Golden Saloon

"Everything tastes better in the wilderness, but this still feels like an unlikely place to find a nationally acclaimed fine dining restaurant with an equally lauded chef. And yet here, two hours from the nearest stretch of pavement, sits Salmon & Bear Restaurant. The establishment at the McCarthy Lodge serves chef Joshua Slaughter’s brand of new-Alaska cuisine. “Sense of place through food is what the Salmon & Bear Restaurant is all about,” explains owner Neil Darish. In that spirit, the menu is formed around whatever can be foraged or found nearby such as chickweed, dandelions, morels, and berries, as well as local Copper River sockeye (a.k.a. red salmon), halibut, black cod, and rockfish. Fresh vegetables, chickens, eggs, and greens are grown and raised by neighbors around McCarthy."