Surrounded by mountains on all sides and with the Yellowstone River to the west, the Best Award of Excellence–winning Dining Room at Chico Hot Springs Resort in Montana is where the Wild West meets great wine.
Open since 1900, Chico Hot Springs Resort operates three individual restaurants on its 800 acres—the Historic Dining Room, Chico Saloon and Poolside Grille. While the saloon and grille focus on casual options and local beers, the Dining Room is where wine and fine dining shine. Acclaimed executive chef David Wells flexes his culinary muscles with his luxurious à la carte menu, as well as nightly specials and two tasting menus. Guests enjoy dishes like beef Wellington topped with duck liver pâté, trout almondine or gorgonzola-speckled filet mignon. Don’t skip the famous “Flaming Orange” for dessert, an orange filled with silky ice cream, topped with meringue and set ablaze with rum.
Chico Hot Springs’ owner Colin Davis curates the wine program; he purchased the resort in 2015 with his wife, Seabring Davis, after serving as its general manager. (The couple even got married at Chico!) The wine list is chock full of delights from the U.S. and France; there’s a spotlight on Champagne with 47 selections, from well-known names such as Louis Roederer and Krug to smaller houses like Vilmart and Piérre Peters. Beyond Champagne, the cellar boasts extensive verticals from powerhouses like Château Lafite-Rothschild, Ornellaia and Opus One.
For those seeking a more exclusive dining experience, Chico features a six-seat tasting room in the wine cellar. Here, Wells uses the best of Montana’s seasonal produce, and the menu changes daily. Bringing a larger party? Colin and Seabring Davis converted a stone lodge on the property into a private dining room, where up to 16 guests can order from the Historic Dining Room menu.
While great wine and dining might be at the top of your itinerary, guests at Chico Hot Springs Resort can also enjoy dozens of other activities: horseback riding, dog sledding, river rafting or soaking in the resort’s namesake hot springs.
