Outpost Jackson Hole

Vacation Rentals in Jackson Hole

Après

Eat, Ski, and be Merry

Locals and out of towners will both agree that Jackson Hole Food & Wine is a festival to look forward to —and luckily for us it takes place in both the winter and summer. While both are epic, the winter fest takes place slopeside at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village. Think an apres ski event with Pappy Van Winkle’s grandson, a multi-course dinner at 9,000 feet in elevation, the best après-ski party, and much more — scheduled accordingly so you can have the best of both worlds: skiing and festival time. 

 

 

Get intimate with Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski 

Kicking off the 3rd annual winter fest is Big Wines, Small Plates, an OG event that’s been a part of the festival (both winter and summer) since day one. Epic small plates, standout wines, chefs and industry insiders collide in one cozy, intimate space at Rendezvous Lodge. Michael Britton of Piste Mountain Bistro is in charge of the kitchen where he’ll execute dishes by way of direction of Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions, Preston Van Winkle of Old Rip Van Winkle, Andy Peay of Peay Vineyards, Matt Bean of Sunset Magazine and Laely Heron of Heron Wines. It’s like being part of a live storybook where panelists bring culinary memories to life with each bite and sip. 

 

 

Learn tips and tricks from the experts 

In addition to Big Wines, Small Plates, this dynamic duo will be involved in events throughout the festival, including an intimate cooking class inside Il Villaggio Osteria’s private dining room. If you haven’t eaten at State Bird Provisions in San Francisco you’re missing out. Brioza has the power to turn even the most picky eaters on to anchovies (or at least me, after their private dinner during Jackson Hole Food & Wine’s 2018 summer festival). The two (if you can tear Brioza off the slopes! will demo several hit recipes from State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook and teach handy tips and tricks for making these dishes at home — plus beautiful wine pairings from Peay Vineyards. 

 

 

The best apres ski bang for your buck 

For après enthusiasts Taste of Teton Village is the place to be. The $165 ticket equals hours of endless fun inside the Four Seasons Resort & Residences Jackson Hole’s fancy ballroom. Local West Bank chefs dish up their favorite, warming, wintry dishes while there’s no shortage of wine, local brews and libations — plus tunes from DJ Rocky Vertone to set the après tone. It’s basically the equivalent of eating at 13 restaurants in one setting. Bonus: hit the after party at Continuum to keep the party going. 

 

 

A notable happy hour 

What pairs well with a day on one of the country’s best ski resorts? Pappy Hour. And we’re talking Pappy, as in Pappy Van Winkle, kind of Pappy Hour. Lucky attendees who scored a ticket get the chance to embark on an exclusive tasting with Preston Van Winkle of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, aka the great grandson of iconic bourbon maker Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle. Expect a flight of neat pours of some of the country’s most sought after bourbons with a side of family history inside Hotel Terra’s Murie Ballroom. 

 

 

A dinner collaboration at 9,000 feet 

While we think all events are noteworthy, Wine Dinner at 9,000ft takes the cake. Dressed to the nines, arrive via Bridger Gondola to the top of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and take in unobstructed views of the valley for cocktail hour via Piste Mountain Bistro’s floor to ceiling glass windows. For one night only Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski will cook an extraordinary tasting menu paired with Peay Vineyards wine. If you’ve participated in this affair before you’re well aware that unexpected bites and sips take place all night long. 

 

 

Aside from Wine Dinner at 9,000ft, Jackson Hole Food & Wine’s winter fest is arguably one of the most fun, intimate and chill — meaning come as you are, even in ski garb — festivals that exist. Locals like to dabble in one or two events while out of towners have been known to enhance a ski vacation by tackling them all. In the case an event you see is sold out email info@jhfoodandwine.com to be added to a waitlist and we’ll send you all the good vibes. 

 

 

Written by Jenn Rice

Photos by Lindley Rust

Skinning the King

It’s 6pm and the sun is setting as I click into my skis, my breath sharp in the February cold snap. The summit of Snow King glistens almost 2,000 vertical feet above me, and I turn to my friend just to make sure we really don’t want to bail.

“Oh, come on,” he says knowingly, and he starts to make his way up the steep incline, the skins on his skis setting our rhythm. I sigh and gear up for a good sweat. Before we reach the first switchback, the stress of the work day dissolves, and we’re chattering on about last week’s storm and the spots we want to ski over the weekend. Other headlights dot the skinning trail above and below us, a small community created each morning (for the truly brave) before work and each evening after work.

It’s quite possible we’re taking part in one of the oldest traditions in Jackson Hole. All year long, the steep hills stretching to the summit of Snow King linger over its residents, calling us to the outdoors, a centerpiece of the town that doesn’t give us the excuse of a long drive or any other reason to blow off a work out. In the summertime, we scatter the hills walking, running, biking — in the winter, it’s skinning time.

About the time we reach the midway station, the view really starts to glamour up. The lights of our small town glow, cozy cabins dotted below lazy smoke streams from wood stoves. A group passes us on their way down, hollering out hellos and biding good wishes for the summit. The mountain is open for night skiing, and kids are still hopping off the chairlifts and gliding out under the night skiing lights. There’s a reason they say there’s no place like home….

The second half of the switchbacks is where it gets good; the lights end at the midway station, leaving room for the western sky to open, stars laid out horizon to horizon, the milky way bold and outspoken without any cloud cover.

About an hour after we start, we’re at the summit. It’s a night with no wind, so we take our time putting our layers back on and pulling off our skins. Our gift is standing between two views that never grow old — the entire town of Jackson and the entire open sky (filled with shooting stars on the clear nights….no, seriously) — both indescribably beautiful until you see them for yourself.

Then we’re off, a single, perfect ski run waiting for us. With new powder at the top, we grab fresh tracks and giggle our way through pillows of snow. My stomach bubbles with utter joy when I see the grooming machine has already been out: that means the second half of our run is warm, buttery, delightful corduroy. There’s really nothing better — except knowing now we can go out to eat anything we want without feeling guilty.

 

 

OYG’s Secret Sauce

It must be the grappa in these chicken wings, because they’re making my tastebuds simmer and scream for more. Deemed the “#1 Breaded Wing Dings,” I agree. Then the dining room manager, Blythe Wisniewski, tells me the #1 stands for “1 full pound.” I suppose it does look a little like more of a sharing plate (though I’m not sharing).

We’re sitting at Old Yellowstone Garage — better known as OYG — at Teton Village after a sunny day on the slopes. After a hiatus where all of us locals lived in desperation for a decade, Chef Paulie O’Connor brought his Italian-with-a-twist comfort food back to Caldera House in Teton Village with Chef De Cuisine Jeremy Williamson for the perfect pairing.

After I finish the giant dollop of the remaining Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese Dressing from the wings, my taste buds keel over in a reunion with real poutine. The gravy stays put like butter on the tater tot rather than slipping into a soupy mess at the bottom of my bowl. And yes, I did say tater tot. The oversized chunks of local squeaky cheese curds from Reed’s Dairy transport me back to the best days of elementary school lunch. How can tater tots and gravy be this divine? Jeremy tells me it’s because they toss them still hot with the rest of the ingredients. “If you let the tots cool a little and then toss them, it wouldn’t be the same.”

Then comes the Father Guido Sarducci flatbread. It’s become increasingly clear we aren’t enjoying reheated frozen pub food here. This place cares about ingredients, and they reduce waste wherever possible down to the fruit in their cocktails. Which reminds me, bartender Jordan Schleicher has just delivered me their go-to cocktail, the Pîna & Tonic, a house-made infused pineapple mezcal with green chartreuse, fresh lime juice, and club soda. It’s precisely the version of a Pîna Colada you’d want on a ski hill — it comes head-freeze free without losing the light, floaty feeling of vacation in the tropics. As I head out on a quick trip to a tropical paradise, the flatbread arrives.

I get my first of taste of Esposito’s (yes, the NYC institution for sausage), spiced-prolone sausage, soft and assertive mixed wild mushrooms from Washington state, and house-made mascarpone topped with wild arugula. And the flour from Naples truly melts in my mouth, and I have a new love in my life.

So what’s their secret to this spread of comfort? “Simple and delicious,” Jeremy tells me with a laugh. “When you take three things that are delicious all on their own, there’s nothing to hide behind.”

And with that, I sit back and enjoy the last tidbits of tater tots to the sounds of Jordan shaking up cocktails amidst afternoon sun and shadows, dogs romping around in the snow outside, and layers getting stripped off as the tables fill up with today’s newfound friends.

To check out Old Yellowstone Garage’s winter menu follow these links: Lunch/Dinner

 

 Images ©: Lindley Rust

Great Grey Gin Old Fashioned

For those of us who find an old fashioned to be a touch on the sweet side — or perhaps you’re trying to lay off the whiskey and bourbon families for awhile (no shame, my friends, we’ve all been there), Jackson Hole Still Works’ Great Grey Gin Old Fashioned may be the perfect spin on tradition you’ve been desperately looking for. With six different dried herbs and spices, the Great Grey proves to be a strikingly flawless balance of bright and tart flavors topped with hints of cinnamon for a cozy winter drink.

While the classic old fashioned calls for bourbon or rye whiskey, the Great Grey version highlights the floral and spice elements found in the more approachable style of Still Works’ spirit, where they (respectfully) exploit infusion and botanicals throughout the distillation process. Since they combine both saturation and vapor infusion for their secret sauce, owners Chas Marsh and Travis Goodman are adamant this spirit is to be stirred, not shaken. If you can embrace the stir, you’ll experience the definition of what it means to prolong the essence of botanicals while supercharging your tastebuds.

Still Works doesn’t stop at a smooth final product — they stick to their mantra of high quality ingredients and the local food movement (not to mention local art featured on the interior of all their bottles). I urge you to arm yourself with this extra credit material at your next party, where you can tout their non-GMO, Wyoming farmed grains directly sourced from the Bighorn Basin. Want to know just how small batch we’re talking? Goodman and Marsh do it all themselves as a two-man team. Oh, and did I mention it’s naturally gluten free?

Sure, it may be daring to call a gin’s delicate, juniper berry base a realistic substitute for a burly, barrel aged whiskey, but I double-dog-dare you to pull this recipe out of your hat during the next snowfall. As Still Works “Cocktail Creationist” Zach Isler describes it, this simple style cocktail uses lemon oleo syrup made from the peel of a lemon combined with Lillet for a subtle layer of softness to highlight the deeper flavors of the gin. Go ahead, stir up a batch and depart on a heady trip to winter’s wonderland you won’t soon forget.

 

 

Ingredients (single serving)

1.75oz Great Grey Gin

.25oz Lillet Blanc

2 Barspoons of Lemon Oleo

1 Dash Aromatic Bitters

 

 

 

Instructions

Combine Great Grey Gin, Lillet Blanc, lemon oleo, and aromatic bitters over lager ice cubes into a large glass or cocktail shaker. Stir to mix & chill the cocktail. Strain & pour into a rocks glass. Zest a large piece of lemon skin, gently rub it around the rim of the glass then drop in to garnish.

 

 

 

Lemon Oleo Recipe

Remove zest from a 5 large lemons in wide strips with a vegetable peeler, leaving behind the white pith. Add 1/2 cup white sugar. Gently toss the sugar into the peels in a medium bowl. Then, using a muddler or wooden spoon, lightly press the lemon peels and sugar until peels begin to express their oils. Cover & let sit for at least 3 hours, but up to one day (flavor will intensify over time). Add 1/4 cup water. Stir & strain into an airtight container, pressing on solids to extract as much oil as possible; discard zest. Cover oil and chill. 

 

For more on all the awesome things these guys are doing check out www.jhstillworks.com.