The Hirsch – Chef Jeff O’Neill adds New World flair to alpine cuisine

PARK CITY, Utah — Walking across a modern glass skybridge you enter a rustic lounge area and the entrance to The Hirsch. An Alpenhorn mounted on the wall conjures up memories of sounds heard across vast distances in the Alps. A warm dining area and a more intimate separate dining room featuring wallpaper with forest motives the designer Liubasha Rose wove in — remembering scenes from her Ukrainian childhood — give the interiors an enchanted feel.

We are first treated to some cocktails and informed that mocktails are created in-house at The Hirsch. The bartender interviews everyone who wants a mocktail individually to ensure they create a drink the individual will love. Soon the appetizers arrive, which turn out to be some of the former Goldener Hirsch’s favorites: Wiener Schnitzel and cheese fondue with dutch potatoes, roasted cauliflower, broccoli, heirloom tomatoes, apples, cornichons, and crusty bread. I discover that I am more of a traditionalist on this one. While I love cornichons, to me they taste better on their own rather than dipped into cheese fondue. They certainly liven up the colors on the fruit and vegetable platter though.

Chef O’Neill’s menu was inspired by cuisine from the greater alpine regions, so it varied from tortelli di zucca over dill-cured king salmon with root beignets to game dishes such as chargrilled venison sausage and slow-cooked farm-bred rabbit goulash. The root beignets melt in your mouth and are a great counterpoint to the dill-cured king salmon. Goldener alpine milk loaf with horseradish butter and Utah honey was delectably warm, fluffy and mildly sweet. It complemented the Karfiol-Apfel soup perfectly, which was presented with a taste-bundle of mountain mint, finely chopped apples, and black bread in the center of the plate with the soup poured around it until it was completely covered. All of the dishes served were a feast for the eyes.

Our party of ten had a good time getting to know each other and exchanging stories while tasting all the dishes presented. By the time we were invited to choose from the dessert menu, it was hard to imagine that we could possibly eat any more food, but I recommend pacing yourself, so you can enjoy one of The Hirsch’s desserts.

We were offered Apfelstrudel, Utah honey crème brûlée, and Sacher Torte. Having grown up in Germany, I know what two of these three traditional desserts are meant to look like. All three of the desserts looked great but especially the Sacher Torte should have come with a warning to expect a major update to the original, which was created around 1840 in Vienna. I used to have Sacher Torte shipped to my mother from the Demel pastry shop in Vienna and this one was nothing like it. I would recommend renaming the one at The Hirsch at least to ‘Reimagined Sacher Torte’. With moist layers of apricot jam and chocolate cake and liquid chocolate sauce drizzled over it at your table, it is a chocolate lover’s delight. They served it with a scoop of chocolate ice cream.

To complete the decadence, we were served “the world’s second-best dessert wine,” according to Zoltan, the head server, and I believe it.