A Winter Menu with Chef Nate Kardos
By: Sarah Reish
Interview by: Stephanie Weed
Photography: S² Creative Marketing
Trailhead | Cody, Wyoming
The seasons have changed and summer has slipped away. The cool winds of fall arrived with winter right on its heels. We were invited into Chef Nathan Kardos’ kitchen to get a peek at the new seasonal menu being released! Here’s what we saw and tasted!
With the last menu change we saw and increase in items, this seasonal changing of menus we are going to see that Chef Nate is pulling it back slightly to highlight some amazing local seasonal products.
When asked how he would describe this new menu and what inspired him most, chef Nate stated, “comfort food, hearty, rich, fresh, [and] contemporary”. In regards to inspiration for the menu, “Seasonally inspired, northern Italian inspired, local meats and braised dishes always go well with winter time”.
As far as chef Nate’s favorite wintertime dish, he said it is the Osso Bucco, “… it is hearty, rich and complex in flavors from the wine and fire roasted veggies in the braising ragu, and slow cooked meats”.
What ingredients will we be enjoying on this winter menu?
“Restaurant quality farmed Duck is one of those things not everybody has had the chance to try. Maybe because wild ducks are hunted and harvested around here, people don’t necessarily like it because of the gamy flavor and I suppose I wanted to show how good it can be.”
“Dry Cured over 24 hours and then braised at a low temperature in its own duck fat, the dark meat is delicious with that crispy skin. I paired it with the sweet tangy and rich cherry gastrique, Gorgonzola and the polenta makes for a great representation of how good duck can actually be. It’s starting to catch on and I look forward to featuring a lot more duck in future menus”
Gorgonzola - Featured throughout the menu, this cheese is a pleasant surprise. Milder than blue cheese, this addition perfectly compliments the items it is paired with. Pictured above are some of the items; duck confit, sirloin, wood fired lobster mac & cheese, Gamberi, stuffed artichoke fondue, and steak salad.
From Duck Confit and Beef Carpaccio to the trademark wood fired pizza and wings. Enjoy fine dining and wine or a craft cocktail -or- casual dining with a craft beer. This new winter menu at Trailhead is next to none. As we photographed the new menu, we were also able to get some amazing shots of the team creating these masterpieces.
Wood Fired
Much of the menu will be treated to the wood fired pizza oven. Bringing a unique smokey flavor to the high-end menu. It’s not exclusively pizza that is made in the pizza oven. Wings, pasta, several appetizers, and many of the specials featured weekly also get their time in the oven.
Making use of seasonal ingredients and unique cooking methods, we can see this new menu has achieved a level of refinement that we have come to expect from Chef Nate.
“The lobster Mac is super simple. I wanted it to be super creamy like a fondu, it contains three cheeses that balance each other out. A tangy aged tallegio, creamy Gorgonzola adding a bit of funk, and a sharp aged white Wisconsin cheddar, the herb bread crumbs add a wonderful crunchy texture after being roasted in the wood fired oven and always the fresh shirt rigatoni catches all that fondu sauce in every bite.”
Brunch
Brunch didn’t escape the creativity of Chef Nate’s winter menu overhaul. From the chef’s omelet created weekly to the variations of Benedict and other breakfast favorites.
What we’ll see
Rustic and refined brunching. Breakfast burrito smothered in green chili, chicken and waffles, pork belly benny’s, Ranchero breakfast pizza, and Belgium waffles.
The brunch menu features more items, but we thought we would share these. As always their bar carries all of our favorite brunch drinks, including bloody mary’s, mimosas, and screwdrivers.
Staying inspired
“I stay inspired by talking to local purveyors like Shoshone River Farms, Farm Table West, Wyoming Legacy Meats and Seattle Fish Company, et al. - about new fun produce, cuts of meat, and seasonal fish all year long to come up with new specials and then see how they are received by the customers. I also try to keep up with emerging food trends”.
Online Menu
Check out Trailheads website, it offer tons of photos, the complete menu, and contact information to make reservations or order to go. Be sure to give them a shoutout on social media!