe-shaped room wrapped with floor-to-ceiling windows. Inside, assorted small plate offerings—local artisan cheeses and charcuterie, a hot mug of soup, crisp oysters on the half shell—are presented atop the lift’s original bull wheel brake repurposed as a table. Grab a drink (two cocktails per person are included) and while away a couple of hours chatting with friends and other revelers while night falls over the slopes. Killington.com
Outside the Ledgewood Yurt.
Credit: Courtesy of Killington ResortCredit: Courtesy of Killington Resort
Dinner is served inside the Ledgewood.
Credit: Courtesy of Killington ResortCredit: Courtesy of Killington Resort
Ledgewood Yurt A new twist on the traditional sleigh ride delivers diners deep into the woods to Killington’s Ledgewood Yurt—a Mongolian-style canvas hut aglow with twinkle lights. Diners warm up with hot, spiked apple cider at the Snowshed Mountain base lodge before huddling beneath heavy wool blankets in a huge snowcat-drawn sleigh. A short ride under a starry sky leads to the Northbrook Trail where the yurt is nestled in among the trees. Inside, a woodstove keeps things cozy, servers take your coats, and crisp white tablecloths glow beneath candlelight. Guests sit family-style at long tables to enjoy a five-course meal prepared with ingredients sourced from local farms and producers by executive chef Greg Lang. Enjoy delicacies like American sturgeon served with truffled spoonbread and pork belly confit with roasted morels. For families, the Yurt offers a kid-friendly three-course menu several times each season that includes sugar on snow for dessert. Killington.com
» OKEMO RESORT
Epic Snowcat Dining Adventure Perhaps the most posh of the Green Mountain’s slopeside eating experiences, Epic welcomes guests to travel to dinner in style in the heated coach of Okemo’s tank-like snowcat—one that was originally employed at the Calgary Olympics. For extra adventure, be the first to call shotgun and ride up front with the driver on the 15-minute, vertical climb up Solitude Mountain, where a mini-tour offers a taste of the slopes from a vantage point often reserved for the groomers. Your final destination is Epic, the resort’s mid-mountain lunchtime hangout, transformed into an elegant dining space and made more ambient by the big, wood-burning fireplace in the center of the room. Sixty local food producers supply the ingredients for a five-course meal created by Chef Jason Tostrup that allows people to experience the terroir of the area. Whet your appetite with specialty cocktails like the Haywired, made with Vermont-made Whistle Pig whiskey, heirloom apple cider, and local bitters. Though the menu changes often, recent goodies included truffle artichoke and garlic bisque, wild bass with clams in garlic broth, and Blackwatch Farms beef tartare. Okemo.com
Epic’s sleek style greets visitors atop Okemo.
Credit: Courtesy of Okemo Resort
Great article! Skied at several of these – unfortunately, LONG before they had these fun restaurants! Would love to go back now. 🙂