EAT Drink is healthy, fresh, friendly

Editor’s note: This story first ran as a paid feature in EAT magazine.

Eat/Drink has cracked the code for what makes a small restaurant work — healthy, fresh, friendly — in other words, they have the right formula to lure discerning foodies back for more. And rightly so!

The restaurant has been in the valley for over 15 years, consistently keeping its fare germane and true to the owners’ philosophy. “We continue to be relevant, always continuing to grow with changing tastes,” said Pollyanna Forster, who, with husband Chris Irving, own Eat + Drink. “There is what I call the ‘magpie effect,’ which means that people want to gravitate to what’s new and shiny. Yet we continue to do what our mission has always been: using the most amazing ingredients that we can source throughout the United States and the world.”

For instance, there are over 200 cheeses on site, available to taste, and 60 wines by the glass, which are drawn from the restaurant’s wine shop.
Eat + Drink’s winter menu is a combination of what Forster considers to be favorites that are brought on at this time of year like mac n’ cheese with black truffle peelings and hearty paninis. “We’re doing a really beautiful brisket and fondue panini,” shares Forster, “and some wintery salads with various cabbages, peanuts, oranges and Noc Cham dressing made with fish stock, a touch of sugar and rice vinegar. And, you can add protein — prosciutto, chicken, shrimp or, perhaps, poke.”

The seafood comes from Cut, the restaurant’s “sister” shop, for lack of another term, that continues to expand. Case in point: the seafood and caviar bar with blinis and crème fraiche, that can also be ordered at Eat + Drink. Featuring seafood delicacies like Royal Sterling Ossetra caviar, East and West Coast oysters, clams, chilled smoked mussels, crab cakes, king crab legs as well as tinned seafood, the shop’s seafood bar is second to none.

As well, the savory meats, which Cut continues to offer, including tenderloins, New York, prime rib and rib-eye and can be dry-aged between 30 to 40 days.
Ask Forster about her thoughts on, say, wine selections for lunch and her answer is immediate. “Because we’re what I call ‘cheese centric,’ and a lot of our dishes have cheese in them,” she begins, “I’d can suggest two wines. I think the best possible white wine is a Gewurztraminer, from the Alsace region of France. (Described by one wine reviewer as dry and tasting like the French Alps). The red wine I like is a Cru Beaujolais, made in the style of a pinot noir and 100 percent gamay grape.”

The owners, who donate much to the non-profit community, like to say that between Eat, Drink and Cut, they are the perfect threesome. “When it comes to catering, we can provide everything from pairing your menu’s food items with wines to gift baskets to hospitality gifts,” says Forster. “Fifteen years in, we’re thriving and kicking butt more than ever. Our theme is not just ‘let’s be the best in Edwards Corner’ or ‘let’s be the best in Vail,’ but let us continue to be the best wine, cheese, butcher shop and hospitality venue in the United States. We spend hundreds of hours each month curating our selections and just working to be as amazing as we can possibly be, as well as being part of the community.”

via:: Vail Daily