In contrast to basic eateries like the Canyon Lodge Eatery, mid-range dining experiences in Yellowstone tend to provide more of the concrete information sought by cosmopolitan travelers. Xanterra narratives the dining experience at these restaurants in ways that align with the audience of conscious enrichment-seekers they imagine.
Also situated at Canyon Village, the Canyon Lodge M66 Grill provides one of the most immediate contrasts to the Eatery. The restaurant is temporarily closed as of summer 2022, as labor shortages and supply chain problems have forced concessioners nationwide to reassess capacity. But it will surely reopen, and, prior to COVID, it was one of the pricier reservations-only restaurants in the park. The lone picture on its website suggests a less whimsical or striking design aesthetic than one can find over at the Eatery: Mid Century modern chairs with colorful vinyl seat cushions fill an empty restaurant, while a bar in the background overlooks a window facing some evergreens. Lacking much in the way of visual excitement, Xanterra nonetheless ensures visitors that eating at the M66 Grill is an exclusive experience by communicating the challenging parameters for securing a table: “Dinner reservations can be made beginning May 1 for the following year with Canyon Lodge room reservations and 60 days in advance without Canyon Lodge room reservations.” Travelers escaping the coastal cities for a vacation at Yellow-stone will recognize from this reservation policy that a table here is something to be planned for, to be anticipated. There is a certain allure to getting a reservation that requires such planning—it is exclusive and requires the reserver to have done their homework to have insider knowledge.
Indeed, despite the casual dress code, the opportunity to experience “full-service dining in a casual Mission 66-themed setting” with “a menu of house-made soups, entrée salads, and creatively prepared beef, chicken, pork, Red trout and vegetarian dishes” (Xanterra 2019b) that is promised on the website is a harder get than some of the 50 best restaurants in the world. The 2019 dinner menu contains a prominent note in an eye-catching brown box, addressed to discerning diners:
At M66 Bar and Grill, we understand that our wonderful natural setting is part of a complex and fragile global ecosystem and must be protected and preserved for future generations. Therefore, we promote a sustainable model of fresh for-ward dining. We’re softening our environmental footprint while bringing our guests the highest quality food and beverages.
(Xanterra 2019b)
In contrast to the paucity of local and sustainable mentions on the Eatery menus, there is no shortage of eco-sensitive good taste-conjuring on the M66 menu. The wines and beers on tap are all local, and the beer list mentions the whereabouts of each brewery (some from Bozeman, Missoula, Belgrade, and Red Lodge, MT, as well as one from Victor, ID). Almost all of the entrees get the vaunted green leaf: From the Red Bird Farms Natural Airline Chicken Breast (antibiotic and cage free, though not mentioned on the menu) to the Sauteed Red Trout (crusted with Montana Morado maize), the Bison Burger or Mixed Game Bratwurst, and several offerings from Case Custom Meats out of Yoder, WY, there is an abundant supply of place name-checking on the M66 menu. Among “shareables,” there is a Montana cheese plate with Tucker Family Farms Feta, Amaltheia Dairy chevre, and Mountain Mocha alpine cheese, and there are also Lamb Sliders made with Montana Natural lamb. For dessert there’s even a House-Made Flathead Cherry Crisp featuring “juicy Flathead cherries from Northern Montana under a crunchy, buttery oat crust.” As expected, all these qualifiers come with a price tag, as entrees ranged from $15.75 to $28.95 on the 2019 menu. But these prices are still quite reasonable for the targeted audience. Not only do they allow the concessioner to meet market demand and turn a healthy profit, they also effect compliance with NPS sustain-ability guidelines (Aubrey 2013).
The M66 breakfast menu, while offering fewer options with the green leaf that signifies sustainable or organic, has a section explaining more about Xanterra’s Softest Footprint goals: “We do it by finding products, where possible, that are: locally produced, organic, third-party certified and support sustainable farming, fishing and business practices” (Xanterra 2019a). They then list 32 partners, from Wheat Montana to Fat Robin Orchard.
Non-Restaurant-Specific Representation: Xanterra Special Features
Beyond the way Xanterra represents park foodways on its restaurant-specific web pages, on concession menus, and at concessions events like the cowboy cookout, the company also communicates important values to consumers through a cadre of feature stories that rotate through its website. The easiest place to find these features is in the “Read More About Our Dining” section at the bottom of any of the restaurant-specific pages; links to specialized stories that reflect well on Xanterra abound. These stories center on two themes: sustainability and diversity of offerings.
The most noticeable theme in Xanterra’s web-based special features is sustain-ability. A 2018 interview with Yellowstone Executive Chef Mike Dean connects Xanterra’s local sourcing practices with the founding logic of the park:
The idea of using and providing locally produced goods has become something of a culture here at Yellowstone National Park Lodges. The whole idea of nature, sustainability and conservation started with the first National Park, so it only makes sense to continue and enhance that practice. We try to source as many products as we are able locally, and work with growers, ranchers, and distribution companies that have the same practices in mind.
(Dean, cited in Xanterra 2018b)
Dean acknowledges that small local producers in Wyoming and Montana can’t necessarily provide enough products to supply Xanterra’s Yellowstone NP concessions through a whole season but says that he finds “niches” to showcase the products as they are available. Roosevelt Lodge, for instance, offers a shepherd’s pie made with beef from cattle grown within 40 miles of the kitchen, but the beef is used for that one menu item only (Xanterra 2018b). Another Yellowstone Hot Spot, this one in the form of a “Top Ten Things to Eat and Drink in Yellowstone” infographic, doesn’t talk about the restaurants or concessions directly, but also strikes the theme of the delicious local food and drink available: Huckleberries, trout, bison, any-thing made in Montana, and local beers are particularly touted (Xanterra 2018a). And sometimes the stories zoom in on the local small producers that provide food to Xanterra in Yellowstone: a profile of Belgrade, Montana-based Amaltheia Organic Dairy owner Sue Brown kvells about how Xanterra’s willingness to feature her goat cheese, organic beets, and baby kale on the Lake Hotel Dining Room’s menu has boosted her sales and sent a lot of new customers her way (Nugent 2017). Other articles concentrate on sustainability, emphasizing Xanterra’s commitment to sustainably produced food and beverage purchases and sustainable management practices. A 2017 article on the website emphasizes the food waste reductions at its food concessions in the parks, as well as innovations like keg beer, aluminum water cans, and biodegradable cutlery that have allowed Xanterra to minimize single-use plastics and remove bottles from the waste stream (Xanterra 2017b). Another 2017 article applauds the company for reaching the 50% mark for sustainable food and beverage purchases in its Yellowstone food concessions. The article goes on to acknowledge that “the goal is to increase them to 70 percent by 2025” and implores visitors to do their part by ordering local and sustainable menu items and applying the lessons learned in Yellowstone in their home com-munities (Loomis 2017). Another piece that rotates frequently through the Xanterra site trumpets the extent to which sustainability is an essential part of the company culture. It explains how consumer glass waste from the food service operations in the park has been recycled into park benches, picnic tables, and counters, and the author exhorts readers to do their part:
So the next time you enjoy some locally brewed beer or Montana syrup during your stay in Yellowstone, be sure to throw the empty bottle into one of the many recycling bins throughout the park. It just might turn up in the next round of green furniture or building elements added to the park.
(Stoddart 2016)
Xanterra’s storytelling around sustainability hails the conscious traveler, allowing them to imagine themselves as playing an important role in conservation and preservation through their consumption choices (buying the small-producer goat cheese and looking out for the local beef in the Roosevelt shepherd’s pie) and citizen practices (recycling and patronizing companies like Xanterra with a commitment to sustainability).