When Deer Valley Resort debuts the inaugural Fire & Flavor Festival on July 11-13, two guest chefs, Sarah Glover and Ryan Arensdorf, will be at the center of the action alongside resort chefs Peter Menteer and Sam Phelan to showcase their mastery of fire cooking.
Glover said the festival will give attendees an opportunity to watch and learn — something she values as a chef.
Born in Australia, Glover has been a chef since 16. She has published cookbooks and founded her catering company, The Wild Kitchen. She now splits her time between Tasmania and Oakley, and she’s become a familiar face around Park City.
“I really wanted to find somewhere that I could put some roots down and buy a house,” she said. “I just really loved the community out near Park City.”
Her return to Deer Valley follows a successful event last year at Cushings Cabin. For the Fire & Flavor Festival, she’ll be bringing her signature outdoor cooking style, complete with hanging domes and whole animals.
Glover said her approach to fire cooking is tied both to tradition and experimentation, an approach she discovered nearly a decade ago while working at a restaurant in Tasmania that cooked entirely over open flame.
“I sort of fell in love with the whole ethos and process,” she said.
The Wild Kitchen was born not long after, sparked by a wedding gig in an apple orchard where she dug a pit and cooked entirely from scratch. That one-off meal turned into a growing catering business and a platform for sharing her food philosophy, especially as Instagram began to amplify her visually striking fire setups.
“Normally, the apparatus that I choose to hang the animals from or cook on, it’s all about the ability to adjust the distance from that to the coals,” Glover explained. “It’s definitely a lot more than just a grate over the fire.”
Her preference is to use ingredients like whole animal and unprocessed produce, where the natural state of the food can contribute to the development of flavor over a slow fire.
“You’re always kind of using radiant heat when you’re cooking,” she said. “Not typically cooking over a flame. It’s more coals that you use — and a particular flavor of wood to pair with whatever it is that you’re actually cooking.”
Her goal is to reconnect people with the food they eat — not just how it tastes, but how it’s prepared and where it comes from. How often do people see meat in its original state, or fish with eyeballs? Glover said the festival’s open-air setting and family-friendly approach helps demystify the process and invite curiosity.
“A lot of people tend to be like, ‘Oh, I wonder what that tastes like?’ and, ‘Why do you leave the bones in?’ and, ‘Why is there still all the fat on it?’ And so, you get to educate people on that,” she said. “Families can come, kids don’t have to be quiet at a dining table. They get to wander around and be inspired themselves.”
Her festival setup will include her cooking domes — a birdcage-like contraption designed by Argentinian chef Francis Mallmann — and a collaboration with smokeless fire pit company Brio.
“I’ll be doing some demonstrations on how you can grill things like whole chickens and different cuts of meat and vegetables,” she said.
As for chef Arensdorf, his style nods to the traditions of his Midwestern roots. Originally from western Kansas, he now runs Kc Que and is known for his from-scratch take on Kansas City-style barbecue — complete with sweet, complex sauces and burnt ends.
“With barbecue, specifically Kansas City style, you really don’t have that in Utah,” he said. “So it’s a real treat for everybody to be able to experience that.”
He is regular guest chef at Deer Valley’s Taste of Luxury events in the summers. Arensdorf said the appetite for live-fire food in Park City has only grown in recent years. For the Fire & Flavor Festival, he’ll be rolling up in his 50-foot food truck and trailer combo, complete with a Southern Pride smoker and full prep kitchen onboard.
“Everybody will be able to see it and get this big, bold, beautiful look at what I think Kansas City barbecue is,” he said.
His brisket technique relies on a fast, high-heat cook followed by an extended resting period. He said it’s not uncommon for his meat to sit for up to 12 hours before slicing, allowing it to settle and develop its full flavor.
That attention to detail extends to his sauces, some traditionally sweetened with brown sugar and molasses, others infused with whiskey stout, cocoa and even soy sauce. He also developed one inspired by Alabama white and Carolina gold sauces, using mayo and mustard as the base.
“I do everything from scratch,” he said. “I’m the type of chef that wants to know how things work.”
Arensdorf said he’s excited to introduce Utah crowds to what he calls a “true burnt end,” starting with the point of the brisket itself. For festival goers who’ve tried his food in the past, he said this year will offer something new.
“I’ve been doing it the old way. Now I’m going to bring up the right cuts to make sure I can do that. I’m really excited to see their reaction because they’ll know and see the difference,” he said, adding with a laugh: “Usually their eyes get really big.”
Arensdorf said he plans to share tips during his cooking classes in advance of the festival, meant to ease the pressure of barbecue-like brisket.
“I think that a lot of people shy away from doing some barbecue, especially stuff like brisket. They put a lot of time and effort into it, so if it comes out not as good as what they buy from somewhere, it’s daunting,” he said.
Both chefs said they’re excited for a laid-back, food-centric opportunity, not just to try good food, but to connect with other like-minded chefs.
“It’s great, especially when you get to meet the chefs and pick their brain and see how they think about things. You get to learn,” Arensdorf said. “I always tell (the chefs at Deer Valley), this is why we talk, because we can get a great idea for ourselves just by talking to someone else.”
Deer Valley’s vice president of food and beverage, Jacob Musyt, said they designed the festival to be a summer kickoff and a nod to their dining plans for the expansion at Park Peak. Right now, they’re using the mountain itself as a venue.
“I think it’s very fitting to the culture of Utah and Park City,” Glover said. “It’s nice that you’re bringing back some sort of earthy element to something that feels somewhat of an elevated culture.”
The festival begins Friday, July 11, with a private VIP dinner and welcome reception for visiting chefs and festival supporters. The public festivities will follow on Saturday and Sunday, July 12-13, at Silver Lake, accessible via a lift ride from Snow Park.
Admission will be free with the purchase of a $10 lift ticket, said Musyt, and kids ride free, one per paying adult. Food and beverage will be sold à la carte, with each culinary station offering $25 plates.
“I just think it’s great for the community to gather people together this time of year, outside of just skiing and snowboarding,” Glover said. “It’s the first time that they have run it, but judging by the crowd that turned out for the Taste of Luxury, I think we are in for a great festival and one that I hope continues for many years to come.”
For more on Glover and Arensdorf, visit sarahglover.com.au and kc-que.com, respectively. For more on the festival: deervalley.com/things-to-do/events/fire-and-flavor-festival.