Beaver Creek, Colorado
Walking into Saddle Ridge feels like you're walking out of upscale Beaver Creek and into the 1800's. The decor is antique, and the atmosphere is...well, it's just really really awesome. My sister, friends, and I got to go there for an employee awards dinner thingy, and I was super excited--I have been to many of Beaver Creek's fine dining restaurants, but Saddle Ridge kept eluding me! Finally! An excuse!
Our dinner was pre-fixe due to the nature of the event, but still extremely delicious. For cocktail hour, the waiters wandered amongst the guest with plates of Smoked Duck Wrapped in Bibb (with this amazing drizzle of a sauce on top), Scallops, Buffalo Carpaccio, and little grilled cheese sandwiches topped with homemade pesto. Absolutely delicious, and the perfect size for appetizers. The flavors were intense! The food was upscale, but definitely not stuffy. Plus, the grilled cheeses...holy crap. So delish!
For our first course, we had a mixed green salad, but it was anything but boring! The nicest surprise was the dressing--instead of being a heavy blue cheese, creamy flavor destroyer it was more of a blue cheese vinaigrette, perfectly complementing the delicate and varied flavors of the salad. The pickled cucumber was a nice layer to add to the palate, and the toasted sesame seeds added a nutty crunch.
The second course was a surf and turf: Beef Tenderloin with Jumbo Shrimp. On the side were these amazingly creamy mashed potatoes with roasted veggies. I guess whomever planned this menu knew the way to my heart! Steak and potatoes all the way! The steak was cooked to a wonderful medium rare and was very tasty--not dry whatsoever. My only complaint was I couldn't order seconds!
Our finale for the evening was the Chocolate Cheesecake and Raspberry Cannoli. Even though the cheesecake was dark chocolate, it wasn't overwhelmingly bitter nor too heavy--the consistency of the cake was creamy and slightly fluffy in texture. Very nice. The raspberry cream in the cannoli paired perfectly! The crunch of the shell added a fantastic crunch factor to the otherwise creamy dessert. Again, wish I could get two!
I hope one day soon I can head up to Saddle Ridge and enjoy more of what their talented chefs have to offer. Saddle Ridge is a bit out of my day-to-day budget, so I'll just have to find myself a sugar daddy! Or maybe just persuade the boyfriend to take me there for an anniversary I can make up--men aren't good with dates anyway, might as well use it to my advantage!
No comments:
Post a Comment