Judge, Jury, & Executioner

Two weeks ago there was an attempt to climb a mountain. It failed terribly! The Judge decided that the trail was erroneous which resulted in a hike to Stewart Falls, down to Sundance, and the unwieldy detour back. As a result there of, and three hours past, a trip to Timpanogos Cave was the new destination. 1.5 miles up a paved path covering a weak 1,000 feet, the cave became a cool refuge. Nice to see and do, however, nothing ground breaking for the inner self. Two weeks later the Jury came to an oh so daring accord and the proper destination was disclosed. At 7:40 AM on June 25, 2010 from an elevation of approximately 6,500 feet it began. Seven miles, six hours, and an ascent of nearly 5,000 feet the summit of Mount Timpaongos a new notch on the belt of life was carved. After a quick descent on my backside down a glacier and the familiar traversing trail, the Executioner lynched the 11,700 foot Brobdingnagian until a resurrection in the future.

Below is the visual summation.

The Menu

Juniper
Grill

Smoked Turkey Sandwich 8.00
Shaved turkey breast, herb havarti cheese, cranberry Serrano aioli, vine ripe tomato,
Bibb lettuce on toasted French bread

Red Ledges Burger 11.00
Half pound Angus burger, apple wood smoked bacon, sharp white cheddar cheese, vine ripe tomato, sweet onion, Bibb lettuce, roasted
garlic aioli on a fresh roll

Grilled Chicken Sandwich 9.00
Boneless chicken breast, roasted red bell peppers, vine ripe tomatoes, aged provolone cheese, green chili spread on toasted French bread

Chicken Lettuce Wraps 8.00
Coriander poached chicken, Provolone cheese, diced tomato, cucumber, red onion, simple vinaigrette in crisp Bibb lettuce **

Fish or Shrimp Tacos 10.50
Fried Gulf Wahoo or shrimp, Serrano chili
slaw, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, white
corn tortillas, chimichurri dipping sauce

Nathan’s All Beef Frank 7.00
Soft sourdough roll, assorted condiments

Brat and Caramelized Onions 7.50
Soft sourdough roll, assorted condiments

SOUP AND SALADS
Red “Wedges” 8.50
Petite lettuce wedges, Pt. Reyes blue cheese, roasted vanilla bean scented pears, candied pecans, Port wine vinaigrette, crispy shallots

Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad 9.00
Grilled chicken, diced tomatoes, red onion, sharp white cheddar cheese, red bell pepper, black beans, chickpeas, crisp lettuce, crunchy tortilla, cilantro balsamic vinaigrette

Watermelon and Cucumber Salad 10.00
Cubed watermelon, sliced European cucumber,
red onion, watercress, toasted pine nuts,
simple vinaigrette **

Side Salad 3.50
Crisp lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion

Soup of the Day 4.00

FOR THE KIDS
Grilled Cheese 6.50

Hot Dog 6.50

Chicken Strips 6.50

SWEET TOOTH
Marinated Strawberries 5.00
Halved strawberries, Bourbon vanilla beans,
honey, citrus scented mascarpone cheese

Creme Brulee 6.00
Chef’s selection of flavor

"You're Gonna' Win"

Two weeks prior to the grand opening of Red Ledges, a Private Four Seasons Community. The setting was bleak, drab, and almost gnarly. Contractors working, mobiles chirping, staff scrambling, and owners rambling. Too much to do in too little time! This was the view of our soon to be golf clubhouse. Over Sixty days of consecutive work for myself, event after event, tournament to tournament, my life found itself a new living. Crazy...sure, retarded...maybe, daring...by all means. Let the real truth be the judge of that though. When one says that a picture is worth one thousand words...I'm not certain. I will let you determine that with the "after" picture, that's all I can offer unless you have seen it for yourself.





When the season was all said, tried, strangled, beaten, true, and done; we came out on top. Over thirty lots out of twelve hundred put the development fourth in the nation. Oh..I can't forget Golf Magazine's "Best New Private Course in America" for 2009 as well as "Best New Course in Utah". Our owners have spent hundreds of millions and a time span of over thirty years to accomplish this extraordinary accolade. Mitchel Anthony Burns "Tony" is more than thrilled with our success. He was in for his oh so often visit last week before we had opened the doors to our membership and sales prospectives. As expected, he chose to eat at the Juniper Grill (that's my world) everyday for his go to spot while in town. Not quite prepared for the full menu we improvised to accommodate him. It is not every day that a fortune 500 CEO comes by your "shoe box" of a kitchen for a bite. In a mild conversation, as he walked out the door to depart the Heber Valley, he leaned over to me and said, "you're gonna' win". To have the support of a man dangerously powerful, deeply pocketed, and remarkably bright is humbling, inspiring, and probably the most terrifying three words of gratitude I have encountered yet!

The Second Coming

Almost six months later I find myself in the Rocky Mountain range, nestled upon the Jordanelle between the Wasatch and Uintas National Forests telling this tidbit for the second coming. Winter was spent in Florida and one month in several countries in Asia. My new residence has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, full size kitchen, washer and dryer, and not to forget a living room that is larger than my entire shoe box of a renovated mud room in which I lived last season. Work began yesterday after three days of unloading the array of tangibles in which I drug over two thousand miles. A long time friend will be sharing the below with me as well as working at Red Ledges for me. The condo is owned by a family from Arizona and they own the unit across the hall also that they keep vacant for their personal use from time to time. Contemporary Asian is the aesthetic throughout. I had the landlord remove the majority of the wall hangings to allow for mine and to break the soft feel. I signed a year lease which means that I will have to learn how to fall down a mountain again once the snow arrives and the golf course closes.

This summer is more than likely going to be a repeat of last with the only exception that the "grand opening" leg work is absent. Hopefully that will enable a day off in a week or two as opposed to a month or two. The core network of management has returned but most of the line level staff will be new. I am looking forward to that reality in some strange way. A few improvements are taking place to our facility which should enable an increase of sales and comfort of the temporary setting. If sales are successful early in the season they will look into building the pool and fitness center along with our first permanent food and beverage amenity.

The First of the First

With June being the wet and cold that it was, the summer was short lived. Much drier than the summers of my past, the high desert mountain life was good. Short lived indeed it was and this first day of October brought in the first day of snow! It began with a previous day of gloomy, casting over clouds and a touch of rain which transformed into a night of snow. I awoke to a truck covered in white and experienced my first real window scraping and door frozen shut. More caught up in the excitement of a mountain range and immediate surrounding covered in white, I somewhat lost sight of the fact that it was 23 degrees.

The job brought me great success in the way of personal endeavours and through the eyes of my superiors. We had over 1000 rounds of golf via the likes of the sales team. Their golf was complimentary however their food and beverage was at a full retail which well surpassed the forcasted revenue budget. A total closing of 31 lots during a three and a half month season put us fifth in the nation for real estate developments. On the contrary we received a good bit of negative feedback stating that the golf course is "too hard" and a little "unfair". As a result we have made some adjustments to a couple of the greens to allow for them to become more "playable". Due to the cold and snow we will address a few others in the spring of next year with the same objectives in mind.

I shall be headed back to Florida for the winter after a little travel abroad the Asian continent with my brother. What the winter holds for me is uncertain, however, I somewhat like it that way. I shall return back to Park City, Utah in mid to late April for a more than likely repeat of this past season. The only exception is that I will have a better understanding of what to expect and will have an opportunity to try different ideas out and already know what is feasable or not due to a little longer season.

Long Time Coming

It has been a long time coming for this entry...trust me..I know. The ongoing of my working habits are still in continuance. Mom, Dad, and Juliet came for a little visit far into the high desert. This was the only excuse for me to take my first and second day off since June. Unfortunately the job required me to tend to it with heavy payloads and the time spent with the family was short and the family's time in the Park City area was as well. Back to the hustle and bustle of the norms that beckon me. Since it has been a full fiscal month of service and golf at the club I, along with my staff have accomplished great heights as far as the industry is concerned. Our little submarine of a kitchen/golf shop/office has under gone great stresses within the first month. We went without air until about two and a half weeks ago which only creates greater mountains to scale. During our pseudo stroke of heat the ice machine could not manage the quantity needed, the inventory was in spoils, the temperament of the subordinates was frail and the teetering on the brink of was almost to its topple. Non the less all is becoming of its settlement. It might just be a calm before the storm as the calendar haunts us a few upcoming weeks of gale forces in addition to the owner and his family arriving for two of them.

I do believe that I am fully acclimated to the climate and altitude but I am continually puzzled by the weather patterns. The other day there was a fire south of here and it blocked the sun out. As a result the temperature fell to 36 for a low that even created a few patchy areas on the golf course of frost. Do remember that it is August! Per hearsay there is a cold front lurking into the area and it is expected to maintain the rather nippy mornings. I thought there was a thing called global warming dancing in our shadows? What do I know...I am just a chef.