Garden City Day of Service
Saturday, Sept. 21
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Meet at City Offices for assignments
Hot dogs and hamburgers!
See you there
Call Bess 435-881-3223
Monday, September 16, 2019
Summer Eats at Bear Lake
By Scott Heiner
Campfire Grill
Garden City
Always looking for an unusual place to eat, we were delighted to discover Campfire Grill, the restaurant at Conestoga Ranch which is a glamping resort.
I was new to the concept of “glamping,” which is a portmanteau of “glamorous” and “camping.” It combines the outdoorsy atmosphere of camping with amenities of a resort. You sleep in a Conestoga-style wagon or a tent complete with cozy beds, electric lights and heating.
Campfire Grill also fits the “glamping” model with seating at rustic wooden tables under an open-air pavilion. The food is served on small baking pans and some breakfast items in Mason jars.
Sharon and I enjoyed the chicken pot pie, sweet potato fries and the shrimp and grits. Their chicken pot pie is baked in a small cast-iron Dutch oven and topped with a flaky biscuit crust. One of their most popular items, it is inspired by traditional Dutch cuisine.
The most unusual item that we tried was a side dish of baby kale called “kalettes”. Brushed with olive oil and roasted, it was crunchy but tender and had an amazing flavor.
Other interesting selections on their light menu include three onion soup, Truffled French fries, Sesame Seared Tuna Steak and cauliflower chili. For main courses, Campfire Grill offers unusual items such as Rendered Duck Breast, Hickory-Smoked Salmon, and wood-fired pizza as well as more conventional fare of steak, pork chops and Dutch oven specialties.
Manager and chef,Vincent Liberato, comes from Pennsylvania with experience from the highest levels of fine dining on the East Coast. His goal is to introduce folks to a wider experience of truly upscale dining with a vast variety of cuisines from around the world. They do a barbecue special every Wednesday, roast a pig every Friday and an occasional South American-style asado barbecue. A lot if his dishes are influenced by South African cuisine and in the future, he wants to introduce Caribbean-inspired dishes.
Vince sources his food locally as much as possible. All their beef is Japanese-style Wagyu from Bear Lake Valley and their honey is from two beekeepers in Cache Valley. Vince’s mantra is to produce healthy dishes of the highest quality and authenticity. For example, his pizza oven has no gas burner; it is fired only with cherry wood--possibly the only strictly wood-fired oven in Utah. He won’t ever allow a microwave oven in his kitchen and he never uses MSG; it’s unnecessary and unhealthy.
Campfire Grill originally served mostly the glamping guests, but it proved so popular with the general public that when Vince took charge in 2016, he greatly transformed and expanded the facility.
Anywhere else, you’d have to wear your tuxedo and formal gown to experience this level of world-class cuisine, but Campfire Grill succeeds in offering it in a relaxed country setting at Bear Lake. Vince chuckles as he relates seeing guests in their formal wear eating alongside a group in casual clothes.
Their season runs from mid-May through the end of September.
Campfire Grill is hosting a “Locals Appreciation Barbecue Special” from 5:00 to 8:00 on Thursday 19 September.
Their website is www.Campfiregrillrestaurant.com
Campfire Grill
Garden City
I was new to the concept of “glamping,” which is a portmanteau of “glamorous” and “camping.” It combines the outdoorsy atmosphere of camping with amenities of a resort. You sleep in a Conestoga-style wagon or a tent complete with cozy beds, electric lights and heating.
Campfire Grill also fits the “glamping” model with seating at rustic wooden tables under an open-air pavilion. The food is served on small baking pans and some breakfast items in Mason jars.
Sharon and I enjoyed the chicken pot pie, sweet potato fries and the shrimp and grits. Their chicken pot pie is baked in a small cast-iron Dutch oven and topped with a flaky biscuit crust. One of their most popular items, it is inspired by traditional Dutch cuisine.
The most unusual item that we tried was a side dish of baby kale called “kalettes”. Brushed with olive oil and roasted, it was crunchy but tender and had an amazing flavor.
Other interesting selections on their light menu include three onion soup, Truffled French fries, Sesame Seared Tuna Steak and cauliflower chili. For main courses, Campfire Grill offers unusual items such as Rendered Duck Breast, Hickory-Smoked Salmon, and wood-fired pizza as well as more conventional fare of steak, pork chops and Dutch oven specialties.
Manager and chef,Vincent Liberato, comes from Pennsylvania with experience from the highest levels of fine dining on the East Coast. His goal is to introduce folks to a wider experience of truly upscale dining with a vast variety of cuisines from around the world. They do a barbecue special every Wednesday, roast a pig every Friday and an occasional South American-style asado barbecue. A lot if his dishes are influenced by South African cuisine and in the future, he wants to introduce Caribbean-inspired dishes.
Vince sources his food locally as much as possible. All their beef is Japanese-style Wagyu from Bear Lake Valley and their honey is from two beekeepers in Cache Valley. Vince’s mantra is to produce healthy dishes of the highest quality and authenticity. For example, his pizza oven has no gas burner; it is fired only with cherry wood--possibly the only strictly wood-fired oven in Utah. He won’t ever allow a microwave oven in his kitchen and he never uses MSG; it’s unnecessary and unhealthy.
Campfire Grill originally served mostly the glamping guests, but it proved so popular with the general public that when Vince took charge in 2016, he greatly transformed and expanded the facility.
Anywhere else, you’d have to wear your tuxedo and formal gown to experience this level of world-class cuisine, but Campfire Grill succeeds in offering it in a relaxed country setting at Bear Lake. Vince chuckles as he relates seeing guests in their formal wear eating alongside a group in casual clothes.
Their season runs from mid-May through the end of September.
Campfire Grill is hosting a “Locals Appreciation Barbecue Special” from 5:00 to 8:00 on Thursday 19 September.
Their website is www.Campfiregrillrestaurant.com
End of Summer
Correction: The photo has now been correctly attributed to Lauriann Wakefield, one of our team of wonderful photographers.
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| Photo by Lauriann Wakefield, Little Starling Photography |
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