The aspen-decked dining room at Cena Ristorante received a culinary makeover with the arrival of chefs Sarah Thompson and Santiago Fernandez for Friday’s Chef’s Table Festival dinner.
Cena, at Deer Valley’s mid-mountain, is usually an Italian restaurant led by the culinary team at Stein Eriksen Lodge. But the inaugural food festival provided a chance to experiment and learn about different cuisines, said Executive Chef Jonathon Miller.
“The coolest thing about what Chef’s Table is doing here is they’re bringing Michelin, high-ranked chefs from all around the world to Park City, and not only are they exposing us to their cuisine and who they are, but also the town, our residents, the people that live here,” Miller said.
Friday’s meal took diners south in the Americas with a blend of Mexican food from chef Thompson of Casa Playa in Las Vegas and Venezuelan food from chef Fernandez of MAZ.
Thompson is this year’s winner of the James Beard Best Chef Southwest award, and Fernandez helped put Latin American cuisine on the map in Tokyo with his restaurant. While the cuisine itself is very different, the chefs are passionate about the culture and craft, meaning collaboration was easy, said Thompson.
“It was really fun putting this together. The menu came together in like 10 minutes,” she said. “Our styles are so different, and you could see that on the plate. But eating it, the flavors complement each other, which is what’s important.”
They worked together on each dish and took turns leading each of the six courses.
A kampachi, tamal and suadero taco came directly from Thompson’s restaurant. Fernandez blended Japanese and Venezuelan concepts and ingredients together for dishes like a “Vuelve a la Vida,” featuring langoustine, clams and uni, and a shrimp and corn fosforera, a type of Venezuelan soup.
The dessert course also had a blend of both: chocolate ice cream tacos made by Thompson using Venezuelan chocolate and a “cheesecake” of sorts meant to be reminiscent of a traditional saltine cracker, guava and cheese snack in Venezuela.
Fernandez came by each table a few times to finish off a dish, which he said was an excuse to chat with the diners and explain some of the dishes.
“In Venezuela, we love the salty and the sweet,” he said. “Not many people try real Venezuelan flavors. Mexican, of course, is something that everybody knows. But Sarah, I think, is doing it with so much finesse.”
He said not only did their menu come together easily, but they also had the same work ethic: Both put nearly two days into prep work before Friday’s meal.
“For me, it’s very different to taste a dish that was made yesterday or today than something that has been in a bag and in a luggage for four or six days before. A lot of chefs I know, they do this because it’s practical, but I prefer to cook myself every time I go. That’s why I always say, fly me three days before because I will be cooking for two days straight,” Fernandez said after dinner. “Yesterday, we were 13 hours straight working. … I think people can feel that, and also they can feel the hand of a chef.”
Miller said his team had no idea which chefs they’d be paired with for the festival, but from the minute Thompson and Fernandez connected with the team over Zoom, he knew they meant business.
“They were so excited about where they came from, their cuisine from where they grew up … and how they’ve shared their cuisine with the world,” he said. “The flavors are so big. There’s just so much passion in all their food.”
The fifth course, the entrée, was served family style, with a feast of at least 10 plates ranging from suadero tacos, handmade salsas and sauces, seafood soups and a giant red snapper grilled in red and green sauce, one on either filet.
Most tables sat with their party, but the five solo guests had the true festival experience of meeting unexpected people who shared the same love of food.
Restaurateur Philip Cummins, materials scientist Irem Efe, retired pharmacist Ronald Jordan, James Beard Award-winning digital content creator Michael Ligier and a reporter journeyed together between Mexico and Venezuela.
By the family-style course, the five were close enough to pass the plates, give advice on what to try next and take a vote on the snapper. Which side was better, red sauce or green? Green won 3-2.
Fernandez and Thompson said this was their first professional trip to Park City as chefs, but they have ski memories of the town.
Thompson, who grew up in Boston, said Park City was her dad’s preferred ski town because of its proximity to the Salt Lake airport.
“This was our go-to spot because the skiing was so much better than on the East Coast,” she said.
Fernandez said the last time he was in Park City, he was 12 for his first-ever ski trip with his family.
“My sous chef is staying in the same hotel that I stayed when I was here, so there’s some memories that are nice to relive,” he said.
He said the festival, and specifically the participating local chefs, had impressed him, even outranking other food festivals he’s participated in.
“In each restaurant that I’ve been, they’re really trying their best to keep our expectations high,” Fernandez said. “The way the city is built, the hotels and how the people are. Everybody’s so warm that I can really feel how they care.”