Press Releases

New Atwater on Gore Creek Restaurant at Vail Cascade Pays Homage to Slopeside Stream that Flows Through the Vail Valley

New Restaurant to Debut December 22

We've been able to take a four-star experience and give it a homespun, interactive approach. The result is two-thirds tavern and one third fine-dining and that translates to a perfectly approachable option for both local residents and guests to the resort.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Atwater will feature simple, farm fresh foods and organic products when available from regional farms such as Meadow Mountains and Haystack. Signature menu items offered nightly at Atwater include appetizers such as Spicy Marinated Shellfish, Pork Rillettes and Seared New York Strip Tartare. Main selections include Kobe Meatloaf with Roast Mushrooms and Whipped Potatoes, and Meadow Mountains Rack of Lamb, and simply prepared beef and fish selections including Colorado Grass Fed Bone-in Ribeye and Colorado Striped Bass. Dessert selections will include Apple Buckle with Tart Frozen Yogurt, Apple Butter, and Cinnamon Pecan Monkey Bread with Sour Cherry and Vanilla Creme Anglaise. In addition, Atwater will feature its own artisanal products made in-house, such as ricotta cheese, bratwurst, dough for pasta and flatbread, cured pork belly and lox.

The design and concept of Atwater will be unlike Chap's Grill & Chophouse, which operated at the Cascade until the renovation. The new restaurant will feature two distinct dining experiences providing guests with more choices. A new, casual tavern area will feature drinks, appetizers and small plate items. Guests also will have the choice of a full dinner menu in the fine dining space. Atwater also increased its capacity to 229 seats due to a 1,380-square-foot addition which takes advantage of the outdoor patio area adjacent to the restaurant. The new area capitalizes on Atwater's unique location relative to Gore Creek and offers fully operable windows that create an indoor-outdoor experience.

The restaurant also will feature a custom wine display unit with an artisinal table and a new modern style steel clad fire place bringing a slope side ambiance to Atwater's two dining experiences. Warm wood tones and colors such as Colorado fall golds, red willow, warm brown tones and brilliant sky blue come together with forged iron details to create the look and feel of Atwater.

The restaurant also will feature custom artwork that captures the elements of the surrounding environment. One featured piece includes a large mural of the creek which shows the beauty of the movement of water that is a continual event on Gore Creek.  The mural will have an addition of end cut lodge pole pine panels hung on the mural, giving the mural dimension and texture.  Additional artwork will be twig sculptures which bring in the beauty of the creek into the restaurant atmosphere in an organic fashion. Custom iron lighting fixtures accent the artwork and create a warm glow to the space.

Award-winning restaurant consultant Elizabeth Blau and her team at Blau and Associates were brought in to reconcept the restaurant at Vail Cascade and to work with the chef to create fresh, creative menu selections. Blau & Associates is a strategic restaurant planning and development company that specializes in providing clients with fresh, creative and sound business advice needed to create exceptional food and beverage concepts.  Blau has created restaurant concepts for well-known hospitality organizations such as The Ritz-Carlton, Wynn Resorts, MGM/Mirage Resorts and Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Englewood, Colo.-based Johnson David Interiors handled the redesign, look and feel of the restaurant. The design firm was founded in 1999 and specializes in custom interior design services for luxury resorts, spas, country clubs and selected hotels. The interiors created by Johnson David Interiors are unique reflections of each client's personal vision and combine timeless quality and contemporary creativity to create environments that are classic and enduring.

For more information or to reserve a table at Atwater (beginning on Jan. 1, 2009), please call (970) 479-7014. For more information about Vail Cascade or to book overnight accommodations, visit www.vailcascade.com or call 800-420-2424.

Nestled at the base of Vail Mountain, Vail Cascade is Vail's only ski-in/ski-out AAA Four Diamond resort. The mountainside resort offers 292 hotel rooms including 27 suites and more than 80 spacious condominiums and private homes to choose from. An abundance of off-slope activities also abound including snowmobiling, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, dog-sled rides, winter fly-fishing, ice climbing, indoor and outdoor ice skating, hot air balloon rides and hut trips.

The Vail Cascade also features the 78,000-square-foot Aria Spa & Club. The Spa offers more than 10,000 square feet of rest and relaxation found in 14 treatment rooms. Guests also can train and take advantage of one of the fitness center's many programs from group classes to personalized instruction.

The Vail Cascade is one of more than 30 independent, upscale and luxury hotels, resorts and golf clubs in the United States managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts, the fifth largest independent hospitality management company in the country. The company, headquartered in suburban Denver, Colo., features a portfolio of more than 7,000 guest rooms, 10 golf courses and 12 full-service spas. Destination Hotels & Resorts properties are located in key metropolitan and resort markets including Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, San Diego, Aspen, Austin, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Maui and Lake Tahoe. For more information on the properties in the Destination Hotels & Resorts collection, please visit www.destinationhotels.com.

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