2013 Wood River Valley Guide

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A strange thing happens somewhere between the first leaves of spring and winter’s first snows: Time actually speeds up, turning those “lazy” days of summer into a whirlwind of commitments and intentions. If you don’t watch it, summer will slip away before you get the chance to get out of town and enjoy the season.

If it has just dawned on you that it’s already August and you’ve somehow misplaced nearly three months, don’t fear. Not only is there still plenty of time to get away, it doesn’t have to be a major commitment.

Thankfully, the Wood River Valley is just a few hours drive from the Treasure Valley, offering a mountain escape from our work-a-day lives. As always, Boise Weekly is dedicated to helping readers get the most out of their all-too-brief vacation time by offering some of the best bets, locals tips and insider knowledge of the Wood River Valley.

In this, our fourth annual Wood River Valley Guide, we once again offer inspiration for getting out of town. If you’re a literature lover, check out our guide for exploring the haunts of some of Sun Valley’s most famous writers. If you’re more into food, we offer some of the best options for dining with an eye (and tastebud) on local and seasonal ingredients.

While a summer escape is always fun, fall can be an amazing time to head to Central Idaho, not only for the weather and the slate of must-attend festivals, but because the shoulder season means there are some fantastic deals to be had.

Check out the calendar of events in the center of the section to help plan your trip. Most importantly, remember that it isn’t too late to slow down the clock—at least for a little while.

—Deanna Darr

4 ....................................................Literature in the mountains 5 ..............................................................................Going nordic 8 ................................................................... Calendar of Events 10 ..............................................................................eating right 12 ......................................................in the belly of the dragon 14 ...........................................................shoulder season deals WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M

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Everyone knows you can ski, hike and hunt big game in the Wood River Valley, but what if you’d rather explore the literary legacies that also exist around Bald Mountain?

The valley has produced two of the most prominent figures in 20th century literature: Ernest Hemingway and Ezra Pound. Thanks to the Sun Valley Writer’s Conference, a new crop of literary stars is being celebrated and fostered for the future. You can’t hang with Hem, of course, but the young guns have their favorite local haunts, too.

A good place to start your literary ramblings is the Community Library in Ketchum, where Regional History Librarian Sandra Hofferber has compiled a walking tour for the Hemingway-curious. She says Hemingway spent a total of 708 days in the area—not too many more than his third wife, novelist and journalist Martha Gellhorn.

The brown Ketchum Korral cabins at the south entrance to Ketchum on Highway 75 are where Ernest and Mary Hemingway (wife No. 4) stayed with their three boys for two hunting seasons—though back then, in the late ’40s, they were known as the MacDonald Cabins. The Sun Valley Lodge, about two miles east of Ketchum, is where Papa holed up, in Room 206, to work on For Whom the Bell Tolls in 1939.

The Hemingway House off Warm Springs Road in north Ketchum—where the writer committed suicide in 1961—is off-limits to the public, and fans are not encouraged to visit his gravesite at the Ketchum Cemetery, just east of Highway 75 a half-mile north of town. Instead, go 1.6 miles east, past the Sun Valley Lodge to the Hemingway Memorial, where a bronze bust of the writer is positioned at a picturesque section of an irrigation canal. This is a great place to relax and read a short story.

going back to their ex-pat days in Europe in Feeling thirsty and want a drink at one of the ’20s) was also a notorious anti-Semite Hemingway’s favorite watering holes? Try and branded a traitor to the United States Whiskey Jacques (the Alpine Club in Hem’s for his hysterical pro-fascist rants during day), in downtown Ketchum. For eats, World War II. check out Michel’s Christiania and Olympic Today, the restored Ezra Pound House Bar, where Papa had a regular table. at the corner of Second Avenue and Pine The Wood River Valley was home to anStreet in Hailey is other literary icon managed by the Sun before Hemingway, Valley Center for though. The first the Arts, offering to emerge from the writing workshops, Wood River Valley gallery shows and was born in Hailey concerts throughout long before Count the year.

Felix Schaffgotsch Pound was born and Averell Harriin Hailey during man conspired to the mining boom create America’s of the 1880s, but first destination moved as a child ski resort near to Philadelphia Ketchum. Poet Ezra and later Europe.

Pound’s birthplace Despite his conwas nearly forgottroversial reputaten by history, and tion—no consensus would have been has been reached as lost had an Irish to whether he was playwright working unbalanced or just for the Sun Valley despicable—many Center for the Arts poets and writers not “discovered” it after him, from in 1972.

Allen Ginsberg, The locals, including community Ernest Hemingway is buried in Sun Valley, but his life's Naomi Shihab Nye and recent poet leader and columwork lives on in the Wood River Valley. laureate William S. nist Roberta McKMerwin, have made ercher, who owned the pilgrimage to his birthplace. and lived in the house where Pound was Hemingway, who would help put Sun born, seemed willing to allow the legacy of Valley on the map when he was invited his origins to drift into obscurity. Probably to the opening of the resort by Harriman because this towering modernist poet and in 1936, helped Pound escape execution friend of writers (he edited T.S. Eliot’s The after World War II and later came to his Wasteland, helped discover James Joyce, aid, along with poets Robert Frost and and was a longtime friend of Hemingway,

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Archibald MacLeish, to free him from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, a Washington, D.C., asylum where he was confined from 19461958 after pleading insanity to accusations of treason in 1945.

The literary esprit de corps that existed among writers in Paris during Hemingway’s generation has been re-created since 1995 at the Sun Valley Writer’s Conference, which takes place each year over the last weekend in August. During the early years of the conference, major writers such as William Styron, Peter Matthiessen, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje told stories at the Community School campus in Sun Valley, joined by a host of leading journalists and TV news executives. Legendary editor James Bellows read and edited manuscripts for a lucky few.

Over the years, the list of SVWC writers, poets, filmmakers, journalists and news makers has multiplied to include Abraham Verghese, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Tracy Kidder, Alexandra Fuller and many others. Several of the presenters return year after year, and have seen one another’s work evolve.

The SVWC has become expensive and exclusive. Journalists are forbidden to interview participants, and $900 tickets for the next year sell out immediately after the conference ends, leading to speculation in literary circles: What might former poet laureate Billy Collins learn from National Geographic explorer-in-residence Wade Davis? Have either of them read Mona Simpson’s summer phenom, Gone Girl, which will soon be made into a feature film?

What might Harvard creative writing professor Bret Anthony Johnston, who just finished a documentary about 6 the world’s best skateboarder, have to share with retired Gen. Stanley WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M

DAVID WHEELOCK

to other challenging mountain sports like Freshly groomed Nordic ski trails are becoming a huge draw to the Wood River mountain biking and even backcountry skiValley for professionals and weekend waring—sports that require elevated experience riors alike. and skills, and add to the enjoyment of the Thanks to the diligent efforts of some vast public lands surrounding the Wood dedicated fans, the Sun Valley area is now a River Valley. designated Olympic training destination for A quick way to learn the Nordic terrain the U.S. Nordic ski team, meaning anyone is to print the 200K challenge card for the who has aspirations Sun Valley Nordic of competing in Festival—which the Big Games—or runs Jan. 25-Feb. 2, at least catching a 2014—at svnordicglimpse of some festival.com. The who may be headed sheet is a one-stop for Sochi, Russia, in shop for informa2014—the key is to tion, including a find a couch to surf guide to and passes in Blaine County for the trails, which and show up. are mostly manThose serious aged by the Blaine about training County Recreation will find avid and District. skilled coaching Sun Valley through the Sun Resort also has 40 Valley Ski Educakilometers of skiing tion Foundation on terrain surand VAMPS, run by rounding the Sun Nordic powerhouse Valley Clubhouse Muffy Ritz, among on Trail Creek other opportunities.

Road. Mat GerThrift stores, ski shater can be your swaps and seasonal online guide with work can fill in the his Sun Valley Norgaps on the way to With Olympic Training status, the Wood River Valley's dic skiing video.

Nordic greatness.

Nordic trails are gaining notoriety.

Finally, anyone Phil Liggett may looking to test their even announce your skills can head to name in prime time with his silky announcGalena Lodge, where food and rejuvenating er’s voice. Don Wiseman, one of the key beverages await all levels of skiers—from people behind getting the Olympic designathose who tackle trails like Psycho to casual tion, is not only an enthusiast and one of the visitors who come for a wee bit of saucer sport’s greatest supporters, he also looks at sledding with the kids and the dog. the expertly groomed ski trails as a gateway WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M

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The house where Ezra Pound was born in Hailey is now managed by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and hosts events throughout the year.

Today, after many years teaching and McChrystal, former leader of U.S. writing, Maksik is a rising international military operations in Afghanistan 4 literary star. His first novel, You Deserve and author of My Share of the Task?

Nothing, has been translated into six lanMany other writers have emerged guages, including Russian and Korean. In a from the Sun Valley area. They inrecent interview with the Idaho Mountain clude Ridley Pearson, who formed the Rock Express in Ketchum, Maksik said his faBottom Remainders band with Steven King, vorite local hangout is Iconoclast Books on Dave Barry and Amy Tan. Judith Freeman Sun Valley Road. Proprietor Sara Hedrick taught skiing in Sun Valley in the 1970s and keeps her shop supplied with many books wrote for the Idaho Statesman before going of regional interest, to Los Angeles to and collections of write The Chinwork by Sun Valley chilla Farm.

Writers Conference Freeman, who attendees. is now at work 415 Spruce Ave., Ketchum, Also worth on a memoir, said thecommunitylibrary.org noting in the Sun she attended the Valley area are a first Sun Valley number of lesser Writer’s Conference 2 Sun Valley Road, known writers, in18 years ago. She sunvalley.com cluding Mary Clare recalled in an interGriffin, author of view that she joined Sun Valley Road, 1.6 miles east of Language Lessons, poet W.S. Merwin; Sun Valley Lodge and Rick Slone, his wife, Paula; and author of Brown a 22-year local kid Shoe. There is also named Alexander Mike Medberry’s Maksik on an 314 Second Ave. S., Hailey, recent memoir On outing to Silver sunvalleycenter.org the Dark Side of Creek Preserve the Moon, and a that summer. collection of colMaksik’s father was 671 Sun Valley Road, Ketchum, umns by Michael headmaster at the iconoclastbooks.com Hofferber called Community School Rural Delivery. in Ketchum in Sandra Hofthose days, and one ferber has collected many more that most of the original founders of the Sun Valley have never heard of. Get her started and Writer’s Conference. she can also dish out some local gossip and “Xander said he wanted to become a enchanting lore about the valley that may writer, and he did,” said Freeman. “A lot never make it into print. of people say they want to, but few actually do.”

Ketchum Community Library Sun Valley Lodge

Hemingway Memorial

Ezra Pounds birthplace/ Sun Valley Center for the Arts Iconoclast Books

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UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE

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Take in the show hanging at the Sun Valley Center for the Ar ts’ Ketchum galler y

Floating World: The Influence of Japanese Printmaking

Catch free public concer ts ever y Tuesday evening beginning at 7 p.m. in Forest Ser vice Park. Concer ts run through Tuesday, Aug. 20. sunvalley.com.

Ketch’em Alive

The symphony per forms free public orchestra, chamber music and pops concer ts at the Sun Valley Pavilion. The season runs through Sunday, Aug. 18, and all concer ts begin at 6:30 p.m. Visit the website for a full schedule. svsummersymphony.org.

Sun Valley Summer Symphony

Check out an old-fashioned county fair with plenty of rodeo action through Saturday, Aug. 10, in Carey. blainecountyfair.com.

Blaine County Fair

AUGUST

NexStage presents the 14th annual summer production of Shakespeare in

Sun Valley Shakespeare Festival

The singer-songwriter returns to Idaho for a concer t at River Run Lodge Wednesday, Aug. 14. The Milk Car ton Kids open a show filled with Americana and folk-rock. The music star ts at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $40. sunvalleycenter.org.

Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band

The 45th annual event hosts more than 130 ar tists from across the countr y. The festival runs Friday, Aug. 9-Sunday, Aug. 11, in Atkinson Park. Free admission. sunvalleycenter.org.

Clint Black

Catch two days of professional cowboy poetr y and music in Stanley Friday, Sept.

6-Saturday, Sept. 7. sawtoothmountainmamas.org.

Stanley-Sawtooth Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering

As par t of the annual Idaho Governor’s Cup fundraiser, the band per forms on Friday, Sept. 6. The show star ts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets cost $35-$54. recklesskelly.com.

Reckless Kelly with The Trishas

NexStage presents this “romantic dramedy” beginning Wednesday, Sept.

4-Sunday, Sept. 8. nexstagetheater.org.

Brilliant Traces

Professional endurance bike racer Rebecca Rusch hosts her own race with 56- and 94-mile options beginning and ending in Ketchum Sunday, Sept. 1. This year is a test run, so public registration is limited. The race concludes with music, food and cold beer. Registration costs $80 for the 56-mile course or $100 for the 94-mile course. rebeccasprivateidaho.com.

Rebecca's Private Idaho

SEPTEMBER

The 89th annual celebration runs Saturday, Aug. 31-Monday, Sept. 2, with a parade, community breakfast, a 5K walk/run, chili cook-off, vendors, music, enter tainment and more in downtown Bellevue. bellevueidaho.us.

The countr y superstar per forms with the symphony for the organization’s annual fundraiser Thursday, Aug. 8. SOLD OUT. svsummersymphony.org.

Sun Valley Center Arts and Crafts Festival

Bellevue Labor Day Weekend Celebration

Wynonna with the Sun Valley Symphony

Peek behind the ar tistic cur tain by tour-

Wood River Valley Studio Tour

St. Thomas Playhouse presents the classic musical Thursday, Oct. 17-Sunday, Oct. 20. Tickets cost $25 for adults or $10 for ages 18 and younger. stthomasplayhouse.org.

My Fair Lady

Check out 40 jazz, Dixieland, swing, zydeco and blues bands playing 10 venues throughout the valley Wednesday, Oct. 16-Sunday, Oct. 20. sunvalleyjazz.com.

24th Annual Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree

This annual festival marks the valley’s sheep-ranching tradition Thursday, Oct. 10-Sunday, Oct. 13, with music, food, ar t and the culminating Big Sheep Parade with 1,500 sheep moving through Ketchum. trailingofthesheep.org.

Trailing of the Sheep

OCTOBER

Shepherds and their sheep have long been a par t of Wood River Valley culture, a fact that is celebrated Thursday, Oct. 10-Sunday, Oct.

TRAILING OF THE SHEEP FESTIVAL

Food isn’t just something to be eaten, it’s something to be celebrated. Which is what this festival is all about, putting all things culinar y in the spotlight Thursday, Sept. 19-Sunday, Sept.

22. Join restaurant walks across town, check out chef demonstrations, dig into har vest dinners and the Grand Tasting, and don’t miss the fun at the Mar tini and Caviar Par ty or the new Oktober fest Celebration by Sawtooth Brewer y. sunvalleyhar vestfestival.com.

SUN VALLEY HARVEST FESTIVAL

The Wood River Valley gets back to its roots Friday, Aug. 30-Sunday, Sept. 1, with family friendly enter tainment, a shoot-out per formance, antique fairs, food, music and the famous Sun Valley Collectors Car Auction. The highlight of the weekend is the horse-drawn Big Hitch Parade on Saturday, Sept. 1, with more than 100 wagons and buggies, including the 20-mule jerkline. wagondays.org.

2013 WAGON DAYS

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The musical family comes together with their bands and friends for a three-day music festival in Challis Thursday, Aug. 8-Saturday, Aug. 10. Tickets cost $71.95 for two days or $105.95 for a three-day pass. Children’s tickets for ages 6-12 cost $15, but are free for ages 5 and younger. braunbrothersreunion.com.

Braun Brothers Reunion

Shop for local produce on Main Street between Carbonate and Galena streets ever y Thursday from 2-6 p.m. through Oct. 10. wr farmersmarket.org.

Hailey Farmers Market

Find fresh local produce and goods ever y Tuesday from 2-6 p.m. through Oct. 8. The market is located at East Avenue and Four th Street. wr farmersmarket.org.

Ketchum Farmers Market

Learn about the area’s histor y on a free one-hour bus tour led by members of the Historical Society. Tours run ever y Friday through Sept. 6, beginning at 10:15 a.m. at the Sun Valley Visitors Center. visitsunvalley.com.

Sun Valley Story Tour

Sun Valley Resor t hosts some of the top figure skaters in the world ever y Saturday through Aug. 31, including Kur t Browning and Johnny Weir. Shows star t at 9:30 p.m. and tickets cost $19-$69 or $99 for a dinner-show package. sunvalley.com.

Sun Valley on Ice

Free concer ts ever y Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. in Ketchum Town Square. Performances run through Thursday, Aug. 29. visitsunvalley.com.

Town Square Tunes

through Saturday, Aug. 24. sunvalleycenter.org.

Celebrate Central Idaho’s mining heritage Friday, Aug. 30-Sunday, Sept. 1, with a horse-drawn parade, ar ts show, music and more. wagondays.org.

Wagon Days

More than 50 vendors will be in Hailey for the Labor Day holiday offering antiques, log furniture, Western decor and much more. Friday, Aug. 30-Sunday, Sept. 1. haileyidaho.com.

Hailey's Main Street Antique and Art Show

The Sun Valley Galler y Association hosts free walking tours of member galleries featuring new works and show openings.

Dates include Friday, Aug. 30, Oct. 11, Nov. 29 and Dec. 27. Walks take place from 5-8 p.m. svgalleries.org.

Gallery Walks

Celebrate the return of the salmon on Saturday, Aug. 24, with a day of music, tours and educational booths, as well as a wild salmon dinner at the Stanley Museum. Dinner tickets cost $15 for adults or $10 for kids. stanleycc.org.

Sawtooth Salmon Festival

Fifty- and 100-mile, fully suppor ted bike rides on Saturday, Aug. 24, beginning and ending in Ketchum, with proceeds benefiting summer trails at Galena. Registration costs $75 for 100-mile riders or $65 for 50-mile riders and includes giveaways and post-ride food and beverages. bcrd.org.

Sawtooth Century Bike Tour

Get your fill of music, food and ar ts in the mountains Friday, Aug. 23-Sunday, Aug. 25. stanleycc.org.

Stanley Arts Festival

The rockers take the stage Wednesday, Aug. 21, as par t of the Killebrew-Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament to raise money for cancer research. The show begins at 8 p.m. and tickets cost $54$255. dannythompsonmemorial.com.

Huey Lewis and The News

Check out classic and show cars at the third-annual event at Mountain Village in Stanley Saturday, Aug. 17-Sunday, Aug. 18. Admission is free for the public. stanleycc.org.

Sawtooth Show and Shine

Ketchum s Forest Ser vice Park, with per formances from Thursday, Aug. 15-Sunday, Aug. 25. This year’s production is The Tempest. Shows begin at 6 p.m. and tickets cost $20 but kids age 12 and younger get in free. nexstagetheater.org.

The award-winning author discusses her work and the ar t of memoir writing Saturday, Sept. 28-Sunday, Sept. 29. Registration costs $300 and the deadline is Friday, Sept. 13. sunvalleycenter.org.

Memoir Writing Workshop with Alexandra Fuller

The annual symposium occurring Thursday, Sept. 26-Saturday, Sept. 28 will focus on Hemingway and the Modern, looking at how the writer’s work and life was influenced by the world around him.

Par ticipants will consider the ideas of reinvention and seeing things through new perspectives. thecommunitylibrar y.org.

Ernest Hemingway Symposium

This two-par t lecture looks at the realities of dealing with 21st-centur y China.

Par t 1 is on Saturday, Sept. 21, and Par t 2 is on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Admission costs $25 for one session or $40 for both. sunvalleycenter.org.

A Tale of Two Firms with Wharton School Professor Marshall Meyer

Sawtooth Brewer y is joining the action at the Sun Valley Har vest Festival, hosting an Oktober fest celebration with German food, music and beer in Ketchum Town Square from noon-8 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 21. Admission is free, but drinkers must buy a stein. sunvalleyhar vestfestival.com.

Oktoberfest

Celebrate the world of food with restaurant walks, cooking demonstrations, meals and more Thursday, Sept.

19-Sunday, Sept. 22. sunvalleyhar vestfestival.com.

Sun Valley Harvest Festival

Join the countr y superstar for an intimate per formance on Thursday, Sept.

12, at the Sun Valley Pavilion. The show begins at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $40$110. sunvalleycenter.org.

NexStage presents a musical rendition of the holiday classic Thursday, Dec. 19-Tuesday, Dec. 24. nexstagetheater.org.

A Christmas CarolThe Musical

The Sun Valley Ballet offers its take on the classic tale with three per formances Friday, Dec. 13-Sunday, Dec. 15. sunvalleyballet.com.

Wizard of Oz

Company of Fools presents the stor y of Louis de Rougemont, a 19th-centur y English adventurer whose exploits are legendar y—if imaginative. The show runs Tuesday, Dec. 10-Sunday, Dec. 29. compayoffools.org.

Shipwrecked

Celebrate the holidays in Hailey on Saturday, Dec. 7. haileyidaho.com.

Hailey Hometown Holiday Square

DECEMBER

Earn your Thanksgiving dinner with a 5K run on Thursday, Nov. 28, in downtown Hailey. haileyidaho.com.

Hailey Turkey Trot

NOVEMBER

Kids come out to trick-or-treat at downtown businesses throughout the afternoon on Thursday, Oct. 31. haileyidaho.com.

Hailey Halloween Hoopla

On Tuesday, Oct. 29, and Wednesday, Oct. 30, the Howard Preser ve is turned into a scar y haunted forest. This year, check out the Sun Valley Ballet per forming “Thriller” as par t of the event. bellevueidaho.us.

Bellevue Haunted Forest

A two-par t discussion of the economic realities of modern China. Par t 1 is Saturday, Oct. 26, and Par t 2 is Tuesday, Oct. 29. Registration costs $25 for one session or $40 for both. sunvalleycenter.org.

Is it Capitalism? with Wharton School Professor Marshall Meyer

ing the studios of area ar tists. The selfguided tours will be open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20, as well as a public reception with par ticipating ar tists from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday. wr vstudiotour.org.

Who needs Sundance when you can head to Sun Valley for world-class independent films and plenty of the par ties that go with them March 13-16, 2014. sunvalleyfilmfestival.org.

SUN VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

It’s all things Nordic Jan. 25-Feb. 2, 2014, when the annual Nordic Festival returns to the valley with races, celebrations and more. svnordicfestival.com.

SUN VALLEY NORDIC FESTIVAL

Music fills ever y niche of Sun Valley at this annual event, bringing more than 40 bands performing jazz, Dixieland, swing, zydeco and blues at venues across town from Wednesday, Oct. 16-Sunday, Oct. 20. sunvalleyjazz.com.

SUN VALLEY JAZZ JAMBOREE

13. The annual festival brings ar ts and crafts, stor ytelling, cooking demonstrations and meals, a sheepdog trial, music and more. The highlight is always the Big Sheep Parade at noon on Sunday, Oct. 13, when more than 1,500 sheep are driven through Ketchum. trailingofthesheep.org.

DAVID WHEELOCK

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The Wood River Valley is packed with dining options for all tastes, but a growing number of eateries are putting the focus on sustainable and seasonal menus—so many so that it's hard to choose. Here are some of our best bets for dining in the Sun Valley area.

Rickshaw: 460 N. Washington Ave., Ketchum, 208-726-8481, eat-at-rickshaw.com

In unskilled hands, bok choy can be a shruggable, watery green. But Ketchum’s Asian street-food hot spot, Rickshaw, does something magical to those little limp, leafy bulbs, bathing them in sesame oil and pairing them with tender shiitake slivers and deep, warming hints of garlic and ginger. It’s the same thoughtful treatment the rest of Rickshaw’s fare gets in the itty bitty restaurant’s open, sizzling kitchen. From spicy, hot and sour soup flecked with Monterey Bay Aquariumapproved seafood to free-range Korean fried chicken to the least boring pad Thai in Idaho—with wild U.S. shrimp, organic tofu, lots of heat and a big hit of lime— Rickshaw serves up simple, sustainable eats and keeps its seats perpetually packed.

Della Mano: 260 N. Main St., Ketchum, 208-721-7351, dellamanorestaurant.com

Though locals know Chef Taite Pearson from his turn at Sun Valley’s shuttered Sego, the James Beard-nominated chef sharpened his knives working for bigwigs like Wolfgang Puck and Joel Robuchon. But don’t let his resume intimidate you, Pearson and Sarah Lipton’s latest communal seating concept, Della Mano, is a shrine to simple small plates and comforting handmade pastas. Local, seasonal ingredients make a big showing on the ever-changing menu—the chicken liver terrine is served with pickled rhubarb and saba, a syrup made from grape must, while the agnolotti pasta is filled with fresh peas, local ricotta and topped with delicate, yellow pea shoots. But beware: The joint is only open from 6-9 p.m.-ish, Wednesday-Sunday.

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World Today?” Schell is the director relationship to the natural environcalligraphy style that reimagines the invasion of Western brands into The ambitious curators of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts have of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.ment.

English language through ChineseChina’s market. Chen Qiulin films dropped a prism into one ungainly China Relations and is a regular On Wednesday, Sept. 18, at inspired characters. The exhibition and photographs consider the topic this fall, that U.S. frenemy of contributor on China for PBS, NBC 6:30 p.m., writer Jeff Kelley delivalso features work by Western speed with which China’s past is titanic proportions: China. Tourists, and CBS. ers “Half Life of a Dream,” a talk artists reflecting on contemporary being erased. Yun-Fei Ji tackles this locals and second homeowners will On Thursday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 on the haunted and iconoclastic China. same issue in “Three Gorges Dam have about three months to watch p.m., playwright David Henry works of Chinese artists, from the Rachel Davis’ experiences in Migration,” employing a scroll that the many bright colors flash around Hwang will speak at the Church of New Wave of the late 1980s to the China inspired a series of watercolor uses traditional Chinese landscape town, from The Center gallery space the Big Wood, Ketchum. Hwang paintings that are meditations on the market boom on the mid-2000s. painting techniques. in Ketchum to the newly partnered was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Kelley will also speak at the Sept. 16 collision between cultural history Hai Bo’s photographs consider Liberty Theatre in Hailey.

Award-winner for his now-iconic screening of Ai Weiwei: Leading scholars will display M. Butterfly.

Never Sorry. cuss Chinese art history and Kim Frank Kirk will host “Lost Beijing Flickers, by Beijing-style capitalism, kids and Found in Translation,” a book Chinese filmmaker Zhang will make traditional Chinese discussion series at the Liberty TheYuan, will show on Thurslanterns while their parents atre on Wednesdays, can choose from Mandarin Oct. 16–30, 5:30-7 cooking classes, a tour of p.m. Registration site-specific installations deadline is Wednesor a documentary about 191 Fifth St. E., Ketchum, day, Oct 2. Kirk will renowned artist Ai Weiwei, sunvalleycenter.org explore the works of who was detained for three Hwang, Nobel lauremonths for criticizing the ate Mo Yan and redis100 Saddle Road, Ketchum, government and is still not covered, celebrated pcbw.org allowed to travel outside the pre-war author Eileen country.

Chang.

Stories of a Changing There will also be 110 N Main St., Hailey China kicks off on Friday, seminars and classes Aug. 30, from 5-7 p.m. at for those interested in The Center, where artist Ying further exploring the Zhu will speak about her themes of the show, led by Wharton day, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. at installation at 6 p.m. the Liberty Theatre in Hai- School Professor Marshall Meyer.

“It is like living in a fog; Registration deadline is Friday, ley, featuring worn-down everything is under a gentle Sept. 6. characters against the haze. It seems to be within left: Chen Qiulin, Garden No. 1, 2007, digital photograph, collection of Max Protetch, right: Rachel Davis, Parallel Uni- dazzling lights of China’s The shows are extensive and reach, but very difficult to get verse, 2012, watercolor on paper, courtesy the artist and Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, Calif. wide-ranging, and those interested teeming capital. a firm grasp,” Zhu said. in making the most of it should China expert and During the course of consider buying a Sun Valley Center author Orville Schell will 12 weeks, the SVC will navigate Symposium for the Curious: China give a talk on Thursday, Oct. 10, at and rapid development. Bovey Lee, how the lives of those who lived through the mist. The Luo BrothToday pass, on sale for $130 for 6:30 p.m. at the Church of the Big born and raised in Hong Kong and through China’s Cultural Revoluers, Ren Sihong and Suo Tan make members, $240 for nonmembers.

Wood, titled “How Did the Sick based in the United States, uses the tion have changed, and Xu Bing crewry sculptures and collages using The gallery shows at the center, Man of Asia End Up As the Most Chinese tradition of paper cutting ates work exploring the collision of China’s tradition of socialist-realist including regular tours, are free.

Dynamic Economic Force in the (jianzhi) to comment on the human East and West through an invented propaganda to comment on the

Sun Valley Center for the Arts Church of the Big Wood Liberty Theater

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AUG 8-10 REUNION FESTIVAL

CK's Real Food has been a local favorite for years.

.6;;*& #3"6/ r %"-& WATSON 5)& -0/&45"34 46;: #0((644 r .*$,: & THE .0503$"34 /0 +645*$& r $03# -6/% 5)& )635*/ "-#&35"/4 50%% 4/*%&3 r 563/1*,& 5306#"%0634 r 3"/%: 30(&34 #"/% 50. /";; +";; r ("3: $*/%: #3"6/ #3"6/ '".*-: (6*5"3 16-- r 8"%& #08&/ 3&%% 70-,"&35 r 5)& %&1"35&% r 3&$,-&44 ,&--:

SATURDAY FRIDAY THURSDAY

201 3

Challis Idaho

tickets avaiable at the gate day of shows or online at

10

Dashi: 220 East Ave., Ketchum, 208-928-7703, dashisunvalley.com

Dashi’s beef short ribs are a warming winter miracle. Tender shreds of fatty Niman Ranch beef are slid off the bone, formed into hunks, lightly fried in a panko batter and served on a bed of kimchi that has been reduced into a hearty, lightly pungent stew. Chef Tyler Stokes’ contemporary-yet-casual tribute to pan Asian flavors also offers less weighty menu options like hamachi sashimi with blood orange sorbet, Thai chili and coconut gel, and seasonal summer plates like roasted halibut with sweet corn nage, snap peas, lemongrass and a basil crust.

Enoteca: 300 N. Main St., Ketchum, 208-928-6280, ketchum-enoteca.com

If you’re looking for a bite of local fare in the late afternoon in Ketchum, you’re largely out of luck. But thankfully, Ketchum Grill’s new wine bar, Enoteca, opens its doors at 4 p.m., serving seasonal small plates, house-cured meats and bubbly, Neapolitan-style pizza. Snag a seat in the warm wooden window nook overlooking Main Street and tear into the Pizza Diavola with spicy coppa, fennel and manchego, or the marsala-glazed duck confit with risotto.

CK’s Real Food:

320 S. Main St., Hailey, 208-788-1223, cksrealfood.com

It’s easy to motor past CK’s Real Food, a flower- and foliage-shaded shack on Hailey’s Main Street, but the temple to local, seasonal eats is well worth making a U-turn.

Dinner options at CK’s include orecchiette with quattro formaggi, lacinato kale, CK’s pancetta, wild mushrooms and a poached local egg, or a king crab salad with shaved fennel, delicata squash, almonds, curry vinaigrette and buttermilk dressing. CK’s also offers more laid-back lunch options Monday-Friday, like a reuben sandwich with housemade corned beef and organic sourdough or a brown rice bowl with steamed veggies, pistachio aioli and a Moroccan spice pesto.

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PHOTOS COURTESY SUN VALLEY RESORT

mountain bikers seeking a backcountry Don’t fret when you see the end of summer looming on your calendar. The shoulder respite, which can include a bed in the season in the Wood River Valley is a stufamous Coyote Yurt operated by Sun pendous time of year.

Valley Trekking.

The Smoky, Pioneer and Boulder Returning visitors to the Wood mountains are a free place to wander and it River Valley know they can plan welldoesn’t take much to get oriented, with new rounded shorts-weather adventures in guideposts around Ketchum making it easy the wilds of Idaho, which are uniquely to look up from wireless devices to figure steeped in a cosmopolitan brew of out where things are. fine arts encounters. (Some have been Consider following your nose—or at known to wear shorts long after the least asking a local—about where to find first snow flies.) the day’s best shoulder season drink and One of the best deals going is the food specials. From Sun Valley CK’s Real Foods in Summer SymHailey to Galena phony. Patrons Lodge, two-for-one can lounge on sunvalley.com and end-of-season the lawn of the discounts abound Sun Valley Paonce Labor Day vilion for free svgalleries.org rolls around. A trip evening conon the Baldy Goncerts through dola to the Round Tuesday, Aug. svsummersymphony.org House earns you a 20. free ice cream back The famous in Ketchum if you Sun Valley keep your ticket.

Resort is also visitsunvalley.com For those who a frequent like at least a little purveyor of direction to begin shoulder season the journey, consider printing out a map of deals. Golfers can take advantage Ketchum art galleries, provided by the Sun of numerous golf-and-stay packages Valley Gallery Association. Even if you find through the fall, offering the chance to yourself spinning your wheels in the woods play the resort’s courses while claiming (preferably on a mountain bike) or unsure a room at the historic lodge. Check out where next to turn at the end of a hike, just the resort’s website for specific details. stop and look around.

You can also get a glimpse of the For example, the U.S. Forest Service Wood River Valley experience via the road for the East Fork of Baker Creek— definitive Visit Sun Valley website— north of the Sawtooth National Recreation maintained by the Sun Valley/Ketchum Area headquarters—is closed to motor Chamber and Visitors Bureau—where vehicles to help migrating elk find their visitors can find special deals and bugle, but the way is open to hikers and discounts.

Sun Valley Resort

Sun Valley Gallery Association Sun Valley Summer Symphony Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau

14 | 2013 WOOD RIVER VALLEY GUIDE | BOISEweekly

Tee Time in Sun Valley just got sweeter thanks to shoulder season deals at Sun Valley Resort.

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