Bambara chef Nathan Powers
Looking for some inspiration on where to dine this festive season? Check out some of the restaurants open for Christmas and New Years 2014:
Christmas Eve
Bambara * – will be ringing in the holidays this year with style. Executive chef Nathan Powers’ new winter menus will be the stars, along with decadent dinner specials on New Year’s Eve. Guests are encouraged to make reservations in advance, as each of these special nights will fill up very quickly. On Christmas eve, Bambara will be open for breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Chef Powers’ dinner menu and seasonal specials will be served from 5:30 until 9 p.m. On Christmas day, Bambara will be closed to allow employees to spend time with their loved ones.
Faustina *u – Chef de cuisine Joe Kemp has been busy working his magic for the upcoming holiday feasts. On Christmas eve, Faustina will be open for lunch, then for dinner from 4:30 until 8 p.m. with Chef Kemp’s winter dinner menu plus an evening special. Faustina will be closed Christmas day so employees can enjoy the holiday with their families. Check out recent overview of the Faustina small plates menu.
Rye – Stop by this hip East side eatery for their Christmas eve brunch that runs 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. On the menu: biscuits and pepper bomb gravy, pastrami hash and buche de noel “yule log”. There will be spiced cranberry mimosas too!
Stein Eriksen Lodge – There will be two seating’s with a special prix fixe holiday menu available in the Glitretind. The first seating is between 5:30 and 6 p.m., running until about 7 p.m. It costs $140 adults and $30 for kids. The second seating will begin between 7:30 and 8 p.m., costing $155 for adults and $30 for kids menu. Musicians will perform 6 to 9 p.m.
Caffe Niche On Christmas eve and (and new year’s day), Niche will be open for brunch from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will then close. Awarded “Salt Lake’s Best Breakfast/Brunch” by Salt Lake Magazine, Lappe’s focus is on offering healthier alternatives with amazing flavor. Highlights include his light Niche breakfast plate with two local free range eggs, avocado topped with extra virgin olive oil and black sea salt, sautéed spinach, and two slices of toast or dressed tomatoes and his hearty breakfast burrito with potatoes, scrambled local free range eggs, local cheese, pico de gallo and choice of pork chili verde or vegetarian red chili with black beans.
Christmas Day
Brass Tag – Deer Valley Resort’s new gourmet brick-oven restaurant, will be serving a holiday ‘chefs special’. The restaurant features delicious cuisine, from steamed mussels and a brick-oven shrimp skillet with curry chorizo, saffron-roasted red pepper and fresh tarragon parmesan, to oven-roasted fresh fish, a local Chop of the Day and more. Also enjoy the restaurant’s full bar, beer and wine selections, making it the perfect place to meet friends for drinks and an appetizer or dinner, whether it be for the holidays or fresh off the slopes.
Cisero’s – The Park City Italian restaurant will be offering a three-course prix fixe menu on Christmas. Enjoy Cisero’s house salad, Tuscan bean soup or broccoli cheddar soup, before digging into a choice of three-cheese ravioli, butternut squash ravioli, chicken parmigiana or penne pollo. Then enjoy tiramisu, lady fingers, coffee, Kahlua and whipped cream, or lemon cream cannoli. A special kids menu will also be served, featuring Cisero’s house salad or broccoli cheddar soup, and, as the main course, a choice of roast turkey or three-cheese macaroni and cheese. $45 prix fixe, $18 kids menu. Optional $5 dessert.
Grub Steak – This long-time Park City staple will be serving a special three-course prix fixe menu, in addition to its full regular dining room menu. For the Christmas menu, start with a choice between Park City’s best salad bar, wild-rice-and-mushroom soup, or hearts of romaine salad; then enjoy a very special entrée of grilled elk sirloin with dried cherry and gala-apple chutney. For dessert, tuck into Christmas log cake with mocha cream ice cream. $41.75 prix fixe. Full regular dining room menu also available.
Montage – Montage is embracing the holiday spirit this season. Carolers will perform Dec. 23, 24 and 25 from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Montage lobby and on Vista Terrace, and ginger bread houses will be on display, too. A Montage photographer will also be on hand by the houses daily from 4 to 5 p.m., snapping holiday family photos in front of these magical works.
A Christmas day four-course prix fixe is priced $125 with a $45 kids menu for children ages 5 to 12 available too. Apex will be serving Christmas eve and Christmas day dinners from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. too.
Stein Eriksen Lodge – Dig into Stein’s fabulous famed buffet as Christmas carolers sing throughout the day. Glitretind will also be serving its traditional Christmas day buffet, $75 adults and $30 for kids.
New Years Eve
Avenues Proper – In addition to the new winter menu, Avenues will be offering a 3 course prix fixe menu for $45 with optional beer pairings with house brewed beer. The menu includes Yukon gold blini, beef tenderloin and passion fruit cheese cake. On new years day brunch will be starting at 11 am, and will also be the premiere of the new Saturday brunch menu for 2015.
Bambara * – On new year’s eve, Bambara will be open for breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m., for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be serving Chef Powers’ dinner menu and decadent specials from 5:30 p.m. Special course offerings include: short ribs or veal cheeks with dungeness crab and rruffles; kumamoto oysters from Washington with champagne mignonette; endive, stilton and blood orange salad; and buckwheat blinis with caviar. Specials are priced a la carte. On new year’s chef Nathan Powers’ popular weekend brunch will be available 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Caffe Niche – will be hosting a special four-course New Year’s Eve celebration featuring executive chef Ethan Lappé’s creations. Dinner, beginning at 5 p.m. will include an amuse bouche, soup or salad option, and a choice of appetizer, main and dessert course options. The cost is $50, not including tax or gratuity. Wine pairings will be hand selected and are available at an additional cost. It all starts with an amuse of Kennebec potato pancakes with crème fraîche, chives and caviar. Diners will move onto soup or salad selection of seared Hawaiian tuna salad or roasted cauliflower soup. Appetizer choices include roasted organic golden beets, or pancetta wrapped shrimp. Entrees of Morgan Valley lamb osso buco, sautéed scallops with jumbo lump crab and bacon, or house made pumpkin and ricotta ravioli are capped off with a choice of desserts including buttermilk panna cotta or chocolate pot de crème.
Cisero’s – The three-course prix fixe returns for new year’s eve. After enjoying the house-marinated olives with bread and olive oil, choose between beet salad, carpaccio with Niman Ranch top sirloin, and agnolotti en brodo with Niman Ranch beef, swiss chard, beef shank brodo and aged parmesan. Then pick the Maine diver scallops, the wagyu bavette steak or roasted organic chicken breast, plus dessert of either honey-ricotta cheesecake or apple cobbler with bee’s knees vanilla ice cream. $45 prix fixe. Optional $5 dessert.
Communal – Provo’s fine dining restaurant will be serving a fixed four-course menu for $65 per person, with an optional wine pairing. The menu includes selections such as Frisée salad with fois gras torchon and arctic char with apple, fennel and oyster cream. Seatings are from 5-9pm. Communal’s sister restaurant Pizzeria 712 is also accepting New Year’s Eve reservations too and will serve several specials on the big night.
Faustina * – A decadent four-course menu of chef Joe Kemp’s playful mix of traditional and new American favorites will be served from 5 p.m. The cost is $50 per person with an additional $20 for suggested wine pairings. Cost does not include tax or gratuity. Faustina will be closed new year’s day.
Finca * – Via owner Scott Evans: “If you could choose anywhere in the world to celebrate New Year’s Eve, a not-so-bad choice would be on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, where you could sit in any number of sea-side restaurants and watch the sun fade over the ocean while sipping on an elegant and complex Tempranillo, sharing plate after plate of tapas among your closest friends and family, and ending the evening with cheers of “Feliz Año Nuevo,” eating the traditional 12 lucky grapes, and giving hugs and kisses to everyone around. It seems Spanish food and wine were always meant for celebration and enjoyment with a group. Really, what better way is there to enjoy food than with many small plates of different items to pass around the table or a dish of Paella filled with saffron-flavored chorizo, chicken and seafood that begs to be scooped and shared directly from the pan?” Tasting menu costs $65 with wine pairings an extra $35.
Grub Steak – Don’t start the new year with an empty stomach. At Grub Steak, start with a choice of Park City’s best salad bar, wild-rice-and-mushroom soup or Caesar salad, and then feast on surf-and-turf with slow-roasted prime rib of beef with béarnaise sauce and cold-water lobster, along with a side of potatoes au gratin and roasted butternut squash. Then finish things off with chocolate lava cake with a side of creamy Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. $63.75 prix fixe. Full regular dining room menu also available.
Mariposa – will be serving a special four-course prix fixe menu. Reservations begin at 5:45 p.m., and the last reservation may be made for 9 p.m. No children’s menu will be available. $125 prix fixe menu, plus $50 optional wine pairing.
Montage – Choose from one of Montage’s three acclaimed restaurants:
* Apex will be serving a festive five-course prix fixe menu, $195 for adults, $65 for children.
* Yama Sushi will be serving a la carte selections, reservations recommended.
* Soiree in the Vista Lounge will be serving a dinner buffet, kicking off 2015 with live entertainment, mouth-watering food stations, dancing and a festive midnight balloon drop. The celebration runs from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. and costs $175 per person.
Oasis Cafe * – will greet revelers this new year’s eve with a special four-course prix fixe menu from 5 p.m. Mirroring chef de cuisine Efren Benitez’s creative daily menu filled with local organic vegetables, sustainably ranched meats and freshest seafood, the New Year’s Eve menu has something for everyone. Cost is $40 not including suggested wine pairings, tax or gratuity. Regular breakfast and lunch hours will be in force on Dec. 31.
New year’s day brunch at Oasis Cafe is also a favorite with locals. It’s loaded with traditional breakfast dishes, soups, salads and sandwiches. Brunch is ala carte and will be served from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with lighter fare served from 2:30 to5 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m..
Pago * – A custom tasting menu and optional wine pairing at Pago fills a gap for a New Year’s experience that’s right on the mark. Bring a couple of your favorite people, and join them to celebrate the end of one year and the start of another in a cozy yet festive setting. Executive chef Phelix Gardner and chef de cuisine Drew Fuller have crafted a tasting menu that’s sure to delight throughout the evening – from oysters to our house-rolled garganelli pasta with romanesco sauce, mushroom, white cheddar, and kale or a sous vide Wagyu tenderloin beef with house bacon, twice-baked sweet potatoes, Stilton, capers and mustard to our Buche de Noel yule log cake. For those interested in wine pairings, sommelier Evan Lewandowski has expertly paired each dish with a wine selection to make your night effortless. Tasting Menu is priced $70 with wine pairings an extra $35.
Stein Eriksen Lodge – This year’s new year’s Eve celebration will feature a harpist, a band, dancing and decorations, plus prix fixe menus served in two seating’s at Glitretind. The first seating — starting at 6 p.m., $175 a person — will feature a four-course menu and special kids menu ($50). The second seating — starting at 8 p.m., $225 a person — will feature a five-course menu. A kids menu will not be served.
New year’s day buffet: Stein Eriksen serves its famous Sunday brunch with a number of new year specialties, $50 for adults and $25 for kids.
Tuscany / Franck’s – A four course prix fixe menu will be available priced $75, including selections such as lamb short ribs, lobster chowder and crab stuffed halibut.
Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
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