Forte — Restaurant in Alaska

Summer 2023: We went for a late lunch after a walk and were happy to find the restaurant open between peak times. The tables on the balcony overlook the pond and the mountains, so we chose to eat outside. The menu has been changed since I was last here so no vegan entrée available unless you ask, but ask! The server kindly went to talk with the chef and they offered a tofu pasta dish, which I ordered. Delicious! They also have gluten free and vegetarian options available.

They opened their renovated and reimagined restaurant this past month and I am so glad to have made it in during the shoulder season between summer and skiing. Quiet and absolutely autumn beautiful. If you were warm socks and a sweater, you need to opt for a deck table if available. Otherwise the new decor is a wonderful option offering a warm atmosphere.

I am going to begin by saying this review might be my first where I will address other reviews. Not critically but, as regular readers know, I never give a bad review. I don’t disparage those who do but I just use this hobby as a way to have fun and relax, and to share good experiences, and so negativity would be counter productive. With that said, it occurred to me that I might be able to help establishments which do receive unflattering criticism to answer in a way that I can verify for them as an unpaid third party just out to help.

In this case two reviews mentioned very specifically the service and willingness to accommodate allergies. So I set out to get to the bottom of each complaint.

Linda & Nicole, both phenomenal servers, Linda here with the hotel for 14 years and Nicole a Romania exchange student for 3 seasons now, were both delightfully engaging. Jason, who is a Food & Beverage manager with the hotel, took more time than he had, I am sure, to answer questions. None knew I wrote reviews at that point either. They were all extremely friendly and knowledgeable and I got all the answers as I enjoyed a lovely lunch overlooking the fountain and mountains.

I’m going to refute any service issues based on personal experience. I don’t doubt it might have taken time for an order, especially during a busy season. Because of staffing shortages and the new schedule with the restaurant just opening, I don’t doubt waits. My experience was prompt and courteous service with no waits beyond what I would expect. If anything, I lingered longer requiring frequent check ins, all done with smiles and sincerity.

As far as allergies and food requests, I was particularly interested being a plant based eater. I can report that all three of their seating menus very clearly denote vegan, dairy free, gluten free and vegetarian options. As far as lunch goes I ordered the Vegan Kale Caesar and the Ai Funghi pizza on a gluten free crust and then ordered the dairy free sorbet. Can I go with a blanket delicious? No, that’s not good enough. The pizza was something else…I have no idea how with the crust but I would love that recipe! I hate mushrooms, but the Chef made me forget that fact. When it comes to Kale salads, I am going to love them no matter what, but when there are garlic chickpea croutons and an avocado dressing sprinkled with aromatic lemon zest, I’m glad I own an EV car (which they have a charger for in their parking lot) because gas from Eagle River just for a weekly lunch visit could get pricey.

Jason assured me Chef Paula and her crew are very aware and accommodating when it comes to food requests and they will work their hardest to help make everyone comfortable. They have a pizza and pastry kitchen sharing the general kitchen space, so people need to recognize those limitations. Additionally, it might help to call ahead, they had phone issues (hiccups at the start up), it is getting worked out and will hopefully be up and running soon.

One last accolade…thanks to Alyeska for committing to local food sourcing! They listed some great vendors who they partner with directly on their menu and I hope, as this particular restaurant begins to settle into regular, they will partner with even...

Don't waste your money.. Go somewhere else. We stopped in for drinks after driving up from Anchorage for the spa while visiting AK and decided to grab a bite to eat. We used to live up here and had been to Alyeska plenty of times and to the other restaurants for food with amazing experiences. Not really sure how this one was so far off the mark??

Three of our four meals were so bad I wouldn't have expected to have paid more than $5-10 a piece for them. Dry as a BONE. We decided to ask for some marinara for the chicken since it was breaded and came with absolutely nothing else to it, and they charged us for the sides of marinara lol what a joke. Felt like being nickel and dimed over a crappy meal - not what I would have expected from the high-end vibe and $30+ meals??

Decided to try a gluten free pizza with butternut squash puree and goat cheese on it. Sounded really good and unique in theory but turned out to be a flat piece of crust with the tiniest amount of puree on it. As a whole, it was super bland and unflavorful, and again - extremely dry and chewy. A $5 budget pizza would have been better than this.

I'm not just a hardass with high expectations. I've worked in the hospitality industry plenty and this was just so bad that I genuinely feel robbed.

Our server was nice and she was great, but even good service on her end couldn't save this.

At no point did we ever see a manager or did anyone check in to ask how our food was. I kept waiting - I didn't want to put the burden on our server so we didn't end up saying anything. Was going to say something to the hostess on our way out so as not to burden our server with it (it was just so bad that someone's got to say something! Otherwise how does anyone improve) - and of course there was no one to be found there either on the way out.

The only good food item that came out was the meat ball appetizer that one of us ordered for his meal. What a complete joke. If you're going to charge upwards of $30 for basic dishes, at least get them decent enough that people don't have a terrible meal.

This was a $45 tab at MOST value wise.. yet we closed out at $120. Such a let down. That's a lot of money for us for splurging and now it's...

Beautiful, recently redecorated restaurant, but a truly regretable meal. Not busy when we were there- one of two seated tables. Seated by the bartender who led us to a table, dropped menus on it, and walked off without a word. Waiter was attentive and kind. Took orders for drinks and an Appetizer, brought drinks and forgot Appetizer. Ordered arugula salad and pasta. The salad dressing tasted ok but had wilted arugula and was missing hazelnuts. Was supposed to have toasted coconut, but we had to fish around to find little brown specks in the salad that we realized was the coconut. It tasted stale like it was the debris in the bottom of the prep container. We ordered halibut with the salad- it was just OK and didn't smell super fresh. The pasta arrived lukewarm with undercooked potatoes. Taste was meh and swimming in oil. We asked about the missing foccacia Appetizer and it was brought with an apology and offer to have it for free. That's good because the bread was dried out and tasteless. It looked mass produced and poor quality and was so dried put and hard I could have hammered a nail with it. It was served with bland ricotta that had some herbs visible mixed in but was totally tasteless. My wine with dinner was forgotten, which was a blessing since the food was barely edible. The waiter was very kind when we gave feedback about the atrocious meal and compted all but the alcohol, which we appreciated. Overall- don't waste your money. Leave the hotel and go to Jack Sprat, or get beer and fries and...