This Unexpected Dish Has Become a Regular Fixture at Upscale Ski Resorts

In Big Sky, meat is king. Tucked away in southwestern Montana, butting up against the dramatic geothermal expanse of Yellowstone National Park, Big Sky is approximately 900 miles from the coast. So it’s only natural that local restaurants highlight elk, bison, and, occasionally trout you’d find in the Gallatin River. But as Big Sky’s caché as a more upscale ski destination has risen as of late, so has the variety of culinary experiences you’ll find in it. Enter: the seafood tower. While this splurge-y indulgence is most commonly affiliated with cities where there is a rich seafood tradition (like New York, Paris, and Boston), seafood towers are becoming a regular fixture in ski destinations like Big Sky, Montana.

Everett’s 8800 is a chalet-style fine-dining outpost on the summit of Big Sky’s Andesite Mountain, where you’ll find great views of the iconic Lone Mountain and a tightly curated menu for both lunch and dinner. You get a pick of either a four-course pre-fixe or a six-course chef’s tasting. In addition, however, to the elk tartare and the foraged mushroom risotto, you can start your feast with the petit or grand seafood plateau. Depending on which size you spring for, your tower may feature juicy lobster tail, Alaskan king crab, mussels, briny oysters, and plump prawns.

In the middle of a ski resort in the Rockies, raw seafood might not be the most obvious choice, but according to Adam Stevens, Big Sky Resort's vice president of food and beverage, dozens of these towers are ordered every day since they were added to the menu this season—a decision inspired by how popular seafood towers have been in private on-mountain events.

“Après-ski and on-mountain dining is all about unwinding and sharing experiences together,” Stevens says, adding that “seafood towers fit right into that culture, offering a memorable, communal dining experience.”

While they’re relatively new to the Big Sky restaurant landscape (it appears that no other public dining room offers them), seafood towers have long been a hit in other ski resort destinations, like Aspen, where head-turning opulence is a daily occurrence. (And what’s more head-turning than a stack of raw seafood? As my friend Stacie puts it, “Seafood towers are like fajitas. Every time someone orders it at a restaurant, you can't help but look!”)

Related: Your Favorite Restaurant Might Be Serving You Old Fish — Here's Why

Among the most legendary of on-mountain hotspots, Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro on Aspen Highlands, is where you can expect bottles of champagne to be sprayed at a frightening frequency every afternoon. But it’s also a place where you can splurge on a raw platter piled high with sushi-grade seafood. Executive chef Michael Johnston says the restaurant sells single, double, and triple tiers of the seafood plateau. (The third level usually includes caviar.) Cloud Nine regularly takes on a party atmosphere, so a seafood tower at nearly 11,000 feet with your closest new friends is par for the course in a place like Aspen.

“Plus, these towers look incredible with the Maroon Bells and Pyramid Peak in the background on our deck,” Johnston adds.

But for a potentially less raucous après-ski moment, indoor-outdoor Ajax Tavern, located at the base of the mountain, has its own selection of shellfish that can be assembled into a tower, too. Keith Theodore, the executive chef at The Little Nell where Ajax Tavern is located, says that seafood towers are consistently flying out of the kitchen. But it’s an especially popular order during peak travel season, like the festive holidays, Spring Break, and Presidents’ Day weekend. He estimates that when Aspen is busy with visitors, nearly 20 towers are prepared every day..

“It’s all about a shared dining experience, I think. When you come to Aspen on vacation and are dining with friends and family, there’s something harmonious about sharing a seafood platter,” Theodore says. “It’s typically a starter followed by Ajax classics. When you add 100 grams of caviar, it adds another level of sophistication and celebration.”

For Gavin Fine, a chef and restaurateur in Jackson, Wyoming, a seafood tower can be a transporting experience, too. At The Bistro, he says one out of eight groups orders the plateau de fruits de mer, which layers jumbo shrimp, caviar, and tuna tartare on a platter, year-round. And while he agrees that it’s a great option for sharing, he also says that having a seafood tower aligns with the global nature of travel.

“When guests travel to the mountains, they still want to enjoy the high quality dining experiences they are accustomed to in major cities,” he explains. “It’s our job to transport our guests, in the case of The Bistro, to a Parisian bistro, where these are items you’d expect to see.”

Fine adds that when he first opened The Bistro in 2001, the restaurant had an oyster bar. People were doubtful of its success.

“No one thought you could get fresh seafood in the mountains,” he says. “It was certainly harder to source at the time, but it helped shift this mindset that proximity to the ocean equaled quality in the seafood ingredients.”

Related: Upgrade Your Seafood Platter with These 3 Easy Sauces

Fine admits that it’s definitely more challenging to bring in fish and seafood to Jackson, but it’s not impossible. The Bistro receives fresh deliveries multiple times a week, including oysters from both coasts and a dedicated caviar partner. In Aspen, Theodore works with a fishmonger in Denver for his oysters, lobsters, and shrimp. For the current season, stone crab claws are coming in from Florida; while langoustine and king crab are sourced from Norway. In Big Sky, seafood is flown in daily: Wellfleet oysters from New England, Maine lobster, and Alaskan crab.  And because Everett’s can only be reached by chairlift, these shipments are brought up to the kitchen via a snowcat every night long after the last skier has gotten off the mountain.

“It's truly one of the most unique and unexpected places to order a seafood tower, “ Steven adds. “And comes with a massive behind-the-scenes effort to make it happen.”

And maybe that’s why seafood towers in mountain towns are so sought after. Whether you’re having it in Big Sky or Park City or Aspen or Banff, you can only guess at the effort involved in getting oysters on the half shell to your table. And that’s worth celebrating just as much as you having conquered a black diamond run for the first time.

And as Theodore puts it, “Every time the towers are sent from the kitchen to the dining room or ski-in, ski-out patio, I hear bottles popping!”

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