For three nights in March, The Lodge at Blue Sky, Auberge Collection created a sample of New York City’s fine-dining scene by hosting a short residency from The Modern, the restaurant inside the Museum of Modern Art with two Michelin stars. The intimate dinners, held in the Wanship property’ s Wine Room from March 12-14, brought Executive Chef Thomas Allan and his team west for a tasting menu that blended signature dishes from the restaurant with evolving ideas from the kitchen. The experience also paired the meal with a temporary art curation by Nick Turner, whose works from his “Water and West” series were installed around the hotel. A Japanese-style dining bar gave the night an open-kitchen feel, where chef Allan and his team prepped and plated each course on the table right in front of the diners, some being locals taking advantage of the New York establishment brought closer to home, others those who had loved the restaurant for years and got a more intimate taste in Utah. During the last seating of the final night of the residency, Allan addressed the small group. “Welcome to The Modern at Blue Sky. … This is the finale of our residency here in Utah,” Allan said. “Transplanting a restaurant from New York City out here, it’s pretty wild, but we’ve managed to pull it off thus far, and it wouldn’t be without the help of everybody involved.” Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Executive Chef Thomas Allan of The Modern plates each dish with his team at an open-bar seating for a small group of diners. The residency brought a condensed version of The Modern’s culinary philosophy to Utah, emphasizing seasonal ingredients, precise technique and an element of playful presentation. Allan said many of the night’s 10 courses were restaurant favorites. “Either (they) have been or were or currently are,” Allan said. “We curated this menu because we wanted to knock it out of the park. So some things are not, some things were in the past and some things are just evolving as we go.” The evening began with a pair of small bites: a venison tartare tartlet seasoned with classic accompaniments like capers and horseradish crème fraîche, along with a chilled tuna and celeriac galette presented on a spoon over ice in the style of a delicate ceviche. From there, the menu moved into seafood courses, including raw scallops sourced from Maine through purveyor Sue Buxton. The scallops were chilled and lightly marinated, served over a slice of naval orange and dusted with freeze-dried berries. One of the meal’s most recognizable dishes followed: a layered composition Allan described as a staple at the New York restaurant. “This is a signature dish at The Modern restaurant. That’s what they say, not that I want it to be,” Allan joked. “Eggs on eggs on eggs” is considered The Modern restaurant’s signature dish, said chef Thomas Allan. Three types of eggs are served along with toasted brioche. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordFor first bites, a chilled tuna bite was a unique take on a ceviche. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe scallops dish incorporated bright, citrusy flavors. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record The dish, known as “eggs on eggs on eggs,” combined multiple forms of eggs in a single bowl. A fried egg sauce sits at the base with a poached egg yolk topped with caviar. Pickled shallots, dill oil and warm toasted brioche added brightness and texture. The savory progression continued with a black truffle risotto enriched with mascarpone and 24-month-aged Parmesan, followed by a 21-day dry-aged duck. The duck was served with mango poached in a syrup of cognac, honey and red wine vinegar, then crusted in spiced nuts and paired with a watercress pesto. The final savory course centered on New York strip sourced from Australia, a dish prompting Allan to discuss how sourcing practices in fine dining are shifting. “Beef, we’ve historically sourced from our country, and then when we want to go super premier, we go to Japan,” Allan said. “It’s getting harder to do both those things, and I don’t like bringing blocks of frozen meat in from Japan, and stuff in America is becoming really, really scarce to source and becoming more and more and more expensive because everybody wants it.” For the main entree, chef Thomas Allan explains that the high-quality beef is sourced from Australia. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Instead, Allan said the team has increasingly turned to Australia, guided by employees and even Allan’s own family, to new, high-quality producers. After the savory courses, diners were served a palate cleanser of toasted almond ice cream topped with frozen cucumber juice flavored with yuzu and lime zest, Allan’s attempt at a dessert course and many of the diners’ favorite bites of the night.  “Savory chefs are inherently terrible pastry chefs,” Allan said with a laugh. “We use things like vegetables and nuts, and we don’t bake anything.” He added that his approach to cooking emphasizes intuition as much as precision. “By no means am I pulling out the gram scale and making sure that everything is exactly on the nose, by the gram,” Allan said. “That’s when you can’t really cook with your heart, you have to cook with your brain. And savory chefs like to cook with their heart.” The meal concluded with a dessert playing with mint and chocolate flavors: a chocolate crumble, whipped vanilla cream and shiso ice cream served on top of mint-infused caramel. While the menu reflected The Modern’s culinary identity, the residency also provided Allan an opportunity to reflect on the restaurant’s broader trajectory. Allan said he joined The Modern as chef de cuisine in 2014 after years of cooking in some of the world’s most renowned kitchens, including Eleven Madison Park, Per Se and Le Meurice. Over the years, he said, the restaurant — part of Union Square Hospitality Group — has evolved through multiple chapters while maintaining a consistent focus on excellence. “What I’ve seen over the past 12 years is just so many different chapters of this never-ending story, of people who just want a career in hospitality, to do what they do every day with the absolute highest level of excellence,” Allan said. “That’s inspiring to me.”  He noted that, now, as the executive chef, his focus has shifted toward leadership. “When I was 25 and when I started, it was all about the food,” he said. “It was all about the best cuisine that we can possibly make. And now it’s about having somebody else have that same hunger, mentality and fostering that energy.” The Modern recently marked its 20th anniversary, a milestone Allan said is only part of the restaurant’s larger ambitions. “We’re not done,” he said. “We’re super aspirational. We want a third Michelin star. We also want to expand our brand as far as possible; that’s why we do these things like come to Utah.” Ink paintings by Nick Turner were installed in the private dining room for The Modern residency at Blue Sky. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Allan took a second to introduce Turner, the artist who actually got to enjoy the meal for the final seating. Turner, now based in Park City, explores Western landscapes and the presence of horses through ink paintings and photography — a theme that resonated with the ranch setting at Blue Sky. “I actually went to school in New York, so the MoMA is kind of special to be part of this dinner,” Turner said, referring to his time at Parsons School of Design. “And I grew up with horses my whole life. So it’s fitting for this venue because they have a rescue foundation.” Turner created paintings for the residency, and works were available for purchase, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the property’s horse rescue: Saving Gracie’s Equine Healing Foundation. His work will be available at the lodge through March 23. For Allan, the residency was his first visit to Utah. Between services, he said he hoped to experience some of the activities for which the region is known, including shooting clay targets, riding horses and visiting Park City. Ultimately, Allan said the most meaningful measure of success for the restaurant remains the guests themselves. “We just want people who work in our restaurant to feel like we’re always trying to win,” he said. “And don’t get me wrong, the best way that we can get that instant gratification is from you guys. So people leave our restaurant every day, raving and wanting to come back.” The post The Modern restaurant visits Utah for first time with Blue Sky residency appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less