Park City’s Best Food, Drink And Skiing During Sundance Film Festival

Forbes Lifestyle ForbesLife Park City’s Best Food, Drink And Skiing During Sundance Film Festival Larry Olmsted Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I am an award winning travel journalist & bestselling author. Follow me on Instagram travelfoodguy or Twitter @travelfoodguy Following Click to save this article.

You'll be asked to sign into your Forbes account. Got it Jan 14, 2024, 07:30am EST Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin PARK CITY, UT JANUARY 20: View of the Eygptian Theatre during the Sundance Film Festival on Main ... [+] Street in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) Getty Images There’s nothing in skiing quite like the Sundance Film Festival , which takes over Utah’s Park City in a way even the Christmas and New Years holidays cannot, with lodging sold out, restaurants, bars and sidewalks jammed, and roads closed to traffic.

Whether you are attending the Festival or just skiing, eating and drinking outside your accommodations will be more complicated than at any other time you can visit this charming town. The good news is that Park City has more good options—and hidden gems—than most Western ski towns. It also has more skiing than any other U.S.

ski town, and the slopes are famously empty during the Festival, as the vast majority of people filling hotels are here to work at or participate in the film industry’s big show, Locals consider it an awesome time to ski—especially with all the recent snow. That also makes on mountain dining and drinking a better option than ever, considering how crowded town is.

Just about every ski town is built around a big ski resort, but Park City is home to not one, but two of the nation’s premier mountains, including the biggest one of all in the United States, Park City Mountain Resort (there is a lot of misinformation in this regards, and resorts that claim to be bigger but include non lift served areas like sno cat skiing in their total, and for actual resort skiing included in your lift ticket and served by lifts, PCMR is tops with 7,300 acres and 41 lifts, according to Ski Magazine ).

Trails from the nation's largest ski resort run right down into the heart of Park City, Utah. getty On the other side of the rope that divides the resorts is Deer Valley , another giant with over 100 trails, but best known as the nation’s most luxurious, white glove ski resort (along with luxury rival Beaver Creek in Colorado), and one of just three remaining major resorts that does not allow snowboarding.

In the near future Deer Valley will more than double in size and is projected to become the nation’s fourth largest, as it just acquired an under construction mountain next door and will see a huge expansion to over 5,000 acres. There’s something for every ski traveler here, as Deer Valley is on the popular Ikon Pass and Park City Mountain Resort takes the industry leading Epic Pass.

MORE FOR YOU Today’s NYT ‘Connections’ Hints And Answers (Sunday, January 14) UFC Vegas 84 Results: Winners And Losers Ankalaev Vs. Walker 2 Card Steelers Will Try To Upset Bills Without NFL Sacks Leader T.J. Watt “Now that Sundance is offering a hybrid experience for film viewing [via online programming], many people are electing to watch movies from home.

This has increased the availability of lodging for families that want to ski during the 10 days of Sundance. It is an exciting time to be on the mountain, because the terrain is fairly wide open during prime January ski days,” said Dan Howard, vice president of communications for Visit Park City, the local tourism board (with a very helpful website ).

Tupelo is one of the best places you can eat in Park City, and a Wine Spectator Best of Award of ... [+] Excellence winner, but its off the beaten path location might deter crowds. Caroline Hargraves7 The 2024 edition of the Sundance Film Festival will be held January 18 28 in Park City (there is also programming in Salt Lake City and online).

It’s a hectic time to be here for sure, but also exciting and a fantastic time to ski. Many restaurants are already sold out, but here are the best options for eating and drinking in and around Park City—anytime you visit. Tupelo : Not quite a hidden gem, this Southern inspired restaurant featuring carefully sourced artisan and farm to table ingredients is locally beloved—and one of my personal favorites—but its slightly out of the way location makes it a little less crazy during busy season.

They have an excellent bar and cocktail program, but considering how man luxury Forbes 4 and 5 Star hotels and steakhouses are in town, its amazing that this laid back place is one of only two establishments in Park City to win a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. Croquette appetizer at Tupelo.

Caroline Hargraves7 High West Saloon : The world’s first ski in/ski out distillery, High West is a one of a kind bar that also serves excellent food, right at the base of the PCMR slopes and close to Main Street. It has long been one of skiing’s most famous après spots, and is always crowded, even when the Festival is not on, but they don’t take reservations so if you are willing to wait it might work out.

High West at Blue Sky : High West’s award winning whiskies have proven so popular around the world that they had to build a bigger distillery at the Blue Sky resort community outside of town, and that location has a bigger restaurant that is easier to get into. Silver Star Cafe : My hidden gem pick and another personal favorite.

This spot is stashed in a small retail plaza at the base of PCMR’s Silver Star lift, not in town, and specializes in comfort food mountain style, what it calls “American roots cuisine,” using high quality ingredients, like an in house grind of short ribs, flank steak and chuck for its beloved burger and Niman Ranch pork for its osso buco, a specialty that was featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive Ins and Dives .

It has a neighborhood bar feel with great live music, delicious food reasonable prices and I highly recommend it! Chop Shop Park City : A bit of a hidden gem just because it is relatively new, this is a chef owned artisanal butcher shop that makes its own European style charcuterie and offers both dine in and takeout options.

It is the best bet in town if you can’t get a reservation anywhere and want to enjoy great food in your own accommodations, with gourmet cheese and meat boards, amazing fancy sandwiches, to go pizzas, and every kind of fine meat imaginable. If you want to see your food cooked, grab a seat at the Exhibition Kitchen within Rime Steak + ...

[+] Seafood. St. Regis Deer Valley Rime Seafood + Steak : For fine dining it’s hard to beat Rime, the flagship eatery in the Forbes 4 Star St. Regis Deer Valley resort. The resort’s longtime chef Matthew Harris sources his meat and seafood meticulously from top vendors and pairs them with one of the West’s best wine cellars, over 10,000 bottles worth, a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner.

This is the second highest award the magazine bestows and one of only two in Park City, along with Tupelo. A trio of dishes at new Italian standout La Stellina in the Forbes 4 Star St. Regis Deer Valley. St. Regis Deer Valley La Stellina : The newest addition to the already impressive list of restaurants in the St.

Regis Deer Valley, this is a fancy Italian American inspired concept in the style of New York’s famous Rao’s, or mor recently, the Carbone brand, with homemade pastas and delicious entrees. The Vintage Room : Likely the hardest place to get a drink during Sundance, but if you can you are likely to brush elbows with celebs.

The St. Regis Deer Valley opened this slopeside après concept during COVID and has kept it because it has become the hottest après spot in town—the waiting list to get in has topped 600 people! The 1,600 square foot bar/lounge is set inside a giant glass greenhouse out on the snow, and the small bites menu revolves around freshly shucked oysters and raw bar.

They pour lots of champagne along with the resort’s signature Bloody Mary (the cocktail was invented at the original New York St. Regis and every resort worldwide now has its own signature edition, read more here ). Riverhorse on Main : The top fine dining pick on Park City’s busy Main Street, this 4 Star is the only non hotel eatery in town to make the Forbes Travel Guide award winners list.

Self described as “eclectic American cuisine” starters run the gamut from fancy pierogies with gruyere cheese to Thai curry cauliflower to Nashville hot quail, while signature mains include the Macadamia crusted Alaskan wild halibut and trio of wild game. Palomino: This brand new cocktail bar by Riverhorse is next door to the acclaimed restaurant and is opening on the 18 th , the first day of the Festival.

It does not get more current than that! Yuta : This Forbes 4 Star is the main restaurant in the 5 Star Lodge at Blue Sky, An Auberge Resort . The Auberge property is a luxury resort with a clubhouse at Park City Mountain Resort and private chauffeured transfers, and has been the hottest place to stay in Park City ever since it opened a few years back, except it isn’t really in Park City.

It’s out at the suburban Blue Sky resort community and as such gets less foot and spur of the moment traffic. Yuta is a multi cultural, global fine dining spot with a James Beard Best Chef nominee at its helm. Festival Pop up: For the past two winters, in addition to Yuta and its own cuisine, the Lodge at Blue Sky, An Auberge Resort has hosted a Sundance pop up from California’s 3 Michelin starred Single Thread , and will again for the ten days of the Festival.

Glitretind : Another Forbes 4 Star located within a 5 Star hotel, in this case the iconic Stein Eriksen Lodge , slopeside at Deer Valley Resort. An oldie but a goodie, removed from the chaos of Main Street. Burgers & Bourbon : Ther are a lot of good dining choices in the Forbes 5 Stra Montage Deer Valley , on the slopes at Deer Valley and also removed from Main Street crowds, but this casual watering hole is a personal favorite of mine, and might be one of the easier spots of get into.

Town is jammed for Sundance, but the ski resorts are empty, so on mountain dining can be a great ... [+] option. This is a signature dish at the revamped Mid Mountain Lodge at Park City Mountain Resort. Jack Loosmann, Park City Mountain Resort Slope Stream : This new offering at the 5 Star Montage is an outside bar, firepit and “food truck” concept, except the truck is a classic Airstream trailer, serving smoked BBQ, chili, sandwiches and tacos plus awesome desserts.

Another beat the crowds pick, accessible from the slopes. Sticky Wicket : An insider pick to beat the cocktail crowds, this brand new bar is in Deer Valley Resort’s New Orleans themed restaurant, Royal Street, upstairs in the Silver Lake Lodge, and has raw bar and “artisan nachos” to go with craft cocktails.

The Kitz & Antler Lounge : The luxury boutique Goldener Kirsch hotel has been a mainstay at Deer Valley forever, but is now an Auberge Resort. Its fine dining restaurant is justifiably popular, but these more causal upstairs spots are lesser known, another good hidden gem. Fresh ceviche at Dos Olas Cantina, a hidden gem in Canyons Village.

Dos Olas Cantina Dos Olas Cantina : In my experience, ski town Mexican is almost always disappointing, but not at this hidden gem in Canyons Village, the main base area of Park City Mountain Resort just outside of town. The chef cooks up recipes from his native Mexico City, and they have outstanding cocktails.

Pine Cone Ridge : Off the radar only because it is new, this concept comes from well established local restaurateur Bill White and occupies the former Wahso space on Main Street. It claims to be “Contemporary American,” but has throwback flair with dishes like crab cakes Louis, baked brie, French onion soup and baked stuffed lobster.

Plus, it has a great bar! Park City Mountan Resort just added a fancy new cocktail bar, The Public House, to its Mid Mountain ... [+] Lodge. Jack Loosmann, Park City Mountain Resort On Mountain Dining and Drinking at Park City Mountain Resort: A great way to beat the crowds in town is to hit the slopes, and PCMR has reinvested and revamped a lot of its offerings.

The newly renovated Mid Mountain Lodge has a fancy new 21+ only bar, The Public House, posh with excellent cocktails. Red Tail Grille, in the Grand Summit Hotel at the main Canyons Base area of PCMR is a reliable post skiing spot to beat the crowds with a large menu of staples like burgers and steaks.

The Farm, also in the Grand Summit, is a fancier bistro style spot focused on farm sourced ingredients. Edge Steakhouse : The Westgate hotel in Canyons base village gets overlooked in a town full of high end, big name luxury options, but it contains Park City’s premier carnivore spot, the Forbes 4 Star Edge.

Old Town Cellars is a top shelf wine shop that also hides a wine bar on Main Street. @dancampbellphoto Old Town Cellars: This Main Street wine shop is a great place to pick up some bottles to take back to your lodging, but also has a bar and lounge many visitors do not know about. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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