After reading some reviews, thinking about our bottle of Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir (2007 Lindsay vintage) from Carey and Meelan (thank you!!), and realizing that we had a $100 gift certificate from Monica’s parents (thank you!!), Monica and I decided to treat ourselves to a good dinner at the renowned (Zagat #1) Mariposa restaurant at Deer Valley last night.

The reviews had our expectations set high.  We had gone skate skiing prior and in our classic fashion were rushing to get to the restaurant on time.  We arrived at 8pm sharp and were nicely greeted by the hostess and coat check gentleman.  Both seemed to be of Austrian or German heritage so I felt at home.  While waiting for our table Monica warmed up as she stood in front of the cozy foyer fireplace.

Within 5 minutes we were seated in the main dining hall (there are four other areas, two of which are upstairs, to dine) in a corner table two top adjacent to a gigantic fireplace (~10 ft. wide).  Our table was perfect as it looked out into the main dining area and was close enough to the fireplace to enjoy its warmth.

Soon Stephanie greeted us and told us about the specials, of which the WA oysters on the half shell caught our attention.  We decided to order one each and in the process had the Hobbs uncorked (reasonable $15 corkage fee).  Speaking of which, things in UT are changing, as of May 2009 one no longer needs the UT alcoholic beverage commission sticker on bottles.  Additionally Monica decided to order their signature dish, the Sablefish (been on the menu for ~8 years).  This fish tastes similar to a Chilean Sea Bass.  I was shocked she didn’t get the scallops.  She also ordered the fried green tomato appetizer.  I was torn between the mixed grill (lamb chop and seared bison combination) or the fully loaded seared bison dinner – I went for the seared bison along with the wild smoked salmon appetizer and a spinach apple salad (that Monica and I would share).

Before the oysters arrived Stephanie brought us two crostinis compliments of the chef.  These were small pieces of toasted bread topped with a tomato jam, a macadamia encrusted chevre cheese, and arugula.  Yum.

The oysters arrived next and were on a bed of seaweed shucked along with two sauces – a cocktail sauce and a red wine shallot olive oil combo.  We promptly added both to our oysters and tossed them on to our palate for what was a lovely second taste of what Mariposa had to offer.  Sorry, there are no photos for this one, the crostinis or the oysters we ordered as we didn’t think about taking photos until we got our appetizers.

wild smoked salmon appetizer

fried green tomato appetizer

The fried green tomatoes were topped with chevre and had a red and green chili sauce – tasty!  The smoked salmon was also very tasty and served on perfectly salted yukon gold potatoes.

seared bison

As if all of this wasn’t enough – dessert.  Dessert was called the Chocolate Snowball – and looked just like a perfect little igloo with a chocolate snowflake on top.  It was a dense chocolate flourless cake decorated with whipped cream.  Admittedly, we both wish we got the coffee with this, but decided we had our full when we were ordering.