There’s a reward at Savor the Summit for walking to the top of Main Street: the chance to see Firewood on Main’s creation. It’s become a tradition for the Firewood team, led by chef-owner John Murcko, to go all out for Park City Area Restaurant Association’s annual event.  “I alway s like to call it chef’s Super Bowl,” joked Larisa Opris, Firewood’s general manager. “This is his baby.” Firewood knows that come May when the staff returns after a short seasonal closure, Murcko’s ready to talk about Savor the Summit. And every year, the concept gets bigger and bigger.  This year’s Savor the Summit brings almost 2,000 people to Main Street for the open-air dining event. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Savor the Summit, which has been described as “Utah’s largest outdoor dinner party,” started in 2007 and is a one-night event when restaurants set tables along the length of Main Street. In the beginning, participants had to create the illusion of one continuous table, but as businesses began getting more creative and needing more seats, the restaurant association loosened the requirements. Now each section of the street has a unique flair. “I’m always excited to see what Murcko is going to pull out of his hat,” said Ginger Wicks, the association’s executive director. “Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to get up to Firewood and see what Firewood’s doing this year.’ He’s definitely set a precedent on the street.” And Firewood did not disappoint on Saturday. Running down the 100-foot table, under a tunnel of lush floral arches, complete with river stones, moss and fallen logs, was a lifelike running creek. What does it take to execute such an elaborate setup? It’s all about the team, Murcko said. Friday, 4:45 p.m. “Let’s talk about Savor,” Opris said to the servers and bussers gathered for pre-shift in Firewood’s main dining room. Friday night, the Firewood on Main team meets for a Savor the Summit pre-shift, when Sous Chef Connor Johnson and General Manager Larisa Opris go over the menu and seating chart. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordFriday night, the Firewood on Main team meets for a Savor the Summit pre-shift to go over the menu and seating chart. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record While preparations for the all-hands-on-deck event last all week, the final sprint began Friday night. With printouts of the seating chart and menu in hand, the servers took notes as Sous Chef Connor Johnson went over the menu: details on each dish’s ingredients, how it’s prepared, how it relates to the current menu and what allergies to consider. In the adjoining private dining room, florists began creating 14 floral arches, greenery like ferns, rosemary and sage slowly filling the chicken-wire frames to create the feeling of being under a forest canopy. This concept, inspired by Murcko’s hikes up Snake Creek Canyon with his dogs, was starting to come together, but there’s a long way to go to tomorrow. As a chef, he still needed to finish butchering for a few dishes. As a builder, there’s a lot that will come together on Saturday, structures with logs and sage harvested from his cabin home in Escalante. It’s his first year attempting a water feature. As an engineer in all but name, Murcko built and designed the miniature creek with a recirculating pump, doing the gravity calculations per the slope of the street. Downstairs in the restaurant, boxes of real moss and air plants were stacked, and will be used to decorate the creek. He broke open a few like a child on Christmas morning. “I did ask Larisa if we could get some frogs, and she denied that,” Murcko joked. “I’m like, ‘Let’s just get some little turtles, and we’ll let them in the wetlands afterwards,’ she’s like, ‘No, you’re not getting turtles.’” That’s how realistic he wants the experience to be for guests, a philosophy he brings to each Savor the Summit. The displays for his 12th were even more intricate as he challenged himself to one-up the previous years.  His first year, he was working for Talisker and decided to build a giant pergola from fallen aspen collected at the club’s Deer Valley property. Another year, while leading The Farm, his table centerpiece was an herb garden, so each diner could cut and garnish their dishes.  “He has always participated in the event. He’s the first one to sign up every year,” said Wicks. Homer Brenden Holmes, a florist, begins work on Firewood’s 14 Savor the Summit arches which will create a lush tunnel over the 100-foot table. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordHomer Brenden Holmes, a florist, begins work on Firewood’s 14 Savor the Summit arches which will create a lush tunnel over the 100-foot table. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Firewood’s displays have always incorporated wood of some kind, usually found on Murcko’s 8-acre property in southern Utah. Last year, the decor had real mushrooms. The year before, a cowboy theme with a denim-on-denim design.  “The more interactive it becomes, the more fun it is, not only to the people that are participating, but to the onlookers that walk and love to take it in and see it,” Murcko said. Savor the Summit is a form of marketing for him. It’s a chance to catch people’s eyes so they look him up and come back for a meal. So his goal is just to break even, almost every dollar covering the cost of decor, staff wages and unique ingredients. Wicks said the restaurants also have to pay for their sections of the closed-off street, plus any rentals or event and structural permitting required. Firewood ticket prices are expensive — $600 per guest — but look at the moss, the florals, the wines, Murcko said.  Saturday, 10:26 a.m. Thirteen wooden tables already lined Firewood’s section of Main Street, staff ready to set up as soon as the association gave the green light at 10 a.m., some of the earliest of the participating restaurants. The front of house team finally left around 2:30 a.m. and chef Johnson stayed until 4:30 a.m.  Murcko was back with two trailers to unload around 8 a.m., his wife, Kelli, and son, Elias, willing volunteers. Most years they had to miss the event, traveling for Elias’ climbing competitions, Kelli said. This year, they were all in. At this point, the team was all T-shirts and work gloves, power tools in hand to cut logs and build a bench, coffee table and bar all out of wood. Some pieces were made with charred logs from a fire near Murcko’s cabin 15 years ago, brought as a reminder of the current wildfires burning in Utah. Saturday morning, chef John Murcko dons his builder hat, cutting wood logs which will become decoration for the Savor the Summit event. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordSaturday morning, chef John Murcko dons his builder hat, cutting wood logs which will become decoration for the Savor the Summit event. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record The previous night, ash was falling on Main Street from those very wildfires and the restaurant association board came close to canceling the event, Wicks said. But Saturday morning, it was finally blue sky and fresh air.  11:40 a.m. As the floral arches are brought onto the street, and the team starts assembling the creek, more and more onlookers stopped to watch. A couple came asking to purchase tickets for the evening, along with three other last-minute reservations that came in early that morning, the total was 98 diners. Down the street, other restaurants began setting up, but nothing like what Firewood’s doing, the staff reassured each other. Because they had a creek.  The 100-foot path was made of small logs as the “creek bed,” topped with black waterproof pond lining stapled in place. At the top of the table, water flowed out of a small fountain spigot, traveling down the path before spilling off the end of the table into a bucket, where a pump would circulate the water back to the top through a hose under the table. Chef John Murcko’s son, Elias, tacks a waterproof lining to the “creekbed” with a staple gun. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordAs the Firewood team adds riverstones and moss, the water flowing down the Savor the Summit table looks more and more realistic. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record At first, it wasn’t much to look at. Then, slowly but surely, that black rubber lining was covered with chunks of vibrant green moss, creeping silvery moss, branches, sandstone chunks and river stones. As the moss puffed back to life, the water took on a greenish hue, like a real creek would. 1:15 p.m. As the wind picked up, testing other restaurants’ engineering, the Firewood team had a different problem: Water started running down the side of the table.  “We sprung a leak!” Murcko said with a laugh. It was patched and the team kept working on setting up decorations, each catching a short break for Panda Express. 2:15 p.m. In the kitchen, things were unusually calm, Johnson said. He got the menu a lot earlier compared to previous years, this being his fourth Savor with Firewood, so they were able to finish a few elements early. His schedule was designed around how to keep the ingredients as fresh as possible. Some things, like a feta panna cotta for the salad course, can be made a few days early, but anything green, to keep its color, gets blanched or blended closer to service. The six-course menu was loosely inspired by the creek concept, Murcko said, like two different river fish dishes, an elk main course and berry-centric salad.  Executability is most important for a dinner like this, so the dishes were intentionally more simple, Johnson said. Rather than having each of his five cooks on a station, they all worked together for every course, a necessity when serving 100 of the same thing, at the same time. Sous Chef Connor Johnson demonstrates how to make the gnocchi, one of the courses for Savor the Summit dinner. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordA variety of edible flowers were ordered for the Savor the Summit dinner, and sous chef Connor Johnson said getting to use unique ingredients is part of what makes Savor the Summit so fun for his team. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record For the sous chef, while Savor and its insane hours is undeniably stressful, it’s a chance to play with new dishes and new ingredients. For example, they ordered a whole honeycomb for one course, something he’s never used before, plus a variety of exotic edible flowers and specialty black truffles. As a culinary team, they tried out new techniques, too, like having one of the cooks learn to make gnocchi from scratch for the first time. Pastry Chef Evan Gurek experimented with a new tuile recipe for his dessert course — which worked, so he had to make 100 more. It was the calm before the storm, literally.  There was a boom of thunder and Opris came in with news: It’s pouring rain. Outside, the smell of florals was replaced by wet asphalt, whoops and cheers from the staff kept morale high as the rain intensified to hail. The Firewood team keeps working through the wind, and hail, that blew through Park City Saturday afternoon. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe Firewood team keeps working through the wind, and hail, that blew through Park City Saturday afternoon. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe Firewood team keeps working through the wind, and hail, that blew through Park City Saturday afternoon. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record “It’s an immersive experience,” Opris said, because sometimes when you’re hiking through the woods along a creek it rains a little. “I love it. It makes it more real,” Murcko added.   Either way, the show must go on. 5 p.m. The table set, the arches in place and mostly finished, but there was one tiny problem. The leak returned. Murcko, hands stained black, was less cheery this time as they used towels to soak up the escaping water.  Guests were expected to arrive in 30 minutes, so they pushed back check-in by 20 minutes to buy some time. In the meantime, the front-of-house team changed into their uniforms. It’s been seven hours, but their real work was just getting started. With less than an hour before dinner will start, the creek starts to leak again. Chef John Murcko works to patch the area. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record “After you’re done with the physical part, I think the most challenging part is paying attention and multitasking. And you’re out of your comfort zone. It’s not the regular dining room, which obviously they master it, but you have to come outside in the street,” said Opris. “One little mistake can ruin somebody’s dinner, so it’s a lot of pressure on them to execute that.” While the Firewood team handled a minor crisis, onlookers dressed in their finest were largely unaware, and a cluster of people steadily gathered at the base of the set up, phones out for videos of the miraculous creek. As thousands of people arrive on Main Street for Savor the Summit, onlookers marvel at the Firewood table. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordSavor the Summit returns to Main Street on Saturday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Wicks estimated there were 2,000 diners across 19 participating businesses on Main Street for this year’s Savor the Summit, but plenty more wandered the street out of curiosity.  “Out. Done. Every year!” one onlooker said. Another recognized the design: “I love this one! That’s Firewood.” About 100 versions of “No way!” or “That’s amazing!” chimed in. 6:30 p.m. The leak was fixed and the seating chart adjusted so Elias and his friend were nearby in case of a surprise, and guests found their seats in the roped-off dining area.  There wasn’t time for a pre-service to run through the menu again, a complication the team can handle, the servers said. Plating began for the amuse course, each component of the dish assigned to a person. They circled the table set up in the restaurant’s adjacent dining room, placing their element on each of the 98 plates, and servers took the finished dish out to the diners. Now to repeat that process five more times. The whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe whole kitchen team helps plate each course to ensure each dish goes out quickly to the 98 diners. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record 9 p.m. Other restaurants had begun packing up, but the party continued at Firewood, conversation flowing despite the cold. It was 54 degrees with a light breeze, unusual by this point in the summer, and a few blankets were found and brought out to those in desperate need of them. But spirits remained high. Despite the cold, diners at Firewood’s Savor the Summit dinner chat between courses. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordCredit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record “Think about how hard it would’ve been to cook for this whole table,” one guest said. The dessert course, a cherry and chocolate log cake shaped like an actual log, concluded the meal, actually a bit earlier than last year, Johnson said. After the last dessert plates were served, there were hugs all around. Despite the challenges, they did it. “At the end of the night, it’s just like a big celebration, honestly, for all of us,” said Opris. But the party had to wait until after breakdown. “The breakdown is a lot, because everybody’s tired. Your steps on your Apple Watch are probably exploding,” Opris said.  They’ll probably be there until 2 or 3 in the morning, again, she said, but Murcko would be right there with them. It’s what keeps them there: a chef who leads by example. Everyone’s hard work wasn’t lost on Murcko, or on the diners, either, part of why nearly two-thirds of the guests return to Firewood every year, Opris said.  The Firewood chef team celebrates after plating the last course for Savor the Summit. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordSous Chef Connor Johnson, left, and Pastry Chef Evan Gurek were ready to celebrate the end of another grueling Savor the Summit event. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record From Wicks’ perspective, it’s not just diners who are inspired by restaurants’ effort. “I have in my inbox three emails from different cities around the nation wanting to understand how we do this, to duplicate it in their communities,” she said Monday morning. “I just think it’s such a compliment to our community and all the participants and all the work that goes into it.” The post ‘What if we did a creek?’: Creating Firewood’s Savor the Summit table appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less