Squirrely

When I lived in West Virginia, I was fortunate enough to work at one of the best restraunts in the world. The Red Fox, located slopeside at Snowshoe Mountain Resort, won just about every award possible, including being named one of the top 25 tables in the country by Fadors Travel Guide. Our wine list, about 50 pages long, consistently won the top award from Wine Spectator as it had some amazing selections and vintages. I was one of 11 waiters lucky enough and possibly even talented enough, to serve some of the best food I've ever tried.

The Red Fox at Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia

Our menu was a work of art, showcasing such dishes as Wild Boar, Buffalo Noisettes, Venison, Rocky Mountain Elk and West Virginia Rainbow Trout. It was an honor to work there and I'll always look back on my time at the Fox with great pride and quite a bit of fondness. The money was sick as we used to joke that we would walk up to our tables, ask to see what was in their wallet and then take as much as we wanted for a tip, it was that insane.

The staff of The Red Fox and Yodlers Pub. I'm the one in the back row with the hat on and my arms around Val, my ex girlfriend and fellow Red Fox waiter.

Anyways, I left the Fox in 1999 to persue my teaching career and sadly, The Red Fox is no more. Brian Ball, the owner of The Fox has since opened up several new eats on the mountain and one of them is Ember, an equally upscale dining experience in the new Soaring Eagle Lodge. I've yet to eat there but I'll be taking it all in come July when I spend a week on the mountain. Last fall, the producers of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman, came to the Mountain State to do an episode on Appalachian cuisine. Naturally they choose Brian and his Ember to showcase what the state can do. Unfortunately, the food Brian served, squirrel, lived up to the name of the show.

Andrew Zimmerman shows off some squirrel brains with Brian in the background.

Now I've never tried squirrel and have no plans to do so, but if anyone could make it good, Brian and his staff could. Regardless, squirrel never graced the menu at The Red Fox and it will never again be served at Ember, of that I'm sure. Anyways, here is a video of the episode and I hope you enjoy...



Here's a link to some more videos.