With the rapid growth of Deer Valley Resort’s annual Mountain Beer Festival, and the new and improved Silver Lake lawn, the resort decided to add the Fire & Flavor Festival.
This event, debuting July 11-13, will feature a VIP chef’s dinner and two days of flame-fueled festivities, said Jacob Musyt, Deer Valley’s vice president of food and beverage.
“We were like, we need something else like the beer festival. Let’s do a festival that opens the season,” said Musyt.
Fire & Flavor is centered on live-fire cuisine — a rustic, elemental cooking method that embraces the flavors and ambiance of mountain life.
“It’s a huge experiential moment. It’s a wow moment. The food is awesome, and you can’t really duplicate it in a lot of locations. We’re not Montage, we’re not Stein Eriksen — we are the mountain. So we want to lean into that a little bit heavier,” Musyt said.
They plan to feature acclaimed chefs including Kansas City’s Ryan Arensdorf and Tasmania-born, Utah-based live-fire specialist Sarah Glover, as well as Deer Valley’s own chefs. Musyt said bringing in expert chefs with their resources and connections is another way they’re committed to going the extra mile for guests.
“We could just serve turkey chili and call it a day and probably be successful. But I don’t know if that’s what today’s guest is looking for. Our demographics, they’re slowly changing over time as our skiers and the people that visit our mountain are younger. So we want to create some of that ‘wow’ moment,” Musyt said.
The festival begins Friday, July 11, with a private VIP dinner and welcome reception for visiting chefs and festival supporters. The public festivities will follow on Saturday and Sunday, July 12-13, at Silver Lake, Deer Valley’s mid-mountain gathering spot accessible via a lift ride from Snow Park.
Admission will be free with the purchase of a $10 lift ticket, said Musyt, and kids ride free, one per paying adult. Food and beverage will be sold à la carte, with each culinary station offering $25 plates, meaning people can customize.
Executive Chef Peter Menteer said the festival reflects the diversity and depth of culinary talent at Deer Valley, and adds a platform for collaboration.
“There’s a ton of experience and creativity here. So how do we meld that with a bunch of chefs, showcase what we can do and showcase what other chefs can do?” Menteer said.
Menteer will be cooking up a paella rice dish with lobster and a fire-roasted pork loin on the Argentinian grill. The resort’s chef, Sam Phelan, will have a custom smoker at the event, turning out Asian-style wings and other smoked specialties.
“Everybody loves food cooked by the fire,” Menteer said. “Caramelized onions, the sugars in brisket that caramelize on the outside. It’s these deep flavors that the fire creates within the food.”
Live-fire cooking also resonates on a personal level for Menteer.
“I grew up in Montana, so camping has been my whole childhood. I think a lot of people here are that way. They grow up and the campfire is part of their memories,” he said. “It brings back memories, but it’s also cool. You’re burning a bunch of stuff, there’s flames and noises and crackling, and it just creates that kind of mountain-peoples atmosphere.”
The Fire & Flavor Festival is also meant to be a nod to Deer Valley’s future. Musyt said the resort’s upcoming Park Peak expansion — open in two seasons — will feature an expansive live-fire culinary concept, from rotisseries to Argentine grills.
“When you walk into Park Peak, you will smell the fire, you will be able to see it. It’s going to have a completely different flavor profile than anything else we’re doing,” he said.
The demand for experiential, chef-driven events is clear.
“We try to listen to what our guests want, and when we hear it, they tell us,” Musyt said, referencing a past event with Sarah Glover at Cushings Cabin. “People still talk about that event. People that didn’t go are like, when are you doing it again? It’s very apparent that people love that kind of experience. So let’s just give the people what they want.”
Along with food and beer options, Musyt and Menteer said they’re looking into ways for the Fire & Flavor Festival to showcase all things mountain chef. The goal is to have tents highlighting their food and beverage partners like New West Knives, Brio, Camp Chef and Gosney, reminiscent of the gear festival of years past, said Menteer.
And of course, there will be live music and lawn games, Musyt said.
“I think it could be something really cool for Park City every year, and like the beer fest, something people look forward to,” Musyt said. “It’s like the big welcome to summer. I think Park City needs something like that.”