Blue Boar Inn
1235 Warm Springs Road, Midway ; 435-654-1400
(see
map)
Charming Swiss-style family-owned inn offers good food at fair prices in an extraordinary setting.
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| Kid-friendly |
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Cuisine: American
Price: $$$
Hours: M-S, 8-10:30 am, 11:30 am-2:30 pm; Su, 10 am-2 pm; nightly 5:30-9 pm
Liquor: Full Service
Reservations: --
Accepts:    
Website: http://www.theblueboarinn.com
Recommended Dishes: Eggs Benedict, French toast, prime rib, braised lamb shank.
June 14, 2006
Blue Boar is worth the journey to Midway
By Mary Brown Malouf
MIDWAY -- Blue Boar Inn & Restaurant is not convenient, accessible or fast-paced, all qualities that figure largely in the premise of most modern dining. In food-biz jargon, Blue Boar is a "destination" restaurant. The drive from Salt Lake City to Midway takes nearly an hour. Blue Boar is a restaurant you have to go out of your way to visit.
Do not make the trip under the impression that the food alone is worth the drive. It is not. On our visits, we experienced a kitchen that was competent, not brilliant.
But I'm not saying you shouldn't make the drive—Blue Boar Inn is thoroughly charming.
My dining companions and I filled our travel coffee mugs and headed out early on a Sunday morning to catch the restaurant's famous brunch. The transition from low to high altitude and high to low temperatures made us hungrier than usual for breakfast — a good thing, since the brunch menu includes five made-to-order courses, rather than buffet style. We settled in to a cool but sunny corner of the dining room porch and sipped juice (pink grapefruit, fresh orange, apple or cranberry) while we waited for food to arrive.
Blue Boar shares in the Alpine heritage of Heber Valley, a place that celebrates its Swiss roots year-round, not just during the official Swiss Days festival (this year, on Sept. 1 and 2). European-style road signs point to local landmarks, streets are lined with faux cross-timbered houses with flower-filled window boxes and the Blue Boar Inn was built to look like a Swiss chalet its walls and turrets made of stucco, stone and wood. (In fact, Blue Boar actually functions as an inn, with just 14 uniquely furnished guest rooms.)
Once, the Blue Boar Inn had a gorgeous natural setting — on three sides, the meadows sweep up the mountains. Now a housing development crowds it on one side, somewhat spoiling the illusion of Alpine remoteness. Sitting outside, we just faced the opposite direction.
Breakfast begins with a basket of pastries: flaky cheese and berry curd Danish and buttery-crisp miniature croissants. A stemmed glass held small-diced cantaloupe, pineapple and sliced strawberries swimming in sweetened ice water a presentation new to me but it did make the most of slightly under-ripe fruit. All the courses are included in the entree price.
The breakfast selection is beautifully limited traditional eggs Benedict ($22), eggs Benedict with crab and fennel ($20), pork tenderloin with eggs ($22), vegetarian omelet ($22), steak and eggs ($24) or French toast ($16). The latter was luxuriously made with three thick slices of cinnamon brioche powdered with sugar and served with warm maple syrup.
The breakfast steak was a flatiron, a popular cut among chefs. This "new" cut, from the top blade roast, isn't new at all and was simply renamed by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Dependably tender and far less expensive than tenderloin, the flatiron pleases diner, chef and accountant. This one was rare, tender and the right size for morning meat; with two eggs over easy and sautéed new potato chunks.
Breakfast "dessert" was a Swedish pancake, actually a thin omelet or a thick eggy crepe, rolled and topped with stewed berries.
Blue Boar Inn Restaurant is open seven days a week; on the weekends, it can be crowded and executive chef Chris Sheehan's creations get more elaborate — salmon wrapped in phyllo ($26), for example, or duck breast with blueberries ($26). But I think the midweek menu is a treat on — Wednesday nights, a prix fixe three-course dinner is $24.95 per person and includes choice of soup, salad or appetizer, choice of entree and dessert. The dining room, hung with antler chandeliers, Swiss cow bells, antique crossbows and Alpine equipment, is likely to be more serene.
Prime rib (from the prix fixe menu) used to be the ne plus ultra of American restaurant dining. The thick slice served at the Blue Boar reminds you why this was so. Glistening pink and self-basted with a fat rim, the meat filled the plate and was tender but firm, with the faint metallic tang of pure beef. Of course, it came with mashed potatoes and a salad. Blue Boar's salad is a tall mound of field greens interspersed with nuts and cranberries in a light vinaigrette.
The osso buco-style lamb shank (from the prix fixe menu) was braised in a molasses-steeped liquid and was presented with a lean-to of three finger-long, stem-on carrots. Cooked just to the point of total tenderness, but not falling off the bone, the meat's sweetness was accentuated by the molasses but it was the perfection of the carrots that lingers and seldom does a diner encounter a memorable carrot. The most popular side vegetable of many chefs, carrots are inexpensive, colorful and amenable to most sauces and meats. Unfortunately, they are as often mistreated as they are served tough, woody and undercooked, or waterlogged and overcooked. These were remarkably fragrant, fresh and crisp-tender.
We ordered a 2003 David Bruce petite sirah ($40) from the well-rounded wine list. It complemented both the beef and lamb entrees, though our server seemed sadly unfamiliar with her corkscrew, rather painfully drawing out the table-side bottle-opening.
David Bruce didn't really do anything for the prix fixe mahi mahi and I didn't expect it to. But nothing could have helped this fish, overcooked and oversalted, the fennel scent just a tease of what this dish could have been.
Blue Boar's dining room, with its Alpine artifacts and knickered serving staff, borders on kitsch, but stops at charming, the quaintness relieved by a warmth and slightly idiosyncratic easiness that may come from being not just family owned, but family run. There are magazines on the coffee table in front of the fireplace and complimentary brownies in the entry. It is irresistible to linger with espresso and conversation and we may have been the last guests to leave.
Undoubtedly, the best way to enjoy the Blue Boar Inn is to allow at least half a day to explore Heber Valley as well as the restaurant. In fact, if you make a reservation, it would be well to remember the old Buddhist maxim: The journey is the destination.
Tribune's rating system
Overall rating
1 star Good
2 stars Very good
3 stars Excellent
4 stars Extraordinary
Entree price
$ Entree under $10
$$ $10-$18
$$$ $18-$25
$$$$ Above $25
Restaurant Noise
1 bell Quiet (under 65 decibles)
2 bells Can talk easily (65-70)
3 bells Talking somewhat difficult (70-75)
4 bells Raised voices (75-80)
A bomb Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)
The Tribune covers the cost of all meals at reviewed restaurants. Star ratings are based on a minimum of two visits. Ratings are updated continually based on at least one revisit. There is no connection between reviews and advertising.
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