Making the Most of It
Chef Stacie Miller Offers Lessons in Weeding, Cooking, and Life
In the kitchen at McCarthy Lodge Bistro, Chef Stacie Miller shakes a jar glowing with dandelion petals suspended in vinegar. She open...
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Brought to you by McCarthy Lodge
Culinary Adventure in McCarthy
Many come to McCarthy, Alaska to see historic Kennecott and walk on the glacier. Others come to experience a living community inside a wild place. This gem satisfies history buffs and ice climbers, bush pilots and paddlers, scientists and artists. Many are surprised to learn that McCarthy has become a premier foodie destination, as well, fit for foragers and wine connoisseurs, independent travelers, and lucky locals dining out in the Wrangells.
Over the 20 years since Neil Darish opened McCarthy Lodge, it has become a leader in Alaska food. Folks can choose between the lodge’s two establishments—the New Golden Saloon and the Salmon & Bear Restaurant. The saloon serves drinks and top-notch pub fare. The dining room, which got its new name just last year, has kept the award-winning food and service its devotees love.
A decade ago, word began to spread about the adventurous tasting and dinner menus that Thomas Keller–trained chef Joshua Slaughter was creating. These remarkable evenings treated guests to new flavors, textures, and experiences. The lodge even held a luxury dinner in New York City at the James Beard Foundation. After three years with the lodge, Chef Slaughter moved on, pursuing new culinary opportunities while McCarthy Lodge continued to build their wine and dinner service. “After I left,” Slaughter says, “my mother always told me I would go back.”
This year, he is moving back to McCarthy and the lodge is welcoming him back not just as Executive Chef, but as a new co-owner of the restaurant he helped shape. “I love the place,” Slaughter says. “I’m here to be part of the culture in McCarthy and to help tell the story.” While he was away, he honed skills that will further refine the restaurant’s New Alaska Cuisine offerings, recognized by Michelin Guides, Wine Spectator, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, The New York Times, and more. “I’ve been getting into ancient techniques, like grilling bread on hot stones, cooking over open fires, and using smoke to preserve.” He pays homage to the animals, fish, and produce he prepares and to the farmers, fishermen, and foraging habitat involved.
“Sense of place through food is what the Salmon & Bear Restaurant is all about,” says Darish. Indeed, their menus remind guests where they’re eating. Local ingredients abound—morels and chickweed, dandelions and berries, sorrel and Labrador tea, devil’s club and neighbor-grown vegetables, pork, chicken, eggs, and greens. They celebrate the watershed, too, with ocean-run fish caught downstream: halibut, black cod, rock fish, and Copper River red salmon. Beyond the Alaskavore offerings, their commitment to all things local shows in their use of historic buildings decorated with area artifacts.
Another clue you’re not in Los Angeles or Paris is the unpretentious, uninhibited technique behind their preparations—not to mention the fact that guests can hike on a glacier, explore a historic copper town, and fly over it all in a bush plane before settling in to choose a bottle of wine with a sommelier’s help.
Culinary adventures await in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Book your room and make dinner reservations now at MaJohnsonsHotel.com
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