Antlers at Vail, Condominiums and Conference Center

Show your Antlers at Vail room key at Sweet Basil now through January 30th and receive a free dessert! That’s right, one of the best restaurants in town is throwing a little love your way. Sweet Basil is a pretty tough place to get into, so lets us know soon if you need help with reservations.

I had the best meal I’ve ever had in Vail tonight.Where? Kelly Liken? Sweet Basil? Larkspur? Those are the best and it could have been any of them, but it wasn’t … it was next door at the MARRIOTT! You gotta be kiddin’ me … Nope. Chef Mercer put on a show like you wouldn’t believe. The lineup was thus:Brie soup with truffle oil … puts the “rich” in richie rich. Paired with the ZMor Gewurztraminer (thanks chef) it was a total tounguegasm.An awesome tomato soup with marshmallows … don’t knock it till you’ve tried it … trust me, you’ll be back for more.Oysters Rockefeller … Chef says, “you probably haven’t had these in about 100 years.” He was right, but I promise it won’t be two weeks before we’re doin’ that again … Evelyn and I practically came to blows over the last one.White Pizza … more truffle oil (can’t GET too much of that stuff), some fun crispy greens (arugula maybe?) and about a dozen other wonderful flavors on top of a crispy crisp.At this point we’re already saying, “it’s too good not too finish, but we know there’s lots more coming.”Next … a sea bass to die for with some kind of super light, crispy coating … in lobster sauce!Then came the single best lamb chop I have ever had. Period. I’m 52. I LOVE lamb. I eat it a LOT. This was the pinnacle … and by more than a small margin.Ok, I think I can force down some of this seared tuna, wrapped around a super thin daikon radish and rolled in a tempura kind of coating. Take me now lord … it can’t get any better than this. But wait … it does …A dessert medley with a cinnamon phyllo apple wrap thing paired with an eiswine (sp?) that’s just too good to be true. Next to that was a soft, warm sinful chocolate cookie and vanilla ice cream, accompanied by some Baileys concoction that they ought to require a pilot’s license to drive.Unbelievable. All of it was just unbelievable. Too good to be true. Any one of those courses was as good as it gets. All together? I gotta be dreaming.If I live another 52, I hope someday I have another meal as good as that one at Ocotillo. I also hope I can return the favor to Mercer sometime, but it ain’t gonna be easy.Rob

Yesterday Darci, Randi, Crissy, Eric, Kristen and I all went to the new Vail Chophouse for lunch. It was their “soft” opening … invited neighbors and friends only … just to help them work out the kinks. We were excited for a free lunch, but we really got wound up when we arrived and our super cute, South African server Karen said, “We want you to order as much as possible … soup, salad, appetizer, entree AND dessert”. Look out. We waddled home two hours later.As awesome as the lunch was, the buzz in the place (and outside) was even better. I sat down with owner Brian Nolan, Vail Jazz Foundation exec dir Mia Vlaar and PR guru Pat Peeples for a few minutes and everyone was practically giddy with the excitement of the Arrabelle opening. I’ve got to admit, after four years of talking about how great it’s going to be … it is pretty incredible.Rob

Tuesday night was the annual concierge function at the Timber Hearth Grille at Cordillera. Crissy, Darci and I went and a good time was had by all. When we arrived we decided to go outside first since we were all still bundled up. On the terrace outside the dining room, there were benches surrounding a wood burning outdoor fire pit to warm us while we waited for the sleigh to come back around to give us a ride. We took a horse drawn tour of the golf course which they use as their Nordic Center in the winter, pulled by Charlie and Jacob of Bearcat Stables. Afterward, we posed for a picture with them and then went inside for dinner. There were three stations set up throughout the dining room. One with penne, prosciutto and black truffle carbonara and pulled rabbit meat. The second was a lamb carving station which was delicious, and the third was dessert with pecan tarts, carrot cake petit fours and coffee. As we sat and ate, waiters continually came by with trays of passed hors d’oeuvres and by the end of the evening the three of us were very full. A big Thank You to Timber Hearth Grille and Bearcat Stables!