The Sundance Tree Room and Foundry Grill Restaurants
Honored with Salt Lake City Magazine’s Dining Awards
(SUNDANCE, UT) February 21, 2005-----Sundance’s Tree Room and Foundry Grill restaurants were honored with awards during Salt Lake Magazine’s 8th Annual Dining Awards, Wednesday, February 16, 2005 at the Salt Lake Hilton Hotel. The Tree Room received the award for the Best Canyon restaurant, while the Foundry Grill received an award for the Best Brunch: Park City, Deer Valley.
This is the sixth year the Tree Room has received the award for Best Canyon Restaurant from Salt Lake Magazine and the first time that the Foundry Grill has been recognized for its sumptuous brunch.
“We are particularly proud to have received this award from Salt Lake Magazine. The Tree Room strives to offer guests the best in seasonal mountain cuisine, while at the same time offering our own distinctive interpretation,” said Colton Soelberg, Tree Room Executive Chef.
Soelberg first joined the staff of the Sundance Tree Room at the age of 18 years old, where he began learning the various facets of the business of cooking. After a few years of honing his skills at various restaurants throughout the country, including a position in New York City with the renowned Jean Jacque Rachou and Le Petite in San Francisco, Soelberg returned to his roots. Soon after his return to Utah, Colton came home to Sundance and put all of his hard-earned experience to work as Executive Chef of the Tree Room. His signature style reflects the region he loves and expresses the quality Tree Room guests have come to expect.
Thomas Meehan, Foundry Grill Chef and Ruben Aguirre, Sundance Banquet Chef, have developed a dynamic approach and instinctive flare for creating and presenting exquisite food that has made Sundance’s famed Sunday brunch a tradition for both locals and Sundance lodging guests. Meehan came to the Sundance Tree Room in 2001 under the tutelage of then Chef Jason Knibb, where he was eventually promoted to Sous Chef of the Grill and later the Foundry Grill Chef. Aguirre, who studied at the Cooking Institute of America in California’s Napa Valley, also worked at Stein Erickson Lodge and the Homestead.
Exquisite pastries, desserts and other sweet delights are the specialty of Sundance Pastry Chef Joseph McRae. McRae, who has been at Sundance for 18 months, is in charge of pastries and desserts for all Sundance outlets and banquets. A native of Anaheim, Calif., McRae worked for many restaurants and hotels in the San Francisco Bay area, including the Ritz Carlton, Jardinerie, Rubicon, Spago, and Zibbibo.
“At Sundance food is celebrated as art. That philosophy allows me to explore my creativity and bring something special to each dessert or pastry that I create,” commented McRae.
In this spirit, Sundance’s Celebrating Wine as Art program has resulted in a series in which Sundance partners with like-mind vintners for Sundance Label Wines that include Judd’s Hill of Napa Valley, Calif., with its 1999 Napa Valley Merlot; Benton-Lane Winery of Willamette Valley, Oregon, presenting a 2002 Pinot Noir; Selby Winery of Sonoma County, California with a 2002 Sonoma County Chardonnay, recently awarded 92 points by Wine Spectator; Heron Wines, of San Francisco, California, with its 2002 California Syrah and Livingston Vineyards, Napa Valley, CA, with its 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Stanley Selection. This program also features special wine pairing dinners that pair the vintner with renowned chefs.
Recent wine pairing dinners have featured the wines of Laely Heron of Heron Wines and Chef Mark Tarbell of Tarbell, Phoenix, Arizona and the wines of Susie Selby of Selby Wines and Chef David Daniels of The Federalist in Boston.
On May 19, 2005, Art Finkelstein of Judd’s Hill Wines will be featured along
with Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani of Terra Restaurant of Napa Valley, California
in a special wine paring dinner. Cost of the dinner is $70, wine pairing is
$55. Dinner can be purchased separately from wine. Other wines are also available.
For reservations, call 801-223-4200. For more information on the Celebrating
Wine as Art series and a commissioned essay, The Art of Wine, by Ted Scheffler,
freelance writer and dining and wine columnist for Salt Lake City Weekly.
Nestled at the base of 12,000-foot Mt. Timpanogos, Sundance is a 6,000-acre community preserve dedicated to maintaining the balance of art, nature and community. Sundance offers diverse mountain recreation experiences and encourages the cultivation of art and self-expression, as well as the preservation of the land. Created by Robert Redford, Sundance is a haven for discovery and inspiration. The Sundance family of companies includes the Sundance Village, Sundance Institute, Sundance Channel and Sundance Catalog. For more information on Sundance, call 801-225-4107 or visit our website, www.sundanceresort.com.