So many things make late summer in Wyoming a pure delight: the long, humidity-free days, the stunning sunsets over dramatic mountain ranges, the roaming wildlife, widespread wildflowers and of course, huckleberry season. The small dark huckleberries, which grow wild on forested slopes in the Rocky Mountain West – attempts to cultivate the plant have failed – are at their peak in Wyoming during the late summer season. Brooks Lake Lodge & Spa Executive Chef Whitney Hall, always on the lookout for the best of regional, in-season ingredients to bring to the lodge’s table, has targeted the 2019 late summer season for a veritable berry food festival, designing an array of new and fabulous dishes for the lodge’s highly acclaimed menu.
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All-inclusive pricing means guests can participate in guided or unguided activities around the lodge’s breathtaking mountain setting in the heart of Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest near Yellowstone National Park. Late summer brings blue ribbon fishing in the nearby lakes and rivers and horseback riding or hiking the many scenic trails, as well as canoeing and archery.
And all-inclusive also encompasses three hearty chef-prepared meals each day along with a daily fireside Governors Tea Time at 4 p.m., with house made cookies and pastries, cheeses and fruits for afternoon snacking. Recently recognized by MSN as one of the Best All-Inclusive Resorts in the United States, Brooks Lake Lodge knows how to create a unique vacation experience where guests can play like a kid, eat like a king and sleep like a log.
Acclaimed Executive Chef Whitney Hall has been multiply honored by sources from the L.A. Times to Food & Beverage Magazine for her innovative and hearty menu items. And her plans for Brooks Lake Lodge & Spa’s new huckleberry season extravaganza are sure to please.
“I enjoy working with huckleberries most of all because they are indigenous to the area and their tart and sweet flavor pairs well with the game meats that I use in my entrees, such as duck and venison,” says Chef Hall. “Also, huckleberries are very versatile in desserts, and they create fabulous cocktails like our signature huckleberry margaritas.”
Some of the special items that will be added to the menu during huckleberry season this year include such breakfast items as lemon-ricotta huckleberry miniature waffles served with a browned butter maple syrup, oat-milk chia-seed huckleberry yogurt and miniature huckleberry donuts. Lunch specials include roasted rosemary-and-thyme-infused chicken and turkey croque monsieur with Gruyere cheese and a huckleberry dipping sauce and Peking duck wings with a huckleberry lime glaze and fried parsnips. Governors Tea Time specialties will include huckleberry macarons; and dinner specials feature roasted rack of venison with a blood orange huckleberry compote. For dessert, guests can sample a huckleberry budino (Italian custard) with marshmallow whipped cream and candied lime.
Meanwhile guests can also enjoy rejuvenating spa treatments at the onsite Rocky Mountain Spa, which offers separately priced facials and massages and boasts an included-with-stay sauna, fitness center and enormous 11-by-17-foot hot tub overlooking Brooks Lake and the Pinnacle Buttes. And sleeping soundly in cozy lodge rooms or private cabins with goose-down comforters and terrycloth spa robes is the norm at this secluded mountain lodge that hosts no more than 36 people at a time, creating a true VIP experience for its guests.