Starting Thanksgiving, Montage Deer Valley will shuffle its deck of dining outlets, dropping Burgers and Bourbon and shifting around some of its cuisine options.
The decision to say goodbye to the Burgers and Bourbon brand was partly because the hotel had outgrown the concept, but Executive Chef Kevin Hee said it was also to add a bit more clarity to other dining options.
For the last few years, the hotel had Apex as its fine dining steakhouse, with Burgers and Bourbon in an adjoining room as a burger-bar concept, both served out of the same kitchen.
Hee said having two distinct restaurants was originally a way to utilize that space’s large kitchen as the hotel was starting. But over time, it became confusing, he said, especially with French-style breakfast and lunch served in the Apex dining room.
“As we grew as a business, and we doubled in the amount of guests that we’re serving, it operationally became very messy,” he explained. “Now we’re concentrating on one style of food, one real menu, and so the guests wouldn’t be impacted by all the complexities that it took to run that kitchen.”
With Burgers and Bourbon gone, that area will become the Apex bar, extending the concept throughout the restaurant with one designated kitchen. It’ll be easier for the guests, but also for the food and beverage operations team.
Besides, that same burger-bar option is better offered at Daly’s Pub & Rec, which is being reinforced as the hotel’s family-friendly pub. In other words, back to its roots.
“The BNB concept, in my point of view and everybody’s point of view, really, it seemed very similar to Daly’s, and we had an identity crisis with Daly’s because we had two pub concepts,” Hee said.
The Daly’s menu expanded in recent years with Italian dishes like pizzas and pastas, but now it’ll return to the true pub identity it had when it opened.
“It’s going to be a real American pub down in Daly’s, which I think plays better with the family-friendly, the bowling alley, the video games,” Hee said.
That menu should feel familiar, inheriting a few items from Burgers and Bourbon like a wagyu burger, Bavarian pretzel and the nachos — with braised bison instead of steak. Hee said they’re keeping the favorites, but tweaking for improved flavor.
Daly’s will also have a kids buffet, with self-serve, all-you-can-eat options like chicken fingers, spaghetti and pizza, so parents won’t have to order.
In another exciting shift for the Montage staff, and hopefully guests, Apex is adding French-influenced American dishes to the menu.
“We wanted to get a little ethnic without being ethnic. And French is the basis of all Western cooking,” said Hee.
Most chefs are familiar with classic French dishes, and the chef de cuisine for Apex has a very strong French background. The general manager is also a Frenchman.
With more dining space and use of the full kitchen, Apex will have French options for breakfast through dinner. There will also be a plat du jour for each day of the week — like beef Wellington on Mondays or lobster à l’Américaine on Thursdays.
The classic steak dish of the former Apex is returning in the form of steak frites alongside classic dishes like moules-frites, or mussels and fries.
“You can get the really high-end items, as well as stuff like beef bourguignon or French onion soup. It’s going to be a very fun playground for the chefs,” Hee said.
Montage Deer Valley still plans to add touches of “Utah traditions,” like serving in cast-iron skillets plus extravagant desserts shaped like Utah-inspired scenery or fruits. Hee said they’ll work to source from local purveyors as much as possible, and incorporate “alpine forest things” like foraged mushrooms, juniper and pine.
The team soft-launched the new menus in mid-November, and Hee said feedback has been great so far.
“The other day someone ordered the fried goat cheese and artichokes dish, and they just couldn’t stop raving about it,” he laughed.
For this season, Montage Deer Valley is also emphasizing its Japanese restaurant Yama Sushi as the hotel’s signature eatery.
“For it to be our signature restaurant, it’s more about putting that restaurant on a pedestal, knowing that the service and the food are just that good,” Hee said.
Anyone is welcome to dine at Montage Deer Valley’s restaurants. Reservations are highly encouraged, especially during peak times.
This year, the hotel is offering valet parking validation as an added perk for dining. For more: montage.com/deervalley/dining.