Executive Chef Clement Gelas of Park City’s Courchevel Bistro doesn’t have a Michelin star to his name, but that doesn’t make his Taste of Luxury events any less inspiring.
A French chef born and raised in the alpine region of Courchevel, France, Gelas is all the skill of a highly technical chef with a playful creativity that brings traditional cuisine to new life. That’s something he believes is key in bringing “luxury” to dining.
“Luxury, it’s about striving to be the best, right? Strive to to understand your audience and to understand the settings that you are at, using the best ingredients, using the staff, using resources that you have around,” he said.
Compared to the other chefs featured at the Deer Valley Resort series — like Michelin-recognized culinary leaders from Italy or Spain — Gelas’ event will showcase the talents found right on Park City’s Main Street. Back for a second year and with 40 added seats, Gelas said he’s honored by the support of both the resort and the diners.
“To me, it’s all about building relationships,” Gelas said of the event. “I think that’s another great event to do. Get with a bunch of buddies, cook some food and pour some wine for 100 people on a Friday night.”
Like last year, Gelas is preparing a wine dinner in collaboration with Napa Valley-based Duckhorn Vineyard. He’ll serve a six-course meal Friday night out on the Deer Valley Cafe deck, followed by a hands-on cooking class Sunday afternoon.
Gelas, also the executive chef of Park City’s Talisker Club, said that while the wine pairings are the same, this menu will show a whole different side of him and his work.
“Last year I did something a bit more French oriented because I was featuring more the cultural style of cooking,” he said. “This year … I chose to do things a bit more worldwide and eclectic. I focus on the the same ingredient that pair well with Duckhorn, but the techniques are definitely more eclectic.”
He described a more “americanized” palate, incorporating Thai flavors into dishes fried pork belly with with peaches, nectarine and goat cheese, a chocolate mousse for dessert and even a milkshake course.
The techniques will bring more smoked, charred and grilled flavors, compared to last year’s traditional French style of pan seared, roasted and sous vide.
Where his European style will come out is in a mid-meal cheese course, served as the meal moves from savory to sweet.
“Cheese always gets served after the dinner in Europe,” he said. “You can really get a very nice transition from something very strong, like lamb with a very big Cabernet, to a cheese plate. And I’m going to organize that in a way that there’s a progression to your palate. So from the stronger cheese to the softer cheese, a lighter cheese.”
Duckhorn wines are the featured wine pairing for Executive Chef Clement Gelas’ Taste of Luxury dinner on Friday, as well as a cooking class on Sunday. Credit: Photo courtesy of Deer Valley Resort
That’s Friday night, but Gelas said he’s also excited for Sunday afternoon’s cooking class.
The plan for the cooking class is for attendees to prepare small dressings, Beef Wellington and crème brûlée, three more-traditional French elements.
Beef Wellington sounds ambitious — a puff-pastry wrapped steak lined with duxelles, finely chopped mushrooms and shallots — but Gelas said he hopes to make the dish more approachable at home.
“I have a restaurant way to do it, which is something easy to duplicate in a restaurant,” he explained. “I want to show them that it does not have to be complicated; it can be fun.”
The cooking class will result in a great meal, of course, and Gelas said he will also teach the importance of using fresh, simple ingredients.
“I’ll choose a very good cut of beef tenderloin so they can look at the marbling and how red it’s going to be. I’m going to be using a very good balsamic vinegar, some nice avocado oil,” he said.
Organization and time management are two fundamentals of a successful chef that he plans to explain to attendees as well.
“The time management, I think, it’s what I learned to be the most challenging in the kitchen, figure out how to multitask a few different things,” Gelas said. “‘These are things that we should be doing first, going to take the longest.’”
Like starting with the crème brûlée, and while it’s in the oven, working on the Beef Wellington, then finishing with dressings that come together the quickest.
Ultimately, the cooking class is meant to be fun, and he encouraged people to bring friends along and pick his brain on tips in the kitchen. Of course, there will be plenty of Duckhorn wines, too.
“I’m coming into the weekend with a lot of fun ideas, and with the same level of expectation that I would go with a dinner in New York, for example. Well prepared, full of fun ideas, very energized and bringing that positive energy with everybody,” he said.
While tickets to the dinner on Friday are sold out, there is still space in the cooking class on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, starting at $185 per person, visit exploretock.com.
Gelas said he’s hopeful to be back in 2026 for another Taste of Luxury dinner, so keep an eye out for those tickets. In the meantime, Courchevel Bistro is open Tuesday through Saturdays, and their patio will be open until late October, which is a great way to sample the chef’s playful, French style.
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