Cost: $$$$
Dinner time for adults at Ember!
We left the kids at home in late July to visit Ember. Irony of ironies, the head chef and owner is from the same town my wife graduated from in Texas! Ember is another restaurant that we have walked past for years, meaning to stop in and just never did until this summer. After leaving dinner, we kicked ourselves all the way home for taking so long to make it through Ember’s door.
Ember is smaller, but certainly high-end, restaurant in Breckenridge. In keeping with many of the nicer restaurants the menu is fairly limited, choosing to do a few things outrageously well at the expense of doing many dishes half-heartedly. The menu rotates items fairly frequently with a partial menu refresh several time per year. The refreshes allow Ember’s chef to move away from dishes that are not as popular, add new inspiration to the menu, and tweak the formula for an excellently paired menu.
We all opted for the 3-course meal, which consisted of a starter, main course, and dessert; this ran us at $60/person. A slightly less expensive option at $50/person gets any two courses if your appetite isn’t as large. The waiter also said we could each order the 2-course and share two appetizers and two desserts. We all wanted different apps and desserts, so we turned down that offer.
If we have the chance to meet for dinner one night, you’ll quickly realize I am not an adventurous eater… and by not adventurous, I mean I pretty much live on chicken wings, french fries, and beer. So when I ordered Ember’s lamb cheeks for an appetizer, there was an audible gasp from my wife and parents. I’m glad I got out of my box – that’s not to say I really enjoyed the lamb cheek (I didn’t… too fatty for me), but it the presentation was phenomenal and it was an interesting experience. My dad and my wife each had scallops which were prepared wonderfully. My mom had the crab and phyllo and raved about it… sweet crab on flaky phyllo with several additional flavors made her’s the most interesting appetizer on the table.
For dinner, my wife and I each order the buffalo steak served on a green papaya salad and other accoutrement. The steaks were cooked perfectly… her’s slightly under medium, mine slightly past medium. There was no need to “cut in and check them” because they were both perfect. My dad continued his seafood journey with the black cod; his declaration was it was the best fish he had ever had. He literally grew up on the coast of the North Sea and ate fresh caught fish multiple times per week, so that is quite a compliment. Granted, the Ember kitchen staff probably has more training than my grandmother, but still. Mom had the pork and proceeded to rave about the cauliflower and chutney that it was paired with. Mom likes veggies. A lot.
For dessert we were entirely unoriginal; three of us had the espresso brownie and my wife had the lemon stuffed french toast. when first served, I looked at the plate and my first thought was “where’s the rest of it?” The desserts are small. That said, the Ember brownies were some of the most rich and decadent desserts I have ever tasted, and honestly if there had been more I think it would have been too much. I paired my espresso brownie with an espresso coffee (as did my dad) and my mom had a cup of coffee with hers. They paired perfectly. My wife devoured her french toast and looked sheepishly at me when I reminded her that she was supposed to give me a bite. “Oops.” Needless to say, desserts were amazing and perfectly sized.
We enjoyed a few cocktails before dinner… a Negroni, an Aviator, a Blueberry Crush, and an Alpine Meadow. We lucked out as the bartender (Parker) was also our waiter; he poured the drinks strong, and we tipped accordingly! A low point for the meal was a fairly disappointing wine list. We struggled to find anything that was on our go-to list of wines (Caymus, Stag’s, and Silver Oak are our go-to dinner wines). We ended up settling on a red blend that was just okay. It was so okay that I don’t remember the name of it, and have no particular desire to drink it again (barring someone else picking up the tab, of course).
Service was exceptional, as should be expected at any high end restaurant. Parker was present and insightful to the menu, while also being measured with the amount of time he spent with us. Courses came at the perfect time… we were never rushed, even though we were a fairly late seating (8pm on a Thursday night).
All in all, Ember was excellent. It was NOT cheap, but we also didn’t go in with a budget so that is to be expected. For a high end, 3-course meal at $60 this can be an affordable night out with your date. Opt for cocktails, bottles of wine, after dinner drinks, and the rest and you are looking about $125/person after tax and tip.
Looking for other restaurant suggestions? Check out our dining page here.And don’t forget to reserve a place to stay so you can walk to Ember!
