By Joseph T. O’Connor Explore Big Sky Managing Editor
BIG SKY – The Pinnacle at Big Sky is no more. Say hello to Everett’s 8,800, the newly remodeled restaurant that sits at 8,800 feet atop Andesite Mountain at Big Sky Resort.
Named in memoriam for Everett Kircher, who founded Michigan’s Boyne Resorts in 1948 and purchased Big Sky Resort in 1976, the restaurant will be a showcase for Boyne in North America, according to Everett’s General Manager Eric Trapp.
“We’re not thinking small,” said Trapp, who also owns the Continental Divide Restaurant and Bistro in Ennis. “After seeing this place empty for so many years, [the idea] was to create a culture that five years from now people think it’s been here forever. And 50 years from now, it’s something that’s iconic.”
Located at the top of the Ramcharger chairlift and with stunning views of Lone Mountain, the building was constructed in 2007 but closed when the Club at Spanish Peaks – now the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club – went bankrupt in 2011. It sat empty until Dec. 16, 2014, when it opened back up to the public with new lighting, carpeting, tables and an overhauled kitchen.
Serving breakfast and lunch, Everett’s menu derives from European alpine cuisine and reflects the family ski experience in the Alps.
“We’re trying to write a menu that [allows] people not just to come in, have a quick burger and leave,” Trapp said. Instead, he and Big Sky Resort’s Food and Beverage Director Tom Nolan are hoping skiers will enjoy a couple runs, come in and relax for a while.
“It’s the French model where you ski for a couple hours in the morning, and your après starts at 2 [p.m.] and it involves family and meal and experience,” Nolan said.
Appetizers include a morel mushroom dish with a Riesling wine sauce over butter-grilled sourdough bread
and fish carpaccio (currently made with Hamachi yellowtail tuna). Headlining sandwich options is an open-faced grilled cheese with gruyere and asagio, with green apple, tomato and topped with a fried egg.
Entrees include pasta carbonara and a 14-ounce, dry-aged bison ribeye steak with truffled frites in a cognac peppercorn sauce.
Everett’s will eventually host live music and dinner, Trapp said. In the meantime, the restaurant will cater to skiers looking for a comfortable place to grab a bite with friends and family, and loosen their ski boots a few notches.
“We’re super excited to have it back in the mix,” Nolan said. “It’s an on-mountain restaurant with a spectacular view and it needs to be open.”
Everett’s 8,800 is open daily, serving breakfast from 9-10:30 a.m., and lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations can be made through Open Table at bigskyresort.com.
