Fine dining with Hell’s Backbone Grill chefs Jen Castle and Blake Spalding at the Historic Colton House
The Museum of Northern Arizona is extending an exclusive invitation for an elegant evening of fine dining and conversation at its Historic Colton House on Sunday, December 5. Chefs Jen Castle and Blake Spalding are returning to Flagstaff, their former hometown, after the close of another successful season of their Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah. The evening’s meal features courses from their newly published book, With a Measure of Grace, the Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant.
Located in the heart of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Hell’s Backbone Grill became an enormously popular stop on the itinerary of MNA’s Ventures and custom tours even before it appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Sunset Magazine, and the Zagat Survey of restaurants. Their cooking style is a blend of Western Range, Pueblo Indian, and Southwestern fare.
Adding to their accolades, Castle and Spalding were featured panelists and honored for their work and contribution to sustainability at the recent MNA and Center for Sustainable Environment event, “Celebrating the Lands and People of Canyon Country.”
Formerly backcountry and Grand Canyon river chefs, Castle and Spalding share a value system and food philosophy that complements their extensive cooking backgrounds and range of experience. Together these women melded their ideas of place-based cuisine, seasonally appropriate foods, right livelihood, and environmental ethics into a socially-responsible restaurant.
Appetizers and conversation with the chefs begin at five o’clock with organic chicken liver pâté with currants and apple brandy, paired with wine. Dinner starts with a pumpkin and heirloom orchard apple soup and their award-winning Backbone House Salad of garden greens, heirloom apples, pomegranate seeds, and organic pear vinaigrette. The main course is seared duck breast with wild rosehip red wine sauce. It is served with lemon-leek smashed Idaho Yukon Gold potatoes, warm red cabbage salad with Utah goat cheese and toasted hazelnuts, and sautéed Swiss chard with piñon nuts. A vegetarian stuffed squash entrée is also available. Dessert is orchard pear gingerbread with vanilla bean ice cream and homemade butterscotch sauce, served with a dessert wine or tawny port.
Dinner, beverages, and gratuity are all included for $95 per person. A minimum number of reservations are needed by December 1, so gather your friends for this unique opportunity. You can make reservations by calling 928/774-5211, ext. 225 and at that time you can also specify a vegetarian meal.