Creating a farm-to-table dinner like the ones hosted at Park City Mountain’s Legends Bar & Grill is a little more involved than a usual meal.
Rather than ordering goods and produce over email, or on the phone, the chef staff walks down to the Park City Farmers Market on the Wednesday before the meal. There they find as many ingredients as possible from the area’s local vendors.
Park City Mountain Senior Food and Beverage Director Alex Malmborg, who created this month’s menu, didn’t need to see the farmer’s market offerings to know what should be featured in the farm-to-table meal.
“I’ve been a chef in the area for a long long time,” he said. “So I know a lot of farmers and growers.”
Familiar with the area’s produce and their seasons, and well aware of the types of dishes and meals that do well in a resort setting, he came to the Wednesday market with a shopping list rather than questions.
Zucchini, corn, swiss chard, mushrooms, chicken, beef …. Malmborg and Legends’ newest sous chef, Toni Slowey, began checking ingredients off for the weekend’s 50-person dinner, their second of the summer’s four-meal series.
“I was thinking really about what kind of produce is in season right now, like corn and watermelon. … I really wanted to make the produce the star of the dinner,” Malmborg said.
Ingredients from vendors like Canyon Meadows Ranch, Madsnacks Produce, 3 Springs Land and Livestock and Intermountain Gourmet Mushrooms would become dishes like a sweet roasted corn gazpacho, a steak and vegetable kabab, a zucchini fritter and a compressed watermelon and fresh herb salad.
“This meal, it’s not focused on every single thing being from the farmer’s market. It’s just meant to focus and highlight local produce. You’ll notice the entree course is halibut. Obviously nothing says Utah farmer’s market like halibut,” he said with a laugh.
With most things checked off the list, and plans to stop at the Downtown Farmer’s Market in Salt Lake City on Saturday, their work was mostly done until Sunday, when the cooking would begin.
Some steps could happen a few hours before the evening’s attendees arrived, like searing the halibut and tossing the herb salad.
Unlike last year, the dinner began with a cocktail hour on the patio with small bites served as starters — the corn gazpacho, miniature kebabs and a green beignet with raspberry dipping sauce.
The rest was served as dinner inside, the herb salad first, followed by the halibut entree plated over zucchini fritters and a dramatic slash of carrot ginger puree and basil oil.
Malmborg stopped by each table, interacting with guests and answering questions. Dessert came out, a dark chocolate ganache tart with a toffee-like saltiness and three perfect raspberries on top.
The next dinner, Aug. 25, will be created by Slowey, drawing from years of experience cooking at Park City Mountain and before that, Jackson Hole.
New this year is a farm-to-table brunch, scheduled for Sept. 15. Tickets are $90 per person and reservations can be made at parkcitymountain.com/explore-the-resort/during-your-stay/dining.aspx.