I’ll Have a Side of Brand Equity with that Bogus Burger, Please!

For what might arguably be the Treasure Valley’s oldest continuously operated restaurant, food serves a higher cause than simply satisfying a hard-earned appetite: think of it as the culinary embodiment of a larger brand experience.

On a clear, moonlit winter’s evening, the upper level of Bogus Basin’s Pioneer Lodge offers one of the most enchanting vistas of any local restaurant. And if you’ve worked up a killer appetite on the slopes, a tall cold one with anything short of a deep fried gym sock would probably fill the bill.

But if you’re the food and beverage director at Bogus Basin, you’re not content with the resort equivalent of convenience store grub. After all, for what might arguably be the Treasure Valley’s oldest continuously operated restaurant, food serves a higher cause than simply satisfying a hard-earned appetite: think of it as the culinary embodiment of a larger brand experience.

It stands to reason that food is an essential part of the Treasure Valley’s much loved ski hill. After all, says food and beverage director Ryan (call him “Mo”) Morrison, “skiing is a social activity, and like any social activity, food is involved.”

Ryan "Mo" Morrison

Like so many restaurateurs, Mo cut his teeth in the food biz while in college. A native of Salem, Oregon, he went to school on the East Coast and found a job as a dishwasher at a little family-owned Greek restaurant. “I was the only non-Greek in the place,” Mo remembers, “but I did such a great job as a dishwasher that I was given some janitorial responsibilities as well.” In a reverse of the “Peter Principle” so typical of culinary businesses, Mo’s meteoric rise through the culinary ranks propelled him into prep cooking, and eventually line cooking. One can only wonder why moussaka has not yet appeared on the Bogus Basin menu.

Being from the Northwest, Mo looked for restaurant opportunities closer to hearth and home over the years, and eventually wound up as a seasonal employee of Bogus Basin before joining the organization as one of only thirty full-time staff just three years ago. As its food and beverage director, Mo quickly learned that he was assuming much more than the responsibility for running the resort’s culinary activities. He was taking on nearly seven decades of history, and the “brand equity” that goes with any cherished community fixture.

Back in “the day”, almost as many people made the journey up Bogus Basin road to watch the skiers as they did to actually ski, and the Bogus Burger was no small part of the draw for both the recreationally and voyeuristically inclined.

“For the past 70 years, our food operation has been run at various times by concessions, and at other times it’s been managed internally,” Mo relates. “Originally, the Chandler Family used to do all the food and beverage, and on Mondays they would make pies for the coming weekend – 60 pies from scratch! They were also known for the Bogus Burger, which was a handmade half-pound patty.” Back in “the day”, almost as many people made the journey up Bogus Basin road to watch the skiers as they did to actually ski, and the Bogus Burger was no small part of the draw for both the recreationally and voyeuristically inclined.

Meeting the Chandlers, and learning the history of the resort, “mo”tivated Mr. Morrison to look for ways to revitalize the relationship between his cuisine and its historical context – an effort that led him to a couple of key local producer partnerships. As Mo learned more about the origins of the Bogus Burger, he began working with AB Foods (Agri Beef) to create a signature hamburger blend of American Kobe beef and ground beef pressed in an oval patty. Mo then engaged a local bread maker, Alpicella Bakery, to create an oval bun with a double-B monogram on the top. Says Mo, “I told them, if you stamp a BB on the bun, you’ve got the business.”

In serving the Bogus Basin brand, Mo Morrison’s first priority is “to focus our purchasing power toward giving back to the community.”

Mo credits the ability to work with local suppliers with “making the impossible possible” in offering a menu that serves the higher cause of the Bogus Basin brand: providing a memorable recreation experience at a price that families can afford. At the same time, Mo and his menu are pushed to deliver that experience on a scale that would overwhelm even a fast food venue. “We can run through 1,200 to 2,000 burgers during the week, and that many again on a typical weekend,” he notes. “People ski hard all day and anything tastes good, but we have top of the line ingredients, and we want everything about the Bogus Basin experience to be affordable and accessible, and that extends to food and beverage.”

As a restaurant venue, Bogus Basin has three distinct personalities. At the lower Simplot Lodge, the menu and service is geared toward families in a hurry to fuel up and get back on the slopes. The less frenetic Pioneer Lodge caters to small families, married couples and singles. On the second floor of the Pioneer Lodge, the Firewater Saloon offers a selection of “pub grub” including smoked Gouda and mushroom sausages and the “Korizo”, and Kobe beef chorizo sandwich.

In serving the Bogus Basin brand, Mo Morrison’s first priority is “to focus our purchasing power toward giving back to the community.” On the slopes, Bogus Basin does this through underwriting the costs of ski education nights. In the kitchen, Mo serves the resort’s brand by making the food experience equally accessible, and memorable.

To create an affordable alternative to the “brown bag lunch”, Mo and his staff came up with the Mogul Burger, priced at one for $3.00 or two for $5.50. Another recent menu addition is what Mo proudly boasts as “Idaho’s longest hot dog.” At two feet long, the Colossal Dog could be the longest dog in the U.S. – but for Mo, it represents more than a culinary novelty act. “We need to be adaptive to our community during difficult economic times,” he observes, “so we wanted to be able to feed a family of four for $8.50.” As with the Bogus Basin Burger, the Colossal Dog owes its existence to Bogus Basin’s relationship with Alpicella Bakery and AB Foods.

As a signature dish, there’s simply no escaping the Bogus Burger as the culinary essence of a day on the slopes. “We’re talking a custom made, one-third pound patty, flame broiled with just a little seasoning salt to let the taste of the beef shine through, “ waxes Mo. “Add some bacon, cheese, your choice of condiments, and of course, a side of Simplot fries.” Now that, my friends, is what we’re talking about.