High West

Current all-time favorite spot to eat out in town is High West, with or without the whiskey ;') Atmosphere is always chill and the decor is comfy and unpretentious. Although hubby still considers the food heavy, I think the portions are spot-on, dishes consistent and food absolutely delicious. You will love their complimentary cowboy cookie breads. (Oh, and the pepper and salt mills at every table are a huge plus to any meal.) I took Miriam out for an early girls dinner to go over homework and spelling...

Heirloom Pesto.  Miriam actually started her heirloom tomato addiction here. This very salad started the craze. Sweet soft onions, kicky pesto, juicy ripe local heirlooms, drips of balsamic... We love this tomato tower!

Carrots and Pickles.  Housemade pickles here are like sour sugary candies. I think I constantly crave these housemade pickles.

High West Burger and Fries.  The parmesan fries are always decadently fab. Dave Perkins stopped by and gave away the secret to the wonderous moist juicy patty ;') If you are into burgers, get this. Ask for extra pickles.

Mac N Cheese.  What can I say? I'm not a fan but people go crazy over this. Cheesy, gooey, crusty, rich and heavy.

Vanilla Ice-cream and Chocolate.  Perfect way to finish all this love up :)

Love this place.  xo

Takashi

Strawberry Fields.  This one is a Takashi classic, too fabulous for words. Ripe sugary sweet strawberries, spicy wasabi, smooth hamachi, toasty almonds. If you are a fruity sushi newbie, trust me on this one ;') Order one for the table.

Sablefish Nigiri.  Another favorite. Silky smooth every single time. Torched and barely garnished with some garlicky scallion.

Fried Whole Trout with Salsa.  This fried local Utah trout has been on the Specials chalk board for weeks. Always a sigh of relief when we see it still listed. This is hubby's favorite fish prep, deboned, lightly fried, moist bright white center, seasoned perfectly. Crispy skin is my fave.

Head-on. De-boned fish eliminates anxiety for the white man.

Big squeeze of juicy lemon all over the light crusty flesh is all it requires really.

Although unnecessary because the fish is already perfectly seasoned, this spicy citrus salsa is the bomb.

Summit Roll with Tuna and Shrimp.  Rice-less, seaweed-less roll of cucumber, tuna, avocado, tobiko and shrimp (substituted crab meat), chili peppers and ginger sauce. Crazy good flavors and textures.

Ginger drizzle all over.

Can you taste it? The wet chilled crunch? Firey kick of those teeny bird's eye? Micro balls of tobiko explosions?

Okay, one last picture.

M's Birthday, Part Un: Cowabunga Bay in Draper, UT with Cold Stone cake

Cowabunga Bay, a waterslide park 40 minutes south of Park City, was the first stop for M's multi-venue birthday bash. M and her girlfriends piled into the Flex and screamed out Top 20's lyrics the entire drive down in unison. I am grateful that we are surrounded by such happy healthy company. My daughter's childhood, unlike mine when I was her age, is rich in joy and respectful friendships. I adore these girls!

You can easily spot Cowabunga Bay from the I-15 freeway in Draper, Utah. The bright, curvy, tube-y monumental playground pops right out against the Utah skies. Exit 12300 South and look for Cowabunga behind the In-N-Out and X-D Cinemas.

Cowabunga Bay allows no outside food and drink except for birthday cakes when you reserve a birthday cabana. Knowing that a Cold Stone was just down the street from Cowabunga, I called ahead and ordered a Strawberry Ice-cream cake saying "Happy Birthday M."

One of the perks of a VIP Birthday Cabana reservation is that you don't have to wait in line :)

Lockers and life vests...

VIP Birthday Cabana includes balloons, shady comfort in a prime location, 4 hours of unlimited waterslide access and tons of posh junk food brought out by your very own server.

Jace, our cabana boy, briefed us on how to summon him with the buzzer. Jace's primary responsibilities were to ensure that all of our food, drink, cake and party needs were taken care of. It was very interesting observing the subtle coquetry between the tweens and our cabana boy. Sigh.

Just moments after we place our order, Jace appears with our party grub, more glorious feast.

Regardless of how healthy we tried to order (note the strawberry cake?), everything was either fried, crispy, or cheesy, and all the same color, a yellowish, brownish orange. How blissful to be so young with not a dietary or nutritional care or worry in the world... 

Cheesy Pizza.

Onion Rings and Fry Sauce.

Turkey Bacon Cheese Panini.

What else, but Dinosaur Nuggets?!

Dippin' Dots.

This park is impressively clean and well-maintained. Someone is constantly walking around with a broom and dustpan sweeping, cleaning, wiping, etc.

The layout is efficiently designed for great visibility and easy access to all parts of the park. 9 waterslides, a heated Lazy River with free inner tubes, signature humongous 1200 gallon bucket of water splash...   

Cowbabunga Bay's lazy river just rocks. Heated pool, standing depth and free inner tubes!

Here's the Cold Stone Strawberry Red Velvet cake (stored in the CB's freezer) with graham cracker crumbs. Trust me, it tasted it a whole lot better than it looks here ;')

Happy Birthday my AMAZING daughter! Girls RULE!

Strawberry ice-cream with red velvet cake. The frozen strawberries resembled Japanese erasers. Cool. I actually can't stand Cold Stone's ice-cream by itself (too creamy, too sweet, too rich, too everything), but absolutely LOVE their cakes.

Strategically located right next to the exit was a salon cart offering trendy hair feather extensions and airbrushed tattoos. I am a sucker for tattoo-anything. Here we go...

The girls waited patiently and watched our salon girl's meticulous hair application techniques and airbrush skills. Now, finally, all dolled up in feathers and tatts after 4+ hours in the Utah sun...onward to the next party venue!

Next up, check out Park Deux: XD Cinemas featuring "The Smurfs" in 3-D ;)  xoxo