-RR PRESSROOM
Go Where the Flavor Is
Beans cooked on a camp stove have their charm. But at these GOURMET LODGES the high country can also mean the height of cuisine
Men’s Journal
November 2006
By Ryan Brandt
BIG SKY FLAVOR, Rainbow Ranch, MT
Fifteen miles from Big Sky’s slopes and a flight from any sort of culinary hotbed, this 21-room exposed-beam lodge on the Gallatin River has a well-deserved reputation for world-class dining in the wilds of Montana. Chef Tommy Donohoe practices the “slow food” philosophy, which values local cheeses, grains, vegetables, animals and traditions over mass-produced food. For Rainbow’s hearty winter menu, this means such dishes as grilled elk tenderloin and wine braised lamb shank, all served with locally grown vegetables. Primo seafood is flown in: ahi from Hawaii, diver scallops from Maine. The lodge also has an 8,500-bottle wine cellar, the biggest in the state. Donohoe’s kitchen reopens December 18 after a two-month respite, just in time to take advantage of early season snow at Moonlight Basin and Big Sky – the latter of which has averaged more than 100 inches before December for the last 30 years. (Rooms from $195; rainbowranchbigsky.com; joint lift tickets to both Big Sky and Moonlight Basin, $79; bigskyresort.com)