The Nickel Bar at Firewood

It seems like I have been up in Park City a lot these days, and I am not complaining! Especially when wonderful spaces creating wonderful cocktails and food are involved!

firewood_park_city_nickel_bar_gallery — Nickle Bar at Firewood – photo c/o firewoodonmain.com

Recently, I took a trip up the canyon to check out the new Nickel Bar, which is part of an amazing new restaurant concept called Firewood. Firewood and the Nickel Bar are in the old, and well known, Cisero’s Restaurant on Main Street.

And let’s just say – you won’t recognize the place; it is on fire, literally.

Firewood Restaurant takes the upper floor, and the Nickel Bar is in the lower level. Diners can choose to have a drink and bite at the bar before a meal, or do what we did, and spend your whole evening in the Nickle Bar.

Everything at Firewood is cooked over open flame — and it’s tasty. Even the cocktails at the Nickel Bar have components that are created with fire, coals, or other open flame techniques and it has produced some delicious and complex flavors in both food and drink.

Firewood features American heirloom cuisine with seasonal menu rotations to incorporate the freshest regional produce. Many dishes prepared over open flame use chef-selected wood like cedar, cherry and maple to enhance flavor.

Firewood Park City — Chef John Murcko and wife Kelli Murcko, photo c/o firewoodonmain.com

Here is a sampling of the amazing cocktails and food we had at
The Nickel Bar at Firewood — next time you are in Park City,
make this a stop that is top of your list.

The Smoke Show: High West Rendezvous Rye, Charred Blood Orange, Angostura Bitters, Rosemary, Rocks

Rouge Cocktail: Titos Vodka, Rhubarb Fennel Reduction, Lemon, Sea Salt, Tall (my favorite cocktail on the current menu).

Grilled Oysters ($19): Spinach, Wood Roasted Bacon, Beet Pickled Shallot

Fire Braised Seasonal Wild Mushrooms ($17): Wood Beech, Royal Trumpets, Chanterells, Grilled Bread

The Garden Cocktail: Hendricks Gin, English Cucumber, Mint, Lime, Honey, Up

Berbere Spiced Duck ($37): Butternut Squash, Farro, Dried Cherries, Gastrique (my favorite of the food items we tried)

This Mezcal cocktail was whipped up by Nickel Bar’s bartender, and it was not only beautiful, but refreshing and delicious!

High Desert Martini: Ketel One Vodka, Vanilla, Smoked Purple Sage, Lemon, Up (another one of my favorites — the smoked sage and vanilla were sweet, but an amazing combination!)

Feugo: Espolon Blanco Tequila, Pear Brandy, Cinnamon Syrup, Lime, Firewater Bitters, Rocks

— Some other food items to mention —

1) Oak Wood Roasted Acorn Squash: goat cheese, baby greens, cardamom spiced pumpkin seeds, bunt orange vinaigrette ($14)

2) Hay Roasted Burrata: green apple, massaged kale, cider vinaigrette ($15)

All of the food we had was so good, and surprising light and refreshing, which you might not think to expect from an open flame kitchen. I especially loved the duck and the grilled oysters! The firewood truly does bring out amazing flavors!

The cocktails were so great and it was really wonderful to see creative, interesting, and well balanced cocktails on a bar’s first menu. I am excited to see what else they come up with as the menu expands and grows.

The bar itself is such a welcoming place: warm, subtle lighting, great service. The menu in the Nicklel Bar will be different than the menu for the Firewood restaurant itself, so I am also excited to see how the bar differentiates itself from the restaurant as time goes on.

Both are such a great concept and I encourage you all to check it out as soon as you can!

Don’t forget, order up the Rouge!