Dinner at Inn Lost Horizon
| Posted: | july 1, 2006 |
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My favorite place to eat is the Lost Horizon
Inn. It is owned and operated by my close friends
Chuck & Shigeko Irwin. I try to take most of
my guests there during their visit. It just so happened that some other friends (Joe & Patty Reed) were also dining there. We all had a great evening. A bit of background on the Lost Horizon Inn & the Irwin's: Chuck retired from the Air Force. He met and married Shigeko during his time in the service. When Chuck retired his #1 priority was to live near a ski resort. They settled in Alta, WY just across the Idaho border. Their place is about five miles from Grand Targhee Ski and Summer Resort. Let's try to describe an evening at the Lost Horizon. Chuck meets you at the door downstairs. After his initial greeting, he will request that you remove your shoes and put on slippers that Shegeko knits. You then proceed into the bar area. Chuck takes your drink order and prepares your drinks. The bar area has a lot of art and artifacts that the Irwin's acquired in their worldly travels. You can also meet and chat with other guests for the evening. After all of the guests have arrived and have had a chance to have a drink (or two for those who arrived early), Shigeko will come down to meet folks for a bit. She will then announce that it is time for dinner. Dinner is a seven course meal of oriental delights. Shegeko is such a great chef. Chuck now becomes your waiter and entertainment for the rest of the proceedings. He brings out your freshly prepared courses and explains the best way to eat each. If you can't use chop sticks, he will show you a trick to make them easier to use. He will encourage you to put a strip of wasabi on the asparagus tips. And Chuck will regale you with stories of the various places he and Shigeko have traveled all around the world. In between courses, you can wander around the dining area to view even more artifacts from the Irwin's travel. A real highlight is to walk onto the deck and partake of the view you see in the photo at the top of this page. At the end of the evening you will feel you have made some new friends. That is how I became friends with the Irwin's. In summary, imagine going to someone's house for dinner and the person cooking makes the most fantastic meals you have ever had. That's close but you really have to experience it for yourself. PS: Chuck's brother Jim Irwin was an astronaut. He served as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 15, Here is a Yelp review of the Lost Horizon published AFTER the restaurant had already closed. What dining-out experience rises above all others in your life? After decades of dining out, the most memorable place for us (other than a Valentine's Day dinner with my future wife) is the Lost Horizon. Why? The beautiful and spectacular location (on the rise to the Grand Tetons), the food quality/taste/presentation/delivery, the décor of artifacts from the owners' world travels, and the conversation with the fascinating owners whose inspiration of the restaurant was Shangri-la. This small restaurant was truly unique and special for the relatively few guests lucky enough to experience it. I find it interesting that this restaurant in Yelp listing did not have a review. I guess that reflects the place's remoteness and word-of-mouth advertising. Come to think of it, was it really a restaurant or a friends-of-friends series of guest dinners by the owners? Thank you, Chuck and Shigeko Irwin. I saved my 200th FTR milestone for you. Why is this review for a now-closed romantic restaurant useful? Maybe it will inspire someone to create another special and unique restaurant that is so pleasantly memorable to its patrons. |
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