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From Patios to Farms: Where to Dine Outside in Ski Country

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There's something about ski town summers that make outdoor dining (and drinking) an essential part of the experience. The heady combination of alpine scenery, bluebird skies or monsoonal electrical storms (from a safe distance, natch), and wildflowers and wildlife can elevate a cheap bottle of beer and half-assed hamburger to greatness. Curbed Ski has upped the ante, providing you with memorable patios, decks, farms, gardens, and sidewalks that have both stellar views and legitimately delish food and drink. You're welcome.


· Ski Country's Best Restaurants With a View [Curbed Ski Archives]
· 18 Hot Spots for Drinking & Dining in Aspen [Curbed Ski Archives]
· Beers or Bust: The Best Ski Town Breweries, April '14 [Curbed Ski Archives]
· All Outdoors Week 2014 Coverage [Curbed Ski]

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Araxi Restaurant + Bar

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Executive Chef James Walt was an early adopter of the farm-to-table movement, and Araxi’s summer longtable series celebrates the seasonal produce from nearby Pemberton Valley family farms and ranches. The restaurant itself is in Whistler Village’s main square, but the dinners are held at North Arm Farm in Pemberton, Lost Lake, in Whistler, and Vancouver. Guests get to tour the farms and meet the growers before sitting down to a feast with stunning views of the Coastal Mountains. Be sure to book well ahead; the last dinner for the year will be August 30.

Cavell's Restaurant & Terrace

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Savoir faire luxe

Cottonwood Restaurant & Bar

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Wine Biz News

Squaw Valley Farm-to-Table Dinners

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New this year are Squaw’s August Farm-to-Table Dinners, located at Cushing Pond (at the base of KT-22), and in the revamped garden at Olympic Valley Lodge (where the views include aspen groves and the main ski mountain). For just $35, these “open-air, upscale picnic dinners” will feature tables bedecked with wildflower bouquets and “locally and sustainably sourced food” such as peach and arugula salad, wild salmon, and grilled local flank steak.” The appetizers will come from Squaw’s new Mtn Roots food truck. Paired beer and wine is available for separate purchase. Reservations required, call Chef Tiffany Swan at 530-452-6081 or email farmtotable@squaw.com.

Chamber's Landing Restaurant

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Agate Bay Properties

Rickshaw

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TripAdvisor

The Butcher & Baker Cafe

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Voyage Vixens

Carbondale Beer Works

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Carbondale Beerworks- Formerly best-known as a divey nano-brewery/wienery (you read that right, not a winery), new chef Mark Hardin has revamped the limited menu and is now sourcing almost everything locally. From the housemade, hops flower-infused pickles to heritage pork belly “BLTs” with rhubarb jam and bombtastic sweet potato fries, the food rocks, and even Aspenites are trekking down-valley for a taste. Hardin even built the new bar on the back patio from wood salavaged from “Bonedale’s” original Satank Bridge. As for the beer, it’s brewed up small-batch and seasonal by Jeff Dahl, and he and Hardin will happily put together a pairing or tasting for you. Hit the patio (especially when there’s a band playing inside), breathe in the meaty aromas emanating from the smoker every First Friday (when Carbondale shops and galleries stay open late), and get your grub on. This is the place for people-watching, but the views of Mt. Sopris aren’t too shabby, either.

Prospect, Hotel Jerome

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After the historic, 19th century hotel underwent a multi-million-dollar remodel in 2012, Prospect became the new on-site fine dining venue. In summer, eschew the stuffy dining room and get a table in the well-manicured garden, amongst the flowers. Executive chef Rob Zack features seasonal, often local ingredients in his modern bistro fare; the justifiably famous J-Bar burger (also on the menu at the hotel’s bar of the same name) can be had here as well- don’t miss it in all its plump, succulent, sloppy, fully-loaded glory.

HOPS Culture

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Since opening in May on the Hyman Ave. pedestrian mall, Aspen's only beer garden has been killing it. There's also an alleyway side patio and downstairs bar, but wherever you park yourself, prepare to sit a spell, because there’s 30 beers on tap, 200 different bottled offerings, 15 wines by the glass, and 12 craft spirits. Line your stomach with upscale pub fare and the signature “little piggies,” pretzel dough-wrapped house sausages served with grainy mustard.

The Little Nell

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This summer's new bike-to-farm dinners involve pedaling 20 miles down valley, mostly along the Rio Grande Trail, with its to-die-for views of river, forest, and snowy peaks. After selecting your wine (the Nell's cellar holds 2,200 bottles), ride with Wine Director/MS Carlton McCoy and Assistant F & B Director Csaba Oveges to historic Emma Farms, a sustainable Wagyu cattle ranch. Feast family-style in the hay barn, on various Wagyu dishes prepared by the Nell's Element 47 restaurant team. Reserve now for the Aug. 14 dinner.

Beano's Cabin

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Fine dining, in a historic cabin reached by horseback (you also can take a shuttle or tractor-pulled wagon). Better yet, many of the ingredients used by Executive chef Bill Greenwood are ones he forages or grows himself on-site. The summer Garden Dinner series, held every Sunday through September, offers eight-course meals (for $150, with wine or whiskey pairing) in a stunning alpine setting. Reservations required; transportation is included.

Sandiwood Farm Farm Dinners, Stowe region

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This diversified, sustainable family farm is less than half an hour from Stowe. Its farm dinners (running through early October) are well-known locally (at just $65 a pop, they’re less than a night out in town), and feature Sandiwood’s own produce, meat, and cut flowers. Vegetarian and special dietary needs can be met, and beer and wine are sold separately on-site, reservations required. The Northeast Kingdom scenery is more pastoral than alpine, but who doesn’t love forest, fertile fields, and animals?

Araxi Restaurant + Bar

Executive Chef James Walt was an early adopter of the farm-to-table movement, and Araxi’s summer longtable series celebrates the seasonal produce from nearby Pemberton Valley family farms and ranches. The restaurant itself is in Whistler Village’s main square, but the dinners are held at North Arm Farm in Pemberton, Lost Lake, in Whistler, and Vancouver. Guests get to tour the farms and meet the growers before sitting down to a feast with stunning views of the Coastal Mountains. Be sure to book well ahead; the last dinner for the year will be August 30.

Cavell's Restaurant & Terrace

Savoir faire luxe

Cottonwood Restaurant & Bar

Wine Biz News

Squaw Valley Farm-to-Table Dinners

New this year are Squaw’s August Farm-to-Table Dinners, located at Cushing Pond (at the base of KT-22), and in the revamped garden at Olympic Valley Lodge (where the views include aspen groves and the main ski mountain). For just $35, these “open-air, upscale picnic dinners” will feature tables bedecked with wildflower bouquets and “locally and sustainably sourced food” such as peach and arugula salad, wild salmon, and grilled local flank steak.” The appetizers will come from Squaw’s new Mtn Roots food truck. Paired beer and wine is available for separate purchase. Reservations required, call Chef Tiffany Swan at 530-452-6081 or email farmtotable@squaw.com.

Chamber's Landing Restaurant

Agate Bay Properties

Rickshaw

TripAdvisor

The Butcher & Baker Cafe

Voyage Vixens

Carbondale Beer Works

Carbondale Beerworks- Formerly best-known as a divey nano-brewery/wienery (you read that right, not a winery), new chef Mark Hardin has revamped the limited menu and is now sourcing almost everything locally. From the housemade, hops flower-infused pickles to heritage pork belly “BLTs” with rhubarb jam and bombtastic sweet potato fries, the food rocks, and even Aspenites are trekking down-valley for a taste. Hardin even built the new bar on the back patio from wood salavaged from “Bonedale’s” original Satank Bridge. As for the beer, it’s brewed up small-batch and seasonal by Jeff Dahl, and he and Hardin will happily put together a pairing or tasting for you. Hit the patio (especially when there’s a band playing inside), breathe in the meaty aromas emanating from the smoker every First Friday (when Carbondale shops and galleries stay open late), and get your grub on. This is the place for people-watching, but the views of Mt. Sopris aren’t too shabby, either.

Prospect, Hotel Jerome

After the historic, 19th century hotel underwent a multi-million-dollar remodel in 2012, Prospect became the new on-site fine dining venue. In summer, eschew the stuffy dining room and get a table in the well-manicured garden, amongst the flowers. Executive chef Rob Zack features seasonal, often local ingredients in his modern bistro fare; the justifiably famous J-Bar burger (also on the menu at the hotel’s bar of the same name) can be had here as well- don’t miss it in all its plump, succulent, sloppy, fully-loaded glory.

HOPS Culture

Since opening in May on the Hyman Ave. pedestrian mall, Aspen's only beer garden has been killing it. There's also an alleyway side patio and downstairs bar, but wherever you park yourself, prepare to sit a spell, because there’s 30 beers on tap, 200 different bottled offerings, 15 wines by the glass, and 12 craft spirits. Line your stomach with upscale pub fare and the signature “little piggies,” pretzel dough-wrapped house sausages served with grainy mustard.

The Little Nell

This summer's new bike-to-farm dinners involve pedaling 20 miles down valley, mostly along the Rio Grande Trail, with its to-die-for views of river, forest, and snowy peaks. After selecting your wine (the Nell's cellar holds 2,200 bottles), ride with Wine Director/MS Carlton McCoy and Assistant F & B Director Csaba Oveges to historic Emma Farms, a sustainable Wagyu cattle ranch. Feast family-style in the hay barn, on various Wagyu dishes prepared by the Nell's Element 47 restaurant team. Reserve now for the Aug. 14 dinner.

Beano's Cabin

Fine dining, in a historic cabin reached by horseback (you also can take a shuttle or tractor-pulled wagon). Better yet, many of the ingredients used by Executive chef Bill Greenwood are ones he forages or grows himself on-site. The summer Garden Dinner series, held every Sunday through September, offers eight-course meals (for $150, with wine or whiskey pairing) in a stunning alpine setting. Reservations required; transportation is included.

Sandiwood Farm Farm Dinners, Stowe region

This diversified, sustainable family farm is less than half an hour from Stowe. Its farm dinners (running through early October) are well-known locally (at just $65 a pop, they’re less than a night out in town), and feature Sandiwood’s own produce, meat, and cut flowers. Vegetarian and special dietary needs can be met, and beer and wine are sold separately on-site, reservations required. The Northeast Kingdom scenery is more pastoral than alpine, but who doesn’t love forest, fertile fields, and animals?