EAT AN EPICUREAN EXPERIENCE
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S U M M E R 2 0 12
GOT YOUR GOAT A look at Colorado’s creamy, tangy cheese
PERFECT PAIRINGS Alcohol-free options for the gourmand WOW FACTOR A mouth-watering photo gallery CLEAN PLATES The Vail Valley’s best restaurants
DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
GET TICKETS NOW
SEASON 25 JUNE 25 - AUGUST 4
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
vailmusic.org
VAIL MUSIC FESTIVAL
877.812.5700
PACK A PICNIC, BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND ENJOY AN EVENING OF AMAZING MUSIC
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100 East Meadow Drive Vail, Colorado 970.477.0600 www.mastergalleryvail.com
PUBLISHER
Don Rogers
editor’s letter
drogers@vaildaily.com
EDITOR
Wren Wertin wren@vaildaily.com
ART DIRECTOR
Afton Groepper agroepper@cmnm.org
PHOTO EDITOR
Kristin Anderson kanderson@vaildaily.com
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Dominique Taylor dtaylor@vaildaily.com
Justin McCarty jmccarty@vaildaily.com
WRITERS
Krista Driscoll Shauna Farnell Kim Fuller Lauren Glendenning Brenda Himelfarb Traci J. Macnamara Scott Miller Kim Nicoletti Caramie Schnell Randy Wyrick MARKETING GUY
Mark Bricklin mbricklin@vaildaily.com
CIRCULATION
Jared Staber jstaber@vaildaily.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Louie Atencio Carrie Calvin Carly Hoover Rohann Million Printed by American Web, Denver The Vail Daily is a wholly owned subsidiary of COLORADO MOUNTAIN NEWS MEDIA 200 Lindbergh Drive P.O. Box 1500 Gypsum, Colorado 81637 p. 970.328.6333 f. 970.328.6409 Copyright ©2012 Colorado Mountain News Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.
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HEN I VACATION WITH MY DAD, he calls me a week or so before the trip
to give me the itinerary. “We’ll go out for Mexican food the night you get in. Monday we’ll eat Italian — I had the best cioppino there last week. Tuesday I think we’ll grill at home; the sunsets have been just glorious from the patio. Thursday we’ll eat downtown. And somewhere in there we’ll work in lunch at Brave.” My dad is an awesome griller, and has never met a steak or lamb rack that he couldn’t handle. But something he is even better at is making reservations. He knows when it’s time to eat where; he has a sixth sense about it. And when I head home to visit my mom and sister, it used to be the same. The advent of three little boys has changed the eating-out concept, but food is still ever-present. Drinking coffee, watching the sun play against the leafy oaks in the yard, Mom looks at me every morning and asks, “What do you want to do today?” And what she means is, What do you want to cook? This is the woman who introduced me to quinoa before the rest of the world decided it was the last word in good grains; the woman who never told me about boxed mac and cheese and so didn’t quite prepare me for college dorm living. That’s how we do it in my family — we plan our trips around when and where we’re eating, whether it’s out or in. Here at the Vail Daily we’ve compiled this issue of EAT to be a companion to your own nights out with family and friends. The chefs and owners of the restaurants we cover in the magazine ask us to come in and see what they’re about. They feed us, talk to us and then send us on our way. We’ve written our stories to offer a snapshot of each place, not an exhaustive essay. And we do this every season so our stories reflect what’s going on out there right now. But you shouldn’t just take our word for it — go and check it out for yourself.
&"5 AN EPICUREAN EXPERIENCE
•
S U M M E R 2 0 12
GOT YOUR GOAT A look at Colorado’s creamy, tangy cheese
PERFECT PAIRINGS Alcohol-free options for the gourmand WOW FACTOR A mouth-watering photo gallery CLEAN PLATES The Vail Valley’s Best Restaurants
Cover photo by Kristin Anderson The Kona kampachi crudo from vin48 comes with ripe watermelon rounds, crisp cucumbers, greens and fennel It’s dusted with a bit of Hawaiian sea salt.
Cheers, Wren Wertin Editor ILLUSTRATION BY SANDRA BERARDI
vaildaily.com
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Peace, Back by popular demand
contents
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11 Photo Gallery Before pleasing the palates, these dishes delight the eyes. BY KRISTIN ANDERSON AND DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
16 The EAT
Compendium Snapshot reviews of the valley’s best restaurants, from Vail to Eagle. BY EAT STAFF WRITERS
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49 Off the Sauce Gourmet options for alcohol-free pairings with a variety of food, from intricate syrups to basic flavor profiles. BY SHAUNA FARNELL
52 Great Goat A roundup of some of Colorado’s best artisan cheese makers. BY TRACI J. MACNAMARA
54 Bite Sized
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Fun facts and interesting tidbits to nosh on. BY WREN WERTIN
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contributors CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
I’d love to eat my way down the Baja Peninsula — I never get sick of tacos
My babbling baby
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
NEW KITCHEN TOY
JUSTIN MCCARTY
The sound of wine pouring from the bottle into my glass
Photographer
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
COOKBOOK DU JOUR FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
My favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon Bowl, in Denver
About 13K ft.
NEW KITCHEN TOY
World Wide Web of Google
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT Twirling Hippie Confections
MIDNIGHT SNACK Cookies & Cream Ice Cream with a splash of Coconut Milk
This gadget a chef in Vietnam gave me after I ate in her Hoi An restaurant four nights in a row this past May it can dice, peel, mince, slice, smash — you name it
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE Chocolate Food processor
DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT Peaches
MIDNIGHT SNACK Leftovers
Lobster Tacos
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
NEW KITCHEN TOY
Food
Cast Iron Panini Grill Press
AFTON GROEPPER Art Director
NEW KITCHEN TOY I’ve rediscovered my juicer
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
MIDNIGHT SNACK
Hanakapiai Beach, a beach on Kauai that’s a 2-mile hike in
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT 18 inches of fresh pow
MIDNIGHT SNACK
String cheese
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE Three months in Italy
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chunk cookies with organic milk
Sometimes silence, so I can clear my brain, other times The Black Keys
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE The magical trifecta, of course Chocolate, wine and cheese
Big Sur, CA, or anywhere by water
“Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
MIDNIGHT SNACK
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE Croatian Coast
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO The sound of my friends’ laughter
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE Cheese
KRISTIN ANDERSON Photographer
COOKBOOK DU JOUR Lately it’s the internet
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT Anywhere outside, especially while hiking
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT Peaches
MIDNIGHT SNACK Cheese
Sweet, thick-crust pizza, made in Chicago
NEW KITCHEN TOY Last week I pulled out my grandma’s heavy-metal, madein-America, super-duper juicer from the ‘60s and have been juicin’ ever since…
MARY KELLEY ZELESKEY Writer
COOKBOOK DU JOUR I enjoy the ones that teach you recipes that show how being healthy can be fun and delicious!
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
Eating through Croatia
MIDNIGHT SNACK
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
Popcorn
Peaches
Lamb, but the corn and peaches are good, too
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Bhakti Chai
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
Mobile devices — Epicurious. com is a great recipe resource
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
I tend to wing it
Microplane grater — not really new, but very well used
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
By the water somewhere, whether it’s an alpine lake here in the mountains or from the back of a boat in the Florida Keys (my other paradise)
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
Salty, cheesy, garlicky home-popped popcorn
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
Writer
NEW KITCHEN TOY
Aspen Canyon Sausage Writer
KIMBERLY NICOLETTI
Next to a lake... Hanging Lake, Piney Lake, Beaver Lake, whichever
Eating my way through every nook and cranny of Italy.
My mom’s 30-year-running collection of notes
LAUREN GLENDENNING
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
A sneaky spot in Cordillera
House music
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
Still “Super Natural Every Day,” by Heidi Swanson
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
Weird Al Yankovic - Fat
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
Turquoise, a Chef’s Travels in Turkey by Greg and Lucy Malouf
Cycle around France with a baguette in my basket
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
Writer
COOK DU JOUR
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
Thirty-Three Mile Roadhouse, Haines, AK
CARAMIE SCHNELL
Photographer
EAT summer 2012
NEW KITCHEN TOY Wireless remote thermometer
Right next to any creek or river
MIDNIGHT SNACK
Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue”
PRODUCT
Popcorn
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
The microbrews
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
Cheese
MIDNIGHT SNACK
NEW KITCHEN TOY
Chocolate
Spending a summer taking cooking classes in Paris with my sisters and blogging about it
Candy apple red KitchenAid mixer
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
Wine tasting in France
SHAUNA FARNELL
RANDY WYRICK
Pretty much anytime I cook spaghetti (which is often), I always listen to Andrea Bocelli with a glass of red wine
Writer
Writer (only because we’re not allowed to say bullshitter)
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
Top of North Trail
COOKBOOK DU JOUR Google
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
Uncle Randy’s “Fry Me To the Moon” cookbook, featuring Deep Fried Twinkies
Tex-Mex Chips and queso with margaritas
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
NEW KITCHEN TOY
Harry’s Habanero hot sauce
WREN WERTIN
MIDNIGHT SNACK
Writer
Wheat Thins and sharp white cheddar
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
Tour the cuisine of renowned creative chefs in Asia
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
Ugly plums
Hard rap
Tons of water, in hopes of staving off the hangover
I have always wanted a Panini maker
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE Blueberry pancakes
KIM FULLER
NEW KITCHEN TOY Muddler
“Fresh & Easy” by Jane Hornby Bravo
MIDNIGHT SNACK
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE Some wine-oriented bicycle tour with any of my sisters
“Sunday Suppers at Lucques” by Suzanne Goin
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
Any variation of, “Let me wash that for you”
Always an aspen grove
Jazz
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE Chocolate
NEW KITCHEN TOY I just got a blender a few months ago
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
Writer
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
My back porch as the evening sun goes down, which comes from a blues song and might be the best line of iambic pentameter ever written “I hate to see that evenin’ sun go down”
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT Highway 24 on a warm afternoon motorcycle ride
SCOTT MILLER
MIDNIGHT SNACK
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
I’m old — If I’m still awake at midnight it’s because my kids are sick
Writer
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
The little park near the information center in Eagle It’s close to the river, lovely, and not many people know about it (Dang it! I’ve said too much!)
Frank Sinatra singing, “Fry Me to the Moon”
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
Attention
Avery White Rascal Belgian Ale (in the summer)
Spicy fideos
NEW KITCHEN TOY
NEW KITCHEN TOY TRACI MACNAMARA
The Barb-E-Boss, the ultimate grilling tool
MIDNIGHT SNACK
Haystack Mountain Snow Drop Goat Cheese
MIDNIGHT SNACK
Writer
Prosciutto
COOKBOOK DU JOUR
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
Barefoot Contessa Parties!
The mighty VitaMix blender — carrot-ginger smoothie anyone?
I’m never up that late
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE It’s a Small World (of bacon)
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT
Eat and bike my way back through Italy, France and Spain
Lac Blanc, Aiguilles Rouges; Chamonix, France
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
FAVORITE COLORADO PRODUCT
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
Haystack Mountain Herbes de Provence Chevre
NEW KITCHEN TOY
Frank Sinatra
YOU ALWAYS CRAVE
Whatever’s on the “Red, Rock & Blues” music channel Really good green chili I bought a new spatula last week; does that count?
Red wine and chocolate
MIDNIGHT SNACK
NEW KITCHEN TOY
Nutella on toast
ROSANNA TURNER
CULINARY ADVENTURE YOU’D LOVE TO TAKE
Writer
Pizza tour road trip in Italy with my sister
How It All Vegan
The no-longerintimidating juicer
SONG/SOUNDS YOU LIKE TO COOK TO
COOKBOOK DU JOUR FAVORITE PICNIC SPOT Preferably by a body of water
FAVORITE COLORADO
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EAT summer 2012
Bunny Hop
Zino Ristorante in Edwards serves risotto embelished with rabbit and baby kale. photography by KRISTIN ANDERSON
Beyond Sushi
The Colorado lamb chops at Japanese restaurant Matsuhisa come with a miso-anticuchos glaze. photography by JUSTIN McCARTY
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EAT summer 2012
Five-star State Fair Homemade corndogs made with elk sausage are fried to order at Flame. Everything, including the fancy ketchup, is made in house.
photography by KRISTIN ANDERSON
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Flower Power
An avocado shell is used as the vessel for crab salad, one of the new menu items at The Gashouse in Edwards. photography by KRISTIN ANDERSON
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EAT summer 2012
MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY VAIL DEBUT
Carrie EllmoreTallitsch in Circe. Photo by John Deane.
Damian Woetzel, Artistic Director
Sun. July 29 7:30pm
NEW YORK CITY BALLET MOVES OPENING NIGHT Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Mon. July 30 7:30pm
NEW YORK CITY BALLET MOVES PROGRAM II Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Tues. July 31 7:30pm
NEW YORK CITY BALLET MOVES UPCLOSE: STRAVINSKY BY BALANCHINE Vilar Performing Arts Center
Fri. August 3 7:30pm
INTERNATIONAL EVENINGS OF DANCE I Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Sat. August 4 7:30pm
INTERNATIONAL EVENINGS OF DANCE II Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Mon. August 6 7:30pm
NOW PREMIERES HOSTED BY DAMIAN WOETZEL Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Tues. August 7 7:30pm
Fri. August 10 7:30pm
DANCE FOR $20.12
BALLROOM SPECTACULAR
(ON SALE JUNE 6, 2012) Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Thurs. August 9 7:30pm
Sat. August 11 7:30pm
MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
DANCE TV Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
VAILDANCE.ORG | 888.920.ARTS (2787)
TICKETS: $12-$90 ON SALE NOW
VAIL INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL
@VailDance
Eat here now! Featured Restaurants AVON Castle Peak Grille ......................... 17 Montaña’s Cantina and Grill ........................................ 18 Ticino Italian Restaurant ............ 19 vin48 .............................................20
Foxnut Slopeside Sushi ............... 25 The Metropolitan .........................26 Splendido at the Chateau ............ 27 The Osprey Lounge .....................28 Toscanini ...................................... 29 EAGLE Old Kentucky Tavern .............. 30
BEAVER CREEK 8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill .................................... 21 Beano’s Cabin ...............................22 Beaver Creek Chophouse..............23 Blue Moose Pizza ..........................38 Flying Pig BBQ and Sandwich Shop ............................24
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EAT summer 2012
EAGLE-VAIL Route 6 Café ............................ 31 EDWARDS The Gashouse ...............................32 Gobi Restaurant ........................... 33 Gore Range Brewery ....................34
Marko’s Pizza and Pasta .............. 35 Zino Ristorante ............................36 VAIL Bistro 14 ........................................ 37 Blue Moose Pizza ..........................38 Elway’s Vail ................................... 39 Flame .............................................40 Game Creek Restaurant ..............41 Kelly Liken ....................................42 La Tour ..........................................43 The Left Bank ...............................44 Lord Gore ......................................45 Matsuhisa .....................................46 Pepi’s ..............................................47 The Tavern on the Square ...........48 Vail Chophouse ............................ 23
Avon
Castle Peak Grille TRAER CREEK PLAZA / 970.748.4848 / CASTLEPEAKGRILLE.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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trip down-valley should take you to a local hot spot, hidden off the highway and offering a taste all its own. Ideally located between residential Eagle-Vail and downtown Avon, Castle Peak Grille serves “elevated comfort food” with seasonal style. High-tops and an L-angled bar hold stake in the restaurant’s center, as dining tables wrap around a wall of windows and lead to an open-air patio. General manager and certified sommelier Matthew McConnell moves in spades between bar space and dining floor, giving guests the flavor of high-end hospitality. “Good service doesn’t just have to be in a fine dining restaurant,” says McConnell. “It should be in an approachable, well-priced, everyday sort of place.” Burgers and pizzas are simply mouth-watering here, but warmer weather has lightened up menu items to highlight this season’s best produce. The caprese salad piles mozzarella, fresh basil, balsamic glaze and extra virgin olive oil between red and juicy heirloom tomatoes, while the summer succotash is a sauté of bright vegetables with garlic and savory bacon. TWISTS AND TURNS Executive chef Paula Turner also has added a few twists to classic dishes that McConnell says seem to keep the guests coming. The gringo nachos are a local favorite and a good dish to share—delicious decadence of homemade potato chips heaped with cheddar cheese sauce, sour cream, bacon and tomatoes. McConnell says the ahi tuna poke
is becoming one of Castle Peak’s signature dishes. It’s fresh and flavorful, made in a ring mold over avocado with sesame seeds, sesame oil and nori scallions, served with wasabi greens, crispy wonton chips and a soy glaze. An impressive and accessible wine list stands tall alongside the spirit of an ever-evolving cocktail menu, choice craft beers and a wide variety of select whiskeys. “I’ve got a very, almost aggres-
Above Tacos on grilled tortillas come with a choice of fish or shrimp. Below Ahi tuna poke with sesame, nori and fresh avocado.
sively-priced wine list as far as value in town,” says McConnell. “We have pretty familiar wines and a diverse selection of bourbon, so there is definitely something for everyone.” As much pride as McConnell takes in the fermented grapes and grains, it’s the restaurant’s signature cocktail—the WUPE (woo-pay)—that he says takes the cake. The WUPE is a light and sweet tequila drink, and McConnell says the combination of earth and citrus creates a complementary balance in the cocktail. “The oakiness of the reposado really works well with the blood orange,” says McConnell. “It’s really a great year-round drink — not just for summertime.” Outside tables quickly fill for sunny happy hours and summer sunsets. Live music and a brand new patio bar entertain the space every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and McConnell says he wants to start bringing more locals to wind down the weekend with Sunday patio parties. “It’s all about good people, good food and cold drinks,” says McConnell. “We definitely want to be a place for the local crowd to go on Sunday afternoons and enjoy a beautiful patio with great views.” •
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Avon bartender Jessica Gregg. “We have so much room to really just blow it out here in Avon.” The open-air space creates a good family atmosphere, allowing kids and parents alike to enjoy afternoons and evenings out. “It’s open for kids to run-around,” Gregg said. “But the parents can have fun, too.” Even more inviting is the cantinastyle menu, with appetizers to share and entrees to devour. The guacamole flight offers a generous tasting of freshly made pico de gallo, queso, black bean hummus and guacamole, served with homemade tortilla chips. Wash it all down with a refreshing and unique cucumber margarita — the hand-muddled “cucarita” — and sink into the season. Pay close attention to the “eight great items for eight bucks” menu, because you’ll be able to spend less and try more. Selections include a cheeseburger, grilled chicken sandwich, chicken or beef tacos, Mexi pizza, spicy wings, taco salad, nachos grande and beef, chicken or veggie burrito.
Montaña’s Cantina & Grill 82 E BEAVER CREEK BLVD / 970.949.7019 MONTANASAVON.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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it on a sun-drenched deck with a margarita in hand. Yes, you’re sipping summer. Montaña’s Cantina and Grill in Avon has the menu and the view, and it’s hard to overlook the selection of more than 50 tequilas at the extended wrap-around bar. The restaurant has been open for less than a year, and already they are taking a bite out of the local food and nightlife scene. “This is the best deck and the best view,” says
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EAT summer 2012
Above Blackened tuna wrap with crunchy accompaniments. Right Chips and salsa; shrimp lettuce wraps.
UPSTAIRS… Montaña’s owner Tom Beaver is also excited to offer the area a late night bar menu, serving from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. “Some places in the valley say they
are going to serve late and then they don’t uphold their hours,” Beaver says. “We’ll be serving through 1 a.m. three nights a week, and if it works well we are going to expand it.” Beaver has decided to utilize the 6,000-square-foot space to have a restaurant on the main level and a nightclub upstairs. Montaña’s will be offering events and shows throughout the summer, bringing in crowds to both levels for both food and entertainment. You may not want to get up and start dancing right after eating a large plate of delicious chili rellenos smothered with a creamy white pepper sauce, but Beaver says there are a variety of options for all appetites. “A lot of times Southwest and Mexican food tends to be too heavy, but it doesn’t have to be,” Beaver says. “You can come here and have snack food or come and get something more hearty.” Ahi tuna lettuce wraps are a light dish that shouldn’t be missed. Cooked to preference, fresh and flavorful tuna comes on a bed of Bibb lettuce and topped with pineapple cucumber salsa — an in-house specialty. Finish off with a flight of tequila with a side of homemade sangrita (“little blood”), a traditional, non-alcoholic tomato accompaniment to tequila. And, of course, don’t forget to share the cinnamon sugar sopapilla puffs. •
Avon
Ticino Italian Restaurant 100 W BEAVER CREEK BLVD / AVON CENTER / 970.748.6792 / TICINORESTAURANTAVON.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
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arlo Frey sits loosely on his chair during a warm June evening, swirling a glass of Chianti in the midsummer twilight. Ticino’s outside patio reaches out from the dining room and rests at the foot of Beaver Creek, soaking in the full spectrum of sun rays as they begin to slip over the horizon. Frey quickly gets up with the sound of sliding chairs, graciously thanking his departing guests and with a motion of acknowledgment and a warm salutation. The Italian owner was not only raised with the good natures of European hospitality, he also grew up in a country known for its culinary abundance. Frey’s son, Sacha, co-owns the restaurant, and family traditions are being served on every table. Frey says all of Ticino’s sauces are freshly made, like in Italy, and he even attributes his heritage to dishes like the scaloppine di vitello caprese — veal scallopini topped with fresh mozzarella, oven-dried tomatoes, thyme juice and crispy gnocchi. “I went through the formal training with hotel and cooking school,” says Frey. “But a lot of the items on this menu come from my mother’s recipes.”
Chef Abel Moran is responsible for a lot of the pasta recipes, says Frey, and together the team has created a well-rounded menu. The quattro formaggi pizza is just one display of Ticino’s magnificent and fresh ingredients. Homemade dough is topped with four cheeses — mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola and asiago — and topped with mushrooms and truffle oil. The pizza is simple and robust, tempting taste buds with its strong and satisfying flavor. A few recipes even take on some southwestern spice to incorporate a more local cuisine. The peroncini farcite appetizer offers jalapeños stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil and cream cheese, wrapped in prosciutto di Parma, and drizzled with ranch dressing. HIDDEN GEM The dining room and bar are quaint and comfortable, but it’s easy to take full advantage of the outdoor seating during warmer months. Take away the tables, and you can imagine you’re spread out on a red and white checkered blanket, with all the simplicity and romance of a perfect picnic.
Osso buco gremolata with mixed veggies, panfried polenta and rosemary sauce. Left Mista salad with mixed greens, artichokes, caper berries, walnuts, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette.
Avon’s very own little Italy isn’t always easy to find, however. Any more turnarounds, sign postings and wafting smells and you’d think you were lost in Venice, but Ticino is actually just tucked away in the Lodge at Avon Center, off of West Beaver Creek Boulevard. Find your way there once and you’ll return without hesitation, especially after you finish your evening with an illy espresso and a creamy square of their signature tiramisu. Stop by for a neighborhood lunch special, and Frey says that if you don’t have your food in ten minutes, it’s on him. “This is no big show,” says Frey in his native Italian accent. “My philosophy comes from quality of food and quality of service. We have great, home-cooked Italian for a reasonable price.” •
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Avon
Vin48 48 E. BEAVER CREEK BLVD. / THE BOAT BUILDING 970.748.9463 / VIN48.COM BY WREN WERTIN PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
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ou can tell a lot about a restaurant by looking around the dining room at the people. At one table, multiple generations dig into their first courses with an apparently mutual glee. At another, a young couple grills their server, Anders, who pauses to think before launching into an explanation of one of the dishes. And, my favorite, a couple of gentlemen on the patio, leaning back in their chairs, hold their wine glasses casually, familiarly, like old friends. They talk, they listen; they take sips and occasionally sniff their glasses. This is what vin48 is — a neighborhood joint designed for people who want really good food, really warm service and really fun wines. You can’t fake the kind of effervescent buzz that hums in the restaurant. People here don’t just serve drinks and meals: They serve a
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EAT summer 2012
Grilled Gulf shrimp with a polenta cake and pico de gallo. Right Kampachi crudo, watermelon, fennel and cucumbers.
lifestyle. Take a tour out front, and see what’s growing in one of the restaurant’s three gardens: herbs, berries, peas and lettuces. None of the restaurant’s three owners were experienced gardeners before they undertook the project to help supplement what the restaurant uses. They’re learning as they go. “The rhubarb is for next year,” explains Collin Baugh, point to the plant. “It takes a couple of years to get established.” But that’s a concept they’re comfortable with at vin48. Baugh and his partners, executive chef Charles Hays and sommelier Greg Eynon, opened the restaurant a couple of years ago and slowly, carefully found their way. A busy dining room, lively happy hour and steady stream of regulars attest to the success. Chef Hays’ menu is an exercise in seasonal Colorado cuisine with a smattering of imports. The kampachi crudo, using a snapper from Kona, illustrates his love of clean
flavors that like to dance a little. The fish is clean and good, as are the watermelon, greens and fennel. But together? Wow. The slivers of fennel and sweet melon boost the fish up and smooth out any selfconsciousness it might have. Paired with a Domaine Wachau Gruner Veltliner, it’s lovely. Other standouts are the grilled shrimp on a sweet corn polenta cake with a finely diced pico de gallo, as well as the blackened flat iron steak. This isn’t steak and potatoes but steak and beans — little toothsome nuggets that seem designed for the bright chimichurri that flirts with the grilled onions and tender, fulfilling steak. The vavoom comes from the silky beef jus. “He makes all his sauces from the bones up,” Baugh says. “That’s the only way to do it.” But this writer’s advice? Go goat. Sourced from a farm next door to one of Colorado’s best makers of goat cheese, there’s a symbiotic relationship between the creamery and the farm. And it’s reflected in the dish — the menu favorite of both chef Hays and Anders — which has the exuberantly braised goat served with house-made pita and little pillows of goat cheese. The preparation is reminiscent of a gyro, complete with cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. And it is glorious. For dessert, order any of the tasty treats off the list, or sit back with a house-made limoncello — they make a really exceptional one from scratch — and a contented view of the world. •
Beaver Creek
8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill 50 WEST THOMAS PLACE, THE HYATT / 970.827.6600 HYATT.COM/GALLERY/BEAVE8100 BY RANDY WYRICK PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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othing is better than fresh food with the most possible flavor lovingly coaxed from it. Chefs sometimes complicate food because they’re working with inferior raw materials. In executive chef Christian Apetz’s kitchen at 8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill, that’s never the case. In every dish, everything is fresh. When something crosses your lips, you can identify every ingredient and you understand why it’s combined the way it is. This is food you want to eat. If you can, pick one of the stunning evenings we’ve enjoyed this summer and sit outside. Eventually, the wisps of clouds will come alive with evening color. The sun will eventually set, but you’ll be warm thanks to the heaters strategically placed around the spacious deck. The initial impression at 8100 is of a big room, but not rambling. The low hum of pleasant conversation floats on the warm summer air as laughter occasionally rises above it. The acoustics carry conversations to your partner, but not to the next table. Then there are the smells. You know when you’ve walked into a place where they care about food, and 8100 is one of them. DOUBLE TEAMED GOODNESS Start with the smoked tomato and watermelon gazpacho. It’s light and flavorful, refreshing and healthy, just the combination to set your palate on the right path for a delightful evening. Next up, an asparagus and
Dungeness crab salad with roasted Fresno peppers and preserved lemon arrived at the table. The golden beet carpaccio is served with arugula, ricotta salata, crispy shallots and aged sherry vinegar. The beets are fresh, not soaked, and the combination was a summer dining sensation. The house-made pork rillettes come with grilled bread, bourbon mustard and onion jam with a celery leaf salad. It’s easy to ruin pork; it’s inspired to cook it this well. Chef Apetz and the delightful sous chef Chase Dewitt prepare the pork in duck fat, double teamed goodness. The North American elk loin is presented with blue cheese grits and bramble balsamic preserves. Ask them to bring you a side of the signature Brussels sprouts with pancetta, served in a cast iron serving dish. If you ask nicely, they’ll bring you the sage-infused creamed corn, as
Above Ruby red trout with toasted farro. Below Golden beet carpaccio.
well as the summer succotash with fresh garden peas and great northern beans. Even the most craven carnivore would eat vegetables all the time if they were prepared like this. The generous ruby red trout entrée comes with toasted farro, pickled fennel, watercress and lemon-caper butter; the flavors complement the fish at each bite. JUST PEACHY Dessert is a double delight: carrot torte and warm peach pie with homemade peach ice cream. The pie’s crust is so light and flaky, it’ll give your grandmother an inferiority complex. The flavor of the fresh peaches isn’t buried under a barrel of sugar, instead the slightly tart finish contrasts nicely with the sweet ice cream. To round things out, try a few of the Liquid Adult Desserts and plan to share, especially the Mad Mixologist Beer Float Sampler. •
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Beaver Creek
Beano’s Cabin BASE OF GROUSE MOUNTAIN 970.754.3463 / BEANOSCABINBEAVERCREEK.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY KIMBERLY GAVIN
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fter a full day of playing in the Colorado sunshine, nothing seems more perfect than to retreat back to the hills, up to Beano’s Cabin. Arrive by horseback in the summer or catch a shuttle ride, but leave your car at the bottom of Beaver Creek where it belongs. What you may not expect from this mountain recreation oasis is fine dining at its best — culinary supremacy that is only matched by its actual elevation. High-vaulted ceilings stand between an open-air kitchen and a wall of windows, spreading enticing aromas and soft evening light throughout the dining room. Courses are crafted with locality in mind, and executive chef Bill Greenwood says Beano’s showcases some of this state’s best flavors. Perhaps it’s the spruce branches that he adds to his braises that make everything seem so naturally fresh, although intricate sourcing from local farms and from the Beano’s garden prob-
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Halibut with potato medley. Below Gingerbread-crusted rack of lamb.
ably has a lot to do with it. “Chef is really focused on where we are getting our product,” says general manager Casey Kaut. “He wants to know where the food is coming from, who the producers are and how the animals are raised.” The restaurant’s growing garden is also a big project for Greenwood. Kaut says it is the chef’s goal to get as much production from the Beano’s garden as possible. “By the end of the summer, everything in the green salad will come from right outside,” Kaut says.
DECISIONS The five-course menu starts with a soup selection — a chilled strawberry, tomato and red-pepper gazpacho or a warm tomato fennel with morel mushroom soup. Black pepper panna cotta and pacific halibut carpaccio offer varied textures and flavors, all pleasing and tempting to try in the third course. The Berkshire sausage is wood roasted and served with cherries and porcinis — a true representation of Colorado cuisine. As the night unfolds, darkness falls on the horizon as an intimate glow glides into the cabin. Live acoustic guitar gives taste buds a rest as the movement of strings resonates with listening ears, but smooth wine won’t leave your palette alone for long. A pinot noir is perfectly paired with the Copper River sockeye salmon with grilled plum, tomato confit, wild rhubarb, foie gras and roasted fingerlings. The fish is bright orange and cooked to perfection, savory and flavorful next to bright summer fruits. Cut into the wood-grilled elk chop with creamed corn, fennel, peach preserves and porcini mushrooms, paired with a cabernet that is strong enough to stand up to the succulent and dense meat. Desserts of apple pie with rum ice cream and caramel, and the orange and honey semifreddo on a basil shortbread with vanilla orange syrup are sweet endings to send you back down to the valley with thoughts of decadence for days. “You’ve got a great view, and you’re in the mountains,” Greenwood says. “But the food we are serving really speaks for itself in freshness and elegance.” •
Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek Chophouse & Vail Chophouse BASE OF GONDOLA, LIONSHEAD / 970.477.0555 / VAILCHOPHOUSE.COM BASE OF CENTENNIAL, BEAVER CREEK / 970.845.0555 / BEAVERCREEKCHOPHOUSE.COM BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTOS BY NATE AGNINI
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t’s hard to miss the Beaver Creek Chophouse patio, sprawling at the base of the mountain, a sea of tables sitting in the shade of red umbrellas. Croquet balls crack as diners take a break from munching on afternoon appetizers to explore the restaurant’s selection of lawn games, but they are always drawn back to the gastronomic delights served up by Chef Patrick Funk and his capable associates. Funk is rolling out lighter summer fare this season for those on the go. The Greens & Grain salad is robust and packed with vitamins, minerals and protein, Funk says. This healthy option is a mix of faro, kale, oranges and feta cheese topped with an apricot red wine vinaigrette and can serve as a starter or an entrée. Indulge in Oyster Night at the Chophouse on Thursdays on the mountain-side decks. Each week will feature two types of cold-water oysters, mostly from the West Coast and Canada, Funk says. Challenge a friend to some badminton or bocce on the lawn between bites of freshshucked raw and grilled oysters and oysters Rockefeller and sips of wine or Crazy Mountain beer from the local brewery. FAVORITES The halibut is popular, flown in daily from Alaska during the summer months. Another favorite is the Cold Seafood Tower, served with drawn butter and a selection of other sauces, the tower is stacked with Langoustines, oysters or green lip mussels,
snow crab legs, jumbo shrimp, Maine lobster and avocado and blue crab cocktail. You’ll need a half-dozen friends to polish off this dish. The Seafood Tower pairs well with champagne or a light and fizzy Mountain Spritz Venetiziano. This sunny-day cocktail (a mix of aperol, prosecco and club soda, garnished with an orange slice) was first
The Chophouse patio. Below Oyster Night at the Chophouse is every Thursday.
introduced to the Chophouse crew by friends in Beaver Creek’s sister city of Lech, Austria, Funk says. Patio palatables are all well and good for a quick bite, but you can’t escape the lure of the traditional 18-ounce, bone-in rib eye married with a side of roasted garlic mashed potatoes or bleu cheese tater tots — morsels of potatoes filled with bleu cheese and fried. Or go for one of Funk’s new favorites, the pork three ways. Braised pork shank, grilled slab bacon and a petit pork chop are served with mashed potatoes and buttered horseradish apple sauce and drizzled with a natural pan reduction. And for a twist on comfort food, try the Chophouse’s gourmet crab cake mac and cheese. “Crab cakes historically have been synonymous with the Chophouse,” Funk says. “We incorporated them into one of our most popular dishes. It’s unique.” •
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Beaver Creek
The Flying Pig BBQ & Sandwich Shop 122 THE PLAZA, BEAVER CREEK VILLAGE / 970.845.0333 / FLYINGPIG970.COM BY ROSANNA TURNER PHOTOS BY NATE AGNINI
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ne can try and charm their way into obtaining the recipe for the Flying Pig’s barbecue sauce, but General Manager Chris Mayer likely won’t budge. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Mayer says jokingly. “It’s our secret recipe our chef created.” With the right combination of sweet and spicy, getting The Flying Pig’s signature sauce all over your face is worth the cleanup. Mayer says the sauce has impressed even their toughest customers. “The Texas people, who claim to know all about barbecue, tell me they really like our sauce,” Mayer says.
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A custom sandwich made with a pile of deli meats, cheese and veggies on freshly-baked bread.
Opened in November 2010, the Flying Pig looked at the other offerings in Beaver Creek and tried to find the missing ingredient, so to speak. “What would Beaver Creek need?” Mayer says. “Something affordable, good and fast is what we were aiming for, so we opened up a sandwich shop.” By combing white or honey-wheat bread, which they bake fresh daily, with quality deli meat, the establishment has created a staple that will fill one’s stomach before, or
after, an active day on the mountain. All hot and cold sandwiches are named after Colorado peaks. Soups are simple yet satisfying and regularly vegetarian. There are also veggie-friendly sandwiches and a build-your-own option for meat-free eaters and those with allergies. Last year, the Flying Pig added a smoker so the eatery could make its own barbecue. According to Mayer, finding that great mesquite-smoked flavor is all about timing. “We slow cook it for about five hours and then smoke it until it’s about to fall off the bone,” Mayer says. “You don’t want to cook it too long, but not too short, either.” Popular items for barbecue lovers include the Chopped Brisket, BBQ Pork Ribs and the Pork Wings. During happy hour, one can “pig out” and get wings for $1 per bone or ribs for $1.50 per bone. The restaurant’s seven TVs make it a perfect spot for the sports-watching crowd. For those on the go, The Flying Pig won’t make you wait long. Patrons order at the counter and food is delivered to their table, speeding up the process. When asked what the key to the Flying Pig’s success is, Meyer summed it up succinctly: “Good food,” he says. One might think the Flying Pig’s name refers to pork that’s so popular it soars off the counter. It’s actually a reference to restaurant’s inspiration, a place called When Pigs Fly located in York, Maine beloved by co-owner Brian Nolan and his family. The bakery is renowned for serving delicious, freshly baked breads, prepared with only the finest natural ingredients available. Creating a concept that prides itself on daily preparation of fresh, homemade breads, sauces and ingredients, The Flying Pig is a slight twist on a great inspiration •
Beaver Creek
Foxnut Slopeside Sushi
BASE OF CENTENNIAL, BEAVER CREEK / 970.845.0700 / BCFOXNUT.COM BY SHAUNA FARNELL PHOTOS BY J. NELSON
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ttention sushi people and non-sushi people: There are a couple of very important truths regarding Foxnut. First, for the sushi people … when you saddle up to your tray of rolls and sashimi, leave the soy sauce and wasabi on the table. They absolutely aren’t necessary. Each item is adorned with just enough trimming and house-made sauce to make the fresh flavor explode on its own. For the non sushi people … don’t write off Foxnut as just a sushi joint and wander along to find another lunch or dinner stop that serves something heartier or less raw. Half of Foxnut’s whole motif is hot dishes, sandwiches, hot dogs and salads. A message to both groups … you’d better act quickly. This summer, Foxnut, located at Beaver Creek’s prime spot at the base of the mountain directly in front of Centennial lift, is only open through July and August. So, if you’re wrapping up a hike, or need to fuel up beforehand, you’re not going to find a better option. The Foxdogs — you should know — are not made from foxes. They are 100 percent Kobe beef, come with either mustard and relish for the purists, Sirracha, kabayaki and sesame seeds or avocado, jalapeño and cilantro for the spice hounds. Of the six hearty salads, the summer standout is the Mango Tango, piled high with tender chicken, snow peas, cucumber and mango and mixed with a mouth-puckering mintcitrus vinaigrette. Foxnut also serves the most succulent Korean BBQ pulled-pork sandwich in town and capitalizes on the rich juices of its slow cooking for beef and veggies in extracting the
broth for its Vietnamese Pho. The result is a hot and hearty consommé served with Kobe and rice noodles — perfect for when the dark thunderclouds roll in. For lunch, there is no better deal than the Bento Boxes. Which brings us to this: The raw
The Firecracker Roll with tuna, cucumber, wasabi tobiko and cilantro. The Sushitini with tuna poke, spicy tuna and avocado.
fish at Foxnut is among the freshest in Colorado. In fact, chef Brendan McCue has a freshness fetish. The vibrant colors of the deep-red tuna and bright-orange salmon speak to this, whether they are wrapped around a specialty roll (the Kodiak is the go-to for salmon lovers, filled with spicy salmon, avocado, cucumber and shiso leaf, while the Tango Roll is the tuna standout, filled with spicy tuna, tempura shrimp and avocado, wearing a juicy blanket of mango and seared tuna) or on celebrity display in a martini glass. If there were one item to make other customers stare and possibly drool from across the restaurant, it’s a Sushitini. Boasting three varieties, the Tinis are not just a rainbow sculpture guaranteed to elicit an admiring “what is THAT??” from onlookers, but a fresh mountain of tuna, crab, avocado and cucumbers cut so thin you can see through them. Not bad knife work. “Some people walk in and say, ‘Hey, there’s nobody Japanese or Asian here,’ and they assume it can’t be good,” McCue says. “I can’t tell you how motivating that is to me.” •
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Beaver Creek
The Metropolitan 210 OFFERSON ROAD SUITE 201C, BEAVER CREEK / 970.748.3123 / THEMETBC.COM BY TRACI MACNAMARA PHOTOS BY KELSEY MCMASTER
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eaver Creek’s newest restaurant, The Metropolitan — or The Met — is hip, fresh and fun. With a layout that creates a variety of social spaces, guests can sit grouped together on couches in seating enclaves, stand around tall tables or sit in a more traditional dining arrangement by the windows and watch the outside world pass by. The Met is known for its coffee, tapas and wine, and the space is set up nicely for sharing these things with friends. Pour yourself a bit of fun with The Metropolitan’s Enomatic Wine Dispenser, which is like the sleek adult version of a vending machine that holds eight white wines and eight reds. Swipe your prepaid card, and hold your wine glass under the spout to get the perfectly sized portion you’ve chosen. Now that you’re smiling, add some food to your plates.
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Top The charcuterie plattera. Below The enomatic wine-dispensing system.
SMALL IS BIG “In having a small menu, we’re able to execute quality consistently,” says The Met’s bar manager Alexis Gruczkowski. Even though the menu fits on a single page, and even though the items come in small or shareable portions, this summer’s menu at The Metropolitan is big on taste. “Throughout the year, we like to stick with what’s in season, what’s fresh and what’s sustainable,” says Gruczkowski. The summer menu reflects these ideals and The Metropolitan’s environment-friendly ethic. The Met serves its high-quality staple charcuterie platter overflowing with cured meats and artisan cheeses. But if you’re beyond the snack stage, go for the lobster tacos, which are new on the menu this summer. They come out bursting with color and taste: Pink butterpoached Maine Lobster gets folded into a soft corn tortilla with brightgreen avocado, Ancho chili cream and rajas. Served three on a plate, this small dish can be shared or eaten alone as a meal. Add a flavorful pop to any snack or meal at The Met by choosing a few other small plates to share. The stuffed Piquillo peppers are a good pick. They’re tangy at first bite and then spicy, but they’re a balanced combination of sweet and spicy with goat cheese and dates stuffed inside. The Espanola Cocas, one of their Catalan flat breads, is another savory option. It comes with chorizo, goat cheese, peppers, artichokes and cilantro spread on top of a thin flatbread with a crispy crust. If you’ve managed to stick to The Metropolitan’s small-pate, smallportion style, you’ll hopefully have enough room left to try its petit strawberry shortcake for dessert. This pile of white cake, fresh vanilla cream and macerated strawberries pairs so perfectly with a glass of Prosecco that you’ll be tempted to come in for it alone. •
Beaver Creek
The Osprey Lounge 10 ELK TRACK LANE / 970.754.7400 / ROCKRESORTS.COM BY SCOTT N. MILLER PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
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he Osprey is a small hotel with a small dining area, but it packs a lot of flavor into those small spaces. Just down the hill and across the street from the Beaver Creek Chapel, The Osprey bills itself as the closest lodge in North America to a chairlift — the Strawberry Park lift. Not far from that back door is the restaurant, a combination of cozy and modern, with a small staff, most of whom end up doing a bit of everything. And there’s a little bit of a number of flavors and textures on the menu. In the kitchen, chef Michael Wilganowski has created a “small plate” menu with flavors that will delight virtually any taste. He’ll also throw a little twist into traditional dishes. The grilled organic breast of chicken is served on a bed of mashed potatoes with plenty of butter and cream, and then topped with a truffle essence. It’s a stunning combination of comfort food and high class.
DECADENT BITES If you even think you might like Brussels sprouts, you’re obligated to try Wilganowski’s version with toasted butter and shaved asiago cheese. But bar manager Jarrett Davis — our host on this visit — said if The Osprey has a signature dish, it’s the fried asparagus. The spears are chilled in cold water overnight before being coated with an almosttempura batter, and then topped with a balsamic reduction and a lemon aioli sauce. It’s delightful and a bit decadent. If you had enough, you could munch these crispy spears like popcorn at a movie. There’s plenty of Wilganowski’s native Texas in the menu, too. The grilled flank steak with green chili sauce is served with a potato and cheese. It has just a bit of kick, but mostly it’s bursting with flavors from just north of the border. Then there are the desserts. The tres leches cake is soaked in three kinds of milk overnight, then topped Above Red chile beef nachos with lime crema fresca and cotija cheese. Left Fried asparagus with a balsamic reduction and lemon aioli.
with caramel, cocoa powder and whipped cream. It’s delicious — and as delicious as it sounds. Even the chocolate chip cookies are special, made to order for each diner. They take about 20 minutes to prepare. If you order after dinner, you’ll have time for another cocktail or glass of wine. All the small plates are served in either a “tapas” or “entree” size, so it’s easy to sample a good part of the menu in one visit. But one visit probably won’t be enough. Jarrett said The Osprey’s diners these days are mostly local residents. That means the place stays busy during the high seasons. “Reservations are strongly recommended,” Jarrett said. And those reservations are well worth making. •
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Beaver Creek
Splendido at the Chateau 17 CHATEAU LANE / 970.845.8808 / SPLENDIDOBEAVERCREEK.COM BY LAUREN GLENDENNING PHOTOS JUSTIN MCCARTY
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here’s a reason Splendido enjoys the kind of local acclaim that more ostentatious restaurants strive for — you can’t deny excellence. And owner David Walford has created it. Walford has been the executive chef at Splendido since 1994. His passion hasn’t faltered in those 18 years, leaving a restaurant that might be old in terms of years, but that age only shows in Walford’s confidence and rapturous love of cooking. His staff clearly shares his joy. Chef de cuisine Brian Ackerman has been with Splendido since 2001, sommelier Patrick Mildrum since 2005 and dining room manager Brian Rhodes has been with the restaurant for about eight years. “I can’t put my finger on that, but it’s an honor to me to have employees stay for so many years,” Walford says. Walford feels it’s his job to keep them excited and challenged, while also putting a certain amount of pressure on them. And with Walford as their mentor, it’s easy to see why his staff does so well. Passion is inspiring. “I have passion for what I’m doing — I’m not tired of what I’m doing,” Walford says. Walford doesn’t reinvent Splendido every season because, well, he doesn’t have to. The menu changes with the seasons, but about half of the menu always remains because those are the dishes that lay the foundation for the restaurant’s greatness — that and because some of the regulars might revolt if Walford ever removed them. The list includes items such as the whole Dover sole a la meuniere — a luscious piece of fish in a beautifully rich and complex parsley
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Above Roasted Berkshire pork loin and pork belly. Below Hawaiian kampachi sashimi with a grilled shishito pepper.
brown butter sauce. Or the wood ovenroasted Colorado lamb rack, a sophisticated plate of succulent lamb enhanced with pomegranate jus. This rack of lamb has been on the menu for 12 to 15 years, says Walford, laughing, but he can’t deny his following of guests some of the dishes they yearn for. “People are not tired of them,” Walford says. But the other half of the menu will change seasonally and according to Walford and Ackerman’s whims and what’s in season. But there are classics that transcend all seasons. Things such as steak tartare with prime Angus beef and quail egg or the seared La Bella Farms duck foie gras with strawberry mostarda, honey, rhubarb and pistachio toast. You’ll also find surprises such as the Hawaiian kampachi sashimi, made with Asian flavors like shiso, ginger and hot sesame oil and a beautiful seared shishito chili. And there’s
the pork — oh, the pork — done two ways with a roasted Berkshire pork loin and belly. The loin is sliced so you can see the lovely color of the meat, an ever-so-slight pink, sitting next to the glistening belly from the soy-caramel glaze. Even the accompaniments are mouth-watering — sprouted mung beans, black rice, edamame, snap peas and hon-shemji mushrooms. It’s one of those dishes where you could eat each thing separately, or pile it all onto your fork for one glorious bite. Either way, it’s bliss. To eat this kind of food in this kind of setting — there’s live piano music nightly and views of both the open kitchen and Beaver Creek mountain — is simply one of the quintessential Vail Valley dining experiences. Try it any way you like, too, as Splendido offers a bar and lounge setting, patio seating or the more formal dining room. From wherever you sit, you’ll find the joy that is Splendido. •
Beaver Creek
Toscanini 60 AVONDALE LANE / 970.754.5590 BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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hen people hear the word “Toscanini,” they sometimes confuse it with “Tuscany,” thinking the Italian restaurant only serves Tuscan-style cuisine. And while the chefs do prepare succulent veal, grilled meats, fresh vegetables, home-baked breads with extra-virgin olive oil and mellow cheeses, Toscanini offers a variety of tastes inspired by many Italian regions. The restaurant’s namesake, Arturo Toscanini, inspires chefs. Toscanini, a virtuoso conductor of the early 1900s, garnered a reputation for “bringing exquisite symphony music to life.” Toscanini has carried his legacy for perking up the senses into the dining realm by creating superb dishes and serving them with Old World cordiality. RICH, BALANCED CUISINE The chefs at Toscanini — and their five culinary apprentices — have a particular knack for combining ingredients in delightful ways. Each dish comes out rich and flavorfully balanced, without overwhelming diners with one predominant taste. So, as you enjoy an entrée such as the petini del mare, you’ll experience a delicate sweetness in the truffled white-wine sauce the pan-seared scallops sit upon, while still relishing the herbed spice of the corn risotto and sautéed spinach. Likewise, the shrimp scampi’s garlic white-wine sauce comes across subtly, so you won’t bowl over your neighbor with garlic breath. Nearly everything is homemade, which is why the amatriciana sauce on the breaded veal loin is so pleasing to the palate and why the fusilli
pasta, with its arugula, goat cheese, lemon and pancetta is so memorable. SPECTACULAR ITALIAN WINES But it’s not just the food that makes Toscanini stand out. As recipient of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for the past 13 years, it provides a wine list of more than
Above Petini del mare with pan seared Georges Bank scallops, corn risotto, sauteed spinach and truffled white-wine sauce. Below Mediterraneo salad with baby iceberg lettuce, roasted tomatoes, kalamata olives, white beans, pepperoncini, caper berries, feta cheese and a red-wine vinaigrette
350 Italian wines selected from every corner of the country. In fact, it is often one of only a handful of restaurants in the United States that obtains a specific case of wine, due to its close relationship with its distributors. It offers wines by the glass, half bottle and large-format bottle, including organic wines. If you love reds, Toscanini is the place: Its summer red wine list fills out nine pages. SPECIAL ENDINGS The restaurant, located next to the ice rink in Beaver Creek, is also a popular place for desserts and cocktails. It is well-known for its limoncello, a sweet and sour lemon-lime Italian after-dinner drink made from Everclear. While people come to Toscanini especially for the limoncello, it packs quite a punch, so order accordingly. For a sweet night’s end, try the chef’s selection of house gelato and sorbet, the hazelnut waffle with cherry gelato or an assortment of artisan cheeses and fruits. Toscanini makes amazing tiramisu, chocolate crème brulee and espresso semifreddo with Bailey’s Irish Cream, but like the limoncello, they’re zingy — this time with caffeine. •
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Eagle large outdoor patio and enjoy the Colorado sun and weekly live music, or choose a table in the spacious restaurant, decorated with nostalgic remnants of the South — a rural charm makes its last stand on the dinner menu.
Old Kentucky Tavern 223 BROADWAY / 970.328.5259 OLDKENTUCKYTAVERN.COM BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTOS BY KRISTIN ANDERSON
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rowing up in Kentucky a stone’s throw from the Maker’s Mark distillery gave Monica Mattingly a taste for everything Southern, and she and Steven “Juice” Morrison, co-owners of the Old Kentucky Tavern in Eagle, have created a menu that takes a creative shot at traditional Southern fare. The restaurant opened, appropriately, during the Kentucky Derby this year and has been serving up Hot Brown sandwiches and mint juleps in a laidback, fun atmosphere ever since. “You can have a date here,” Mattingly says. “But it’s for families, too. … We have a lot of fun.” The menu runs the gamut from vert to surf to
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Above Tavern Chicken and Waffles with maple butter. Right The Kentucky Wedge salad with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and bacon.
turf, with a little something for every palate. The starters and small-plates section features shrimp and grits and crispy-sweet fried pickles, but choose The Trifecta, a plate laden with veggies and toasted pita chips and three styles of dip in which to send them swimming. The Kentucky beer cheese is sharp and smooth, while the pimento cheese and Benedictine adds some chunky texture. The light and creamy cucumber spread goes perfectly with a carrot stick or a cherry tomato. For an aperitif, try the Kentucky bomber, a drink made with apple moonshine, amaretto and sour with hints of cinnamon. The Old Kentucky Tavern has taken as much care with its drink menu as it has its food, featuring nearly 50 beers and more than 40 bourbon selections, and the drink mixes — from Bloody Mary to fresh mint-infused simple syrup — are made in house. Trot your cocktail out onto the
TRUE SOUTH At the top of the dinner list is the Tavern Chicken ‘n’ Waffles. The chicken is battered in a blend of spices and love, fried up and paired with a thick, fresh-made waffle topped with a pat of maple butter and a side of syrup for dipping. Other austral additions include the Bardstown country fried steak, smothered in home-style country gravy; and the Kentucky fried rice, a vegetarian stir-fry blend of five powerhouse grains, marinated tofu and fresh vegetables. Still hungry? Order a Colorado grass-fed buffalo ribeye or the basil gorgonzola pesto-topped Angus beef tenderloin, an 8-ounce, tender filet seated on a bed of sautéed Brussels sprouts and ringed with sweet potato fries. If you missed dinner, come back for brunch. The chocolate-chip waffles are “off the hook,” Juice says. “It’s dessert for breakfast.” Brunch also features classics such as eggs Benedict and chicken fried steak, and novelties like Kentucky berry blue corn pancakes and candied bacon. Wash down your morning feed with a Rocky Mountain Head Helper, a saltrimmed eye opener made with spicy Clamato, lime and Coors Light. •
Eagle-Vail
Route 6 Café 41290 U.S. 6 / 970.949.6393 / VAILROUTE6CAFE.COM BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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ou don’t have to look any further than the beautiful new front patio to tell that a lot of changes have been made to the old Paddy’s location on U.S. Highway 6 in EagleVail, and the physical transformation was just the beginning for Route 6 Café when it moved into the space earlier this year. The restaurant, which previously catered exclusively to the breakfast and lunch crowd, has hired a new chef, added a dinner menu and tacked on a late-night happy hour for those with the midnight munchies. Chef Peter Millette, formerly of Sapphire Restaurant in Vail, has taken over the kitchen, bringing with him some of the signature dishes from his previous gig, while still keeping with the classic style of Route 6 Café. “It’s comfort food but a little different from a diner,” Millette says. “That’s the challenge — good food but keep the price down.” A SPICY KICK Start your dinner adventure with deep-fried calamari, served with a Thai chili sauce spiced with lime juice, hot sauce and a dash of fish sauce,
or the poblano chili relleno or tuna nachos, both of which made the trek from Sapphire’s menu to Route 6. The tuna nachos are not your typical cheese-covered mess of chips. Millette layers avocado and seared ahi tuna atop a fried wonton drizzled with a sweet red chili sambal aioli. The mix of textures, from the crunch of the wonton to the tender tuna, is pleasing to the palate, and the sambal gives each bite a spicy kick, something that
Above New York Strip with a pistachio-poblano crust and roasted tomato and chili sauce. Below Ahi tuna nachos with avocado, red chili sambal aioli and wonton crisps.
is present in many of Millette’s dishes. For the main course, dive into a pile of coconut Thai curry. Try the gluten-free dish — soft rice noodles topped with peanuts and tossed in a spicy, creamy coconut milk and curry sauce — vegetarian style, or add chicken or shrimp. Or get your hands on a Colorado staple, the grilled Rocky Mountain trout. The fish is served over sautéed spinach, bacon, red onions, tomatoes and potatoes, briefly tossed in maple-mustard vinaigrette. The grilled pork tenderloin is Millette’s twist on a traditional German dish: Spiced pork is paired with potato pancakes and topped with cinnamongreen apple chutney and a rivulet of sour cream. LATE-NIGHT CRAVINGS If you get a craving for something besides pub food and pizza late night, head into Route 6 for ahi tuna poke, bay scallop-and-shrimp ceviche or a garden burger with basil aioli. Happy hour is from 3 to 5 p.m. and again from 10 p.m. to midnight during the week and 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Route 6 also boasts a full bar — grab a beer or cocktail and walk out the new French doors onto the patio to sip and enjoy, surrounded by a shady sea of summer flowers. •
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Edwards
The Gashouse 34185 HIGHWAY 6, EDWARDS / 970.926.3613 / GASHOUSE-EDWARDS.COM BY WREN WERTIN PHOTO BY KRISTIN ANDERSON
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hen The Gashouse decides to update the salad menu, they don’t mean a house salad with your choice of ranch or vinaigrette. They mean salads Gashouse-style: something sumptuous for people who grab life with both hands — something real for folks who want something a little lighter than wild game for lunch. Case in point : the crab and avocado salad. Until now, those who wanted crab on their salad had one choice — add a crab cake. And who wouldn’t want to add one of the restaurant’s famous crab cakes to anything? Made with jumbo lump crab and almost nothing else, they’re made from co-owner Connie Iron’s grandmother’s recipe. They show up in surf and turf combinations, stand-alone apps or sandwich fillings. They are worth ordering again and again. But for the summer, they’ve got some competition. Served in a scooped-out avocado shell, the crab and avocado salad is tossed with a citrus dressing, a tangy counterpoint to the crab’s inherent sweetness. It is, perhaps, more feminine than the menu’s mainstays of carved-to-order steaks and wild game galore, but men seem to enjoy it as much as women. And it, like the outside seating area, embraces the season. “The patio is kickin’,” agrees Jay Beacham, manager and bartender. “It’s beautiful of course,
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Above The crab and avocado salad with a citrus dressing. Below The oyster selection changes daily, but it’s always fresh.
with all of the flowers. And the weather is perfect.” ROCKY MOUNTAIN STYLE It’s not just the patio that’s heating up. The log-cabin-style restaurant, complete with elk and deer mounts, historical photographs and jackalopes on every wall, is introducing a host of special nights that should liven things up for folks who want a little more action than, say, live lobsters and elk tenderloin. Monday is Aloha Night, with a mahi mahi/ pork one-two punch. Fresh fish and a pork chop with a citrusy chutney epitomize Irons’ recent fascination with living Aloha-style. “And we’ll have drink specials for those who dress up,” Beacham promises. Other specials in the mix include mussels on Tuesdays, a New England Clam Bake on Wednesdays and prime rib on Fridays. Local musician
Dave Perron will be there every Sunday. Opened in 1983 when there was nothing surrounding it, The Gashouse is Edwards’ oldest restaurant. From the get-go, it focused on the epitome of Rocky Mountain cuisine — wild game and fresh fish. There are some real gems on the menu, such as a lamb porterhouse and the bison carpaccio. They’ve got oysters of all kinds, including Rocky Mountain. The wine list has been newly invigorated, and the seafood keeps getting better. And all of that is extremely important. But so is the restaurant’s vibe — it’s soul. “Living in the Vail Valley, there’s a lot of great restaurants — but you could be anywhere,” says Andy Guy, co-owner. “When you’re at the Gashouse, you know you’re in Colorado. It feels like the mountains.” And it tastes like it, too. •
Edwards
Gobi Restaurant 69 EDWARDS ACCESS RD., NO. 6 / 970.926.6628 / GOBIRESTAURANT.COM BY TRACI J. MACNAMARA PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
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t Gobi Restaurant, food is a family affair. Owner Susan Wang and her family —including her mother, aunts and cousins — serve up much more than their specialty Mongolian barbecue. They add heaps of hospitality to each dish and create a friendly atmosphere at Gobi, where the menu includes traditional Asian wok-fired cuisine, rice and noodle dishes, build-your-own Mongolian bowls and much more. With a menu that’s constantly evolving, expect exciting things from Gobi this summer. Individual volcanic rocks will debut for an at-your-table culinary adventure, and the Mongolian grill is fired up all day long. FRESH SUMMER PICKS After a long, hot summer day, start your meal at Gobi with Aunt Sherry’s Ginger on Ginger cocktail (yes, named after Wang’s Aunt Sherry), which includes ginger liquor, a house-made ginger simple syrup, rum and a splash of soda. The ginger margarita is equally refreshing, and the Gobi bartenders also like to get creative with strawberry-basil mojitos and chili-infused vodka cocktails, if you feel like trying something new. Gobi’s Thai beef salad is a light and fresh starter that includes thinly sliced beef layered over lettuce and other colorful veggies. Mint and cilantro give the salad a flavorful pop. The Vietnamese spring rolls are also stuffed with fresh vegetables and served with dipping sauces that will pique your taste buds for the main course to follow.
dishes you’ll likely recognize: Kung Pao chicken, beef and broccoli, pad Thai. But the feature — and the most fun — is the Mongolian grill. Personalize your food by picking up a big, empty bowl and taking a trip to the bar to fill it up with the thinly sliced meats, fresh vegetables and sauces you choose. The chef will cook it up over the Mongolian grill while you watch, or you can return to your table and have it brought to you when it’s grilled to perfection. For those with a hearty appetite, ask for the Gengis Khan, which allows you unlimited trips to the grill so that you can create a different bowl each time and explore your full range of options. And if you’re not too full for dessert, you’ll be tempted
Right Chicken lettuce wraps and Thai iced tea. Below Braised tofu and vegetables with a ginger -pomegranate cosmopolitan.
to try the fried bananas, which come out covered in a crispy tempura drizzled with honey and dotted with sesame seeds. For a lighter ending to your meal, have a refreshing Thai iced tea, or turn it into a dessert cocktail by asking the bartenders to create the Gobi version of a White Russian. The creamy, spicy taste of either is a nice ending to a healthy summer meal. •
THE GRILL IS THE THRILL Gobi’s menu includes all of the traditional Asian wok-fired and noodle
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Edwards berries, pistachios and basil, and the ranch chicken flatbread sandwich is a Euro-Western treat, encasing delicate brie and greens with hearty bacon, ranch and guacamole.
Gore Range Brewery 0105 EDWARDS VILLAGE BLVD. / 970.926.BREW (2739) GORERANGEBREWERY.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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olorado is no stranger to microbrews, but it’s not so often that the home-grown hops are paired with a true style of “bon appetit.” Gore Range Brewery in Edwards has taken a culinary turn in the past year, with French chef and owner Pascal Coudouy leading the local revolution. “The menu is very simple,” Coudouy says. “It’s a brew-pub concept, like a brew-pub is supposed to be.” For the French, “simple” must mean the foundation of craft cuisine. Coudouy’s menu is far from plain. Rich courses and varied flavors outweigh the modest price point, making the trip to the brewery a simple pleasure for all palates. “Everything is fresh, and I make everything from scratch,” Coudouy says. “We change the menu three or four times a year, and there’s a special every day.”
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Above Soft shell crab sandwich with a vegetable side. Right Grilled salmon atop a frisky Asian slaw.
CASUAL AND COMFORTABLE Good food and brews make it easy to settle in here, and a summer evening on the GRB outdoor, pet-friendly patio makes for a memorable experience. “We want to keep it casual and very comfortable,” says Jeremy Pluck, brewmaster for GRB. “Both chef and I are also adamant about our quality, and there is no reason why we can’t have both.” Go in with a pint in mind, and you’ll easily be enticed with at least an appetizer. Coconut shrimp and scallions come with a sweet-and -sour cilantro sauce — a crisp dish that pops with the light and refreshing GRB Lager and bacon and shishitowrapped scallops are savory and satisfying, matched perfectly with the versatile and balancing Powder Day Pale Ale. The dry and citric Saison shouldn’t be left out this season — a perfect complement to many of the brewery’s summer dishes. The Colorado goat-cheese pizza brings sweet and salty to the plate, with roasted tomatoes, dried cran-
BEYOND BREWPUB Entrees are the most impressive for the price, however, made even more satisfying with a balanced and accessible wine list. Grilled salmon with broccoli, raison slaw, roasted almonds and orange-bourbon glaze is zesty and light against a smooth California chardonnay, and the grilled, marinated lamb sirloin with barley, cucumber, tomato and mint salad with peach chutney melts past your tongue with a sip of rich zinfandel. Sides can help to mix up the menu as well. Brussels sprouts sautéed with pancetta and honey are a yearround staple for the menu, and cream of corn with fresh rosemary and goat cheese could hardly bring more summer farm flavors to the table. You may be full, but don’t skip dessert. Cobbler fans will sink into a seasonal berry treat, and you may just have enough room to pair it with an oak barrel-aged bourbon porter. “It’s a place you can come three or four times a week if you feel like it, and you’re always going to find something interesting and fresh and always for a good price,” Coudouy says. •
Edwards
Marko’s EDWARDS PLAZA / 970.926.7003 / MARKOSPIZZA.COM BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
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ark Esteppe, owner and operator of Marko’s Pizza and Pasta in Edwards, has found the key to restaurant longevity. “Consistency” he says. “We have the most consistent food in the valley.” When Mark and his wife, Kathy, opened Marko’s, there were no options for pizza in Edwards. In fact, there were only four restaurants in the whole town. Mark says they had to meet delivery drivers from Domino’s or Pizza Hut at the gas station on Highway 6 because they wouldn’t drive all the way out to their home in Lake Creek. Mark and Kathy recognized this void, and Marko’s was born. “We’ve been here for 18 years,” Mark says. “People come from all over the world who say they love our pizzas.” Now there are no fewer than 28 options for a meal in Edwards, Mark says, but people keep coming back to Marko’s for the homemade sauces, fresh salads, dough and desserts. Marko’s makes its own marinara, a thick, lively red sauce with chunks of tomato and onion and 11 herbs and spices, and its own alfredo, which is made from scratch in individual batches for every order. “It’s out of this world,” Mark says. Two of Marko’s salad dressings are also homemade, the balsamic house dressing and the Caesar. Kathy makes the house dressing, and Mark encourages diners to dip everything in it — from pizza to sandwiches to Marko’s famous garlic knots — and the creamy, tangy flavor means everyone is willing to comply. “I used to cook Italian at home all the
time,” Kathy says. “The meatballs are my mom’s recipe. It’s a family effort.” Through trial and error, Mark and Kathy took those recipes and found ways to multiply them — by a lot, Kathy says. And the results are evident in the lick-your-plate fare and the alwaysgrowing base of loyal customers. PIZZA IS THE ANSWER Above all else, Marko’s is a pizza joint, and the secret to its fantastic pizza lies in the crust. Marko’s crust is so popular that they have even added dough balls to their carry-out menu, so customers can try their hand at their own homemade pizzas. Mark says the thing that separates Marko’s from other pizza places is its pizza oven.
Bottom Garlic knots with marinara dipping sauce. Below Raina Esteppe, the Marko’s Mascot.
“We cook all of our pizzas straight on an authentic brick pizza oven,” he says. The restaurant also offers a gluten-free pizza crust, made with rice flour. Also on the menu is the pizza sub, a 10-inch pizza cooked without sauce, cut in half and stuffed with all the things that make a great sub sandwich — Canadian bacon, Genoa salami, lettuce, tomato and red onion. The final product is hot and toasty on the outside, with cool, fresh meats and veggies on the inside. “It’s like having a sub, but it’s a pizza,” Mark says. “It’s nice for hot summer nights.” Enjoy a pizza sub and a beer or one of Marko’s daily lunch specials — a huge pasta and a drink, enough for lunch and dinner — on the patio in the summer, or sit inside at the black and white tiled bar and take in the funky, casual atmosphere of the establishment. And don’t forget to bring your kids. “Kids love Marko’s,” Mark says, also mentioning that the restaurant partners with schools to get kids in the kitchen tossing their own dough and making their own pizzas. Because after all, Marko’s is and always will be a family affair. “Our whole family is here,” Kathy says. •
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Edwards
Zino Ristorante 27 MAIN ST. / 970.926.0777 / ZINORISTORANTE.COM BY CARAMIE SCHNELL PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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ithin earshot of the Eagle River, the Zino Ristorante deck screams summer. With a bocceball court, twinkling lights and bright flowers, the modern Italian eatery easily wins the award for best patio in Edwards. Even though the lively restaurant is in the center of Edwards, the outdoor eating area feels tucked away, private. Zino has a long history in Edwards. Started in the ’90s as Edwards’ first upscale dining option, the restaurant took a seven-year reprieve before returning in 2010, to the delight of many longtime residents who’d been craving the restaurant’s signature Cozze: skillet-roasted mussels with lemon butter. Year-round those mussels and other signatures — such as the house-made burrata cheese with grilled ciabatta and tomatoes or the funghi pizza with wild mushrooms, truffle oil, arugula and shaved Parmigiano reggiano — can be found on the menu. But strike out beyond and be rewarded. The raviolo with ricotta cheese, hen’s egg, truffle “pearls” (caviar lookalike bits of black truffle) and brown butter is a dish executive chef Nick Haley calls “rich” and rightfully so. Use a piece of the house-baked bread to soak up the golden egg yolk and brown-butter goodness. Then try the anguria insalate, a salad that Haley’s been playing with for a decade. Rife with lush
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Pizze carbonara. Below Braised rabbit risotto with portobello mushrooms and baby kale.
watermelon chunks, goat cheese, thinly shaved fennel, mixed greens and a cumin-balsamic vinaigrette, the light dish is the perfect foil to the decadent raviolo. SUSTAINABLE DELIGHTS Having lived (and cooked) in Northern Italy for a year, Haley lights up when he serves his braised rabbit risotto dish, which he calls “peasant food but elevated.” The tender, white meat might be mistaken for chicken, except for a hint of sweetness about it. The toothsome arborio rice is studded with portobello mushrooms and baby kale and draped in a vivid orange-colored carrot saffron broth. Since rabbit is being touted as the successor to the backyard chicken craze by sustainable living folks, Haley is clearly out front on this could-be trend. Haley, who has been with Zino
since the restaurant reopened and at the executive chef helm for a year now, uses sustainable and local products whenever possible; for instance, the charred Palisade peaches that crown the top of the fettuccine with slow-cooked pork ragu dish, as well as the pesche e prosciutto pizza, a sweet-andsavory combination of gorgonzola cheese, thinly sliced cured meat, ricotta cheese, fresh sage and aged balsamic. The sustainable gulf snapper, which come to Haley whole, with a serial number that allows him to trace exactly when and where the fish were caught, are served seared with pancetta red potato hash, sweet corn relish and basil butter. Dessert lovers take note, all the desserts — including sorbet and gelato — are made in house by pastry chef Molly Harrison, which means you can’t go wrong. •
Vail
Bistro Fourteen EAGLE’S NEST, VAIL MOUNTAIN / 970.745.4530 / VAIL.COM BY MARY KELLEY ZELESKEY PHOTOS BY JUSTIN McCARTY
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f the view is not enough to attract you to Bistro Fourteen, take one look at the diverse and detailed menu and you will be headed their way. From the shredded pork lettuce wraps to the jumbo lump crab cake sliders, this restaurant has it all. According to executive chef Webster Lee, Bistro Fourteen has an eclectic style of food. The casual American dining is fun with family or friends after an activity-filled day at Adventure Ridge. The second you walk through the door, you are greeted by a positive vibe. There is just something about dining at Bistro Fourteen that will put you in a good mood. Whether you choose to sit inside or out on the patio, you have a breathtaking view of the 14er Mount of the Holy Cross. What more could you ask for? This is Lee’s third summer as the chef of Bistro Fourteen. “I like to use as much local product as I can and try to incorporate Colorado produce, as well as lighten it up a little bit,” Lee says. FRESH AND FILLING For starters, the smoked trout and salmon appetizer tastes so fresh, you will be convinced that they just caught it with their bare hands right after you ordered it, and the spinach artichoke crab dip is the perfect way to start off your meal if you’re looking for a lot of flavor. The Bistro Fourteen salad, with its strawberries and sliced prosciutto, is great on a summer day. “We do a lot of stuff from scratch, and it’s a small little operation,” Lee says. “I think that
is something people don’t really expect up there.” As for the main courses, anyone can make a classic BLT, but Bistro Fourteen’s fried green tomato BLT with house-made horseradish mayonnaise has flavors that won’t be forgotten. The BLT was definitely a highlight next to the Bistro tacos, with your choice of pulled pork, steak or shrimp. The tacos are served with guacamole, pico de gallo, black beans and Spanish rice, adding even more diverse flavors to the menu.
Pork lettuce wrap with all the traditional accoutrements: lettuce, cucumber, peppers and an Asian dipping sauce.
DESSERTS Each dessert on the list is impeccable. Pastry chef Anne Armstrong truly does have a gift and a way of making you feel like every dessert was made specifically for you. The bacon-caramel popcorn served with brown butter and Marcona almond ice cream is one of the most creative desserts ever made. The blueberry turnover with blueberry cardamom gelato and Orangecicle sauce tastes just like a blueberry pie that your grandmother brought to you fresh out of the oven. For all of the chocolate lovers, the chocolate fudge cake is a great choice, but the Nutella-filled doughnut with strawberry ice cream is a complete knockout. A bite of any of Armstrong’s desserts is a bite of heaven, guaranteed. •
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Vail
The Blue Moose LIONSHEAD VILLAGE / 970.476.8666 BLUEMOOSEPIZZA.COM BEAVER CREEK PLAZA / 970.845.8666 BY ROSANNA TURNER PHOTOS BY SHANE MACOMBER & NATE AGNINI
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ife is short, eat more pizza,” reads the slogan on Blue Moose’s iconic T-shirts. The people who’ve tasted Blue Moose’s signature slices know that phrase is easy to subscribe to. One bite, and you’ll find yourself wanting to eat more. Blue Moose’s philosophy follows four F’s: fun, family-friendly and fresh. But there’s one Fword you won’t find in their kitchen: frozen. “All our food here is (made) in-house,” says Ben McNair, general manager of Blue Moose’s Beaver Creek location. “We make our own dough; we make our own sauces; we cut our own cheese; (it’s) all natural, fresh ingredients.” Since opening in Beaver Creek in 1995, Blue Moose has become its own vacation destination for tourists and locals alike. Both the Beaver Creek and Lionshead Village location in Vail are packed on any given night of the week. The restaurant specializes in “hand-tossed, East Coaststyle pizza,” McNair says.
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Above A vegetarian pizza with mushrooms, peppers, onions and olives. Right The Blue Moose dining room can accommodate large parties.
While Blue Moose’s menu hasn’t changed much in 17 years, they’ve added some lighter and healthier items for the summer season. There are four new salad pizzas: Mediterranean Salad Pizza, Chicken Caesar Pizza, Italian Salad Pizza, and the BLT Salad Pizza. The salad pizzas are made with a whole-wheat crust and topped with fresh vegetables after they’re cooked. The restaurant also offers gluten-free crust. Blue Moose is trying to change pizza’s unhealthy reputation. “Pizza is good for you if you don’t cover it in sausage, pepperoni and tons of cheese,” McNair says. Blue Moose’s big draw is the house sauces, which include pesto, hummus, ranch, olive oil, green peppers and
barbecue. The restaurant’s effort to extend beyond the typical marinara and cheese offering makes it appealing to those customers who want to give their taste buds a surprise. “When (people) are on vacation, they want to do something different, something out of the norm,” McNair says. “(Our pizza) is something you can’t just get at your local hometown pizza place.” McNair describes the ambiance as “unpretentious” and great for a family outing. Kids can draw on the paper tablecloths, which means adults can relax about inevitable spills. Blue Moose also offers salads, sandwiches, Italian entrees and calzones. But most people come for a slice at the place where both the healthy eater and the meat lover can be satisfied. Whether you’re a Colorado native or vacationing from the Far East, “pizza” is a word everyone understands. “It’s a comfort food,” McNair says. “Everyone has their own version of what pizza is, but we offer a menu that gives you a lot of choices, a lot of variety. It may not be like pizza where you’re from, but it’s still a (food) that everyone loves.” Additional info: During the summer Blue Moose offers pizza-tossing parties during Friday Afternoon Club at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek and in Lionshead Square on Saturdays. Also, Tuesday night is Family Night, where you can get a large one-topping pizza, house salad and a pitcher of soda for $25. •
Vail
Elway’s 174 E. GORE CREEK DR. / LODGE AT VAIL / 970.754.7818 / ELWAYS.COM/VAIL BY SCOTT MILLER PHOTOS BY JUSTIN McCARTY
ohn Elway was famous for making footballs fly, but he didn’t win two NFL championships until he had a great ground game, with beefy offensive linemen. Which might — or might not — explain why Elway’s serves great steaks. Elway’s was already one of the Denver area’s top steakhouses when the company opened a location late last year in the Lodge at Vail. The combination of prime beef, mouthwatering side dishes and great service has quickly made Elway’s a mainstay of Vail’s dining scene. Manager and sommelier Jim Lay says the restaurant would turn out as many as 300 dinners a night over the winter. The pace slowed as spring turned to summer, but the place was still busy on a midJune visit. Most of the diners picked the modern-looking dining room, where the sounds and smells from chef Shawn Cubberley’s kitchen make anticipation of the meal even more keen. But on this night, Elway’s patio was the place to be. The night was clear, calm and warm, as hummingbirds buzzed through the plaza behind the Lodge. It would have been a great night for just a couple of cocktails and good conversation. But then we would have missed the food. TRUE HIGHLIGHTS We started our evening with calamari — served with slices of pepperoncini pepper and bleu cheesestuffed and lightly fried olives. You
don’t get cocktail sauce with this, just a hunk of fresh lemon. That’s all it needs. The mild, but flavorful, cocktail sauce is reserved for the shrimp cocktail. Some call this the “king of appetizers,” and the people working for the Duke of Denver deliver on that promise. The shrimp are huge — think of a seven-foot man’s thumbs and you’ll have an idea of the size — fresh, and perfectly prepared and presented. But the main course, of course, is the steak. Pick a couple of side — we chose the asparagus and creamed corn — then get ready to enjoy some USDA prime beef. And make no
Clockwise Heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. The 22-ounce ribeye. A fully loaded baked potato.
mistake: You can taste the difference in beef that’s earned the government’s top grade. Everyone — everyone — we asked for an opinion recommended the ribeye, which was, sadly, unavailable this night. So we “settled” for a filet and a New York cut. The filet was astonishingly tender and flavorful — “it may be the best I’ve ever had” — one diner said. The New York, cut thick and served in a lineman-sized portion, was equally delicious. Both were served crusted with Elway’s signature seasoning. You can buy a jar, and it’s great on everything from burgers to pork chops, but without the prime beef, the zillion-degree grill and a master chef’s touch, you’ll be hard-pressed to replicate what Cubberley’s kitchen creates. But there’s no need — getting the real thing is as easy as a trip to Elway’s. •
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Vail of the best mountain views in town. And what he’s done with the place in the past two years is nothing short of genius.
Flame ONE VAIL ROAD / FOUR SEASONS RESORT 970.477.8600 / FOURSEASONS.COM/VAIL BY LAUREN GLENDENNING PHOTOS BY KRISTIN ANDERSON
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hen a restaurant’s chef is there because he really, really wanted the job, you can taste that desire and passion in the food. Flame’s Jason Harrison puts his love for his job into the food he makes — it’s what distinguishes a good chef from a remarkable one. (Harrison is the latter.) He remembers preparing a 12-course tasting menu for some of the Four Seasons, top executives a couple of years ago for his job interview. Harrison already had a fantastic job as the executive banquet chef at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, but he wanted to relocate to the mountains with his wife. He would soon be named the executive chef at Flame, at one of Vail’s most posh hotels with some
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Above Panzanella salad with ripe tomatoes and fresh buratta. Below 12ounce bone-in filet with accoutrements.
HAVING FUN Harrison is a chef who likes to have fun in the kitchen. Just because he’s a chef at a place like the Four Seasons doesn’t mean he can’t put something like corn dogs on his menu. Rocky Mountain Elk “Corn Dogs,” that is. He makes a luscious elk sausage in house and surrounds it with a light cornmeal batter and fries it on a stick. They’re served with house-smoked tomato ketchup and grainy mustard, both in miniature squeeze bottles that make you feel like you could be at a ballpark or a county fair. And then you taste them, and you quickly realize that these are possibly the most sophisticated, majestic corn dogs ever created. There are plenty of fun dishes on the menu like them — including the signature bison potstickers, a duck confit pierogi and a plate of broiled bone marrow that’s almost profuse — but the menu is surprisingly approachable for such an elegant restaurant. Soups like chilled cucumber peach
with Colorado goat cheese or the fennel bisque with Meyer lemon and Maine lobster set your expectations high at the beginning of the meal, and Harrison doesn’t disappoint with any course thereafter. A garden Panzanella salad of tomatoes grown in the chef’s own garden at the hotel pops with color, flavor and freshness. A slow-braised pork belly is served sitting atop a Carolina-style house truffle barbecue sauce that is just mind blowing — that smoky barbecue flavor balanced by a slight essence and flavor of truffle. You’ll likely find yourself sliding the pork belly up and down the plate in order to pick up every last drop of sauce. And then there’s the steak. Flame is a mountain steakhouse, and the menu of steaks is impressive. Harrison offers everything from 6-ounce filet mignon to a 42-ounce cowboy porterhouse for two. There’s venison, bison ribeye, Kobe flat iron, dry-aged Tomahawk — the list goes on. And when you taste that perfect medium-rare, succulent meat and find yourself enthralled by it, you’ll know why Flame is a restaurant quickly climbing Vail’s culinary ladder to glory. •
Vail
Game Creek Restaurant GAME CREEK BOWL, VAIL MOUNTAIN / 970.754.4275 / VAIL.COM BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI PHOTOS COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS
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ining at Game Creek Restaurant rivals a chalet experience in the Alps. It begins with a ride up Vail Mountain’s gondola, followed by a hike or shuttle to the restaurant for dinner or a Sunday brunch at 10,300 feet. Though traditional European ski culture inspired Game Creek Restaurant, the cuisine is hardly old-fashioned. Executive chef David Clawson strives to exceed guests’ expectations with his three, four and five courses, as well as his Chef’s Table Menu. Clawson’s drive to take French cuisine to the next level led him to New York City, where he worked at La Caravelle Restaurant and the Ritz-Carlton, and then accepted his first executive chef position with Hotel Nikko Atlanta, a top 100 hotel. Since 2008, he has been refining his flair for globally influenced fusions at Game Creek Restaurant. CREATIVE CUISINE Starters range from pork belly confit with watercress, lemongrass and apple compote to shrimp dumplings with mustard, green curry, kohlrabi and micro shiso. The soups and salads are anything but ordinary, based on primary ingredients such as jicama, crab and duck. Clawson transforms tofu into an extraordinary vegetarian dish with yuzu pudding and coconut anise broth and cooks vegetables in broth rather than butter, in order to deliver succulent flavors without adding fattening calories. He also focuses on sustainable cooking by researching the sources
of food — from where it was harvested to how it was transported. Clawson enjoys pairing main entrees, such as sea scallops, elk or venison, with surprising ingredients that complement and bring out the flavor of main protein. For example, he combines celery root, truffles, sherry vinegar and porcini with sea scallops and blends pomegranate, hominy and chipotle with the venison T-bone. Desserts include a composition of bananas, butter pecan, rum and chocolate shortbread or aged gouda cheese, almond, melon, arugula and a root beer glaze. The Chef’s Table Menu offers an even more adventurous dining experience, featuring five courses created by the passionate and dedicated culinary team. A BRILLIANT BRUNCH From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday
The view from Game Creek Restaurant is stunning all summer long.
brunches please both the taste buds and the eyes: Guests can settle into comfortable chairs indoors and gaze out the huge windows, or they can soak in the vast mountain environment on the deck. The buffet is a foodie’s dream. One side features breakfast, with everything from applewood-smoked bacon, custom omelets to French toast stuffed with bananas, chocolate chips and mascarpone cheese. Another station highlights the best of lunch and changes every week. DRINKING IT ALL IN Of course, no authentic mountain dining experience is complete without wine. Game Creek’s sommelier helps guests pair the perfect vintage with each course, from a sweet Riesling to a white Rioja. The restaurant is also known for its mimosas and its signature Bloody Marys. Even after 14 years, Game Creek Restaurant is still one of Vail’s best-kept secrets — an exclusive dining experience combining rustic mountain charm with innovative cuisine. •
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Vail vegetables. It’s the toasted corn and sea bean hash that makes the seared salmon a perfect dish. Garnished with pickled apricot and chili salad, and livened with an apricot and lobster reduction, it’s sweet meets savory, as the apricot flavors brighten the filet in every bite. Save room for some decadence with dessert (black pepper ice cream, anyone?), or try one of the restaurant’s daily wine flights to get a taste of its well-rounded varietals.
Kelly Liken GATEWAY BUILDING / 970.479.0175 / KELLYLIKEN.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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he abundance of summer’s fresh fruits and vegetables is exactly what Kelly Liken wants to share with her guests. “I always get really excited when the summer’s coming because we’ve always been very committed to using local produce,” says Liken, chef and owner of Kelly Liken in Vail Village. “It’s just always a pleasure to show customers everything that Colorado has to offer.” The restaurant holds hospitality and service throughout, but the intimate atmosphere only sets the tone for the true “American seasonal cuisine” for which it is known. The watermelon tomato gazpacho topped with Maine lobster panzanella salad, shaved radish, garlic chips and balsamic must is a true summermeets-summer dish. It’s even better when paired
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Above Roasted Colorado lamb loin with baby potatoes, pearl onions and strawberry aigre-doux. Below Watermelon-tomato gazpacho with lobster panzanella salad.
with a cucumber rose martini signature cocktail or a glass of Schramsberg’s crisp sparkling wine. Rocky Mountain elk carpaccio with bulgur tabouleh salad and wholegrain mustard aioli is a savory and silky, and server Rachel Zehms pairs each course with complementing wine selections. Roasted Colorado lamb loin with pearl onions, baby potatoes, haricots verts, charred scallions, strawberry aigre-doux and lamb jus is heartily satisfying and softened with the strawberry flavor and delicate root
SEASONAL AND FRESH Chef Liken says summertime becomes very creative for her as she is surrounded by farm-to-table inspiration. She says that each summer brings more farmer-chef relationships. “I am so proud to be a part of a movement in Vail that is truly supporting local farmers and artisans,” Liken says. As the seasonal varieties of produce get more interesting, Liken and her team have more opportunity to change up the menu according to what the restaurant gets from the markets and farms. Sous chef Tyler Hansen says it’s always a pleasure to work with Liken and the other sous chef Matt Limbaugh, along with the farming community, to showcase Colorado’s best. “Once you start getting those local products, it seems easy to make the dishes delicious,” Hansen says. Every Sunday evening, the restaurant offers a special harvest menu that features produce directly from the local village farmers market. Live jazz music accompanies the evening into the night. Zehms says she loves the continuity that the restaurant brings in — both new and familiar faces that keep the restaurant alive. “I always just hope to have every guest want to come back,” Zehms says. “You can go out for so many nice meals, but I just want them to remember.” •
Vail
La Tour 122 EAST MEADOW DRIVE / 970.476.4403 / LATOUR-VAIL.COM BY WREN WERTIN PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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’ve been eating at La Tour for 15 years. It used to be our place for special occasions: birthdays, anniversaries, family visits. But over the years it’s evolved. I go with my soul sister and sit on the patio, drinking wines by the glass and eating off one another’s plate. I go with my husband and we formulate a plan of attack as we split a bottle of wine, making sure one of us orders the latest incarnation of lamb (sometimes it’s an herb-crusted rack, other times — now for instance — it’s more inventive: lamb rack chop with a ride-along ravioli stuffed with braised lamb and ricotta. King trumpet mushrooms, a husky parmesan broth and a glorious slice of housemade lamb bacon finish the dish.) In fact it was Paul Ferzacca, La Tour’s chef-owner, who first taught me that some French restaurants are simply about classical technique and training and not particular dishes on the menu. And so, like any chef who is smitten with flavors and keeping it fresh, Ferzacca’s influences come from around the globe. I’ve watched Mexico, Vietnam and Hawaii stop by and pay their respects. Right now Italy’s handmade pastas peek out from two menu items: the above-mentioned ravioli and a fresh pea tortellini crowned with poached lobster and a, believe it or not, feather-light cream sauce. There’s also plenty of Colorado on the menu: greens, veggies, herbs and more Centennial State products. This summer, La Tour’s menu goes above and beyond. It’s just plain fun. SEASONAL SPECIALTIES “This is my summer salad,” Ferzacca says casually, placing it on the table.
A complete reinterpretation of caprese, pickled fennel and rosemary croutons embellish crunchy-ripe watermelon and clouds of burrata cheese. “I got a hankering for watermelon,” he explains. There’s something magical in the combination, and the olive oil and dusting of salt make everything pop along with a glass of Dr. Loosen Riesling, a study in minerality. Sommelier Paul DiMario is excellent at pairing for the table or by the course. Heads up: He has a new Champagne Grower’s list. “In the past, champagne has been dominated by the big houses,” he says. “But now the people who’ve been growing the grapes for years are making the champagne.” He’s got a dozen or so crus on the list, and he’s priced them to make sure they move.
Above Grilled Colorado lamb rack chop, lamb ravioli and pickled ramps. Below Haystack Mountain, Snowdrop goat cheese with watermelon and basil.
“Champagne is very versatile. We should all be lucky enough to drink more of it.” General manager Chad Russell’s favorite dish is the pork tenderloin, served with cauliflower roasted to sweetness, then tossed with pine nuts and raisins. It sounds demure, doesn’t it? Restrained even. But when you order pork tenderloin, you’re really ordering pork three ways. Crispy chunks of pork belly stud the dish, which is finished by a generous scoop of bacon jam. Eat a little of everything with some of the grilled endive. Heaven. And for the sweet tooth? Try the banana bread pudding with banana fosters sauce and candied walnuts. “We talk a lot about showcasing natural flavors,” Russell says. “Oliver (Philpott, the executive chef) is serious about that. He invests a lot of time here.” So does Russell. The service is imbued with warmth and knowledge, and a fine attention to detail. It’s a fitting complement to the delicious food, intriguing wine list and a patio surrounded by edible plants. •
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Vail owner Jean-Michel Chelain since 2006. With Kimberly, his wife, JeanMichel has upheld a true tradition of French cuisine here, and year after year customers return to find the culinary mastery and local heritage they know and love. “You can never forget the taste of the customer,” says Jean-Michel. “They come to The Left Bank for one unique reason — it has always been quality and it will always be fresh.” SIGNATURES, OLD AND NEW The menu does hold true to its signature dishes. Steak au poivre blanc, a filet of beef rolled in white peppercorns with a cognac cream sauce actually seems to melt in your mouth. Gigolette d’agneau is a fresh lamb shank and garlic, cooked in and served on its own natural jus. You can’t forget French frog legs, battered and flash-fried for flavor and succulence. In anticipation that guests may want to lick their fingers, lemon water is brought tableside to rinse the delicious juices. Jean-Michel says that although the menu will always have its classics, he is creative with the new and seasonal items he incorporates. “Every year we try to go higher and
The Left Bank 183 GORE CREEK DRIVE / 970.476.3696 LEFTBANKVAIL.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS COURTESY THE LEFT BANK
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ometimes classic is just classic,” says Kimberly Chelain as we look into the dining room of The Left Bank. Twinkle lights line the awning above a row of intimate tables on the right side of the restaurant — soft space set off by a burst of color from the fuchsia flowers centered on the mirrored sill. This indoor terrace that Chelain has created is almost as coveted as the selection of window seats facing Gore Creek, she says, but it’s truly a pleasure to find yourself in any inch of this Vail institution. The Left Bank has been in the hands of chef and
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Above A fresh souffle with creme anglaise. Right Bouillabaisse de crustacés au fenouil with lobster, shrimp, scallops and mussels.
higher in finding new product,” says Jean-Michel. “We are creating new dishes to perfection and finding new ingredients to make them fresher.” A chilled avocado soup with lobster, and bacon-wrapped cod with a pesto sauce are new additions to this year’s summer prix-fixe menu. Guests are offered three courses— the best of what the restaurant has for the season. INVIGORATED SCENE But it’s the bar area that may provide an intrigue for new and returning guests. Bar manager Jason Lamb has handcrafted a new whiskey wall to highlight the best scotches and bourbons, and the bar menu is being developed to give guests a varied taste of the chef’s offerings with a selection of small plates. Lamb says he and the Chelains have begun to see fresh faces in the restaurant—new generations that have come to get their own sense of Left Bank taste and tradition. “There are nights when we see those people who have been coming here since the 1970s,” says Lamb. “But a transition is starting to happen, and now it’s their kids who are starting to come in.” •
Vail
Lord Gore 595 VAIL VALLEY DRIVE, MANOR VAIL / 970.476.5000 / MANORVAIL.COM BY TRACI J. MACNAMARA PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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ou’ve got to like a place that knows its history and bucks tradition all in one bite. The Lord Gore Restaurant, in Manor Vail Lodge, is such a place. The namesake of both is none other than Sir St. George Gore, a wealthy Irish nobleman and baronet of Gore Manor in County Donegal, who came to the Vail area on a hunting expedition in the 1850s. Vail’s signature skyline Gore Range peaks are also named after Lord Gore, who hunted buffalo, elk, deer and various game birds and fish. “We stand out from other finedining restaurants by being known for our creative American cuisine with a Southern flare,” says Adam Lewis, Manor Vail’s food and beverage director. Lewis enthusiastically credits chef de cuisine Matt Petrie for all of the creative transformations that come out of the kitchen. “Matt has created the identity of this restaurant by drawing upon his North Carolina roots,” he says. It might be difficult at first to imagine how Lord Gore’s heritage and Petrie’s Southern roots could be honored at the same time, but in reality, the results are quite striking. Instead of eschewing its various influences, Lord Gore Restaurant embraces them by serving traditional staple dishes that Lord Gore himself might have liked, such as elk or quail, but then giving them a twist. Petrie transforms elk into a thinly sliced, chimichurri-seasoned elk carpaccio and quail into a finger-licking-good chicken-fried quail that’s plated with wild rice salad and red eye gravy.
SOPHISTICATED YET RELAXED The summer menu at Lord Gore continues to represent its distinctive influences, and it offers something for all types of diners. Petrie says he’d pick the refreshing spiked watermelon salad as a starter for any summer meal. This beautiful pink chunk of vodka-infused watermelon comes with pickled red onion and watercress that’s drizzled with a balsamic reduction. For the main-course traditionalist, the lamb sirloin, served with roasted new potatoes and a smooth, smoky yam butter drizzled on top, is a favorite of Lord Gore fans. But for more of Petrie’s Southern style, smoked barbecue ribs are also a main-course option, served with unforgettable sides: Low Country slaw and an Andouille sausage mac ’n cheese that will tempt your neighbors. No worries: The mac ’n cheese
Above Lamb sirloin with roasted potatoes and a smoky yam butter. Below Vodka-infused spiked watermelon salad.
can be ordered as a side along with any of the other plates, which include jerk half duck, trout paupiettes and buffalo chopped steak. While you’re dining, don’t forget to look forward to the house-made ice creams, which are turned, unsurprisingly, into some pretty creative concoctions. Whether you choose mini ice cream cones or a dessert called Elvis’ Demise, you’ll find a sweet ending to any summer evening at Lord Gore. •
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Vail yuzu sauce, sea salt and tamarind curry powder. Don’t be shy … drop the chopsticks and use your fingers. You may get the omakase version of the supple sea bass, surrounded by a simple but luxuriously flavorful festival of garnishes: grapes, shiitake mushroom and foie gras, all of which come together in a scrumptious, slightly tart symbiosis on the tongue.
Matsuhisa 141 EAST MEADOW DRIVE / 970.476.6628 / MATSUHISAVAIL.COM BY SHAUNA FARNELL PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY
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irst of all, if you like protein — namely, tender fresh fish that separates from the filet like juicy snowflakes — this is your place. Also, if you like surprises, don’t waste any time laboring over the expansive menu; just put yourself in the capable hands — and heart — of the chef, and simply order the omakase. You will not be disappointed. According to Matsuhisa mastermind and international celebrity chef Nobuyuki, omakase is Japanese for “from the heart.” So trust in the experts to wow your palate. The taste bud-wooing could be any mixed parade of Nobu’s signature dishes: Yellowtail or blue fin sushi garnished with the oddly harmonious flavors of cilantro and jalapeño (inspired by Nobu’s stint in Peru, where these items had to replace his traditional Japanese accoutre-
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Above Yellowtail sashimi topped with jalapeño. Below Korean-style ceviche with shellfish and seaweed.
ments), black cod so tender it literally disintegrates in your mouth, the delightfully buttery king crab tempura or the crispy, wispy mountain of light green delicacies that is the heart of palm salad. In addition, the omakase spread will likely include some very special unadvertised Nobu dishes put together by Vail executive sushi chef Toru Watanabe and hot kitchen chef Brian Busker. This might mean the uni shiso tempura, a fun dish starring a crunchy, bubbly fried shiso leaf wrapped around a soft pudding of exquisitely warm sea urchin and a trio of dipping squares — a citrusy
PROGRESSIVE DINING Don’t let yourself become too hypnotized with taste euphoria as you’re devouring the chewy-but-tender slices of octopus and crunchy cucumber in the Korean ceviche. You might be so quick and confident with your chopsticks you accidentally gobble up the lemon slice at the bottom of the martini glass. Even 11 or 12 courses in, the omakase style of what Matsu Vail general manager Anthony Viera calls “progressive dining” will have you wishing a new small plate masterpiece would be placed in front of you for the next 50 hours. It just feels like you can keep on going. But when Busker delivers some dessert piece de résistance such as fresh pineapple soaked in vanilla, surrounded by crunchy Greek phyllo dough, your trance will come to an end and you’ll resign yourself to wrapping up this particular spree. Matsuhisa boasts the best location in Vail — the entire front of the restaurant opens to the view of the vast and green Vail Mountain and an enormous dining deck. The wine list covers the globe and is flecked with several obscure varietals highlighted in beverage director Andreas Harl’s bimonthly wine program, but the Nobu YK 35 Sake is a runaway winner for summer dining at Matsuhisa. It is served in a traditional wood box, and washes the omakase down like soft, chilled rosewater. Surprisingly, even after you lose count of your courses, you walk away with a happy, oddly healthy sensation in your belly … and without question a bigger heart. •
Vail
Pepi’s Bar & Restaurant 231 EAST GORE CREEK / 970.476.5626 / PEPIS.COM BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR
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ake a walk down Bridge Street and see if the most popular deck in town doesn’t turn your head. Pepi’s has been a Vail institution since it opened in 1964, and it’s still enticing visitors and local alike with its valley roots and Austrian charm. Pints of Paulaner and glasses of Riesling go down easily while you relax in the afternoon or evening sun, but it’s the food that makes the restaurant stand out in its culinary class. Executive chef Helmut Kaschitz says that some items on the menu are here to stay, but he is also excited to bring in more seasonal salads and farmers market specials this summer. “We always have certain items on the menu,” Kaschitz says. “Wienerschnitzel and apple strudel—that’s what it’s all about.” The Austrian chef has stayed true to mastering his home cuisine, but says that he is equally excited about the not-so-European dishes on the menu. Kaschitz says the Thai chicken and watermelon salad has been a summer go-to for guests, served with lemongrass marinated grilled chicken breast on top of sliced watermelon in a Thai dressing, and garnished with cilantro and mint. According to Kaschitz, summer is a time to move more away from heavy menu items, but the restaurant still serves the wild game and fish that it highlights so well. The Bunder Teller appetizer is perfect to share and pair with a glass of spicy shiraz or a sweet riesling. The air-dried beef from Switzerland is served with Gruyere
cheese and German rye bread. The meat is savory and salty, balanced by the smooth cheese, spicy mustard and small pickles. A well-rounded glass of Bordeaux stands up to the Canadian caribou cutlet, served on a rich wild porcini mushroom sauce, alongside creamy polenta, braised red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. The local farmers market provides weekly inspiration for the chef, who creates a menu special around in-season fruits and vegetables that he gets each week. The international and local delicacies make for a memorable experience, but nothing quite compares to Pepi’s infamous apple strudel. Dense layers of warm, sweetened fruit are piled high between an oval envelope of
Above Canadian caribou cutlet, wild boletus sauce, creamy polenta and braised red cabbage. Below Wienerschnitzel, roasted potatoes and red cabbage.
perfect pastry crust, next to a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a thick pile of creamy custard. It’s the perfect dessert for any evening in Vail—a connection of history and heritage that you seem to taste in every bite. •
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Vail
Tavern on the Square at the Arrabelle 675 LIONSHEAD PLACE / 970.754.7700 ARRABELLE.ROCKRESORTS.COM BY LAUREN GLENDENNING PHOTO BY KRISTIN ANDERSON
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he quest for that restaurant that has something for everyone is finally over — the Tavern on the Square in Lionshead is it. The Tavern is a restaurant where you can be as safe or adventurous as you want to be. The menu, which has more than 70 items to choose from in the summertime, is the result of a lot of whimsy and creativity in chef Douglas Dodd’s kitchen. The Tavern has evolved over the last few years since it opened and it seems to have found its niche as somewhat of a gastro pub. It’s tavernstyle food, but a lot more upscale, with a phenomenal craft beer list to boot. The list is the brainchild of general manager Paul Phillips, a beer aficionado who wants the Tavern to become Vail’s top beer-drinking establishment. In what used to be the Arrabelle hotel’s fivestar upscale French restaurant, the Tavern is now king. A project last year knocked down a
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Beet salad with pestorubbed crostini. Below A variation on pork and beans: pork belly.
wall that opened up the Tavern’s original space into the former French restaurant space, making way for an awesomely large and diverse establishment that has a seating area or bar for every different taste. There are more casual high tables in the main bar, lower and slightly more formal tables in the newer side, and a bar and seating area overlooking the base of Vail Mountain and the gondola. MIGHTY MENU While the location is arguably one of
the best in all of Vail, it’s the food that keeps the place full. The small plates menu is colossal with nearly 25 items to choose from, and these aren’t your typical bar food kinds of options, either. Dodd has a few staples scattered throughout like chicken wings and fried calamari, but his imagination has also run wild with dishes like short rib Asian-style potstickers; Brussels sprouts with chorizo and Manchego cheese; baked brie; grilled elk quesadillas; and sugar snap peas with piquillo peppers, hazelnuts and chili. A grilled bone marrow is served with lush fruit chutney of cherries, raisins, apricots and other fruits and spices and the most delicately sweet onion jam, both of which cut the rich, fatty bone marrow and make it delightfully palatable. Dodd’s French onion soup is full of beautifully caramelized onions that seem like they’ve been cooking for days. The roasted beet salad is bright and fresh, with interesting accompaniments such as a pestorubbed crostini, pistachios and goat cheese. From there, Dodd jumps all over the place, yet seems focused at the same time. There are burgers and sandwiches ranging from classics to the playful venison fajita sandwich. There’s veal schnitzel, perfectly breaded and served bone-in alongside a creamy saffron risotto, and even a pot pie, but this one’s made with lamb shank. Prince Edward Island mussels feature Thai green curry, while a broccolini small plate has a Vietnamese influence with fish sauce and chili. “It’s wild, ‘cause it’s sort of everywhere, but it all comes back to the central theme of food that’s great with beer,” Dodd said, adding that there’s a great mix of casual and upscale food on the menu. •
Drink and dish pairings
… alcohol not necessary All it takes is melding fruits and herbs with meats that carry the same flavors. BY SHAUNA FARNELL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY THINKSTOCK
ust because you don’t drink booze — or can’t — doesn’t have to mean the most fun you can have with your dinner beverage is a lime in your seltzer water. But sadly, this is what most pregnant women, children and “wagon riders” — no matter how epicurean — often resort to. Don’t let it be so. Most of the valley’s fine-dining establishments offer mocktails for non-drinkers, and some are explicitly designed as a non-alcoholic beverage rather than simply the virgin rendition of the cocktails. “We really wanted to have an alternative for people who don’t drink, give them something besides water. We wanted them to have fun with
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The syrups — rosemary lemongrass, honey hibiscus, oleo saccharum
drinks and their dining experience, too,” says Restaurant Kelly Liken sommelier Lisa Lockhart. “As for pairing non-alcoholic drinks, just like any pairing, you want to think of things that go together.” This philosophy of palate harmony — the same that diners go for when matching a wine to their meal — was the impetus behind Kelly Liken’s non-alcoholic cocktails. This summer’s offerings include a Strawberry Fizz, contrived of fresh, house-made strawberry juice, lemon-lime soda and a splash of lemon. There is also the Tiny Tango, rich with fresh mango juice, avocado
“I’d pair it with the salmon, which comes with a pickled apricot and chile salad,” Lockhart says. “They really complement each other. All the flavors in both the drink and the dish harmonize perfectly and help each other pop.” As far as popping goes, wine specialists often emphasize how it’s the fruity elements in wine that enliven certain dishes. Cherry goes with duck. Apple or pears with pork. Pineapple with shrimp or fish. Lemon with lobster … The secret is concocting a fresh fruit beverage using ingredients that aren’t too sweet or overpowering.
Cherry goes with duck. Apple or pears with pork. Pineapple with shrimp or fish. Lemon with lobster … The secret is concocting a fresh fruit beverage using ingredients that aren’t too sweet or overpowering. puree and a splash of soda. “The strawberry is very light,” Lockhart says. “I would pair it with the elk carpaccio. I usually pair the elk with rose, so the strawberry pops against the elk in a similar way. The elk is very flavorful but light, so you don’t want to drink something overpowering with it.” The Tiny Tango, which is slightly heavier, makes a happy pair with some of the restaurant’s fish dishes.
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GOURMET SYRUPS At Larkspur, any of the elaborate cocktails can be made without alcohol, and rather than infusing the booze — as most restaurants do — bar manager Josh Stevenson has become a bonafide chemist in the concoction (and constant evolution) of his carefully infused simple syrups. The syrups — rosemary lemongrass, honey hibiscus, oleo saccharum, jalapeño, gingerbread,
m, jalapeño, gingerbread, almond and a few others not quite perfected
almond and a few others not quite perfected — can be used to make non-alcoholic drinks just as easily as they can be cocktails. They can also be made at home. “The flavor profile of a lot of cocktails is still almost the same without the alcohol,” Stevenson points out. “Vodka is one of those that is flavorless, so as a pairing, it’s not like you’d miss it anyway. For rum, you could do a little apple juice so you get that sweetness and with the darker spirits like bourbon, you want to add a little extra syrup.” With Larkspur’s simple syrup, several ingredients in the beverage are what you’d find or what could be easily be added to dish that goes with it. This boils down to instant harmony. It’s typical, for instance, to make a roasted chicken with rosemary, so why not add a little rosemary to your beverage to draw out the flavor of the meat that much more. The same goes for lemon, which is a classic go-to garnish and accoutrement to poultry, fish and meat. Stevenson mixes a small amount of fruit juice and Sprite or lemon-lime soda with his rosemary lemongrass syrup for the complementary mocktail for white fish and chicken. The honey hibiscus syrup, on the other hand, is a simple mixture of honey and dried hibiscus flowers steeped in hot water overnight, then strained and refrigerated (if you want to experiment at home, keep in mind that the homemade simple syrups have a chilled shelf life of no more than a month). “If you can’t find the hibiscus flowers, you can use Red Zinger and it’s got this beautiful, earthy citric acid to it. The honey mellows it and you can start doing more chicken dishes with this, a richer-style fish or even veal,” Stevenson says.
The gingerbread syrup is a little more involved, and begins with boiling Guinness to the point that it is devoid of alcohol, along with raw sugar, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom pods, orange peel and ginger. Sound rich? It is! And on the ice with some ginger beer or ginger ale, it goes very nicely with ribeye. “The gingerbread syrup goes with rich, spicy food,” Stevenson says. “It’s just got the elements that you’d think of for Asian food … ginger. If you’re doing sushi, it goes. A soymarinated salmon … the ginger goes really nicely.” Just as cocktails themselves have evolved out of their pigeonholes of basic margaritas or dirty martinis into a parade of fruits and even herbs and vegetables, non-alcoholic drink concoctions can do the same. “With mocktails, it used to be you had either a Shirley Temple or a Roy Rogers. There wasn’t much to it, so people didn’t order them,” Stevenson says. “Now, cocktails have a lot more going on, and in the same way that we can easily substitute one rum for another in our cocktails, so it’s no problem at all to substitute a little more fruit juice and play around with the non-alcoholic version.” Also, remember that when it comes down to most types of liqueurs, it is the alcohol that is actually mocking the original flavor. “Any liqueur has a very obvious flavor — raspberry, hazelnut, peach, almond … if you make a syrup out of those real fruits and nuts, it’s 20 times better,” Stevenson says. “We also
use house-made preserves to add sweetness to a drink without alcohol. Even straight club soda, if you’re using high quality juices to blend, you don’t really need all that other stuff. To make a beverage with flavors that match a dish, you don’t really need the alcohol.”
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go GOAT
Colorado’s artisanal goat-cheese culture is alive and well BY TRACI J. MACNAMARA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY THINKSTOCK
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t the Avalanche Cheese Company’s farm in Paonia, Colorado, goats have a pretty good life. They spend their days munching grass in a fertile valley fed by the North Fork River, and guard llamas sit perched atop the farm’s rolling hills to protect them from lurking coyotes. Two-monthold kids bound over to the fence and bleat out happy greetings when Bob Isaacson, Avalanche’s farm and dairy manager, reaches his hand out to pet their baby-soft coats. Paonia, also known for its orchards and farm-friendly community, has a growing reputation as the heart of Colorado’s farm-to-table movement, so it’s not surprising that Avalanche, one of Colorado’s newest artisanal goat cheese producers, is here to take advantage of the area’s rich mountain geography. In the summertime, Avalanche Cheese Company goats produce a steady supply of fresh milk, which gets trucked over McClure Pass to their creamery in Basalt, where it’s turned into a mild, fresh chèvre (from the French word for goat) and sent out to suppliers within four to five days. Avalanche also produces aged cheeses and raw milk cheeses, known for their probiotic health benefits. The process by which Avalanche Cheese Company crafts its products demonstrates the beauty in a living harmony between animals, land, and people. Luckily, Avalanche is not alone. Here’s a brief look at who’s who in the Colorado artisanal goat cheese industry, along with some advice about how you can enjoy the tangy goodness of goat cheese, from their farm to your table.
AVALANCHE CHEESE COMPANY 970.927.6850 avalanchecheese.com Location: Farm in Paonia; creamery in Basalt After selling a small restaurant company in Houston, Texas in 2006, Avalanche Cheese Company owner and cheese maker Wendy Mitchell spent a year living in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she traveled around the United Kingdom and learned the skills she now brings to her own cheese-making business. TRY IT: Avalanche Cheese Company products are sold at specialty cheese shops from Butcher’s Block in Aspen to Molto Formaggio in Dallas and at summer farmers’ markets in Aspen and Basalt. Many Front Range locations are also stocked with Avalanche Cheese Company’s cheddars, blues, and chèvres. In the Vail Valley, look for Avalanche goat cheese at eat! drink!, a specialty wine and cheese shop in Edwards.
HAYSTACK MOUNTAIN GOAT CHEESE 720.494.8714 haystackgoatcheese.com Location: Creamery in Longmont The pioneers of Colorado’s artisanal goat cheese movement, Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese began producing classic French-style cheeses in 1989 and has expanded its production from traditional chèvres to surface-ripened and raw milk chees-
es. Even though Haystack Mountain is Colorado’s largest artisanal goat cheese producer, it remains committed to producing cheese in small batches to maintain its superior flavor. TRY IT: Splendido at The Chateau in Beaver Creek serves Haystack Mountain cheeses on their cheese plate, complimented by rhubarb sauce, apricot jam, fresh fruit, a balsamic reduction, and house-made red wine walnut toast. Haystack Mountain’s cheeses are now distributed in restaurants and stores in 30 states, so check your local grocery store for the award-winning cracked pepper chèvre and Haystack Chile Jack, a goat cheese which recently won a first-place award from the American Cheese Society topping all other jacks and all other milks.
JUMPIN’ GOOD GOAT DAIRY 719.395.4646 jumingoodgoats.com Location: Farm and creamery in Buena Vista Colorado-native Dawn Jump originally began making goat cheese on her home stove 20 years ago, but now Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy, located in Buena Vista, makes 250,000 pounds of cheese annually and is dedicated to sustainable agriculture. Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy produces an incredible variety of goat cheeses including chèvres, cheddars, blues, feta, Brie, ricotta, gouda, and parmesan. TRY IT: Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy’s cheeses
are widely distributed, and they can be found for the first time this summer and the Vail and Eagle farmers’ markets. Vail’s Larkspur Restaurant adds Jumpin’ Good’s goat cheese to its Cabra Cheesecake, a traditional New York-style cheesecake with a tangy twist. The dessert is plated with local produce to create a distinctly Colorado treat.
PHILPOTT GOAT DAIRY 719.846.3059 greatgoatcheese.com Location: Farm and dairy in Hoehne Philpott Goat Dairy got its start more than thirty years ago when the Philpott family decided that the goat cheese business would nicely supplement their farm. Located in Hoehne, ten miles east of Trinidad, Philpott Goat Dairy produces a creamy goat ricotta and a hard non-pasteurized Italian-style goat cheese. Philpott’s hard goat cheese is produced by cooking the whole cheese product itself. It’s soft enough to slice but when aged, it can be grated over your favorite pasta dishes. TRY IT: Use Philpott Goat Dairy’s ricotta in your own lasagna and manicotti by purchasing directly from their farm, which can also ship via UPS. Philpott sells its cheese at farmers’ markets in Trinidad, Colorado Springs, and Littleton; it can also be found in specialty Italian markets in Denver including Vinnola’s Italian Market, Belfiore Genuine Italian, and Carmine Lonardo’s Italian Deli.
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Bite Sized
Did you know...
Watermelon was first
DOMESTICATED
What do ice lolly, ice block, pop, ice pop and ice pole
HAVE IN COMMON? They’re all popsicles.
more than 6,000 years ago in southern and central Africa though it soon spread via trade routes to China, Vietnam, India and Egypt. It came to the New World via slave ship in the 16th century.
In Chinese medicine,
CELERY SEEDS are used to calm the body, and help with dizziness and high blood pressure.
In the 1400s, EGGPLANT was thought
TO CAUSE INSANITY in Northern Europe.
Palisade peaches were sent to the ROYAL FAMILY when the BRONCOS played the 49ers in London in 2010.
TURMERIC was one of the first ingredients for temporary tattoos.
TV DINNERS were invented in 1953 thanks to 260 POUNDS of surplus turkey, Pan Am’s SINGLE-SERVING in-flight meals and a
HIGH WATER CONTENT
savvy Swanson & Sons salesman.
in the batter,
Due to the
FUNNEL CAKES
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EAT summer 2012
are considered a
Cucumbers are part of the
low-calorie fried food.
GOURD FAMILY.
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