Ross’ back-to-basics food philosophy at Twisted Fern centers on simple, fresh ingredients sourced locally from Utah, as well as the Pacific Northwest, Montana, and Arizona. “If it’s coming from South America, we find something here to use instead,” Ross tells us. He buys most of the salad greens, from arugula to microgreens, from local farms in Park City, and the surrounding areas. Cheeses are sourced from the nearby Heber Valley Creamery or Drake’s Farm in Salt Lake.
Twisted Fern’s veggie-centric menu truly rethinks mountain cuisine, proving that you don’t need meat to feel fulfilled after a meal. “It’s always fun having a conversation at the end of the meal with a person who says, ‘I have to have steak for dinner, and I just had three courses with no meat in it and I’m ecstatic,” Ross says. Take, for example, a perennial favorite dish at Twisted Fern that would convert any meat-eater: the chicken-fried portobello, which comes with green peppercorn gravy, cauliflower grits, asparagus, and pickled carrot.
While the Twisted Fern menu features lots of seasonal veggies as both appetizers and entrees, there’s still plenty of locally sourced meat and fish. One of the dishes we try in this episode, for example, is a savory and delicious seared elk tri-tip. The game comes from about three hours south of Park City, as does the rainbow trout on the menu.
We also enjoy the creative ferinata appetizer, which is an Italian chickpea cake served with smashed peas, roasted morel mushrooms, miner’s lettuce, pickled peas, and chilis, as well as the fresh fettuccine pasta, topped with a green garlic and arugula pesto, crushed pecans, fresh baby artichoke hearts, and asiago.
Thanks to Ross’ creative, flavorful, yet light cooking, you can leave Twisted Fern and keep enjoying the mountains around you. “I want you to come with friends, have a nice bottle of wine, or a cocktail, enjoy a nice meal — and then go dancing, or go for a bike ride,” Ross says. “Your day shouldn’t be over just because you just finished lunch or dinner.”
