Tree Room

He said:

I’ve had a nostalgic connection to the Tree Room restaurant since I first visited it almost 40 years ago. In those days, I had no idea what fine dining was. We didn’t eat out often, and definitely not at fancy restaurants. However, my dad was assigned by his employer to meet with a foreign official to work through an issue they had doing business in his country. My dad met with him all throughout the day, and then in the evening, our family joined his family for a fancy dinner at the Tree Room.

It was so long ago, and I was only twelve or thirteen years old, so I don’t remember a lot about it. I remember sitting next to the foreign official’s son. He was probably sixteen or seventeen years old. We spent the evening conversing through my broken Spanish. Although I don’t remember what I ordered that night, I do remember that he ordered a pheasant dish. That sounded so exotic to me! He even shared a bite for me to sample.

Now, almost forty years later, I finally made it back to the Tree Room. Kathy and I were happy to invite my father to join us, also his first time back since that visit so long ago. Together, we enjoyed an early Father’s Day celebration.

The Tree Room is one of the restaurants at the Sundance Mountain Resort. We tend to think of Sundance as a ski resort—and it is—but it operates year-round, with hiking, art experiences, rustic luxury, mountain biking, fly fishing, and plenty more besides skiing. Sundance was founded by Robert Redford in 1969. Since I once had to explain to my children who Robert Redford is, I’ll explain again in case some of my readers are not as old as I am. Robert Redford is an iconic actor and filmmaker whose film career spans six decades. Nominated for four academy awards (Best Actor, Best Director), he won the Best Director award for Ordinary People in 1980. In addition to his film work, Redford has been deeply involved in environmental conservation, social activism, and independent arts. The Sundance resort is named after one of his famous film roles, his character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Nestled in Provo Canyon, just below the sharp peaks of Mount Timpanogos, Sundance (and the drive to it) offers stunning views of steep rock walls, dense forests, and the winding Provo River carving through the valley. The resort itself is designed to blend into the landscape with a rugged, rustic presence. Inside the restaurant, the décor reflects Sundance’s philosophy, bringing art, nature, and storytelling together. The hallways leading to the restaurant are lined with behind-the-scenes photographs of Redford’s movies. Native American art—pottery, woven blankets, kachina dolls—adorn the restaurant walls and display cases. The waitress explained that local tribes had gifted many of these authentic artifacts to Redford in thanks for his conservancy efforts. The result was a peaceful, romantic ambiance, aided by soft lights and faint acoustic guitar music in the background.

We began our meal with an amuse bouche of arancini: breaded, fried balls of risotto. These croquettes were filled with wild mushrooms and topped with a Gruyère Mornay sauce. Our bread service had a variety of house-made breads that included crackers and sour dough bread. My favorite was a scone-like bun that had almonds, oats, pumpkin seeds, and golden raisins. Accompanying the bread was a pat of softened butter stamped into the shape of a beeswax round. It was drizzled in honey and included a bit of semi-solid honey molded into a bumblebee.

We ordered a couple of appetizers to share. First, we had some Lamb Loin with ricotta gnocchi, pesto, and prosciutto, served with a demi-glace. Second, we enjoyed a pork belly with Korean barbecue sauce, mango salsa, pickled zucchini, and a rice paper crisp. This was served with some fresh sprigs that I think were part of a bean plant.

The restaurant offered two salads. Kathy ordered one and I ordered the other. They also served a seasonal soup that caught my attention. A Fennel-Green Apple soup with a cream base sounded so unusual to me that I really wanted to try it, despite having my eye on the Strawberry and Apple salad. But hey, why not? I ordered the soup, as well, to share with Kathy. It came with a puff pastry with green apple and crème fraiche, but it was the soup that stole the show. Only one bite, and I was in heaven. I couldn’t believe it! The first thing I tasted was the warming spices, probably the traditional quatre épices: cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and ginger (or sometimes cinnamon or allspice). That wasn’t unusual, but behind that was the tart flavor of green apples. I had no idea they would create such an amazing pairing, nor that a green apple soup would be the best soup I have ever tasted!

The salad was also amazing. It began with a dusting of raspberry-hibiscus powder on the bottom of the plate, and included an “Urban Blend” of greens. I’m not sure what varieties those were, but I enjoyed them. Then there were green grapes (peeled), slightly dehydrated strawberries and apples as well as fresh strawberries, pickled huckleberries, feta cheese, and a honey vinaigrette. Loved it!

For my entrée, I didn’t find pheasant on the menu this time, so I chose the Elk Loin instead. This included a few rolled strips of zucchini, a spoonful of eggplant, a half dozen fingerling potatoes in the Hasselback style, and medallions of elk loin. There were also a few sprigs of that bean plant again, but the most interesting part of this dish was the stuffed squash blossom. Squash blossoms are large flowers with soft, slightly crinkled petals. It had never occurred to me to eat them, and much less to stuff them first. Mine was stuffed with ricotta and cooked until the blossom was crisp. It was great, the highlight of the dish.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get as excited over the elk. That’s partly my fault. I should have realized that a loin cut wouldn’t be well marbled. It was incredibly tender, but a bit dry and quite dense. The demi-glace was a savior, but I should probably have gone with the duck breast with the Pistachio Mole or the Pepper Steak, which the waitress said was quite popular.

Nonetheless, the meal was terrific. There were so many wonderful flavors that I will long remember.

She said:

Nestled up in the beautiful, serene, wooded Sundance resort, the Tree Room was a culinary revelation.

The restaurant is set back from the main parking lot and blends in with the scenery because of its wooden construction. It is crafted from roughly hewn boards stained a dark brown. Essentially, it looks like a cabin in the woods—which seems to be the point.

On the premises, there are also a bakery that featured delectable looking pastries (I had to ignore the display racks and keep on walking so that I wouldn’t succumb to temptation!), a shop that offers well-made clothing and other goods, and yet another dining establishment¹. Adding to the charm of the area were several red hummingbird feeders hanging from trees and the small bridges suspended over the rushing creek. I don’t know about other people, but the sound of rough waters gushing over boulders soothes me. It’s elemental and elicits a visceral, primal response.

Anyway, the rustic theme continued inside of the Tree Room with wood everywhere: walls, ceilings, beams, shelving. All of it was softened by the presence of Native American pottery bowls and woven tapestries hanging from walls or strategically placed on shelves. Large windows provided plenty of natural light, as well as a lovely view of the trees outside. A tall glass case housed a variety of kachina dolls. Those were interesting because they came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Something placed in one of the corners of the case caught my eye. It was a cloth-stuffed snake with multi-colored polka dots. That made me chuckle to myself because of the incongruity of it. 😅

Adding some elegance to the place were cream-colored linen tablecloths and napkins, red leather chair seats, brown leather bench-style booth seats and backs that looked like loveseats (so comfy and cozy!), dark carpeting, and black and white photos in ornate, mahogany-hued scrolled frames. All of the shots were scenes from Robert Redford’s movies, but the ones that I recognized portrayed scenes from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. One of my faves. The whole vibe was peaceful and relaxed, welcoming.

Now, about the food:

It was pretty fantastic. The pork belly and the lamb that we ordered as appetizers were incredible. The meats were tender and immensely flavorful. The demi-glace on the lamb loin was rich and tasty, tangy. It offset the ricotta gnocchi’s pesto sauce quite well. The pork belly was especially delectable with its Korean BBQ sauce, mango salsa, and pickled zucchini. I think that one was my favorite because of the sweet, piquant notes of the BBQ sauce with the acidity of the pickled zucchini. But not only that. I liked the colors and textures of the fruity salsa and the vegetables.

After enjoying those starters, I moved on to my salad. The Sundance Salad had various greens in it, along with currants, candied pecans, goat cheese, and sherry vinaigrette. Quite frankly, the salad was good, but the star of the show was the thick, creamy goat cheese with chives that had been smeared on the inside of the heavy stone bowl my food was served in. I used a spoon to scrape it off so I could get every last bit of it into my mouth. 😋 (I’d never been served a bowl of salad like that before.)

Now, about the soup.

It was amazing and completely unexpected. First of all, because the waitress described it as being a cream-based green apple and fennel soup, I assumed it would be served cold. Nope. It was hot, rich, and delicious. I told my father-in-law that my taste buds were throwing a party in my mouth!

To cap things off, I ordered the King Salmon for my entrée. My dish consisted of tender, flaky fish topped with a creole honey glaze that was truly wonderful. It was the highlight of my meal, but the shrimp-stuffed piquillo peppers were not too shabby, either. The broccolini was nicely steamed, but compared to everything else, it was pretty ordinary.

Conclusion:

Make your occasion special by celebrating at the Tree Room. Enjoy the drive, scenery, service, and the fantastic cuisine.