location : menu : yurt info : what to bring
Dinner Experience
Moonlight Dinners is an intimate and unique backcountry dining experience you will not soon forget. Nestled in the woods on the flanks of Lone Peak, our warm and cozy candlelit dinner yurt is accessed by snowcat and serves an indulging and savory meal in a casually elegant atmosphere.
Your evening begins at the Moonlight Dinners’ meeting area located on the second floor of Big Sky’s Summit Hotel, just slopeside of the Carabiner Lounge. After checking in by 6:30pm, guests board Betsy and Dolly, our heated and enclosed passenger snowcats, for a fun and jovial twenty-minute ride through the picturesque forest to our private backcountry location.
Upon arrival to our yurt, a torch-lit sledding run and roaring bonfire lights up the scene outside while inside, the toasty yurt candles flicker and the wood stove crackles. Long tables covered with linens and candles give the opportunity to socialize while our talented musicians play acoustic guitar, setting the mood for the evening.
When the dinner bell rings, our exquisite dinner is served in courses and starts with a hearty baked French onion soup with fresh warm bread, followed by a tender Filet Mignon with peppercorn sauce (most say it cuts with a spoon!), garlic mashed potatoes, and fresh sautéed veggies, and finishes with warm Toblerone chocolate fondue with fresh fruit and pound cake for dessert. The accommodating staff and relaxed atmosphere of the Moonlight Dinner allows guests time for sledding, stargazing, and socializing by the fire, and will normally last three-and-a-half hours. A return ride back to Summit Motel ends your memorable evening around 10pm.
Location
The Moonlight Dinners yurt is located up on the mountain at Big Sky Resort in Southwest Montana. Winter visitors to the area will enjoy world-class terrain for all ability levels and the “Biggest Skiing in America” at Big Sky and neighboring Moonlight Basin, offering over 5,500 skiable acres of trees, chutes, bowls, and long groomers.
The West entrance to Yellowstone National Park stands just a mere hour South from the town of Big Sky and provides spectacular wildlife viewing during the winter season including elk, buffalo, wolf and deer all in the picturesque setting of Yellowstone’s famous natural geysers including the dramatic “Old Faithful.”
The classic mountain town of Bozeman and the Gallatin Field National Airport is located just over one hour North of Big Sky and serves 13 non-stop flights from San Francisco, Portland, Boise, Seattle/Tacoma, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Denver, Atlanta, Missoula, Butte and Billings.
Menu
Chef Brian Rumbaugh has perfected a delicious three-course meal cooked in our kitchen tent located adjacent to the yurt. Our exquisite dinner is served in courses and starts with a hearty baked French onion soup with fresh warm bread, followed by our main course consisting of a tender Filet Mignon with peppercorn sauce (some say it cuts with a spoon!), garlic mashed potatoes, and sautéed veggies (main course served family-style), and finishes with warm Toblerone chocolate fondue with fresh fruit and pound cake for dessert.
We are happy to provide a vegetarian substitute or wild caught Alaskan salmon filet in lieu of the beef tenderloin filet with prior notice.
A kids menu is also available offering chicken tenders and fries, buttered pasta, and a cheeseburger or sirloin burger with fries.
*Advance notice for seafood, vegetarian or child plates is required at the time of booking.
Refreshments include rich hot chocolate and whipped cream, hot apple cider, Montana roasted coffee, and a variety of select teas and sodas.
Although alcohol is not provided or available for purchase, please feel free to bring your own wine, beer, or liquor. If you choose to bring alcohol, it is at your own risk and you must be 21 or older to drink. We are happy to provide wine openers and ice with special requests accommodated with prior notice.
Yurt Information
A yurt is a large, circular, fixed walled tent. The Moonlight Dinners yurt is 30 feet in diameter (over 700 square feet!). Today’s yurts are a modern variation of the ancient shelters used by Central Asian travelers in the mountains of Mongolia, Siberia and Russia for centuries. Yurts are known to withstand extreme conditions from high winds and snowfall and well insulated, remaining efficient for heating in temperatures below -40 degrees Fahrenheit.
What To Bring
Dress: Though our snowcats are enclosed with blankets, and our insulated yurt stays toasty and warm insulated with the wood-burning stove, you will want to dress warmly for your time spent outside by the bonfire or on the sled hill. Our dress code is ‘Montana-casual’, and we encourage hats, gloves, jackets, snow pants, and boots.
Alcohol: Once again, though we do not provide alcohol for purchase, please feel free to bring your own.
Smiles: Anyone can go out to dinner while on vacation, but the Moonlight Dinner experience is all about getting away from it all and trying something different. Your memories of the trip will remain vivid, and your family, friends, and business associates will thank you for showing them such a unique, fun, and rewarding evening.