The Big Hotel Brunch Buffet Is Back in Aspen
Artful displays are a hallmark of the St. Regis's brunch spread.
If you think you’ve been there, done that when it comes to hotel brunches, Sunday’s mid-day meal at the St. Regis Aspen Resort, introduced earlier this summer and running through October 9, will turn your expectations over like a well-crafted omelet.
Set up in the hotel’s Trecento Quindici Decano restaurant, the ample spread includes a dizzying array of egg dishes, salads, sashimi, soups, pastas, stir-frys, cheeses, meats, seafood, pastries, and homebaked breads. In other words, it goes way beyond the typical omelet station (though you can certainly order one; goat cheese and spinach, anyone?) or raw bar (there’s one of those, too, with crab legs, shrimp, and oysters the day of our visit).
In addition to the food itself, which more than satisfies, is the whimsical presentation: smoothies, crudités, and salads in small jars set out on etageres in a way that invites discovery; the names of meat and seafood at the carving table handwritten on craft paper; a dessert bar that's like a Willy Wonka-esque apothecary shop, with sweet-stocked glass jars and exquisite pastries and cookies arrayed along standing white shelves.
The dessert presentation resembles an old-timey sweet shop.
Kids can get their fun, too, in an adjacent back room set up with its own mini-buffet of standards—mac and cheese, sliders, and chicken fingers—along with DIY projects like cupcake decorating and jewelry making. A high-energy clown keeps little ones entertained with balloon animals and other shenanigans.
Decorating cupcakes is on the menu for kids at brunch.
If all of the above isn’t enough of a draw, consider the price: $55 per adult, $25 per child ages 5-12 (free for younger). Considering that it’s not unusual to pay upwards of $40 for a standard breakfast at many high-end resort hotels, the St. Regis offers great value. What’s more, add another $10 to the adult price, and you get bottomless mimosas or signature Bloody Marys. Another $10 nets a limitless tequila tasting.
Our recommendation? Get up early on Sunday, go for a vigorous hike up Sunnyside Trail or the Ute, then replenish those calories guilt-free between 11–2 p.m. at the Dean Street Social. Your only regret will be bypassing items along the buffet when you’ve hit your satiation point. Then again, there’s always next Sunday.
