Lake Hotel in Yellowstone Park

​Another Cookbook Dining Adventure!
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It's hard to tell this hotel is 126 years old.  The fresh yellow paint makes the colonial style hotel look pretty young.  It's actually a pretty swanky place that we couldn't afford.  We were staying in a cabin, down the road. 

Dinner Options
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Our Lake Lodge Cabins had a cute dining room, but it was cafeteria style which sounded less appealing.  Plus, our Lake Lodge was not one of the hotels or lodges featured in our silly 1950 Ford Treasury Cookbook, with recipes from restaurants around the country.  Lake Hotel did have a page in our book!

Down the Road
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We grabbed our cookbook and headed down the road to check out Lake Hotel and its dining room.  The parking lot already made us feel like we might be out of our league.

The Front
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The ritzy lakeside entrance was made extra snazzy with the yellow tourist car resting in the shade of the modern (added 1928) porte cochere.  Looking down at Lake Yellowstone it was fun to imagine the wealthy guests arriving by ship. This was much preferred, since stage coach travel was bumpy and dusty!

The Lounge
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Don and I had only traveled 2 minutes from our lodge, but we needed to sit and settle our nerves for a bit in the lovely lounge, surrounded by windows.  We sipped on lemon water and pretended we were guests until we got up nerve to peek at the menu and ask about reservations.

The Pre Happy Hour Crowd
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We wandered past the small crowd gathering early at the tiny bar near the dining room entrance.  The earliest reservation opening was 9:30.  "We'll take it!"  We decided after a quick look at the menu that didn't look much steeper than most National Park Lodge dining rooms.

Back Again
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After spending time at our own sweet lodge on porch rockers, we returned later in the evening to the lounge.  There were indeed some snooty guests, giving the poor bartender a very hard time.  But there were some delightful and possibly sober guests, who were enjoying live piano music. Some sang along while others danced. We finally entered the dining room, only a little famished by 9:30.

Sharing the Book
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After being seated I hoped we would have an older server who could appreciate the silly nostalgia of an old cookbook and who could laugh at the old illustration which revealed the same yellow paint in 1950.  

Most National Park lodge employees are international students, which could make my "cookbook encounter" extra tricky.  But we lucked out with a young and relaxed American student named Dominique.  He was chatty and comfortable and made no attempt to hide the fact that he was glad his busy night in the dining room was almost over... and that his long work season was about to come to an end.  He seemed to be the kind of guy that could handle a lady and her cookbook.  

Time to Order
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It was time to order, so I asked for the Barbecued Spareribs that are featured in the cookbook.  He laughed and said, "I wish."  "Well, you should serve them. This book says you do!" I teased as I pulled out the book with the recipe.  He frowned at the page for a split second, then his jaw dropped,  "What the...!"  He caught himself, politely. I handed him the book and he propped it open on the back of a chair and leaned in to study. "Where did you get this?"  He seemed utterly perplexed. And so was I

because young people don't generally care a bit about an old cookbook.  He continued to explore the book, the date and pages.  I announced, "Now you know you're going to have to be in a photo with that book?  Is that okay?"  "Sure."  he answered with out paying attention.   Then he asked if he could borrow the book for a minute and he ran off and returned with the manager and two servers.  

The Pose
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Jim took our photo while Dominique held the book.  A few diners seemed to be wondering what was going on, but no one bothered to ask.  We placed our ordered and teased about expected spareribs, next time!

Dinner
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Dinner

We did eventually eat.  It was late and we didn't order big or linger long.  Don's bacon cheeseburger with truffle fries was just about perfect. My spinach and cold rice salad was the excellent choice after over 2 weeks of road food dining.  It all tasted fresh and that bacon was so crispy I had to steal some!​
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Happy Dining

I'll add two more photos as a reminder that cookbook dining adventures bring out the fun in all of us. Wait a minute?  I really am not sure what those expressions are about.. on my face!  I really just wanted to capture the smile on the Adam, the manager's face. And the other photo shows Dominique's big smile.  I guess I could have just cropped myself out... but cropping can sometimes remove part of the story!  It was a fun dinner and evening.