Welcome to the Cheyenne Club

The first indication that the Cheyenne Club on the site of The Farm owned by Brush Creek, is a little different from other venues is parking. Locals coming to dine at the newest restaurant in the Valley are instructed to park their vehicles in a lot that is landmarked by an antique looking covered wagon.

Because reservations are needed to dine at the restaurant, a shuttle is waiting to take diners to their culinary destination.

There are three buildings at The Farm; an events center, a distillery and brewery, and the restaurant. The wooden buildings are tall and rustic looking, but details of sophistication are easy to spot.

The landscape around the sidewalks and buildings have flowers and bushes suited to the dry climate.

Walking into the large building that has the dining area, a patron is greeted by a five tiered bar to the right. The rough estimate is there are about 500 working bottles to make drinks for the customers.

On some evenings, a wine tasting will be offered. The representative takes care to fully explain what is being offered to taste.

The service is steeped in knowledge.

It is a good thing, too. There is much to take in.

After leaving the bar and going to the dining room, the rustic, yet strongly elegant, atmosphere surrounds the diner as they are taken to their table. The booths have large cushions that make seating all that more comfortable.

The menus presented can be four courses or a seven course tasting menu.

The tasting menu is $100 without wine pairings and $160 with wine.

Having the pairing done for the guest is a great idea since the wine list is a leather bound catalogue. For the wine aficionado, this book is a delight. The wine room below the Cheyenne Club Restaurant contains 33,000 bottles.

The wine list covers the entire globe.

If a patron is not sure about what to order, an employee at the restaurant will be able to assist in a selection.

It doesn't take long for a customer to trust the people working in the Cheyenne Club to help enjoy their dining experience.

The first course on the tasting menu is a wild onion tart, accompanied with Brush Creek's garden grown vegetables. The tart is creamy and the caramelized onion crust has slight hints of spiciness. The second course is a speckled hen egg served with garden sage custard and hickory smoked Colorado trout.

As each course is presented, whether it is the primary server or another server, information is relayed on what is being introduced.

The third course of farm summer tomatoes sounds almost too simple, but the taste of green apple vierge served on the side makes this dish refreshing before the fourth course of seared sea scallop. The fifth course is the Brush Creek raised Wagyu beef cut of the day. It is not hyperbole to say this beef is cooked to melt in your mouth.

The sixth course is goat cheese, made on site at Brush Creek's creamery. Along side the cheese comes stone fruit, toasted oats, birch syrup and Wyoming honey.

The last course is bread and butter pudding, served with black currants and a house distilled dark rum caramel.

For the Cheyenne Club client that wants more options, the four course menu is a better pick.

The onion tart and summer tomatoes are available on the first offerings menu. Two choices come from this bill of fare and also includes garden carrot soup, Wagyu beef consume, just dug potato salad, and Moulard duck foie gras. The latter's creamy texture is complimented with pistachios, huckleberry jam and toasted brioche.

The Cheyenne Club entree offerings has 10 choices. Three are beef, two fish, two vegetarian, pork, fowl and venison.

Both the mountain trout and halibut are pan seared. The venison is grilled, the chicken breast sauteed and the pork is hickory scented. The vegetarian dishes are a herb crusted garden eggplant and a homemade pasta main course.

The agnolotti pasta is stuffed with ricotta served in a Parmigiano Reggiano cream sauce. There is charred broccolini and toasted walnuts to compliment the taste of this entirely homemade dish.

The variety of dishes might require a patron to ask the server questions. These knowledgeable employees do a great job of explaining nuances associated with each dish. When asked their favorite, they give an opinion.

This can be helpful and is highly recommended a patron listen to what their server says about each dish.

The dessert menu has a souffle, tarts and bread pudding as choices. The last bite of this eating experience is to be savored and with the excellent choices to try, it certainly is.

Brush Creek's The Farm named its restaurant the Cheyenne Club after the 1880s world-class luxury clubhouse.

The Cheyenne Club was built in 1882 and was located on the transcontinental railroad system in Cheyenne, making it the go to place for politicians, cattle barons, European aristocrats and leading industrialists.

The Cheyenne Club gained global fame in its first five years. After the blizzard of 1886-1887, the cattle business was ruined and the Cheyenne Club lost its appeal. The building became the headquarters for the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce until it was razed in 1936.

This Wyoming legend, that was a world-class operation over a 100 years ago, seems to be a phoenix rising at Brush Creek's The Farm in the Cheyenne Club of Saratoga.

In truth, the Cheyenne Club of Saratoga, with its attention to detail, service, quality of food and drink, could be argued to be even better than its namesake.