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| The view from The Vail Chophouse's outdoor patio. // Alll photos by Adam Leposa |
Travel Agent is visiting Vail, Colorado, and today we took a bike tour of some great places to eat around the valley.
We started our day at the Vail Chophouse, which is at the base of the Eagle Bahn Gondola in Lionshead. Specializing in seafood and steaks, the Vail Chophouse serves lunch, après and dinner. Table favorites were the snow crab legs and the lamb burger served with blue cheese and garlic aioli. We also sampled their take on the bloody mary with a house-made jalapeño-infused vodka, as well as a berry lemonade. Seafood lovers might want to check out the seafood tower, which includes the snow crab legs, four whole langoustines a dozen oysters, four jumbo shrimp, a half of a cold Maine lobster and an avocado and blue crab cocktail.
Next we enjoyed a picnic by Restaurant Kelly Liken. Run by Top Chef and Iron Chef America alumnus Kelly Liken, the Restaurant specializes in incorporating local, seasonal vegetables into its dishes. We enjoyed a chicken fajita-inspired wrap that featured just-in sweet corn and red bell peppers. Right now the Restaurant is also featuring a tomato-infused cocktail- tomatoes and sweet corn are in season earlier this year, we were told, due to the warm weather.
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| A sampling of Larkspur's desserts |
For dessert, we headed over to Larkspur, which is slopeside in the Golden Peak ski area, just next to the ski school. While we enjoyed the Brooklyn Blackout (dark chocolate cake, berries and chocolate mousse served in a wineglass), yellow cake with dulce del leche filling and other tasty treats, agents might also want to recommend this place for its extensive children's menu (a handy thing to have being next to the beginner's slope and ski school). There are two prix-fixe menus designed especially for children: casual and elegant. Both menus feature an appetizer, entree and dessert, with the casual menu focusing on dishes like burgers, tomato soup and chicken nuggets, while the elegant menu focusing on dishes like chicken, veal scaloppini and grilled Sea of Cortez shrimp. In the winter the restaurant's patio also ropes off a section exclusively for families and other skiers who have packed their own lunch.
Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for further updates from Vail, Colorado.