Photo: TownLift // Meredith Gustman.
PARK CITY, Utah — On a summer-like Friday evening, St. Regis Deer Valley’s La Stellina restaurant featured some grandi stella: celebrity chefs Geoffrey Zakarian and Jeff Mauro.
The occasion was the La Stellina Takeover, part of the resort’s four-day Culinary Takeover 2026, a series of dining events that ran March 18–21 that brought Food Network’s Zakarian and Mauro together with the St. Regis Deer Valley’s culinary team. Friday night belonged to Zakarian, the “Iron Chef,” television personality and restaurateur, who added his own menu items to La Stellina’s existing roster.
The Classico pizza, essentially a margherita pizza, had a sweeter marinara sauce that we didn’t mind.
La Stellina, in the resort’s Snow Park Residence Building, is a modern Italian bistro built around locally sourced ingredients, authentic Italian meats, cheeses, and pastas, offering dishes that appeal to every age. The winter menu anchors itself in crowd-pleasing classics like crispy calamari, rigatoni Bolognese and a selection of handmade pizzas and pastas. We sampled two of those staples: the Classico pizza, a straightforward combination of fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil and olive oil, and the cacio e pepe, housemade spaghetti tossed with black pepper and pecorino romano in the time-honored Roman tradition. Both delivered exactly what was anticipated, although the Classico had an almost sun-gold tomato sauce that was sweeter than most marinara.
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The winter chicory salad. 
The snapper and cacio e pepe.
On this night, Zakarian’s takeover dishes included a winter chicory salad, chestnut soup, seared snapper, and lamb niçoise. We began with the winter chicory salad, bitter greens softened by the sweetness of dates, brightened with a nutty pecorino and the buttery crunch of Marcona almonds. It was a composed, refreshing opener: each element contributing something distinct, none overwhelming the others.
The seared snapper that followed was the evening’s centerpiece. Zakarian’s preparation paired the fish with a deep red wine sauce, bold enough to stand against the snapper’s firm flesh without obscuring it, alongside earthy oyster mushrooms and tomato confit. The snapper was cooked perfectly and the sauce was surprisingly rich.
Wine pairings were offered curated by Alex Banville of Banville Wine Merchants, although we did not partake. Banville’s selections drew from his family’s Tolaini Estate in Chianti Classico, alongside a few carefully chosen additions from their portfolio, each thoughtfully matched to the evening’s food.
La Stellina goes beyond the expected resort fare, and the takeover was a lively twist that energized the restaurant.
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Dining and Cooking