Park City Restaurant Association

Park Record

Greg Marshall

When 300 diners take their seats at 7 p.m. at the Grand Table Friday, they will enjoy gourmet food, wine, live music and plenty of company.

Just don’t ask to pass the salt.

“It’s theoretically one continuous table,” said Christie Dilloway, one of the key organizers for Savor the Summit. “But it’s going to be broken up with different stages.”

Dilloway is Park City Jazz Foundation’s director of special events. She has helped organize the event since it was conceived in September. “I think people are really excited about the table on Main Street,” she said. “We’ve been trying to bring an event to Park City in the off-season for quite a while. . . . We really want all Park City, young and old, to take advantage of the jazz music.”

Savor the Summit is a two-day food, wine and jazz festival that features a table set down the middle of Main Street Friday and an afternoon picnic in City Park the following day.

The Grand Table event starts Friday at 6 p.m. and includes a toast to the town. Tickets can be bought from participating restaurants for a variety of prices. The Grand Picnic Saturday, June 21, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., lets visitors sample regionally produced food prepared as gourmet picnic fare at City Park. Tickets are $50.

The Grand Table will run from about 550 Main Street to The Wasatch Brew Pub at the southern end of the street with a block break for a beer and wine garden, a street dancing party and a main stage.

“It’s everything you need for a Park City weekend,” Dilloway said. There’s been a lot of local interest. It’s really driving interest and revenue to Park City restaurants.”

Tickets have been a hot sell, organizers say, and a few of the 15 restaurants participating in Savor the Summit are already sold out.

“It’s a great opportunity for restaurants to strut their stuff,” said 350 Main Brasserie General Manager Jeff Ward. “What I like about it is that it’s a locally conceived and executed event.”

350 Main is offering a five-course dinner with a grilled farmer’s market salad and an ahi dish among other confections. The restaurant, which has 50 seats for Savor the Summit, was one of the first to sell out. “It was word of mouth,” Ward said. “I think it’s going to be a good event. Busy is good.”

Ward said his restaurant has loaned out its downstairs kitchen to Deer Valley Resort and Done to Your Taste Catering. He hopes to fill its regular dining room Friday evening as well as its outdoor seating. “It’s going to be a different experience,” Ward admitted, “because we’ll be serving people so far from the kitchen. And the tables aren’t going to be on level ground. But what can we do? We can’t build a patio on Main Street.”

Not all restaurants are selling out. Bandits Grill and Bar hasn’t had as many bites for Savor the Summit as other establishments. Although the restaurant plans to have street-seating for 40, customers have reserved just four seats for the event, according to manager Kyle Moore.

“We’re not nervous,” he said. “If we don’t fill up [with reservations] they’ll still be people walking around outside. It’ll just be a seat-yourself sort of thing.”

Organizers planned Savor the Summit for June 20 and 21 to coincide with the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s World Summit 2008 being held in Park City from June 18 to the 21. The event is expected to attract about 4,000 visitors to the Snyderville Basin. “June isn’t the busiest month for us,” Ward said. “We wanted to do a signature event at the front side of the whole summer season and leverage the two together.”

The Music School of Park City is holding its annual Jam Camp over the same weekend. The rock school brings talented musicians-in-residence and about 150 students from across the country to Park City. They will play jazz, funk and blues on stages up and down Main Street for Savor the Summit. Some of the performers are students, and some are Grammy winning musicians such as saxophonist Jeff Coffin and Ron Blake of the Saturday Night Live Band. “It’s going to be a blast,” Caleb Chapman of the Jam Camp said. “From a musician’s standpoint, we’re really excited about the idea of bringing some of the greatest jazz players on the planet together. It’ll be great to be in the audience and see what happens.”

Dilloway said the jam camp gave organizers a compelling roster of performers for the event. “We’re trying to piggy back off the jam camp,” Dilloway said. “It’s jazz at its essence. Having individuals come together and play off each other.”

Some of the stages will feature never-before-heard combinations of guitarists, trumpet players, saxophonists and trombone players from the school’s “faculty of funk.”

The Grand Picnic Saturday features some of those same jazz performers. The picnic in City Park will give people a chance to get to know local farmers and ranchers, Dilloway said. “It’s an upscale picnic,” she said. “We’re trying to stay as local as possible.”

Morgan Valley Lamb, Utah Trout and Copper Creek Farms are providing some of the local fare. Dilloway said organizers were making an effort to include not just local farmers, but local picnickers, too.

“You can’t do an event that excludes locals,” Dilloway said.

The Grande Table
Friday, June 20
Park City’s longest dinner party, at a table set right down the middle of Main Street.
6 to10 p.m.
Reservations accepted by each participating restaurant. Dinner prices vary per restaurant depending on the menu offered.

Riverhorse On Main:435-649-3536
Five-course dinner $75. Seating is limited.

Shabu:
435-640-6512
Chef Robert Valeka’s four-course tasting menu of Asian fusion cuisine $50

Yuki Arashi:
435-649-6293
Sushi and Japanese specialties

Purple Sage:
435-655-9505

Baja Cantina:
435-649-BAJA
A favorite with the Locals offering fabulous Mexican food. Offering “Roll your Own Gringo” Burrito(beef, chicken, or pork), plus dessert for only $24.99 including tax & gratuity.

Bistro 412:
435-649-8211
American Bistro setting with a French flair four-course meal with various selections: $50 per person inclusive tax and gratuity.

Cisero’s Ristorante & Nightclub:
435-649-5044
Three-course Italian Dinner with many selections $29 including tax and gratuity.

Cafe Terigo:
435-645-9555

Jean-Louis:
435-200-0260

The Eating Establishment:
435-649-8284

Bandits Grill and Bar:
435-649-7337

Done To Your Taste Catering:
435-649-7803

Cows:
435-647-7711
Serving something for the kids. Buffet kid-friendly food, and a place at The Grande Table. Reservations not required.

350 Main Brasserie, Wasatch Brew Pub and Royal Street Cafe are sold out.

Saturday, June 21st, 2008
The Grande Picnic, 3 to 6 p.m. at City Park
Tickets are $50.

The Grande Table
Friday, Main Street

All music is free and open to the public

6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Top of Main Jazz Combo 1

6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Main Street Mall Jazz Duo

6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Main Stage The Blue Wailers

6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Claim Jumper Stage Jazz Combo 3

7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Top of Main Jam Combo 4

7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Main Street Mall Jam Combo 5

7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Main Stage New Orleans Center for Creative Arts Jazz Quintet*

7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Claim Jumper Stage Jam Combo 6 p.m.

8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Miners Plaza The Crescent Super Band ** see description below

8:30 p.m.-9:30 Main Stage The Faculty of Funk* see description below

9:30 p.m. to end Lance Levar’s Community Drum Circle

All members of the community are welcome to join in and greet summer for the Solstice