Nest at Viceroy

On the slopes and craving sushi? Neither was I until I discovered that mid-ski sushi was even an option. If you think you’re well versed in ski-in-ski-out lodging, then welcome to the next generation.

Nest at Viceroy Snowmass provides sushi at a crossroads where poolside café meets après ski meets literal ski slope. The speckled white marble bar stools and whitewashed wooden seats hold soft green cushions that offset the simple, refreshing white room. And, in the chance that you get carried away with the cleansing atmosphere, the Viceroy is one step ahead of you, offering a handicap shower with room for a family of four in the restrooms.

What the menu lacks in size it makes up for in variety, serving up Japanese twists like the lobster almond soup ($16) while also holding onto classics like the edamame with sea salt ($5).

Heading straight for the “cut rolls,” we first ordered the “fire fry” ($11), a roll with shrimp tempura, crab salad, and jalapeno.

Aside from the beautiful picture—you’re welcome—the roll was so disappointingly bland that I asked to see a menu just to ensure that this mishap wasn’t a display of poor ordering judgment. Like a proud parent talking up his son, the kid failed to live up to the hype. And I ask you to tell me the whereabouts of the alleged “crab salad.”

The Creole wildcard proved to be the winner, with crawfish remoulade, cream cheese, and lemon all wrapped up and dusted with Cajun spice ($11).

This roll was definitely different—especially from the one on the menu, seeing as there’s clearly tuna in this roll—but the seasonings combined with the cooling cream just worked.

If you ever find yourself craving some great, authentic sushi at the base of Snowmass Mountain, then there are a variety of places in Aspen that I can recommend. However, if you’re looking for something different and convenient, then try out Nest at Viceroy—if for nothing else than to just check out the bathroom.

nest

AT VICEROY

11am-10pm

VICEROY SNOWMASS P.O. Box 6985 Snowmass Village Colorado 81615    

T +1 970 923 8000

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Ariel’s banana chocolate chip bread. One of life’s little pleasures whose ingredients may be best left as one of life’s little secrets.

How to Make your Own Chicken Gyros

Lettuce, tomato, onion—staples of any fridge—can entertain you far beyond a sandwich, my friend.

With so many vegetables and so little time before they all went bad, I wanted to create something delicious enough to trump the sandwich, impressive enough to earn some street cred, and simple enough so that I could eat rather soon as I was starving. I decided to construct my own gyros, which would require nothing more than whipping up a quick tzatziki dressing before essentially throwing all the contents of my fridge into a pita.

The Tzatziki:

First, pour 1 cup of your favorite plain Greek yogurt into a mixing bowl.

Then, cut a large cucumber into two halves. You can wrap up one of the halves and put it back in your fridge. Take the second half and cut it in half length-wise, exposing all the seeds.

If you are crafty with a knife, carefully carve out the seeds. If not, you can use a spoon to hollow out the cucumber.

Next, dice the cucumber. You can do this by turning the cucumber so that the hollowed-out side is facing down. Cut thin strips length-wise, and then take your knife and cut perpendicular across the strips.

Toss the cucumber into the yogurt along with about 1 teaspoon of finely chopped dill, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ cup feta cheese, and mix.

Voila. Tzatziki without a blender.

The Chicken:

Slice a chicken breast into thin strips. If you are using frozen chicken, it may be easier to slice the meat while it is still a little frozen.

Once the chicken has been defrosted and sliced, season the strips with salt, pepper, and a little bit of tarragon (just enough to give the chicken a light yellow color).

Sautee the strips on a medium heat setting, making sure that every strip has access to the bottom of the pan without being overcrowded, or else you will not get nice browned edges.

The Gyro:

Before plating, I placed my whole wheat pita on the same pan that I used for the chicken just long enough to get a nice browning.

Sliding the pita right from pan to plate, I spread a layer of hummus onto the pita before laying down a bed of lettuce, diced onion, tomato, chicken, tzatziki, and more feta cheese.

You can fork-and-knife this bad boy, but I’ve found it most efficient to fold up the edges and just dive in mouth first.

Wagamama

While traveling, locals can direct you to some cheap eats that, for better or for worse, you would not have discovered otherwise. Wagamama in London is one such place.

After months of pleading from some British friends, I finally found myself taking a seat at one of the long wooden tables in the Covent Garden location. The pan-Asian noodle restaurant has an extensive menu covering everything from ramen to rice. A server whizzed by, asking if we had dined before. I hadn’t, which didn’t seem to matter, because everything was happening so fast and, before I knew it, I ordered as if I had thrown darts at the menu. Our waiter scribbled some gibberish on our paper menus before scurrying off.

Soon after, deep-fried pieces of something arrived at our table with a sesame/soy dipping sauce. After taking a bite, I concluded that this was chicken that I was eating, meaning we ordered the tori kara age for £4.60. The fried chicken pieces tasted exactly how they sound. They were simple, inexpensive when split among three people, and a fun finger-food to start off the meal.

The deep-fried duck dumplings (£5.45) arrived next. The breading on the gyoza was a little heavy, but you could have put anything in that spicy cherry hoi sin sauce and it’d be fantastic.

Then, a filet of grilled salmon, drizzled with teriyaki, served over teppan fried soba noodles landed in front of me (£11.00). After being told is was mine, I started to dig in.

Each dish must be placed in the proper context. Bare in mind that this restaurant is a chain serving affordable Japanese fast food. With that said, the dish was fine. I suppose I was expecting more sauce, more oil, more fat. That came with the Chicken katsu curry.

The chicken katsu curry (£8.95) was perfect in the sense that it was creamy, saucy, and fattening. I finally understood what had brought us to Covent Garden that day—sliced pieces of friend chicken breast, topped with a mound of white rice and smothered in a fantastic pool of creamy curry sauce. The type of curry?—the fast food kind. Delicious.

         

wagamama

click here for locations

The Real Rugelach

Rugelach from a bakery in Israel
-Ryan Corbett

"You think you know rugalach, but you have no idea." This seems to be the only way that these rolled Jewish cookies could get any better — in surplus.

Salmon and Smashed Peas

Sauteed salmon, seasoned with only salt and pepper, served over smashed peas with leeks, lemon juice, basil, and tarragon. Otherwise known as a delicious Monday night.

Crumbs Cupcakes

After 21 years, I have finally decided on the ultimate reason why every girl needs a brother—so he can send you cupcakes.

As a congratulatory surprise for landing a great internship in NYC for this summer, these six beauties were sent to me in a Styrofoam cooler packed with dry ice. 

Starting with the classic, I dove mouth-first into the red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, topped with red velvet crumbs and white sprinkles. The red velvet was great, but I craved a greater thrill. I moved on to the next safe choice, carrot cake, which was enjoyed by all who tried a bite.

I decided that the most attractive of the six was the dark chocolate temptress with the walnut brownie sunk into its center. 

Relative to its visual appeal, the brownie cupcake ironically proved to be the most disappointing of all. The chocolate fudge filling was a little rich for me, and the cake was very dry.

Walking further along letdown lane was the cookie dough cupcake, which, deceitfully, tasted like neither cookie nor dough. 

The vanilla cake had a chocolate fudge filling—a feature I rarely see in my break-and-bake—and was topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting that was mixed with cookie pieces. I had trouble tasting the cookie pieces, and the filling was ill suited for the theme.

Although I’m not a huge proponent of peanut butter in my desserts, the peanut butter cup was a serious winner. 

Crumbs doesn’t admit to this, but some peanut butter must be mixed into the chocolate cake batter because I have never before tasted a chocolate cake this moist. Filled and frosted with peanut butter buttercream frosting, this cupcake did not live to see another day.

Saving the worst for last, I shocked everyone with my surprising infatuation with the cherry blossom cupcake. The smooth and moist vanilla cake was filled with a gooey filling that resembled that of cherry pie. Perhaps it was because of the abysmal expectations with which I approached the neglected cupcake, but the simple combination of flavors was a great note to end on.

CRUMBS

BAKE SHOP

http://www.crumbs.com/