WYLD

Should You Book WYLD?

If you're comparing WYLD to other slopeside dining at Beaver Creek, there's no close contest at the $$$ price point. Most mountain resort restaurants trade on location and captive audiences; WYLD has a Michelin Plate (2025) and a wine list of 890 selections to back up the price tag. For returning guests who've done the signature dinner once, the question is what else the room offers; and the answer is more than you'd expect from a hotel restaurant at altitude.

The Room and the Setting

The visual case for WYLD starts before you sit down. The restaurant occupies a premier slopeside position inside the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, the setting reads as deliberately mountain without tipping into kitsch. The refined-rustic interior connects directly to The Great Room fireside lounge, which functions as both a pre-dinner cocktail stop and a late-night option for nightcaps. The horseshoe bar runs adjacent to the main dining room, giving the space an inviting flow that most standalone mountain restaurants don't achieve. If you're arriving for dinner in winter, plan to arrive 20 to 30 minutes early; The Great Room is worth the time, the seasonal cocktail program (more savory libations in the colder months, herbaceous combinations in summer) is a legitimate reason to linger. Wine Director Elizabeth Surprenant oversees a list with particular depth in Burgundy, Bordeaux, California; at the $$$ pricing tier, expect many bottles above $100, but the Michelin inspector flagged hidden gems worth hunting for.

What to Order If You've Been Before

For a returning guest, the mountain tapas format rewards a different approach than a first visit. The fire-roasted cauliflower, served as a whole head on a skillet with lemon gremolata and buttermilk aioli, is the kind of dish that converts vegetable skeptics and holds up as a reason to return. The Butcher's Block section of the menu is where WYLD earns its $$$ positioning most clearly: the elk rack and Colorado lamb chop are the items that reflect the restaurant's locally sourced, Rocky Mountain identity most directly. If you ordered the beef filet on your first visit, the elk rack is the logical next move. Side dishes here are not an afterthought; the Boursin mashed potatoes and lemon-roasted asparagus are the kind of supporting cast that makes the difference between a good meal and a complete one. For dessert, the roasted banana cake with Nutella ice cream skews savory rather than sweet, pairing well with a glass of ice wine if the list has one that suits. Chef Jasper Schneider's kitchen blends its own seasonings in-house, which gives the food a consistency that separates it from mountain restaurants relying on imported luxury ingredients to justify prices.

Lunch vs. Dinner at WYLD

WYLD serves both lunch and dinner, which is worth knowing for trip planning. The mountain-casual dress code removes the friction that comes with some $$$ mountain restaurants, you can come directly from the slopes without changing, which makes the lunch service genuinely usable rather than theoretical. For a special occasion, dinner is the right call: the full wine list, the seasonal cocktail program, the evening atmosphere in The Great Room make a stronger case for the price. For a weekday lunch after morning skiing, WYLD is a more practical choice than it might appear from the Michelin recognition alone. Reservations are recommended but not required; guests staying on property can use the concierge to secure a table, which is the path of least resistance during peak ski season.

Practical Details

WYLD is located at 0130 Daybreak Ridge Road inside the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Avon, Colorado 81620. The price range is $$$, with a typical two-course meal running $66 or above before beverages and tip. The wine list carries 890 selections across 7,800 bottles of inventory, with strength in Burgundy, Bordeaux, France, California at the $$$ tier. Reservations are recommended; book as far ahead as your schedule allows during ski season, when the room fills consistently. The mountain-casual dress code means no jacket required, which is a genuine practical advantage in a ski resort context. For those not staying at the Ritz-Carlton, the restaurant is accessible as a standalone dining destination. See our full Avon restaurants guide for how WYLD fits into the broader dining picture, our full Avon hotels guide if you're deciding where to stay. For pre- or post-dinner options, our full Avon bars guide covers what's worth visiting nearby. Sakaba is the other Avon restaurant worth knowing if you're building out a multi-night dining plan.

Awards and Recognition

WYLD holds a Michelin Plate for 2025 (and held one in 2024), which in Michelin's framework signals cooking worth seeking out, a step below a star, but a meaningful credential in a mountain resort market where the competition is thin and the inspectors are selective. The Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star rating on the parent property (the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch) provides a service baseline that most standalone restaurants can't match.

How It Compares

See the comparison section below for how WYLD sits against its peer set.

Further Afield: American Fine Dining Worth Knowing

If WYLD's farm-to-table approach appeals and you're planning other trips, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg occupy similar territory, locally sourced, ingredient-driven, serious wine programs, at higher price points and with more booking difficulty. For progressive American cooking with more theatrical ambition, Lazy Bear in San Francisco and Alinea in Chicago are the benchmark comparisons. If you're in other cities, Providence in Los Angeles, Addison in San Diego, and The Inn at Little Washington represent what the upper tier of American fine dining looks like at full stretch. For a more casual American frame of reference, Hilda and Jesse in San Francisco and Selby's in Atherton are useful data points on what $$$ American cooking delivers outside a resort context. Emeril's in New Orleans and Le Bernardin in New York City round out the national picture for diners benchmarking against the best of the American fine dining market.