EAT - Winter 2013

EAT AN EPICUREAN EXPERIENCE

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W I N T E R 2 0 13

PROBLEM SOLVING When cocktails are the answer SIMMER DOWN Warm up with these three soups EYE CANDY A mouth-watering photo gallery

table SERVICE Restaurants of the Vail Valley

C E L E B R A T I N G

Vail’s 50th Birthday!

A V A I L A B L E

A T

970.748.2906

V A I L P O S T E R . C O M

Peace, Back by popular demand

PUBLISHER

editor’s letter

Don Rogers drogers@vaildaily.com

EDITOR

Wren Wertin wren@vaildaily.com

ART DIRECTOR

Afton Groepper agroepper@cmnm.org

PHOTO EDITOR

JUSTIN MCCARTY jmccarty@vaildaily.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Dominique Taylor dtaylor@vaildaily.com

I

Justin McCarty jmccarty@vaildaily.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Krista Driscoll Shauna Farnell Kim Fuller Lauren Glendenning Brenda Himelfarb Ross Leonhart Scott Miller Caramie Schnell Catherine Sum Randy Wyrick MARKETING GUY

Mark Bricklin mbricklin@vaildaily.com

CIRCULATION

Jared Staber jstaber@vaildaily.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Louie Atencio Carrie Calvin Carly Hoover Malisa Samsel Printed by 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 ©2013 Colorado Mountain News Media.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

American Web, Denver

LIVED THE PAST 10 YEARS with one Le Creuset cast iron pot I barely

used; now I have three in near-constant rotation. If my home got bombed, these pots would survive. They take the persnickety, unreliable temperature of my oven and smooth it into something slow and steady.

They make large cuts of meat melt into succulence, and baked goods puff up like balloons. I calm down a little when I see one of my colorful enameled Dutch ovens — I think some of the steadying effect might be transferrable to humans.

Actually, that’s the way the world seems to be going. Despite the oftenfrantic message of the news and days that are just too full, it’s becoming easier to shrug off the little details that used to so consume me. If I don’t get the crispiest possible skin on a roasted chicken, my guests will survive. I don’t need to fi ll the cabinet with Szechuan pepper or tears of paradise on the chance that I might need them someday. I can buy a dozen fresh oysters, mix up a basic sauce mignonette, and call it good.

Call it perfect, even. We can all relax.

And when we’re doing that, relaxing in our homes with friends and family, dining out gets a bit more exciting. Leave the worry of perfectly timing everyone’s entrees to the chefs, and you can concern yourself with conversation, fi lling glasses and having fun. Let the restaurants’ buzz and energy entertain you and your group, and then head home for a nice, deep sleep.

At EAT, we’re not just reporters, we’re also matchmakers. On these pages, we strive to give you a glimpse into our local restaurants so you can choose which one is exactly what you’re looking for. The restaurant owners, chefs and managers ask us to to come in. They feed us, talk with us, and then send us on our way. And so we’ve written these stories for you to read and mull over. We hope you enjoy them, and that dine among friends with reckless abandon.

&"5 AN EPICUREAN EXPERIENCE

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W I N T E R 2 0 13

PROBLEM SOLVING When cocktails are the answer SIMMER DOWN Warm up with these 3 soups EYE CANDY A mouth-watering photo gallery

table I;HL?9; Restaurants of the Vail Valley

Cover photo by Dominique Taylor A salad gets sauced in the Larkspur kitchen.

Cheers, Wren Wertin Editor

vaildaily.com

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gibsingletongallery.com 1 Willow Bridge Road CS5 Vail Colorado 970-476-4851 art@gibsingletongallery.com

contents

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11 Photo Gallery

Before pleasing the palates, these dishes delight the eyes.

By Kristin Anderson and Dominique Taylor

17 The EAT

Compendium

Snapshot reviews of the valley’s best restaurants, from Vail to Eagle.

By eat staff writers

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58 Problem Solving

Gourmet options for alcohol-free pairings with a variety of food, from intricate syrups to basic flavor profiles.

By Shauna Farnell

60 Simmer Down

A roundup of some of Colorado’s best artisan cheese makers.

By Traci J. Macnamara

62 Bite Sized

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Fun facts and interesting tidbits to nosh on.

By wren wertin

vaildaily.com

contributors

Wren Wertin Editor

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme Fried Green Tomatoes

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

You could eat this five nights a week

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Thai or Vietnamese food

Paprika chicken and dumplings.

Do you have a party trick? If so what is it? (Pre-television and even radio, people would have dinner parties and then sit around the parlor and entertain each other.

It was rude not to.)

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

My party trick is to keep guests’ glasses full.

Eggs over easy with salsa and toast

Cocktail du jour

Tacos

Scott Miller Writer

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme I can’t remember — does the pasta-eating scene in “Lady and the Tramp” count?

New dish you’ve been making a lot Lauren Glendenning Writer

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme “Born Round: A story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite,”

by Frank Bruni.

Tried and true easy dish

Brussels sprouts (either roasted with bacon or sauteed with pears, cinnamon and apple cider).

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with Foie gras

Tried and true easy dish Whole roasted chicken with root vegetables

Cocktail du jour Margarita

Apple-pumpkin pancakes — once I figured out what I’d done wrong the first time

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

New dish you’ve been making a lot

EAT winter 2013

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” both the book and the original movie are wonderful

I’ve been going crazy with soups — winter squash, tomato bisque, chili — they taste so good when you get off the mountain

Tried and true easy dish

You could eat this five nights a week

Writer

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Uni

Oaxaca Fizz with mezcal

Krista Driscoll

Kobe beef and a Big Green Egg

Chili

Cocktail du jour Beer — particularly brown ale this time of year

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

Tried and true easy dish Sausage, peppers and onions on oiled pasta topped with freshly grated parmesan reggiano.

Cocktail du jour

Kim Fuller

Margarita

Writer

You could eat this five nights a week

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme

Cheese, anything with cheese

Do you have a party trick?

Prep everything in advance.

Ask your guests to assist with the last minute assembly and start the party in the kitchen!

Eggnog with pumpkin spice liqueur or Leopold Bros.

Blackberry Liqueur with ginger ale

You could eat this five nights a week Toast with butter and Parmesan cheese. I never get tired of it

“Chocolat”

New dish you’ve been making a lot Spaghetti squash, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with Sherry vinegar

Tried and true easy dish Crock-pot chili

Tried and true easy dish

Cocktail du jour

Performing balance maneuvers on a Vew-Do board while holding a glass of champagne

Quail eggs

Elk tenderloin. Last I checked, it was $44 per pound. I don’t feel confident enough in my food prep skills not to mess that one up.

Take a frozen cheese pizza and pile on whatever’s leftover in the fridge: meat, veggies, cheeses; it’s all good

party trick?

Cocktail du jour Dirty martini

John LaConte Writer

Favorite book or movie with food as a central theme “A Touch of Spice,” Greek movie from 2003

You could eat this five nights a week Cheese and charcuterie

Do you have a party trick?

Headstands and arm balances

New dish you’ve been making a lot – Moroccan vegetable soup

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with Saffron

You could eat this five nights a week

Tried and true easy dish

Brenda Himelfarb

New Mexican-style green chili — pour it over something or just jam a spoon in a big bowl of the stuff!

Shrimp scampi

Writer

Cocktail du jour

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme

Do you have a party trick?

I can juggle — if space is at a premium, I can hang a spoon off my nose.

Afton Groepper Art director

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme “Like Water For Chocolate,”

by Laura Esquivel

Spruce Cocktail using Rogue Spruce Gin, a lost flavor of the Northern woods rediscovered

“Julie & Julia”

You could eat this five nights a week

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Spinach pear salad with gorgonzola cheese and walnuts

Veal parmesan

Do you have a

Fancy ingredient you’d like to

work with

easy dish

Any of them! Teach me!!!!

Thai coconut curry

Tried and true easy dish

Cocktail du jour: White tequila with lime on the rocks

Sweet and sour meatballs

Cocktail du jour Presecco

You could eat this five nights a week

Dominique Taylor Photographer

Do you have a party trick?

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme

Balancing a spoon on the nose

“Eat, Pray, Love”

Blinis and caviar

You could eat this five nights a week Cookies

Do you have a party trick?

Impersonating accents

Writer

Pork belly

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme

Tried and true easy dish Pineapple shrimp red curry

“Sideways”

Cocktail du jour

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

Lychee sake-tini

Jamon Iberico

Curry

You could eat this five nights a week

Tried and true easy dish

Do you have a party trick?

Chilaquiles. It’s the perfect way to get rid of leftover veggies and meat, plus it’s quick and generally healthy (if you don’t bathe those pretty eggs in cheese and sausage)

Yes, but it’s hard to describe. I really need to show you.

I love Larkspur’s Purkisset – Cap Rock gin, rosemary, lemongrass, lychee and fresh lime.

You could eat this five nights a week Nothing. I would get bored really fast

Do you have a party trick?

No party tricks, but I try and convince friends to play dominoes with me whenever possible

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with See No. 2

Tried and true easy dish Bourbon. Basically you sip it and when you’re done you sip another one. In between you amuse yourself discussing wild game grilling techniques with vegans

Catherine Sum Copy editor

Truffles

Tried and true easy dish Cocktail du jour Whiskey ginger

You could eat this five nights a weeK Prosciutto e melone

Shauna Farnell

Kristin Anderson Photographer

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with Truffles

Tried and true easy dish

“Ratatouille”

Italian

You could eat this five nights a week

Star anise

Tried and true

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme “Five Easy Pieces.” Nothing will EVER beat Jack Nicholson

Fresh powder

Tried and true easy dish

Do you have a party trick?

Spike the punch

Ross Leonhart

Sauteed kale or chard

Island dreams

Writer

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

A television show — “Chopped”

Cocktail du jour

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

Cliff Shot Blox (just open them)

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme Randy Wyrick

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

Tacos

Writer

Celery root soup

EAT magazine.

You could eat this five nights a week

Eggplant Parmesan

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme

Long Island iced tea

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

Photo editor

Cocktail du jour

“Io Sono L’Amore”

I wouldn’t call it new, but I’ve been making a lot of blueberry pancakes recently.

JUSTIN McCarty

Red Baron pizza

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme

Grilled cheese with avocado

Cocktail du jour

We won’t be disclosing her name

Cocktail du jour

Burmese chicken curry my brother taught me how to make.

He got a special lesson from his Burmese grandmother and passed it on to me.

Caramie Schnell

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Purina Bachelor Chow.

New dish you’ve been making a lot

Fancy ingredient you’d like to work with

ordering a chicken salad sandwich.

Do you have a party trick?

Have my husband do the cooking

Writer & copy editor

Favorite book or movie with a culinary theme “Elf,” — “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup”

New dish you’ve been making a lot I’ve been combining my candy.

Skittles+Starbursts+Sour Patch Kids = Star-ttle Kids

Tried and true easy dish I like to work with fresh candy in my dishes

Cocktail du jour Chocolate milk

vaildaily.com

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EAT winter 2013

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photography by Kristin Anderson

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Cured anchovy salad with cucumber, parsely, radish and rasins from Toscanini in Beaver Creek. photography by Dominique Taylor

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EAT winter 2013

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photography by Dominique Taylor

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photography by Kristin Anderson

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EAT winter 2013

XXX XXX

Crispy black bean, Oaxaca cheese tacos, crema fresco, avocado relish. photography by Dominique Taylor

Eat here now!

Featured Restaurants Avon The Blue Plate................................. 17 Cima................................................ 18 Red Mountain Grill ...................... 19 Ticino Italian Restaurant .............20 vin48 .............................................. 21 Beaver Creek Beano’s Cabin ................................22 Beaver Creek Mountain................ 23 Beaver Creek Chophouse and C Bar........................................24 Mirabelle........................................26 The Osprey Lounge ...................... 27 SaddleRidge....................................28 Splendido at the Chateau ............. 27 Toscanini........................................29

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EAT winter 2013

Zach’s Cabin................................... 31 Eagle Old Kentucky Tavern . ............. 32 eagle-vail Route 6 Café .. ........................... 33 Edwards The Gashouse ................................34 Gore Range Brewery . ................... 35 Old Forge Pizza..............................36 Vista at Arrowhead ....................... 37 Zino Ristorante .............................38 Vail Atwater ........................................... 39

Bistro Fourteen . ............................40 Blue Moose Pizza...........................41 El Sabor ..........................................42 Elway’s Vail . ..................................43 Game Creek Restaurant ...............44 Kelly Liken . ...................................45 La Tour ...........................................46 Larkspur . .......................................47 Leonora ..........................................48 The Left Bank ................................49 Lord Gore ....................................... 50 Matsuhisa ...................................... 51 Pepi’s .............................................. 52 Tavern on the Gore ....................... 53 Tavern on the Square ...................54 The 10th ......................................... 55 Vail Mountain................................ 56

Avon

The Blue Plate 48 EAST BEAVER CREEK BLVD. / 970.845.2252 / BLUEPLATEAVON.COM

BY WREN WERTIN PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

E

ating at The Blue Plate is an exercise in community. Lunch or dinner, the dining room is filled with people from upvalley, downvalley, fancy hotels, employee housing.

They come for fondue and schnitzel, for rack of lamb and chateaubriand, for hummus and meatloaf and calamari. They come for chef-owner Adam Roustom’s soulful food, and the gently professional sass of his wife, Elli. They come to feel at home.

“I never understood how people could cook out of a book,” Adam says. “For me, you have to cook with your heart on your sleeve. You can’t work seven days a week and keep going out of strength and willpower — you do it because you care. Do it right: Be honest.”

To Adam, that means serving the best, most delightful version of each dish while avoiding shortcuts. So he bakes bread fresh for each person who sits down, he makes his own hot sauce for his guests, and he spends days marinating, tenderizing and simmering. He and Elli seem to live at the restaurant, so it’s a good thing they love it.

FOOD AS CELEBRATION The idea of community isn’t just about who eats at The Blue Plate.

Adam was born in Syria, but moved to the East Coast as a kid. Elli is European. Together they celebrate American food, without sacrificing the culinary heritages they were born to. And it translates to the plate.

The calamari is domestically farmed and processed in Rhode Island, and it’s served with a cranberry aioli — a neighborly nod to the East

Coast. The tender, sweet bits of seafood are downright delicate and so good. The dish works as beautifully as the Asian duck appetizer with a pineapple-hoison sauce (rich and fleeting) and the classic cheese fondue served bubbling with bread and apples for dunking.

When The Blue Plate opened in its new location, steaks were on the menu and they were awfully good.

But these new Vintage Natural steaks? They’re divine. Adam does them justice, vigilantly cooking them on a smoking hot grill and saucing them. They come Old School, with a starch and a side — I have never seen so many people order peas and carrots, and then cheerfully

Above Colorado Lamb Two Ways, with rack of lamb, braised lamb, mashed potatoes and greens.

finish the whole shebang. The Lamb Two Ways is another standout. The two-bone rack of lamb is just what you’d expect (as long as you expect to be able to slice through it with a butter knife, and then gnaw on the bone when your fork has done all it can do). But the real surprise is the package of braised lamb shoulder, shredded and brightened with preserved lemons. Served with creamy mashed potatoes and a haunting blood-orange sauce, The Blue Plate now celebrates it’s the sort of dish you return to again happy hour from 4:30 until and again. If you’ve left 6:30 with drink specials and room for dessert, go the airy popover. a special bar menu. for Baked to order, it’s drizzled with fruit and honey. •

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Avon

Cima 126 RIVERFRONT LANE / 970.790.5500 / RICHARDSANDOVAL.COM/CIMA/

BY SHAUNA FARNELL PHOTOS BY KRISTIN ANDERSON

L

ast year internationally acclaimed chef Richard Sandoval added Cima to his ever expanding quiver of restaurants that stretch from Mexico to Dubai. The classy Latin-infused establishment housed in one of the valley’s most beautiful spaces has added a much-needed ethnic flare to the local fine-dining scene.

Every item at Cima comes with a tongue-tingling trace of spice, but nothing is truly spicy. The spice serves mainly to amplify surrounding flavors and does so with taste bud-intoxication, beginning with the cocktails. Of Cima’s fresh array of winter sippers, the Red Tail and Tru Old Fashion are standouts, the former smoothing out the inside of your cheeks with the unmistakable flavor of bourbon, the bite softened by a splash of blood orange and lemon and flavored with fig and jalapeño-infused simple syrup. It’s the rhubarb bitters in the Tru Old Fashion that adds a wintery herbal aroma to the otherwise refreshing gin/pomegranate/muddled orange and cherry blend.

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EAT winter 2013

Above Duck with citrus, coriander, cauliflower, sesame and Brussels sprouts.

INTERNATIONAL SMALL PLATES Of the newly introduced starters, the Kona kampachi is a must-try; the silky fish magically disintegrating under its sprinkle of spiced salt, leaving you with a last taste of the delightfully mild guacamole underneath.

A Sandoval restaurant staple, the swordfish dip may look like a pile of tuna fish salad, but the tenderness of the white fish paired with the savory plantain and yucca chip scoopers packs an unexpectedly gourmet experience, ample enough for a full table. The achiote pork arepas, on the other hand, are not enough to go around, because everyone will want their own trio of beautifully presented bites. The tiny stack of sumptuous pork shreds drizzled with crema fresca on the dense and crispy corn

cake makes for a masterfully crafted mouthful. The P.E.I. Mussels come swimming in a tangy broth of orange and serrano, its heat subtle and begging to soak the accompanied grilled triangles of crunchy bread.

Playing on Sandoval’s occasional Asian theme, Cima chef Radames Fables — new to the area but bringing his fair share of expertise in the Mexican chef’s culinary vision, having previously fronted Sandoval’s Los Angeles haunts — introduces pork-foie gras dumplings this winter.

Bathed in a succulent sesame broth, the velvet quality of the dumplings is accented with the texture frenzy of crunchy slaw on top. Slaw also makes an appearance with the perfectly cooked duck confit — rich and tender in the middle, crispy on the outside — served with slivers of tart green apple, which also draw out the delicate flavor of the accompanying sesame-cauliflower puree. Even the bread is special at Cima, a mix of flatbread and truffle-twirled corn muffins, served with a cloud-like goat cheese spread that evaporates on your tongue.

As for entrees, the plump panroasted Chatham cod falls off the fork, its flakes melding effortlessly with the crunchy bed of shrimp fried rice, but the real flavor igniter of the dish is the luscious lobster broth, classily added at the table by the server.

The Berkshire pork comes in two incarnations — tenderloin and carnitas — and each satiny bite comes alive with a forkful of unlikely enhancers: braised Brussels sprouts, spicy almonds and segments of citrus fruit.

If you save room for dessert — and you must — go for the butterscotch brulee. The rich sweetness of the caramel cream is cut by the tongue-puckering tartness of the apple underneath. Lip smacking — and maybe even plate-licking — is a foregone conclusion. •

Avon

Red Mountain Grill 240 CHAPEL PLACE, UNIT B123 / 970.748.1010 / REDMOUNTAINGRILL.COM

BY CARAMIE SCHNELL PHOTOS BY KRISTIN ANDERSON

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he stats are looking good for sports fans in search of flat screen televisions, a stellar beer list and an affordable food selection. The new Red Mountain Grill in Avon boasts 15 televisions and 28 beers on tap — plus there’s a slew of other bottled microbrews. The Red Mountain Grill just over the pass, in Dillon, has developed a reputation for good quality, affordable food. The restaurant has done so well there, owner Steve Kaufman decided to open one in Avon, in the space formerly occupied by Outback Steakhouse.

“You can bring a big family here and everyone will find something that will make them happy,” he says.

Both the beer and food menu is extensive, but don’t be intimidated.

Kaufman calls the food “Rocky Mountain food with a Southwest flavor,” and he’s right, there’s a nice spicy kick weaving its way through the menu. Take the chile rellenos raviolis, crispy squares of pasta are stuffed with roasted green chile and cheddar cheese and flash fried.

Topped with house-made chipotle sauce and slivers of fresh avocado,

this is an Italian specialty teeming with Southwestern flair. Or try the PEI mussels and shrimp appetizer.

Tender seafood swims in a red curry and coconut broth you’ll want to sop up every last drop of with toasted bread served alongside.

“You can never have enough bread for that,” Kaufman says.

Be sure and drink Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar alongside, a pairing that is surprisingly synergistic.

CHOICES, CHOICES There are pizzas, pastas, salads, and even a “South of the Border” section of the menu, but don’t skip over the trout, a house-favorite in Dillon. The farm-raised Idaho fish is crusted with chopped pistachios and topped with red grapes, fresh basil and a nice lemon butter sauce.

The fish and chips — Fat Tire-battered Alaskan cod served with French fries, hush puppies and coleslaw — is equally popular.

Executive chef John Arpin strives for “honest, affordable food that tastes good,” he says, a concept he nails with The Ultimate French Dip. Thinly sliced smoked prime rib

Stretching from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. (Monday through Friday), Red Mountain Grill in Avon boasts one of the longest happy hours in town. It includes two-for-one select drafts, house wines, well cocktails and house margaritas. There are also great football specials Monday and Thursday nights and all day on the weekends.

Above California sea bass with mozzarella and basil salsa. Below Filet with Dungeness crab and green chili hollandaise.

is topped with caramelized onions, horseradish and chive Havarti cheese for a sandwich that is certainly tasty.

“Some places want to sell out of things like the prime rib, but we don’t here,” Kaufman says. “Our goal is to have some left over for sandwiches.”

On the weekends the restaurant offers brunch with standards like huevos rancheros and buttermilk pancakes, but it’s the eggs benedicts that are the real “stars,” according to the chef Arpin.

Try the Summit Benny, a poached egg with chorizo sausage patty and roasted green chiles on top of an English muffin with decadent chipotle hollandaise sauce on top. Don’t worry, if the dish is a little spicy for you, you can score a bottomless mimosa for $9.95. •

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Avon

Ticino Italian Restaurant 100 W. BEAVER CREEK BLVD. / AVON CENTER 970.748.6792 / TICINORESTAURANTAVON.COM

BY KIM FULLER PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

C

arlo Frey sits loosely on his chair on a snowy December evening, swirling a glass of Chianti as the moonlit flakes continue to fall. Ticino’s dining room holds warmth —steam rising from plates filled with food from the heart.

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 nature 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 Ticino’s sauces are freshly made, like in Italy, and he even attributes his heritage to dishes like the scaloppine di vitello caprese — veal

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EAT winter 2013

Above Homemade penne pasta with creamy Al Rosa sauce.

scaloppini 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.

MENU MAINSTAYS 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, temping taste buds with its strong and satisfying flavor.

Frey says the menu has a few new featured items this season, including escargot, as well as veal scaloppini Marsala.

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 proscuitto di Parma, and drizzled with ranch dressing.

The dining room and bar are quaint and comfortable, and the spacious outdoor patio is the perfect place to sit for a sunny spring après.

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.

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 10 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.” •

Avon

vin48 48 BEAVER CREEK BLVD. / THE BOAT BUILDING / 970.748. WINE (9463) / VIN48.COM

BY WREN WERTIN PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

I

n the past year at vin48, I’ve watched Chuck Hays smoke eggs on his grill and laugh at the 30-something steps each recipe has in “Modernist Cuisine.” I’ve seen Hays and Greg Eynon earnestly savoring a rosemarystuffed sardine fresh off the fire, tasting the delicate fish against two Italian wines. I’ve toured the roundabout garden with Collin Baugh, stopping every few feet as he points to patches of “volunteer” and experimental produce, as well as the crabapple tree whose crop is now fermenting in a barrel. The three men are partners in the restaurant, but it’s not just their business; it’s how they live their lives.

They all seem to have that restless spirit that keeps them tugging at ideas, trying new things while they work like crazy and manage to stay excited. It’s why vin48 is a lively little hotspot that stays busy even during the offseason. When you’re eating at vin, it’s easy to imagine you’re living the best possible version of your life and that tomorrow — even tonight — is filled with possibility.

The restaurant and wine bar offers a dynamic selection of unfamiliar wines, rustic American cuisine and friendly service. They’ve got small plates, they’ve got large plates — all with an abundance of flavors. If you’re sharing apps, try the frazzle of wild mushrooms atop a potato cake, the cubes of pork belly swimming in an oatmeal stout sauce or the coldsmoked prawn and shrimp cocktail and its siren song of a fennel salad.

If you’re longing for decadence, go for the sweet, roasted bone marrow, which you’ll smear atop crisp bread. It will conquer you.

Eynon’s particularly fond of the quails, stuffed with veal and spinach.

The Colorado lamb T-bones are tried and true, tenderized with a long yogurt marinade and served Mediterranean-style with baba ganoush and fried chickpeas. But that Colorado striped bass is a killer, mostly due to

Above Quails stuffed with veal and spinach, atop farro. Below Cold-smoked prawns and shrimp with a radish salad.

the saffron noodles studded with crawfish. Did I mention the lobster butter sauce?

Ah, but we’ve gotten lost in lists of menu items.

Despite the fact that it’s all about the food, it’s not really. It’s about the place, the feeling. Winemakers stop in regularly to meet the people who drink their wines. Eynon likes to take it even further and have special dinners that celebrate a region or a style of winemaking. “I love to do that, too,” says Hays. Why? “Because it keeps us fresh and makes us better. We don’t take anything for granted then.”

“It makes us all better,” adds Eynon.

At vin48 you can learn some fun things, like how to shave foie gras and serve it as if it’s a dessert, or the difference between Beaujolais nouveau and cru Beaujolais. Or you can simply sit back and munch on a white wine-poached pear with goat cheese (or, if you let Baugh choose, the croissant bread pudding). And the best thing about the restaurant? You don’t have to try everything: You can come back tomorrow. •

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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

A

fter a full day of playing in the Colorado snow, nothing seems more perfect than to retreat back to the hills, up to Beano’s Cabin.

Bundle up under a blanket of stars and take a sleigh ride to this mountain hideout — a rustic realm of elevated cuisine.

High-vaulted ceilings stand between an open-air kitchen and a wall of windows, spreading soft light and enticing aromas 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

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EAT winter 2013

Above Wood-grilled elk chop. Below Housecured salmon.

to his braises that makes everything seem so naturally fresh, although intricate sourcing from local purveyors probably 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 TASTING MENU The five-course menu starts with a warming elk chili or daily soup selection, followed by a winter salad of red curry squash, walnut vinaigrette, yogurt mascarpone, hazelnuts, apples and greens. Appetizers of elk tartare, fried rabbit and smoked ruby red trout offer guests a true taste of the mountains, while the fire-roasted root vegetables and the tequila oyster dish give a nod to earth and ocean.

As the night unfolds, a moonlit glow slides into the cabin and illuminates a view of falling snowflakes. Live acoustic guitar accompanies the smooth wine, making everyone relax.

Cut into the wood-grilled elk chop, served with butternut squash and pork belly hash, persimmon and baby turnips. The meat is succulent and dense, and should be paired with the depth of an equally robust glass of cabernet.

The fish of these mountains should not be forgotten, and the rainbow trout en papillote entrée dresses up a local favorite with lemon brown butter, almond, haricot vert, fingerling potatoes and cherry tomatoes.

Greenwood says Beano’s is all about bringing a real identity to Colorado cuisine. He says it’s the perfect place and the ideal season to craft dishes of comfort and elegance.

“My favorite time to cook is in the wintertime — with hearty dishes and big flavors,” says Greenwood.

“It’s really as Colorado as it can get up here.” •

Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek Mountain SPRUCE SADDLE / 970.754.5520 / RED TAIL CAMP / 970.754.5530 / BEAVERCREEK.COM

BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

T

he Beav’ has some great onmountain dining to keep you powered up from first chair to last turn: Spruce Saddle and Red Tail Camp.

Funk is rolling out lighter summer fare this season for those on the go.

SPRUCE SADDLE With its centralized location at the top of the Centennial Express lift, fast-casual Spruce Saddle can see 5,000 to 7,000 customers walk through its doors, which makes it all the more impressive that executive chef Matt LaWare and his crew scratch cook virtually everything on the menu, from salads and soups to hand-rolled sushi.

“We want to redefine ski comfort food,” LaWare says. “We want to set the standard for the industry and move more and more toward a finedining experience.”

To that end, you’ll find quite a lot of striking items on the menu, from prime rib to tempura-fried lobster tacos to a fresh-grilled salmon BLT. The restaurant also makes its own pizza dough and offers seven housemade soups every day.

New this year, LaWare has jettisoned the traditional Italian pasta station in favor of a variety of madeto-order Asian dishes, featuring pad Thai and pho. The pho starts with rice noodles and a choice of chicken, beef or tofu and is layered with broccoli, baby corn and a colorful array of sliced peppers and mushrooms and is garnished with lime wedges, cilantro and an optional authentic spicy chili oil. Served in a 40-ounce bowl with plenty of flavorful broth, the pho is filling without being heavy.

Another lighter option is Spruce Saddle’s salad bar. LaWare said the salad bar boasts upward of 30 to 40 items. Wash it all down with a Colorado beer or a creative cocktail from one of Spruce Saddle’s experienced mixologists.

RED TAIL CAMP Situated at the confluence of Grouse

Above Tempura-fried lobster tacos. Below Epic Mountain Burger.

Mountain and Larkspur Bowl, when Red Tail fires up the grills, shredders follow their noses to the restaurant’s sunny decks and outstanding views.

In addition to the standard fare of hot dogs and brats, there’s the Epic Mountain Burger: two Angus beef patties sandwiched between halves of a custom bun with slices of white cheddar cheese, veggies and a smear of Epic “secret” sauce.

But executive chef Marty Topor says the slice of mountain flavor you’ll really want to get your mitts on is Red Tail’s signature smoked brisket sandwich. The smoked Black Angus beef is seasoned with a homemade rub, doused with a hearty helping of whiskey barbecue sauce and stacked high on a toasted bun. Add a side of Red Tail’s own four-cheese macaroni and cheese or its apple-cider coleslaw to complete the meal.

Grab a house-made Bloody Mary or a crisp, cold beer from one of two local breweries, Crazy Mountain or Bonfire, to wash down your grub from the grill. Or call it a day after lunch and stick around for some live entertainment. Red Tail will be rocking starting mid-winter, with live music on Sundays and mixed drink specials on the Talons Deck. •

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Beaver Creek If seafood is your preference, the Chophouse has a direct line to the ocean, with crab legs, lobster and salmon. But there’s a Colorado connection, too – a pan-seared striped bass served with asparagus tips, a parsley celery salad and a lemony olive oil dressing.

The Chophouse SLOPESIDE, BEAVER CREEK / 970.845.0555 / BEAVERCREEKCHOPHOUSE.COM SLOPESIDE, LIONSHEAD VAIL / 970.477.0555 / VAILCHOPHOUSE.COM

BY SCOTT N. MILLER PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

B

eaver Creek is all about style – “Not exactly roughing it” is the resort’s familiar slogan. But resort life is about fun, too. And the Beaver Creek Chophouse is a place where visitors will find style, fun, and some fine, fine food.

The Chophouse is nestled at the base of the mountain, with a patio perfect for people-watching on a sunny afternoon. The inside is always warm of course, with wood and rich colors adding to the atmosphere.

The restaurant serves both lunch and dinner, with some special treats in between. There’s a champagne toast every day at 3:30 p.m. during the ski season, and kids all get an ice cream sundae when their families come in before 6 p.m.

Besides the champagne toast, there’s plenty of other grown-up fun coming from the bar. The coolers now feature plenty of Colorado-brewed beers,

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EAT winter 2013

The buffalo tomahawk steak.

Ta-da — both the Beaver Creek and Vail Chophouse restaurants have a roving magician five nights a week.

and there are delightful infusions and muddles in this season’s cocktail menu. The Chophouse also features a fairly lengthy wine list. You’ll find 20 international wines, but California wineries featured most prominently.

Many of those wines lean toward the red end of the spectrum, because the Chophouse, at its core, is about sizzling, delicious hunks of meat, ranging from a relatively petite filet — beef or buffalo — to the menu’s Big Daddy, the 32-ounce “Buffalo Tomahawk Chop.”

In between are delights including chops of lamb and pork, as well as dry-aged New York strip and ribeye steaks.

BEGINNINGS Even the appetizer menu is a meat lover’s delight. Start small, with grilled lamb T-bones, served with a rosemary-mint chimichurri sauce, or go a little bit bigger with a jumbo shrimp cocktail — yes, it’s the king of appetizers — or buffalo meatballs.

But server Chris Perry’s partial to the Danish brie, crusted with panko crumbs and topped with an apricot sweet chili glaze.

Perry, who’s been at the Chophouse for several seasons now, said the restaurant over the last few years has included several smaller items on the menu — leftovers are great, but not every guest’s lodge room has a refrigerator or microwave.

All the Chophouse’s entrees are served a la carte, meaning diners order sides separately. The gourmet mac ‘n’ cheese is a big hit, Perry says. The dish with jalapeños and elk chorizo is a delight, creamy, and just a little on the spicy side. Our visit included the sautéed asparagus and the potatoes au gratin. Both perfectly complemented our steaks — the flavorful rib-eye and the beautiful New York.

With the remains of dinner packed comfortably into to-go boxes, Perry talked about dessert. He’s partial to the carrot cake, and it’s a big, sharable portion.

After dinner, there’s a selection of coffee, or port, if you aren’t driving, to cap off a delightful meal with a beverage to match the warmth of the room.

When it’s time to leave, there’s just one disappointment: If you don’t have a room at the resort, it takes a long time to get home and snuggle up with a full, happy belly and good friends and family. •

Beaver Creek

C Bar

AT THE BEAVER CREEK CHOPHOUSE / 970.845.0700 / BEAVERCREEKCHOPHOUSE.COM/CBAR

BY ROSS LEONHART PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

T

he new C Bar is perfect for anyone heading down the mountain with sore legs and empty stomachs to swing in and refuel, located at the base of Centennial Express Lift, sharing a wall with the Beaver Creek Chophouse.

An expansion of the Chophouse, C Bar is a casual sports bar with a seafood bar and a laid back atmosphere.

Sit outside on the beautiful patio and watch the mountainside filled with skiers and snowboarders, or sit inside at the bar, at tables or couches, and catch up on your sports with the six TVs hanging on the walls.

Now that you’re settled, order from the expanded menu that delivers the quality of the Chophouse with a casual feel.

Corporate chef Jay B. McCarthy is passionate about the tasty treats on the new C Bar menu. Fresh seafood, including oysters and shrimp, make for perfect snacks, or indulge in a classic dish of meaty goodness, including lolli-pop chicken and short rib sliders.

With fresh oysters coming in five times a week, McCarthy is all about fresh seafood and local beef. “That’s one thing we try to do a lot of here,” McCarthy says. “We really get what community is all about and try to buy as much locally as possible.”

FAVORITES McCarthy brings in chicken legs from Denver and trims them into neat, simple chicken “wings” for the citrusroasted lolli-pop chicken dish, served with bleu cheese dip and cucumber sticks. The lolli-pop chicken lives up to its name, with chicken on the bone ready to be devoured.

The seafood is plush at C Bar (which could be called Sea Bar), with

a variety of four to five fresh oysters on any given day. Enjoy the raw oysters on the half shell or get creative with any of the baked oysters, including the classic oysters “rock,” McCarthy’s double play on oysters Rockefeller, baked with spinach, artichoke, parmesan and anise drizzle.

“When baked, the oysters cook in

Above C Bar signature flatbread with dry-cured chorizo, homemade boursin and peppers.

Below Seafood stack with shrimp, lobster, oysters and scallops.

their own juices and intensify the flavor to bring it out,” McCarthy explains.

Another favorite at C Bar are the sliders, delicious mini-burgers served with root chips. The short rib sliders are incredible and served with brie, a delightful demi drizzle and cabbage slaw, or get your vegetarian fix in with the veggie slider, a house-made blend of black beans, roasted peppers and garlic.

The menu is full of variety. The signature flatbreads are perfect for a snack and made with first-class ingredients. A selection of salads is also on the menu, including the standing shrimp salad, a kebab of wild-caught shrimp and vegetables standing tall over a plate of crisp greens.

But don’t let all the delectable veggies on the menu fool you.

“We’re sticking true to the concept: we’re a Chophouse,” McCarthy says.

Indeed, C Bar is an expansion of the Chophouse and serves Chophouse-quality food, but with a twist. So walk on in, feet away from the lift, and see what McCarthy is twisting up. •

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Beaver Creek

the truffled mascarpone ravioli with green romaine salad stands out with full flavor and elegance.

“When guests come to Mirabelle, I want to cook them something they will not eat at home,” says Joly. “My goal is to get people to come here and be happy.”

If joy can exist in a dish, it truly thrives in Joly’s rendition of Dover Sole “Meuniere,” served with baby spinach, crispy potato tuilea and lemon brown butter sauce. The fish is tender and rich, full of flavor from its accompaniments and far from a standard pescatarian plate.

Mirabelle 55 VILLAGE ROAD, BEAVER CREEK / 970.949.7728 / MIRABELLE1.COM

BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY KRISTIN ANDERSON

s

nowflakes fall on the farmhouse porch as we walk toward its entrance — illuminated with still light and the ambient welcome of a tall, twinkle-lit pine tree. Mirabelle’s roof shingles are sheets of white, and I look down to see my boots breaking through the soft powder.

“We have always been blessed to have good seasons,” says Mirabelle chef-owner Daniele Joly.

“I think we are going to have a great winter.”

Flurries continue to fly as we sit and watch from our quaint window table. Already, it’s a moment made for a memory, and it’s hard to believe that the evening has just begun.

Pleasant and professional service leads the way through a phenomenal four courses, with samplings from “Le Menu Gourmand” prix fix and the full restaurant menu. Duck carpaccio and foie gras whet the palatez with sips of sauterne, but

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EAT winter 2013

Top Rack of lamb with roasted vegetables.

Below Pear tart with strawberry sorbet.

HOSPITALITY Joly’s personal presence in the kitchen will always allow it to thrive.

He says the contagious happiness of his staff will leave most guests feeling right at home.

“When people are happy and they laugh, it’s contagious,” says Joly.

“Just to be somewhere with all this happiness is what we want our guests to experience.”

It’s Joly’s hospitality that makes this house such a unique place to be. In a restaurant where the chef lives upstairs, it’s easy to see why Mirabelle has continued to move into the hearts of many.

End the evening with some sweets, including a selection of house-made ice creams and sorbets, as well as tarts and tortes for every type of taste. Bailey’s Irish Cream ice cream is the best way to finish the meal, but make sure to warm up with a cappuccino before venturing back out into winter’s wonderland.

Joly and his wife, Nathalie, have owned Mirabelle since 1999, and every year it’s this place at the Beaver Creek base that has captured loyalty with consistence and charm.

“I’m only as good as my next meal,” says Joly. “We are here all the time, and we don’t want anyone to ever leave this restaurant unhappy.”•

Beaver Creek

The Osprey 10 ELK TRACK LANE / 970.754.7400 / OSPREYATBEAVERCREEK.ROCKRESORTS.COM

BY LAUREN GLENDENNING PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

T

he Osprey isn’t a place you might find on your own unless you’re staying at the hotel, but it’s a place you should absolutely look for because the atmosphere and the food are a rare find in Beaver Creek.

The Osprey, a Rockresort hotel that was just named the No. 1 best resort in the continental U.S. by the Travel and Leisure readers’ survey, claims that it’s the closest hotel to a chair lift in North America — the Strawberry Park lift is less than 30 feet from the hotel’s back door. How’s that for skiin/ski-out?

The restaurant offers warmth and comfort in a stylish setting. There are just 23 seats — a few tables, a long, high-top lounge table, and spacious bar seats. It’s casual, yet contemporary and handsome. It’s the perfect place for everything from après-ski to drinks and snacks at the bar to a cozy dinner with a date or family.

Chef Michael Wilganowski doesn’t have a huge walk-in refrigerator or freezer at The Osprey, which means he’s making his food fresh every day.

The menu is tapas-style — everything is offered in a small or large portion, making the dining experience exciting and fun.

Wilganowski’s tastes are obviously eclectic because the menu showcases cuisines with American, Asian, Italian and Mexican influences.

The best part is that ingredients and flavors don’t overwhelm each dish — everything is simply prepared with just a few ingredients that create perfect bites of flavor, texture and color.

The simplicity makes the menu approachable. Flavors complement each other rather than compete. Nothing is on the plate that doesn’t belong there.

HIGHLIGHTS Fried asparagus are served lightly battered with a lemon aioli and balsamic reduction. The sweetness from the balsamic balances the garlic and zest from the aioli, resulting in a fancy finger-food that can please any palate.

A seared yellowfin tuna, served in a delicate tempura style, balances a

Above Ahi tuna nachos with avocado, red chili sambal aioli and wonton crisps. Below Grilled flank steak, green chili sauce, potato and cheese enchiladas.

ginger soy reduction with wasabi cream and gorgeous sushi-grade fish.

A grilled flank steak is served on top of a crispy potato and cheese enchilada, topped with green chili sauce and pickled red onion. Mexican influences make their way into some dishes on the menu because Wilganowski’s mother is Mexican, but his training under Michelin-starred chefs is what influences so much of the creativity and complexity found in each dish.

That, and because Wilganowski says he likes to make food that he wants to eat. Sometimes being a successful chef is as simple as that.

Wilganowski has some surprises on the menu — dishes that might not jump out at you as you read the menu, but pack a surprisingly good punch.

The chicken toastaditas, for example, are served on a crispy wonton chip, kind of nacho-style. The chicken is ground into a creamy chicken salad and sits on a dollop of guacamole with a dash of zesty “voodoo” salsa. Wilganowski likes changing the menu often, meaning no two visits to the Osprey are necessarily the same. But they are really tasty.•

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Beaver Creek

SaddleRidge 44 MEADOW LANE / 970.754.5450 / BEAVERCREEK.COM

BY SHAUNA FARNELL PHOTO BY RIC STOVALL

S

inking into one of the Native American blanket-adorned couches in front of the fireplace and peering around the vast rustic dining hall under the glow of iron and candle chandeliers, it’s easy to imagine an Old Western scene of elegant cowpoke couples waltzing to the sound of a fiddle. As it happens, within SaddleRidge’s vaulted ceiling and towering wooden walls lies a collection of antiques and artifacts from America’s frontier days that are the envy of many a Western history museum, containing relics from some of the era’s most famed battle heroes — General Custer’s hat and canteen and Geronimo’s tomahawk among them..

The place offers a self-guided tour of the fascinating memorabilia, but the best time to take it is with a warm belly … after dinner.

A true steakhouse in both the contemporary fine-dining and the old-fashioned sense, SaddleRidge is also home to some of the area’s most highly touted wild game dishes and the setting might even help you with your menu selection.

“You can almost order right off the walls. You can point to a buffalo or elk and say, ‘I’d like that,’” jokes SaddleRidge executive chef Adam Roth.

If you can’t choose between the two of these, the token tummy warmer after a chilly day on the slopes is the elk and buffalo chili. Packed with big tender chunks of both, it brings the perfect bite of heat with black beans and ancho chilies, served with a warm house-made tortilla.

A CULINARY TOUR Roth’s favorite game dish on the menu actually hails not from the Rocky Mountains but from his home state — the organic Iowa rabbit loin. The meat is delivered farm-fresh from a family down the road from where he grew up and is prepared with a slight kick from the serrano ham, but smoothed to a lush balance with the sweetness of the spaghetti sauce and mole jus.

The most-sought seafood dish among SaddleRidge’s throng of regulars hails from the Rockies up north — Idaho ruby trout, drizzled in brown

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Above The Old West dining room.

“You can almost order right off the walls.”

butter vinaigrette and delivering a scrumptious pumpkin seed-crunch.

Just like old times, the steaks are served to order in a size and with a sauce of your choice, ranging from buffalo strip and rib-eye to the brand new slow-roasted prime rib or filet mignon and New York strip. Finding the ideal, flavor-exploding pairing for whichever you choose will not be difficult, as SaddleRidge’s highly varied international wine selection recently earned Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence.

Dessert, anyone? For carrot cake lovers, Roth has been refining his recipe for months and the result is a fresh-from-the-oven gooey masterpiece, topped with

rich, buttery frosting of maple and goat cheese.

Also new this season, SaddleRidge is offering a three-course kids meal for $18, steaming, family-sized side dishes and an après ski special from 3 to 5:30 p.m. daily (the restaurant is closed Sundays and Mondays), during which you can ski-in via Beaver Creek’s East Village path, exchange your boots for cozy slippers and kick back with muscle-melting cocktail specials and small plates. Don’t be afraid to leave the slippers on and stay for dinner. The shuttle will be available to take you back to the village when you’re ready … provided you haven’t fallen asleep in front of the fire. •

Beaver Creek

Splendido at the Chateau

crab and caviar, has a rich, buttery sauce. Those first two dishes alone will bring you to the Pacific Northwest and France in just a few bites.

Walford travels the world and loves to see what other people and cities are cooking and eating, and brings that knowledge back to Splendido where his menu constantly evolves.

And that pays off. Walford’s dinner menu has some staples like the whole Dover sole a la meuniere in parsley brown butter, the succulent wood oven-roasted Colorado rack of lamb, roasted Maine lobster with butter-poached claws and cognac herb sauce. But there’s always something new and exciting to try, such as a Long Island duck breast cooked to the most beautifully deep pinkish-red with delicate date and turnip puree, that melts in your mouth. Also new this winter is a pork belly first course — a light crisp on the outside gives way to a rich, fatty pork belly, complemented by a sexy, spiced-cider caramel.

And while the complexity of some of these dishes is beyond impressive, the food at Splendido remains approachable. The bar menu features entrees like jumbo lump blue crab cake and Hawaiian yellow fin tuna poke as well as casual eats like a fresh ground black angus burger, smoked salmon and gruyere grilled cheese and steak frites. And just when you think the kitchen can’t possibly top the course you just had, the next one arrives and you find yourself once again immersed in a plate of food that is so pleasurable you might just forget where you are.

This is especially true of the desserts, where pastry chef Alex Daley has added such things like the light and whimsical passion fruit “snow.” And the decadent Peruvian chocolate ganache will top off your evening of one unforgettable meal. •

17 CHATEAU LANE / 970.845.8808 / SPLENDIDOBEAVERCREEK.COM

BY LAUREN GLENDENNING PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

I

f David Walford and his team at Splendido cook and serve my last meal on earth, I’ll have lived a good life.

There’s something magical about Splendido. With its open dining room, where many tables also offer views of the gorgeous open kitchen, Splendido is unpretentious — fun — due to the warm service of Walford and his team, some of whom have worked with him for a decade. You can even

see them smile as they notice you scraping every last morsel of food and drop of sauce from the plate, as they discreetly check on you.

You’ll try dishes that you might never have thought of before — such as a simple oyster served with electrifying finger lime that tastes like a tart lime but has the consistency of fish roe or caviar. The al dente cavatelli pasta, topped with fresh Dungeness

Above Crispy pork belly.

Right Cavatelli with crab and caviar.

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Beaver Creek

Toscanini 60 AVONDALE LANE / 970.754.5590 / BEAVERCREEK.COM

BY BRENDA HIMELFARB PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

I

t’s early evening in Beaver Creek and, already, Toscanini Restaurant is hoppin’ and has been since lunch. With a new look, a new chef and a new menu, the place smacks of success.

And rightly so! In 2012 alone, the restaurant received a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for the 14th straight year, an Open Table Diner’s Choice award for being kid-friendly and the “Best Overall Customer Service Restaurant” by the Vail Valley Chamber’s Platinum Service Program.

You’d think that with all those kudos, it couldn’t get any better — however, think again — for executive chef Tyler Cyre has created some outstanding dishes that will, well, knock your socks off.

Cyre, who graduated among the top of his class from the French Culinary Institute, has worked in many top restaurants, including Mario Batali’s BABBO in Manhattan and the prestigious Raffles L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, amongst others.

And his experience and creativity is evident in the new dishes that he has created for Toscanini’s new menu.

To whet your appetite, you can choose tempting antipasti such as the chicken liver pate on Toscanini toast with extra virgin olive oil and salt that will melt in your mouth. The more adventurous can feast on grilled spicy octopus with fingerling potatoes. And then there is a special blend of warm spiced olives and nuts.

A DELIGHTFUL MENU When it comes to pastas, Cyre makes them very hard to resist. The butternut squash agnoletti in brown butter sage has a delicate sweetness and the risotto, described on the menu as “classic parmesan” is so rich and appealingly creamy that you will be left wanting more.

The generous “mains,” include veal Milanese with arugula salad, lemon and a sprinkling of shaved parmesan — it’s wonderfully crispy. Meat lovers will find it difficult to choose between the succulent Colorado lamb spiedini with quinoa and saffron pomegranate sauce, the dry-rubbed rib-eye and roasted potatoes or a braised boar shoulder. Seafood aficionados can choose salmon

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Above Chicken al Motone (under brick) with pan gravy. Below Roasted garlic and mushroom pizza with arugula and prosciutto.

al forgo, with roasted vegetables and topped with mustard lemoncello zabainone, potato-crusted escolar or Colorado striped bass.

Desserts include tiramisu, the classic pick me up, affogato, a baked caramel cake with espresso and ol-

ive oil gelato and a cheesecake with lemon compote, are not to be missed.

Of course, we can’t forget the innovative pizzas that include one with smoked salmon, horseradish cream, caviar, shallots and chives and another with tomato sausage, pork belly and salami.

Toscanini, which looks out to the Beaver Creek ice rink, has a new look. An intimate bar area as well as a lounge that includes a pizza oven, have been created. And, what’s best is that it’s possible to eat dinner in the lounge — without reservations.

As well, the $18 Centennial Express lunch includes a salad, a daily protein entrée and tiramisu or assorted cookies. As well, they offer $10 gourmet pizzas, $7 house red or white wine or a $4 bottle of beer.

In the end, if you can’t find something to please you on the extensive menu, you must not be trying. •

Beaver Creek

Zach’s Cabin MOUNTAINSIDE, BACHELOR GULCH 970.754.6575 / ZACHSCABINBEAVERCREEK.COM

Above Cozy up fireside.

Below Arrive in style via sleighride.

BEAUTIFUL BALANCE Though most on-mountain fine dining is prix fixe, you’re able to order a la carte at Zach’s.

(Prix fixe is available if you choose.) A special place, chef McCaw and his crew are experts at striking a balance between hearty, wintertime ingredients and delicate, tantalizing flavors.

Meat lovers will appreciate the robust elk tenderloin, which is both sweet and slow-burn spicy, thanks to a chili crust and a cherry demi glaze. You’ll want to linger over the smoky flavors — it tastes like hunting lodge meets summer garden. Beef tenderloin, veal piccata and seared Muscovy duck help round out the options for carnivores.

For mountain cuisine, Zach’s has an impressive amount of fresh fish and seafood on the menu. Try a deep, slippery oyster sprinkled with fresh herbs, delicately sliced sashimi or grilled lobster. Chef McCaw is a Colorado native, but his cuisine has a definite Pacific flair running through it. He discovered his love for the culinary arts at 15, and since then has presented his food at the James Beard House in New York City as well as helping open Zach’s Cabin. He thinks in terms of the whole experience, from the food and wine to the setting and service.

“We definitely offer a unique experience,” McCaw says. “You can have combinations of dishes and wines that you can’t get anywhere else. And, it’s fun food that you’ll enjoy.” •

BY MELANIE WONG AND WREN WERTIN PHOTOS BY DANN COFFEY

A

t Zach’s Cabin, the experience begins before you even arrive.

Cozy up, because you’ll depart from the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, where a snowcat-drawn sleigh takes you up the aspen-lined slopes to the restaurant. Those who prefer to arrive on their own steam are welcome to snowshoe, though the expansive view is hard won if you’re hiking.

Once out of the chill, you’ll cozy up in a rustic dining room with all of the nice touches that make the on-mountain “cabin” so endearing — the huge large, stone fireplace, the wooden

walls, the comfortable chairs.

At Zach’s, the cuisine tastes as comforting as the setting. Executive chef Tim McCaw is a magician with flavors and complexity. You can trust this man. He’s able to coax diners into eating perfectly seared, velvety foie gras with a grilled peanut butter and jelly Monte Cristo ride-along — a sweet and savory experience that is worth repeating as often as your conscious allows. And it is a delicious combination, especially when paired with a sweet glass of Far Niente Dolce wine or a nice Takaji.

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Eagle

Old Kentucky Tavern 223 BROADWAY / 970.328.5259 OLDKENTUCKYTAVERN.COM

BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTOS BY KRISTIN ANDERSON

A

tavern is more than a bar; it’s a meeting place for friends, a contented reprieve away from the worries of the outside world where you can enjoy good conversation and great food. Such is the goal of co-owners Monica Mattingly and chef Steven “Juice” Morrison with Old Kentucky Tavern in Eagle. More than a watering hole, the restaurant serves up traditional, made-from-scratch Southern cooking to fill your belly and warm your heart.

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.

From 3 to 6 p.m. every day and all day on Sunday, Old Kentucky offers a happy hour menu with some finger-licking small-plate selections.

Deep fried, unbreaded Shishito peppers can catch

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Above Filet mignon with a pesto-gorgonzola crust.

Right Roasted beet salad.

High-quality, home-cooked food satisfies all of the senses.

you by surprise, as about one out of 10 has a bit of a kick, amplified by a creamy Sriracha aioli. The airy, crispy kale chips are lightly fried to remove any bitterness, and the chicken fries, a replacement for mundane and ubiquitous bar wings, are served with ranch and house-made bourbon-barbecue dipping sauces. For a bigger bite, order the seafood nachos, a mix of wahoo, mahi mahi and ahi tuna marinated, seared and served with Asian slaw, avocado relish and wonton chips.

Loosen your belt a few notches for Old Kentucky’s famous Hot Brown sandwich, a plate piled high with Texas toast, turkey breast, sliced tomatoes and bacon and smothered in a decadent Mornay cheese sauce.

Or try one of the restaurant’s newer menu items, including the roasted lamb sandwich, a sort of gyro on a bun with roasted lamb, cucumber, tomato and arugula on homemade foccacia with rosemary aioli.

In the vein of Southern comfort food, Morrison has created a dressedup version of one of Mattingly’s hometown Kentucky favorites, beef stroganoff. Certified Angus beef tenderloin tips are tossed with big chunks of crimini mushrooms and pearl onions and finished with a velvety sour cream sauce atop egg noodles. The restaurant also carries a selection of lighter fare, including salads with housemade dressings and entrees ranging from the salty-citrus beef carpaccio with arugula and lemon aioli to bourbon cedar-plank roasted salmon.

High-quality, home-cooked food satisfies all of the senses. The aromas are soothing, the textures are lively and the flavors tickle that something familiar in the back of your mind that takes you back to family meals around the table, sharing and laughing. With each bite at Old Kentucky Tavern, you drift a little further from the stress and strain of life and sink deep into that tranquil state of happy harmony that can only be found with a good meal in a cozy atmosphere. •

Eagle-Vail

Route 6 Café 41290 U.S. HIGHWAY 6 / 970.949.6393 / VAILROUTE6CAFE.COM

BY SHAUNA FARNELL PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

L

ying off the beaten path in a rustic building resembling something between a biker bar and truck-stop diner, inside wooden walls adorned with leather-strapped snowshoes, old-timey mountain collectibles, blinking beer signs and standard pub décor, you can find the best, hand-packed burger around.

Less fitting for the atmosphere, you can also find a poblano relleno stuffed with the finest Gruyere cheese, topped with currants and pine nuts. Or tuna nachos made with soft, sushi-grade, sesame seed-seared red fish, presented not in a toppling, messy mountain but in decidedly austere fashion on a bed of wafer-like homemade wonton chips and a light layer of creamy guacamole drizzled with sweetspicy chile sauce and sprinkled with fresh alfalfa sprouts.

Welcome to Route 6 Café in EagleVail, bringing its 20-year-old reputation as the best homemade breakfast in the valley from its location down the road next to a gas station to the character-endowed space formerly known as Paddy’s Bar and Grill.

Here you will find a true locals’ haunt — a comfy, couch-lined bar plus an all-day restaurant, serving food with a flare that can only be described as luxurious.

“We like to think of ourselves as a gourmet pub,” says Route 6 owner Ollie Holdstock, who, along with chef Peter Millette, formerly of Vail’s Sapphire, has added even more to the gourmet element of the menu this winter.

“Lighter” is the theme of the new dinner additions. Almost still swimming they are so fresh, the exquisitely soft sea scallops lead the

charge, basking in an equally invigorating homemade mango salsa. Also look for the braised lamb, carefully cooked and topped with a bright, refreshing combination of sweet peas and mint.

Besides Route 6’s delectable burgers — which occasionally include an organic Kobe beef special on select evenings — the mainstays include Holdstock’s personal favorite, the veggie enchiladas. With or without

Above Ahi tuna nachos with wonton crisps.

Below Stuffed poblano pepper.

cheese, the juicy seasonal vegetables stuffed inside soak up just enough sauce to hit you with their heat as an afterthought — the ultimate winter belly warmer that won’t leave you with a guilty conscience.

The Café does, however, boast its fair share of comfort food. When you can eat the baby back ribs with a fork, you know they must be fall-off-the-bone tender. Honestly. No teeth required. The succulent dark sauce also mixes decadently with the accompanying candied sweet potatoes, bound to upstage even Thanksgiving’s best.

While it’s really not that bad for your waistline, the Thai curry comes in the richest bowl of creamy green coconut sauce you’ve encountered this side of Asia and packs a brand of heat which, rather than clearing your sinuses, leaves your lips tingling.

Whether you want to stay on your track of indulgent delights or have chosen a leaner option in anticipation of the final dish, dessert is a true grand finale at Route 6. The homemade pies and cheesecakes, brownie and apple strudel with vanilla bean ice cream are made with love that can literally tap into your own heart with every luscious bite.

Without question, Route 6 is the most affordable joint in town to get a surprisingly upscale meal. •

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Edwards

The Gashouse 34185 HIGHWAY 6, EDWARDS / 970.926.3613 / GASHOUSE-EDWARDS.COM

BY RANDY WYRICK PHOTOS BY ANDY GUY

Y

ou know you’re in the Colorado Rockies when you walk through the Gashouse door.

It was a gas station and general store for decades when U.S. Highway 6 was a gravel road. The gas station closed, the building fell into disrepair, but it was resurrected in 1983 as a restaurant.

The place remains rustic by design. Game trophies on the wall look like an amusing, slow-moving zoo. The Gashouse guys didn’t shoot them, so each one comes with a story; maybe true, maybe just a great story.

Almost everything on the menu is local. The buffalo are raised about 30 miles up the road. The same for the elk, venison and other game. Ranchers between Edwards and Steamboat Springs raise the lamb. You can buy a jackalope and eat jackalope sausage. Honest, they have it. It’s actually antelope and rabbit with habañero peppers and cherry and, like the rest of the Gashouse menu, toes the line between wild and civilized. Co-owner Andy Guy knows how to create a menu that has something for everyone.

The seafood woke up in the ocean yesterday. Everything on your plate was swimming less than 24 hours earlier. You can mix and match the seafood, game and classic meat and poultry dishes. And you are required to try the crab cakes. Co-owner Connie Irons is from Maryland and it’s her family

Above The Gashouse dining room. Below The wild game plate.

recipe. It’ll make Marylanders commit six of the Seven Deadly Sins.

The wine list is huge and complements everything. Trust your server.

Ours was Dave and he suggested the Malbec. Dave gets stars in his crown in heaven. It’s mild but stands up to grilled meat, which is why Dave suggested it and why Dave is going to heaven.

TOP OF THE LIST Try the Buffalo shrimp, just because it’s good. The Buffalo carpaccio is Colorado buffalo smoked on the outside and sliced paper thin, then served with arugula and crostinis.

Yeah, we know you can get carpaccio all over town, but not like this. And while you’re there, try the quail appetizer — succulent, savory, super.

For the entrée, feel free to partner with someone for a couple combos.

You can’t go wrong with the seafood combo and the Ultra Game Grill.

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You’ll need a pre-plate agreement that everything on the table is community property. Violate the Code of the Combo and you go on the wall with the water buffalo.

The Ultimate Game Grill helps you release your inner noble. Game was the food of nobility and this combines elk, quail, venison and smoked buffalo sausage. The venison ribs are prepared with a hint of sage, rosemary and arugula. Emily Post says it’s OK to eat ribs with your fingers. The elk is roasted to perfection. But it’s not just the flavor, which will make your taste buds give it a standing ovation; it has the texture of the finest filet mignon.

The quail offers the full flavor of a dark meat fowl, but is so much more delicate.

Don’t let anyone browbeat you into choosing a favorite from the Gashouse menu. It’s like children. There’s something to love about each of them. •

Edwards

Gore Range Brewery 0105 EDWARDS VILLAGE BLVD. / 970.926.BREW (2739) GORERANGEBREWERY.COM

BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

G

ore Range Brewery has taken brewpub food and turned it on its head. Though you can still find the traditional Brewery Burger or chicken wings on the menu, the Edwards establishment has elevated its offerings to include dishes for even the pickiest self-proclaimed foodies, starting with a handful of imaginative appetizers.

Try the sweet and crunchy coconut shrimp in a scallion batter or an order of the fried pickles — crispy, thick-cut and lightly breaded, they avoid the heaviness of a standard fried appetizer, and sending them for a swim in the paired horseradish-paprika dipping sauce completes the burst of flavor. If you’re a fan of edamame, try the sautéed shishito peppers. The mild kick of these roasted, Japanese mini green peppers varies from pepper to pepper for a bit of a spicy adventure, set off by rolling them in a touch of salt.

SIMPLE PLEASURES, WELL DONE There’s nothing better after a cold day on the mountain than a bowl of hearty soup, and Gore Range Brewery has you covered with four robust varieties, including a traditional onion soup.

Chef-owner Pascal Coudouy says

onion soup is meant to be simple, with beef stock, lots of onions and a few spices. His rendition is topped with a layer of sourdough bread and melted Gruyere cheese. The restaurant also offers a roasted tomato soup served with mini triangles of cheddar and basil grilled cheese or the GRB Beef Chili made with the brewery’s Fly Fisher Red Ale. Coudouy bakes his own pretzel

Above Grilled Salmon Below New England Red Ale Clam Chowder

If your stomach can’t make room for one of the restaurant’s delectable dessert delicacies, choose a brew with a twist as a finalcourse option.

rolls, slices of which are found alongside the lickthe-bowl delicious New England Red Ale Clam Chowder and hugging the BBQ Spice Rubbed Brisket Dip sandwich. The lightly salted, handmade bread is the perfect accompaniment to the juicy brisket, which is smoked for eight hours before being topped with spicy slaw and Swiss cheese. Pair it with a side of hand-cut fries and a Fly Fisher Red Ale from the brewery’s ever-changing beer list.

If lighter beers are more favorable to your palate, order a Whiteout Wheat and a wood-oven fired goat cheese pizza, with Colorado goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, dried cranberries, pistachios and basil.

Dab it in a bit of rosemary-chili pepper infused olive oil to complete an eclectic family of flavors.

If your stomach can’t make room for one of the restaurant’s delectable dessert delicacies, choose a brew with a twist as a final-course option. Gore Range Brewery’s beers lend themselves to a few sweet renditions, including the Raspberry Wheat, a Whiteout Wheat with a splash of Chambord liquor, or the Vanilla Float, Dark Matter Extra Stout with a shot of Stoli Vanilla vodka — a lighter way to end your meal. •

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Edwards

Old Forge Pizza RIVERWALK, ACROSS FROM THE MOVIE THEATER / 970.926.2220 / OLDFORGEPIZZACO.COM 520 EAST LIONSHEAD CIRCLE, LIONSHEAD / 970.476.5232 2161 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, WEST VAIL / 970.476.5555

BY SHAUNA FARNELL PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

T

here is an irony to Old Forge Pizza Company’s logo. The beefy miner wielding a pizza shovel gives the impression that maybe the pizza is a dense, rich feast fit for a pack of ravenously hungry laborers.

But once you know the complex process that goes into Old Forge pizza-making and sample the surprising airiness of the crust, if anything, you’ll believe the strong man in the logo must have built his guns by stretching dough.

Making Old Forge dough is an 8-hour daily endeavor and does in fact require some biceps. It consists of aggressive stretching, packing with olive oil, stretching, kneading, then stretching again.

The result resembles a deep-dish crust — especially when presented in Old Forge’s trademark rectangular tray. While rich in flavor, the crust is actually featherweight, its bubbly crispness dangerously addictive. But … if you do happen to polish off an entire 16-inch single-handedly, it’s not the worst thing in the world.

“Olive oil is the only kind of oil we add to it.

There is no trans fat. So, as far as pizza goes, it’s actually pretty healthy,” says Old Forge co-owner Brian Butler, who, along with partner Sarah Millett, brought the Old Forge concept to the Vail Valley directly from its source near Scranton, Pennsylvania.

“It’s a very blue-collar area,” Millett says. “But every single person there knows this style of pizza and where to find the best.”

Rather than piling on exotic ingredients, Old Forge — first opened in 2007 in Edwards and now with locations in The Riverwalk, Lionshead, and West Vail — keeps it simple and fresh.

The tangy red sauce consists only of tomatoes and basil, the white sauce olive oil, garlic and rosemary and the green sauce basil, garlic, olive oil and pine nuts. Most of the pies are named after some sort of laborer — The Butcher, The Miner, The Olympian, The Harvester and Jack of All Trades. The theme slips into the panini menu, too, especially with popular favorite Rosie the

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EAT winter 2013

The Miner Tray Pizza.

Most of the pies are named after some sort of laborer — The Butcher, The Miner, The Olympian, The Harvester and Jack of All Trades.

Riveter (chicken, olive oil, artichoke hearts, cheese and fresh basil), made like the others on Old Forge’s homemade focaccia and featuring, like everything else on the menu, the company’s trademark cheese blend made exclusively for Old Forge from a family-owned Wisconsin farm.

On the starter menu, another hot item — literally — is the Buffalo wings. You would never know they are baked rather than fried, their saucy white meat so tender it breaks off in your messy fingers.

New this winter, Old Forge has lusciously subtle white bean or spicy roasted red pepper hummus paired

with seasoned bubbly flatbread made from the famed dough. It’s a snack you’ll ache for more of once the plate is empty.

Dovetailing with the magical dough’s other simple treats — garlic knots and cheesy bread, both crunchy on the outside and websoft on the inside — save room for the homemade cinnamon knots.

Some pizza joints just throw down a bottle of honey for the sweet lovers and their leftover crust. But how about some the golden brown hand-forged dough filled with sticky cinnamon filling dunked in vanilla sauce? The smell alone will have you drooling. •

Edwards

Vista at Arrowhead 676 SAWATCH DRIVE / ARROWHEAD / 970.926.2111 / VISTA-ARROWHEAD.COM

BY BRENDA HIMELFARB PHOTOS COURTESY JANINE GLENNON

W

hen you think of a neighborhood restaurant, you think small — perhaps 10 tables.

You think warm — as in cozy.

And, mostly, you think friendly. A place where you are made to feel so comfortable, that you want to go back again and again.

The second you walk through the doIn our valley, one of those places is Vista at Arrowhead. Although the restaurant with its vaulted ceilings is expansive — the subtle ambiance of the room, with its crackling fireplace — coupled with the friendliness of the staff, and particularly chef Michael Glennon and his wife, Janine — you feel, at once, at home. What’s more, everyone’s favorite pianist Mickey Poage appears nightly, his music drifting throughout the bar and restaurant.

Vista’s menu is an amalgamation of chef Glennon’s passion and expertise in creating his own dishes, executed with great skill. Glennon, who grew up in Boston, has been in the valley for 25 years, and worked at Sweet Basil and Montauk before opening Vista.

Although Glennon did not attend culinary school and learned “by doing,” his cuisine and creativity clearly get an A+.

“I’ve eaten all over the world and have tasted many wonderful dishes,” explains Glennon. “If I like something, I change it to make it my own. I like to serve dishes that are simply prepared. Not too complicated, maybe seven or eight ingredients.”

That said, the food doesn’t look or taste “simple.”

A meal at Vista could begin with Italian tapas like the flavorful braised duck and mushrooms on a homemade polenta cake or lobster-filled raviolis with caramelized onions, peas and mint.

For those with a taste for greens, there’s arugula and white bean salad with olives, fennel, sundried tomato and feta cheese topped with lemon vinaigrette. Beet lovers can nosh on beet carpaccio, micro

Above Roasted beet salad. Below Grilled shrimp and beef.

greens, candied spiced pecans, aged ricotta and crisp pancetta.

Vista’s signature dish is succulent Colorado lamb osso buco, with five-grain risotto, spinach, roasted carrots, gremolata and pine nuts. Glennon also features his take on Italian favorites veal Bolognese and breaded veal chop Milanese.

Rocky Mountain Ruby Red trout shows up with creamy orzo, sundried tomato, olives, spinach and salsa rosso, putting seafood lovers in heaven.

Yes, there are steaks, tuna, lobster, chicken, some pizzas and even a hamburger. And for the vegetarian, a pasta. What’s best, for those who are on a gluten free diet, there are a myriad of dishes from which to choose.

At Vista, you can eat and drink all the way through to an excellent dessert, from baked chocolate and date pudding to mascarpone cheesecake with blueberry compote and more — making your way to end a meal a very tough decision.

From beginning to end — Vista is simply scrumptious. •

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Edwards the pasta with your fork and the yolk oozes out, coating the truffle “caviar.”

Embellished with brown butter, it’s about as sexy as pasta gets.

Both Bosco and Haley are fans of the capra, seared goat cheese topped with lentils, greens and a Mediterranean-style eggplant puree that begs for bread. Those wanting something lighter should try the spinach salad, or even split one of the pizzas.

Zino Ristorante 27 MAIN STREET / RIVERWALK 970.926.0777 / ZINORISTORANTE.COM

BY WREN WERTIN PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

Z

ino Ristorante was built for a full house.

The lively, open room just seems happier and happier with each new table full of diners. It could be the grandiose staircase, the tiled floor, the vintage posters or the upbeat bar — but really it comes down to the hospitality that oozes from general manager and co-owner Giuseppe Bosco and his staff. His mission seems to be to eradicate hunger and loneliness by providing a warm room where people can sit, enjoy one another’s company, eat delicious food, drink beautiful wines and banter with the staff.

“When this room is full of people and everyone is running around, it’s full of positive energy,” Bosco says. “The heart of Zino is creating good food from fresh, simple ingredients.”

And that’s where executive chef Nick Haley comes in. Bosco was born in Italy, but Haley has an Italian soul. He certainly seems to coax the

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Above Cioppino with shrimp, mussels, clams, fish, scallops, crab and toasted bread.

Below Goat cheese and beet ravioli.

best and brightest out of his ingredients, just like any good nonna. He’s one to trust his instincts and commit to good ideas.

“We consider ourselves a contemporary Italian restaurant, so we can get outside of the boundaries,” Haley says.

What he means is, he likes to play.

Take the raviolo, which is the singular form of ravioli. You get one, because you only need one. But what a one it is. Stuffed with house-made ricotta, there is a gorgeous hen’s egg smack in the middle. Slice open

THE SHOWCASE As for entrees, it’s hard to narrow down the very tasty list. The cioppino is classic, the broth swimming with shellfish. Bosco will steer your toward the Branzino, a European sea bass served whole and tossed with a lemony caper butter. The fish is downright creamy — its white flesh seems to melt in the mouth. “It’s rustic,” explains Haley. “You don’t have to do a lot to showcase the product.”

(Though that’s because they buy such good products to begin with.)

Haley is currently smitten with the beet and goat cheese ravioli, topped with grilled artichokes. The bright pink of the beets is part of the dish’s mystique, which is both earthy and sweet.

“I’m not intimidated by doing really traditional dishes, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to step outside of the box,” says Haley.

And that’s exactly what both he and Bosco do. Seamlessly. •

Vail

Atwater on Gore Creek 1300 WESTHAVEN DRIVE VAIL CASCADE RESORT / 970.479.7014 / VAIL.COM

BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

F

ood isn’t just sustenance or science; it doesn’t just fill that ache in your tummy or provide calories for living and breathing. For executive chef Todd Bemis and his culinary team at Atwater on Gore Creek in the Vail Cascade Resort, designing exquisite cuisine is all about evoking a memory. Bemis says that creating the perfect dish isn’t about what’s inherently good or which flavor combinations create a perfect marriage, more that the right pairing of something familiar with something fresh makes the meal memorable.

“We don’t want to just feed people; we want to create an experience,” says Stephen Belie, chef de cuisine at Atwater. “We really want to show people what food can be.”

Bemis, Belie and restaurant chef Jay Spickelmier put a lot of passion into creating a menu that plays on different emotions for different people, using a varied attack to provide that lasting experience by fitting each classic dish with an element of surprise. Take the warm spinach salad with crimini mushrooms, artichokes, red onion and kumquat vinaigrette, crowned with a soft poached egg. Beyond being a creative presentation, the richness of the egg yolk contrasts the acidity of the spinach and vinaigrette for a warm and delicate mouth feel. The Colorado lamb meatballs are also a decadent delight.

“I love meatballs, but not all of the filler,” Belie says, referring to the gluten-based fillers most restaurants use to plump up this small plate. “We take great Colorado lamb and let it stand out.”

Another standout is the Jidori free-range roasted half chicken served with artichoke stew, chorizo, cauliflower puree and olive-caper vinaigrette. This heirloom variety of chicken is raised using sustainable ethics and cooked closer to medium, Bemis says, which makes it incredibly moist and tender on the palate. Bemis says most people shy away from cauliflower due to its texture but are surprised by how much they love it pureed and set off with the other elements of this dish.

Adding to the cultivation of a memorable experience is Atwater’s beer program. Belie says the restaurant’s periodic beer-pairing dinners and Brewmaster’s Weekends have challenged the cooking staff and brought them to new culinary heights, leaning on hand-

Above Crispy Pork Shank Below Grilled Asparagus with candied bacon

crafted, artisan brews rather than a traditional stable of wines. Each item on the Atwater menu, including dessert, lists a suggested beer pairing, ranging from Hefeweizens and amber ales to heavier, sweeter stouts, porters and strong ales. Belie says the craft beers chosen for the Atwater beer cellar mirror the vision the Atwater culinary crew embraces for its menu: quality ingredients, attention to detail and that little element of surprise that makes it remarkable. •

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Vail

Bistro Fourteen TOP OF VAIL’S EAGLE BAHN GONDOLA / 970.754.4530 / VAIL.COM

BY JOHN LACONTE PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY AND KIMBERLY GAVIN

S

ettle in and allow quality service, delicious fare, and the magnificent view of 14,000-foot Mount Holy Cross to hit you right between the numbers.

That’s the idea at Bistro Fourteen, a “fast casual” sit-down service restaurant located at Eagle’s Nest atop Vail Mountain.

Inspired by the 54 mountain peaks in Colorado that stand at more than 14,000 feet, the restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner, with lunch starting at 11 a.m. and dinner seating until 9 p.m.

And the requisite gondola ride to and fro can be both the perfect beginning and satisfying end to the experience.

FAST SERVICE Bistro Fourteen’s Eagle’s Nest location offers skiers an opportunity as rare and special as the powder they seek — the convenience of sit-down service with respect for time efficiency. The location is just a few steps from the gondola exit, where you can quickly walk in, get seated, and take off your jacket and goggles while the wait staff takes your drink order.

“At lunch time we sell more sandwiches, burgers, soups and potpie, stuff that’s quick and hearty,” says Web Lee, the executive sous chef at Bistro Fourteen. “Dinner time I think we’ll sell

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Above Everything is made from scratch at Bistro Fourteen.

Below The dining room has a great view.

more of the trout, manicotti and rack of lamb.”

A GREAT SELECTION Each course at Bistro Fourteen is contained to a single page. There’s a good selection of soups and salads — for a taste explosion try the pepper-crusted warm tuna salad.

The starters consist of nine appetizers, and include delicious favorites like hoisin-barbecued ribs, steamed mussels and lobster risotto. The entrees run the gamut from sandwiches (Monte Cristo, flank steak) to grill items (butcher steak) to penne pasta.

The rack of lamb is Lee’s personal favorite for good reason: Native to Colorado, it’s a high-country delight in every bite.

But the dessert menu may just be what keeps you coming back.

Bistro Fourteen’s “petite sweet” option allows you to mix and match smaller portions. And you’re defi-

nitely going to want to opt for the 3 for $8 special, as pastry chef Anne Armstrong’s German chocolate cake, Vanilla bean pound cake and dark chocolate brownie sundae are best enjoyed together.

PLAY THE NUMBERS WITH WEEKLY SPECIALS As of January, enjoy two-for-one entrees on Tuesdays, 50 percent off bottles of wine on Wednesdays, and a daily après with 25 percent off apps. The children’s menu offers five $10 meals that include a starter (carrot sticks with ranch dressing and fresh grapes), entree ( cheeseburger, mac ’n’ cheese, grilled cheese, penne with marinara, chicken tenders) and dessert. Armstrong tops it off with house-made ice cream sundaes, (gluten-free ice cream available). Bistro Fourteen makes for an easy, delicious dinner with a heck of a view. •

Vail

The Blue Moose LIONSHEAD VILLAGE / 970.476.8666 / BLUEMOOSEPIZZA.COM BEAVER CREEK PLAZA / 970.845.8666

BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY SHANE MACOMBER & NATE AGNINI

M

y fingers reach to grasp the piece of Mediterranean “salad” pizza, a delicious combination of roasted red pepper, pesto hummus, light mozzarella, onions, artichoke and feta cheese, garnished with spinach, tomatoes and basil vinaigrette. My other hand helps to support the steaming slice as I lift the triangle toward my tongue, careful not to drop any of the precious toppings.

Even if I do make a mess of the table while eating this classic finger food, it will be easy enough to throw away the paper tablecloth, although crayon drawings should always be framed instead of crumpled.

“This is a kid and group-friendly atmosphere,” says Tommy Nolan,

head chef of Blue Moose Pizza in Lionshead. “We have table mats that you can draw on with crayons, and an ice skating rink is right outside.”

Sharing a savory pie always seems perfect after a day out on the slopes, but Blue Moose Pizza also offers a variety of other dishes to share and enjoy. An order of buffalo wings and a pasta entrée may be the classic comforts you are looking for after a chilly day in the Colorado snow.

“The Blue Moose definitely offers a good mix of Italian entrees and family-style meals with pizza,” says Nolan. “We are putting a healthier spin on some of the pizzas to offer something for the whole family.”

Above A vegetarian pizza with mushrooms, peppers, onions and olives. Right The Blue Moose dining room.

THE UPPER CRUST Organic stone-ground wheat and gluten-free crusts are all hand-tossed, and can be used to make any pizza. Nolan says his kitchen will accommodate food allergies, so there’s no reason not to try a pie.

“The new gluten-free crust has been a big thing for us and people seem to like it a lot,” says Nolan.

“If someone has a really strong allergy we make sure to go in the cooler to keep certain products away from other ingredients in the kitchen.”

Take on a taste of their motto: “Life’s too short, eat more pizza,” and it’s easy to see why this food has become a timeless tradition for many. Blue Moose Pizza is located in the heart of the Lionshead and Beaver Creek villages, making it a definitive destination from any point in the valley.

Refreshment is also found in many forms, with carbonated classics for the kids, and an extensive micro-brew list to quench a more mature thirst.

Try the Firestarter IPA from Bonfire Brewery — a true celebration of local flavor and full-fledged hops that bodes all too well for afternoon lunch and après specials.

If anyone should take credit for the fun-loving space, however, it’s Bruce — the big blue moose.

Take him home on a hat or a t-shirt, and be sure to order some of the Blue Moose’s famous freshbaked cookies to keep your finger-licking love lasting all day long. •

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41

Vail squeezed and we make all our own bar mixes.”

El Sabor 660 LIONSHEAD PLACE LION SQUARE LODGE 970.476.4844 / ELSABORVAIL.COM

BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

F

ind yourself at the new Lionshead hotspot and you’ll immerse your senses in a fiesta of flavor. El Sabor is a true Latin American experience, combining vibrant ingredients with traditional spices to offer a fresh cuisine for local and international guests.

“We are visited by so many different cultures, and they are not just looking to experience our culture here, but also other cultures in general,” says Mike Dunlap, chief operating officer and cuisine crafter at El Sabor. “We are providing Vail with that different experience.”

Sink into a copper-studded leather chair—handcut and crafted with old world Latin America in mind. Authentic masks line the perimeter of the open dining room, and windows frame the slopeside scene for afternoon views and an ideal après experience.

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Above Mahi Veracruz with vegetables. Below House-made chips, guacamole and salsa.

It’s a perfect place for people watching, and possibly the best bar in town for tequila sipping. A share of the Herradura spirit is actually El Sabor’s very own — picked and barreled on a recent staff trip to the distillery. This exclusive tequila deserves an untouched taste in a hand-blown rocks glass, however, you may want to take a look at the unique margarita menu and try one of assistant general manager Daryl Claffey’s creative cocktails.

“Everything that we do here is made from scratch, everything,” says Claffey. “All the fruit is fresh-

LATIN FLAVORS Pair your thirst with some of Dunlap’s culinary creations. He says first-hand training with Latin American cooking techniques and farmto-table traditions have founded his inspiration for El Sabor’s diverse and delicious menu.

Get some items to share, because the portions are plentiful.

Start with queso fundido, a hot dip of peppers and chilies sautéed with onions and spices, covered with manchego and asadero cheeses and oven baked to perfection.

The Tres Chiles has already become an entrée favorite, offering “the flavor” from Latin America’s north, southwest coast and southeast coast regions. Pass the colorful plate of chili rellano, chicken-andcheese-stuffed poblano with mole sauce, and shrimp and rice stuffed poblano with an avocado salsa.

“There’s so many different varieties of food in their culture — ranging from Spanish to Portuguese, to South American, Central American and North American,” says Dunlap. “It all includes very similar ingredients, but the variations you get in it is amazing.”

Finish the evening with fried plantains and ice cream — simple, but oh so sweet. Dunlap says that the cuisine isn’t complicated, just clean and consistent.

“Food in its natural state is truly one of the best things for you,” he says.

“The simpler you make it, the better.” •

Vail

Elway’s 174 E. GORE CREEK DR. / LODGE AT VAIL / 970.754.7818 / ELWAYS.COM/VAIL

BY KRISTA DRISCOLL PHOTO BY KRISTIN ANDERSON

T

he perfect steak can be transcendent. It can elevate a meal above your expectations and deliver you to a lofty height of gastro perfection so complete that as you savor each bite, you are also touched with a bit of sadness that each of those bites brings you closer to the end of your epicurean journey.

Such is the way that Elway’s steakhouse in Vail presents its USDA Prime beef. Each steak is hand cut and rubbed with a signature blend of more than 50 ingredients, the recipe for which is kept under lock and key, says Joe Infantino, general manager. Less than 2 percent of all cuts of beef can be labeled prime, and Elway’s offers a handful of presentations for its steaks that enhance their high-quality appeal without getting in the way of the beef’s flavor. Top the decadent 22-ounce bone-in rib-eye with a duck egg, the creamy yolk blending with the marbled meat, or a pat of Maytag blue cheese compound butter. Or choose a lean filet set off with a ribbon of peppercorn sauce.

BACK TO THE BEGINNING But we’ve gotten ahead of ourselves.

A meal should start with an aperitif and an appetizer, and Elway’s selections for each are too good to pass up. Order the spicy citrus caipirinha, a refreshing cocktail of Leblon Cachaca, cilantro, jalapeño, fresh lime juice and sugar served on the rocks with a spicy zip on the aftertaste. The Harvest Pear martini pairs Grey Goose La Poire vodka with a splash of St Germain and a housemade Moscatel poached pear puree.

Both are the perfect accompani-

ment to Elway’s fresh oysters. The oysters come by the half-dozen and are plucked from the coasts: Island Creek oysters from Massachusetts and the Calm Cove variety from Washington, served with cocktail sauce and mignonette.

If you’re looking for something a little more indulgent for a starter, choose the lamb chop fondue, three lamb lollipops propped up in a bed of crispy Chimayo tortillas and roasted sweet potatoes served with green chili-cheese fondue. Grilled medium rare without a hint of gaminess, the lamb is perfectly paired with a glass of spicy Mendoza malbec. For a lighter but equally sinful commencement, try the truffled beet-fresh

Above A 22-ounce rib-eye topped with a fried duck egg, with sides of mac ‘n’ cheese and Brussels sprouts.

mozzarella salad. A stacked plate of crisp red and gold beets combines sweet and salty with caramelized shallots and creamy mozzarella.

THE MAIN EVENT And now, back to those steaks. Each is served a la carte, giving you the option to mix and match sides however you choose, including Elway’s fried rice with king crab or duck confit, or the Brussels sprout hash with toasted pistachios and bacon. If steak isn’t your thing, substitute the sustainably farmed Skuna Bay salmon or the dashi-braised Chilean sea bass.

To close out your meal, choose the delicate, creamy and tart Key Lime pie with berry sauce or Elway’s fresh-baked chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies and a chai martini with smoky burnt orange peel. Relax in the afterglow of an amazing meal and its centerpiece: that haunting, divine cut of meat. •

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Beaver Creek

Game Creek Restaurant GAME CREEK BOWL, VAIL MOUNTAIN / 970.754.4275 / VAIL.COM

BY SHAUNA FARNELL PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID CLAWSON

T

he beautiful lodge in the woods visible only from certain vantage points in Vail Mountain’s Game Creek Bowl may be open for members only during the ski day, but come nightfall, dinner is on for one and all.

While riding up the gondola and then in a heated snow cat to the isolated cabin are novelties in and of themselves, Game Creek — the only restaurant in Vail to offer such an experience — is also considered one of the Rocky Mountains’ epicurean leaders.

The restaurant’s Pre Fixe menu is the go-to for most patrons, and nearly everyone opts for the five-course option.

Trained initially in the art of French cuisine, Game Creek executive chef David Clawson has made it his mission to dash Game Creek’s menu with hints of exquisite fare from all over the globe.

As for the starters, any Japanese sushi master would envy the silky kampachi accompanied by a fruity, crunchy sideshow of melon, avocado, cucumber and pomegranate, although the touch of borage — a self-seeding herb native to the Mediterranean — takes the dish into an even more eclectic direction. At the same time, any of Mexico’s finest chefs would be challenged to match the warm kick of the shrimp laced with chipotle, chorizo, cilantro and jicama.

“I represent a lot of cultures,” Clawson says. “A lot of them are in the preparations — the dumpling on the pork, the lamb dish with the muhammara — a Middle Eastern type spice that caramelizes — the Italian with the burrata cheese that we make in house … I use flavors from around the world.”

Rare and exotic as some of the ingredients may sound, the main feature of each dish speaks for itself and you’d never actually guess it was dolled up with foreign herbs and spices.

The burrata cheese is actually featured in the Iberico ham salad, made traditionally with mozzarella curd but rendered extra rich when finished with goat cheese, every fresh, creamy dollop the ideal compliment to the almost shockingly flavorful Iberico.

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Above Seared foie gras.

The restaurant’s Pre Fixe menu is the go-to for most patrons, and nearly everyone opts for the fivecourse option.

The cheese isn’t the only thing made from scratch. Although it is tucked deep into pine-lined solitude of the back bowls, Game Creek houses a full-fledged, fully apparatus-ed kitchen and bakery, making just about every single item in-house — even the tofu for the restaurant’s signature (and also Asian-flared) vegetarian entrée.

Although the dishes are arranged in truly artistic fashion, the meats placed in colorful composition with the sides and sauces crossed and drizzled like the most calculated of paintings, each forkful, however dainty, seeps richness into every single one of your taste buds. And you need not worry that your tummy will still be growling after dinner.

“We have a no-hunger policy,” Clawson explains. “Besides the work

that goes into the dishes themselves, there are a lot of things we interject into the meal.”

Yes indeed. Be that an amuse bouche of seared ahi on watermelon guaranteed to persuade you to make another dinner reservation just for another cheek-tickling bite, an intermezzo of champagne-infused grapefruit or the candy store-meetsbakery-rich cheesecake lollipop you’re given for the ride back down the mountain, there are plenty of special touches. Don’t expect to fall into a food coma afterward, but feel certain you’ll glide away pleasantly full.

And be comforted by the realization that this is what Game Creek’s club members indulge in all day between ski runs … but something you really don’t want to miss when the doors open at dinnertime. •

Vail a prix fixe setup, which can be customized to suit your appetite. Those three courses are all savory: lighter first courses, sultry second courses and full-blown mains. But tables can (and should) order caviar, oysters or charcuterie plates to share — the last an intricate combination of cured meats, cheeses and accoutrements. And those who want to finish on a sweet note can indulge in one of Carey’s innovative ice creams or other desserts.

Kelly Liken GATEWAY BUILDING / 970.479.0175 / KELLYLIKEN.COM

BY WREN WERTIN PHOTOS BY ZACH MAHONE

W

hen Kelly Liken and Rick Colomitz opened Restaurant Kelly Liken, they announced they were raising the bar. That meant a lot of things — cultivating local farmers, helping define Colorado cuisine, educating diners about their food, and creating a chic, energetic space. Check, check, check.

Almost a decade later, the restaurant has come into its own.

Yes, it’s still an expression of chef Liken and her culinary ideals. But it’s also its own entity, with its own rhythm and personality. In addition to Liken, sous chef Matt Limbaugh, chef de cuisine Tyler Hansen and

SAVORY About those carrots — who serves a triptych of root veggies as a first course? Liken does. She slow cooks baby carrots in vinaigrette, allowing them to meld together. Then she plates those with carrot custard and a shaved carrot salad.

“It’s a study of carrots,” she says, laughing.

Another fun dish is the succulent goat, served with sweet-tart currants, roasted carrots, fresh goat cheese and brightly savory granola. “On the plate you have the goat, and you have what the goat eats,” explains Limbaugh. He’s right: There are the grains, the berries, the veggies. “It’s a little tongue in cheek,” says Liken, “but it’s fun and delicious. It’s good to think outside the box a little.”

Don’t miss the Skuna Bay salmon, which offers salmon two ways (fresh and cured), along with Above Roasted goat crepi- a luxurious piece of uni. From pumpkin ravioli nette with goat cheese, with duck confit to pan-seared black cod with roasted carrots and savory pear butter and truffles, luxury is an overarchgranola. Below Pan-seared ing theme on the winter menu. Ask Lockwood to black cod with black pair by the course — she will surprise you with truffles and cauliflower French, Colorado and California selections — and risotto. sink into a delightful meal.” •

pastry chef Colleen Therese Carey are in the kitchen. Sommelier Lisa Lockwood is joined in the front of the house by many, many employees who have been there for years.

And they are all busy. The menu is more like a conversation than a list of dishes — sometimes contemplative (the carrot trio), sometimes vivaciously active (the roasted goat crepinette. Always fun. “We’re able to express ourselves because we trust each other,” says Liken about her kitchen crew.

PRIX FIXE A year ago, the restaurant went to

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Vail

La Tour 122 EAST MEADOW DRIVE / 970.476.4403 / LATOUR-VAIL.COM

BY WREN WERTIN PHOTO BY KRISTIN ANDERSON

B

y rights, Paul Ferzacca should be on cruise control. He knows how to own and operate one of the best restaurants in Vail Village, and he’s been doing it for a good long while. But the chef doesn’t know how to just sit back and watch it happen: He likes to keep it fresh. So whether he’s cultivating new chefs at the beginning of their careers, encouraging his sommelier to sit for the Masterlevel test or introducing an entirely new concept — late lunch and après — the man is busy. And it clearly works.

Simply put, La Tour is fun.

APRÈS SKI — IT’S FRENCH During the winter season, La Tour used to be dinner only. That’s all changed now. They open their doors at 1:30 p.m. for late-lunchers, and by the time hard-core skiers and riders are done on the hill, après at La Tour is in full swing. With a selection of $3, $5, $8 and $12 dishes, guests can mix and match to their hearts’ content. Get oysters two ways: raw with sauce mignonette or grilled on a hibachi, bubbling with bacon and butter. The sweet potato and rock shrimp dumplings are proving popular, with their seductive miso-lobster broth and sweet-savory filling. And the spaghetti carbonara is va-va-voom, crowned with a handful of housemade guanicale and a carefully cooked 140-degree egg with an oozy yolk. It’s the sort of civilized après experience that ruins a person for life — you can eat beautiful food served by warm waitstaff, and you can talk to your dining companions instead of shouting over the music. Plus, the entire dinner menu is available, too, for those who wish to dive into rack of lamb, Dover sole and other delights.

RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS Despite the new après, though, La Tour is the same restaurant it’s been for years: a seasonal FrenchAmerican experience that delights in global influences. Look for the Iberica pork, served with the secreto, or skirt steak, of the acorn-fed pigs — “It’s ridiculously delicious,” promises Ferzacca.

He’s also a fan of the Hawaiian kampachi served with crosnes, an exotic root vegetable. And the lobster and scallops dish, poached in a lobster-

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Above BBQ oysters on a hibachi.

miso broth, comes with the same dumplings found on the après menu, but this time serving as a foil to the tender seafood.

“I love our new menu and the food we’re putting out,” says Ferzacca. He’s proud of the menu he and executive chef Oliver Philpott have created. He’s also pleased with the rest of his team, including dining room manager Thomas Gutherie. The two worked together 20 years ago when they opened Two Elk. Gutherie spent some time as a Buddhist monk, but is back in the hospitality business — complete

with a Zen-like management style.

“It’s great, he greets people with happiness at the front door,” Ferzacca says about Gutherie.

The same could be said about Ferzacca, who likes to wander from the kitchen to check on his guests when he can.

“To be here and own a restaurant that’s been in Vail for the last 50 years is pretty cool,” he says. “Even though I’m the second generation of owner for this restaurant, it’s very exciting to celebrate along with the town.”

And it’s exciting for guests, too. •

Vail

Larkspur Restaurant 458 VAIL VALLEY DRIVE / 970.754.8050 / LARKSPURVAIL.COM

BY CARAMIE SCHNELL PHOTO BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

L

ast year it was 17 steaks.

This year, 24. That’s how many cuts of beef — some of the best steaks in the country, mind you — the chefs and other core members of the Larkspur Restaurant team tried this fall. One by one, side by side, each meat got its spotlight bite during a blind tasting. Eventually they chose a custom dry-aged 40-ounce tomahawk rib-eye from Creekstone Farms, a small producer out of Kansas that’s the darling of in-the-know East Coast chefs right now.

“We believe value is irrelevant of actual costs; hitting expectations and exceeding them every time, that’s what we strive for,” says Thomas Salamunovich, the owner and culinary director of the restaurant.

“We never settle,” says executive chef Rich Hinjosa. “Ingredients are the foundation.”

That much is clear over and over again as you journey through the menu. Alone, the endive lettuce is a crunchy punch of flavor. But in the Belgian Endive salad, it’s more like a caress; the lettuce is thoughtfully balanced with Danish blue cheese, sweet smears of port reduction and a light lemon vinaigrette. The grilled New Caledonia prawns are farm raised, but in the sea so the little crustaceans retain that sweet, clean flavor. Accompanied by sweet-witha-hint-of-spice butternut squash ravioli, tender Tuscan beans, crispy pancetta and toasted pepitas, each bite is a treat.

IT TAKES A TEAM The other foundation of this restaurant is the team. The staff gathers around a circular table at 5:15 p.m.

sharp each night for lineup. Once Hinjosa sits down, everyone from server to sous chef tastes new dishes, learns about menu changes and ingredient anecdotes, like where the kale grows. They might hear about the soft and complex Haystack Mountain “Red Cloud” goat cheese from Longmont, or learn about the evening’s amuse bouche, literally the first bite chef sends out to amuse your mouth.

The team is paramount, perhaps at this restaurant more than any in the valley. That’s what the loyal longtimers will tell you. Six of the staff members traveled recently to New York City on a research and development trip. It was there they learned about Creekstone beef.

“It’s imperative we stay current,” Salamunovich says. “We’re not competing with Vail restaurants; we’re just trying to excel to the highest level we’re capable of, so it’s important that we’re paying attention

Above Grilled New Caledonia Prawns with butternut squash ravioli, Tuscan beans and crispy pancetta.

to what’s happening worldwide.”

“If it’s great, it can be better,” Hinjosa says.

“We’re constantly pushing.”

And they’re pushing from all directions: constantly tweaking ingredients to make the dishes better, striving to provide seamless service, and encouraging each other to be better. It’s that culture that the employees value, and that visitors remember long after dining at Larkspur.

“It costs nothing more to be thoughtful,” says James Gall, the restaurant’s managing director. “It’s about what makes the guest most comfortable.”

Even at the many weddings and other group special events the restaurant hosts, the coordination of 150 made-to-order dinners runs smoothly thanks to a giant clock in the open kitchen and the restaurant’s detailed, posted-onthe-wall systems about how everything is done, from how long it takes for a person to be served a first course, to how guests should feel when they walk out the door, a reminder that’s written on the meeting notes passed out at each night’s lineup.

“Let’s make it our goal to send them home raving to the world about how awesome it is to dine at Larkspur.” •

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Vail mastery and local heritage they know and love. Their food is so popular with their guests that they are launching a catalogue — both in print and online — that will allow people to take home some of the restaurant’s signature items.

“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.”

The Left Bank 183 GORE CREEK DRIVE / 970.476.3696 / LEFTBANKVAIL.COM

BY KIM FULLER AND LAUREN GLENDENNING PHOTOS COURTESY THE LEFT BANK

N

ot only does it feel like the French countryside when you walk into the dining room at the Left Bank restaurant, but the French being spoken around you makes this restaurant feel as if it’s in a ski town in the French Alps.

French cuisine is something decadent, to be savored and enjoyed with every bite, and at the Left Bank that’s exactly what you’re going to do.

The Left Bank has been in the hands of chef and owner Jean-Michel Chelain since 2006.

With Kimberly, his wife, Jean-Michel has upheld a true tradition of French cuisine here, and year after year customers return to find the culinary

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Above Clockwise from left, French onion soup, tuna tartare and tomato soup to go. Right Lobster bisque.

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. The carré d’agneau roti a ma façon for two is a gorgeous rack of Colorado lamb brushed with Dijon mustard and perfectly cooked. And the soufflé is legendary.

Though the menu will always have its classics, Jean-Michel continues to create new dishes every season.

Fresh diver sea scallops are served with a sensual parmesan-arugula risotto, while the ceviche de crevettes involves a lightly cured gulf shrimp with a glancing blow of spice. These new options are classic in their own right, yet keep the menu fresh — and delicious — at the Vail landmark restaurant. And those who can’t get enough are welcome to take some Left Bank home with them. •

Vail

Leonora 16 VAIL ROAD / THE SEBASTIAN / 970.331.0015 / THESEBASTIANVAIL.COM

BY WREN WERTIN PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

A

ll you have to do is peek inside the door of Leonora and you understand it’s not just a restaurant — it’s entertainment.

Dramatic lighting illuminates a room with a crudo bar, high tops and circular booths that invite conspiratorial laughter and secret smiles. The restaurant occupies the space formerly known as Block 16, and as such lays claim to the glassed wine silo centerpiece that ascends from the center of the floor toward the ceiling. And yet there’s virtually no overlap in the way the room feels or the food tastes. Everything seems new.

An alpine bistro and tapas bar, Leonora’s menu is informed by the cuisines of the Alps, Pyrenees and Rocky Mountains. Though traditional entrée portions are available (and delicious), there is such a profusion of smaller plates with feisty, fun flavors that one could easily spend the evening simply munching.

Executive chef Sergio Howland’s ever-changing crudo and ceviche selections run the gamut from the pristine simplicity of ruby shrimp

swimming in a yuzu-based sauce to a complicated chorus of “leche de tigre” options. Sweet-tart tamarind, zingy citrus and other flavors help give each dish its own identity, while keeping it within the context of the menu as a whole. Nothing comes out of left field, but nearly everything packs a little surprise.

Above Seared tuna and charred octopus atop white bean ragout. Left Patatas topped with aioli and tomato sofrito.

The restaurant is named for artist Leonora Carrington, whose work is found throughout The Sebastian.

DINNER THEATER For easy sharing, try the patatas, little potato discs topped with dollop of spicy tomato sofrito and a garlicky aioli. The shrimp sliders are a textural marvel, offering an intense, savory flavor softened by the fresh bun. And the mini tacos — lobster or flank steak — come on blistered tortillas that bring to mind a hot comal in a Mexican kitchen. Though I’m a fan of sharing lots of little things in order to try as much as possible, I will never resist the seared ahi atop a white bean “stew” that, thanks to the chorizo, is like a Spanish cassoulet. Laced with a brown butter flavor, it will have you chasing bite after bite.

“This is theater,” says Paul Wade, the property’s food and beverage director. As if to underscore his point, our server appears with dessert, a chocolate orb on a plate. Pouring warm chocolate onto the globe, the chocolate shell disappears in the blink of an eye, leaving an oozing study of sweetness. It was akin to raising a curtain, so complete was the illumination. We laughed, delighted, as Wade, too, melted into the background.

The show must go on — and Leonora will have many encore performances. •

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Lord Gore 595 VAIL VALLEY DRIVE, MANOR VAIL / 970.476.5000 / MANORVAIL.COM

BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

I

f every chair in a dining room were proximal to the ambient warmth of a grand fireplace and crystal vision through a wall of windows, where would you find the best seat in the house?

“I consider every table to be a window table, and every table to have fireside dining,” says Adam Lewis, director of food and beverage at the Lord Gore Restaurant and Manor Vail Lodge.

“You’re going to feel like this is a comfortable and soft atmosphere, where you can come in and be welcome — this is a manor, and you’re in the grand dining room.”

The circular expanse of the Lord Gore does hold space for the grandeur and symmetry of a medieval counsel — Vail’s very own “knights of the round.”

The restaurant is named for one of this valley’s oldest figures of history — Lord Gore was a wealthy and extravagant Irish Baronet who came to the valley in 1853 on an expedition to hunt wild game. With whatever prize pelts he carried from these mountains, Gore left his name on Vail’s river, range and one of its very first restaurants.

“Manor Vail is about to turn 50 with Vail,” says Lewis. “With the Lord Gore right on the brink of its own half-century celebration.”

The Lord Gore opened in 1965, only two years after its neighboring world-class ski mountain.

Almost 50 years later, the restaurant is still known for its heritage of timeless elegance and culinary class.

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Above Diver scallops.

Below Creme brulee cheesecake.

CULINARY HERITAGE Executive chef Weston Schroeder is revealing fresh flavors in his first year at Lord Gore, but his menu still holds a traditional cuisine that has kept it in the hearts of longtime valley locals and visitors.

“We are reconnecting with our heritage and tying that back into the direction that we are moving with Weston as our new chef,” says Lewis. “He has some Sicilian heritage and is also very contemporary with his cooking style, so you’ll see French and Spanish ingredients and techniques, and he always slides in the Italian.”

Schroeder even introduced a family recipe to the menu. Arancini is crispy risotto and fontina cheese, served with saffron aioli, charred tomato relish and shaved parmesan.

Pair this with a glass of Anselmi pinot grigio from Friuli, Italy — the

robust white wine complementing each creamy bite.

The diver scallop appetizer brings seafood close to home on a bed of tri-potato hash, smoked bisque, bacon lardons and a sherry reduction.

As rustic roots run deep at Lord Gore, the wild game trio, beef short ribs and proscuitto-wrapped meatloaf are entrées that should not be missed — complete only with your server’s best red wine selections.

Finish the evening with the crème brulee cheesecake. It’s pure sweet silk, served on a butter crust with vanilla crème and blackberry sauce.

“Every person who walks through this door, whether it’s a local, a homeowner, or somebody who just discovers us, they are going to come in here and get great service,” says Schroeder. “Then the food starts coming out and it just keeps getting better.” •

Vail

The theme of quality continues on the food side of the menu. Freshness is never in question — the restaurant has its fish flown in six days per week.

There are so many signature dishes to try that one visit is likely not enough, although dining with a big group and ordering family style can help you tackle a good portion of the menu in one sitting.

Because Matsuhisa, who is Japanese, spent many years living in Peru, the menu offers an exciting fusion of those flavors, as well as very traditional Japanese dishes.

Sushi and sashimi run the gamut of exciting, traditional and exotic. From baby abalone to tuna belly to Japanese snapper to sea urchin, Matsuhisa Vail has it all.

Specialties include broiled black cod with miso and fresh sea bass with black bean sauce or truffle. A rock shrimp tempura dish pops with a simultaneously crispy and creamy texture proving even something fried is carefully prepared.

Matsuhisa 141 EAST MEADOW DRIVE / 970.476.6628 / MATSUHISAVAIL.COM

BY LAUREN GLENDENNING PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

T

he star power of Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa might be what draws people into his namesake Vail restaurant, but it’s the experience — from the food to the most minute detail of service — that keeps them coming back.

SUSHI AND SAKE Sushi and sake beginners and connoisseurs alike can come away from Matsuhisa Vail with equally satisfying, yet different, experiences.

The menu is expansive and doesn’t change, although there are often nightly additions not found on the regular menu.

The sake at all of Matsuhisa’s restaurants is made especially for his restaurants. The quality is spectacular — a truly terrific sake experience even for those who think they dislike sake. Try a sake flight to figure out which one you like best, just make sure to order the Dai-Ginjo YK 35 for a uniquely smooth and fruity flavor.

Above Clockwise from top left: New Style salmon, aji tiradito, yellowtail and tai with dried miso.

OMAKASE Matsuhisa believes that food “is imbued with the feelings and personality of the cook.” He believes a chef must cook from the heart and convey emotion through each and every dish. That’s one of the main reasons the Omakase experience is not to be missed.

“Omakase” means to “entrust” in Japanese.

At Matsuhisa Vail, you are entrusting the chef to prepare an intoxicating multi-course dining experience that is truly sensational.

The experience features dishes like Wagyu beef with seared foie gras over a potato and daikon emulsion; silky butter-poached lobster with an aromatic fennel cucumber kimchee, and uni (sea urchin) wrapped in Tai (Japanese snapper) with dry miso and yuzu.

The omakase experience is something chefs Brian Busker and Toru Watanabe are proud of — largely because Matsuhisa has entrusted them to carry out his vision using their own personal touches. These are chefs Matsuhisa trusts completely, and they never take that for granted.

“This is our chance to express our style of cooking, from our heart, as a chef,” Busker says.

“So (we’re) utilizing Nobu’s flavors and concept of cooking and food, but it’s the chef’s creations.” •

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Vail

Pepi’s Bar & Restaurant 231 EAST GORE CREEK / 970.476.5626 / PEPIS.COM

BY BRENDA HIMELFARB PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

T

here are very few people who have visited Vail who have not heard of Pepi’s. Whether it be the hotel, Gasthof Gramshammer, Pepi’s porch, Pepi’s bar, Pepi’s restaurant or the Antler’s room, there’s no denying that the place is a beloved Vail institution, smack-dab in the middle of Bridge Street. It was a great favorite of President Ford’s when he vacationed in Vail.

Pepi — and his wife, Sheika — have been Vail mainstays since the very beginning. In fact, the run, Forever, is named for Pepi. When he got a tour of the mountain before they built the resort, he decided to ski it all. He then had to hike back up to where the rest of the tour group was. How long did it take? Forever.

At the main restaurant you will find familiar dishes: veal picatta, wiener schnitzel, spicedrubbed rib-eye, roasted half duckling and seafood risotto, to name just a few.

But the Antler’s Room, internationally known for its wild game, features an array of dishes that will take you on a culinary journey — all under the watchful eye of chef Helmut. Those eating in the main restaurant are able to order from the Antler’s Room menu if they so desire.

You might begin with a house specialty, steak tartare, that is served with German rye bread.

Seasoned perfectly with capers and subtle spices, the tartare is especially tender and assuages the most discerning diner’s hunger.

The Graubündner teller, air-dried beef from Graüden, served with Gruyere cheese and German rye bread, is also a savory choice. Seafood lovers might try the ahi tuna sashimi, seared rare on mixed field greens with pickled ginger and a spicy wasabi dip or the locally smoked salmon served with a dill cream cheese and toast points.

Light and creamy, the lobster bisque delivers a boost to the palate. Or you might want to order the Caesar salad, served tableside — for two or more — with Pepi’s homemade Caesar dressing and garlic croutons.

It’s the wild game specialties that are a must.

The Wilddieb platter features braised quail, wild boar and elk accompanied with Minnesota wild

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Above Canadian caribou cutlet with wild boletus sauce.

rice and a selection of sauces.

There is also wild Russian boar loin with a smetna sauce and Canadian caribou cutlet with a porcini mushroom sauce, both served with creamy polenta and red cabbage.

Two or more persons can share a rack of caribou, or roasted Alaskan elk loin, on a chanterelle mushroom demi-glace served with spätzle.

Rack of venison, buffalo tenderloin and antelope are also on the menu.

The fish entrées are charismatic enough to stand up to their wild comrades. Be it the Dover sole almondine, filleted table side with an almond-lemon butter, salmon in

tomato-olive sauce with puttanesca — tomatoes, onions, capers, olives, garlic and pickled jalapeños — or the sea bass with parsley sauce, pan sautéed in butter and topped with a lemony, parsley sauce.

And Hiesse Liebe, which means “hot love,” is the ideal light dessert of vanilla ice cream covered with hot raspberries and whipped cream.

The Antler’s room with its European decor is particularly cozy and lends itself to a very intimate dinner. That ambiance, together with Pepi’s distinctive menu and extensive wine list, make for an outstanding wild evening. •

Vail The room is adorned with signs from Vail runs; if you look hard enough you may spot Ouzo Glade.

Tavern on the Square 675 LIONSHEAD PLACE / 970.754.7700 / ARRABELLE.ROCKRESORTS.COM

BY JOHN LACONTE PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

I

n Greece they are called tavernes, or in singular form, the taverna — a center for conversation and cuisine, and a very important part of the culture.

The lifeblood of the original taverna laid in its location, its food and its people.

Tavern on the Gore is not a Greek establishment, but it does justice to the term. Its location is as central as it gets — right off the slopes in Lionshead — the menu is well thought out and the food expertly prepared, and on an average Friday night the place is packed with people.

One exit leads to the magnificent Arrabelle Hotel, the other to the

heated streets of Lionshead.

But one need not be intimidated by its elegant surroundings. The Tavern on the Square has a casual atmosphere — with most people seeming to fall naturally in the middle of the attire extremes you’ll see in Vail, from the ski-suit baselayer to the $10,000 cocktail dress.

The drinks are fun with names that are proper nouns, like the Double Blackhattan and the Bacon Infused Vodka Bloody Mary.

In the adjacent dining room, indeed you just may think it is a Greek establishment for a minute. Large white stone pillars break up the room nicely.

Above Grilled bone marrow. Below Bone-in veal schnitzel.

THE WHOLE WORLD But the menu is not specific to one particular culture. The restaurant’s appetizers will take you on a trip around the world beginning with the Far East (spring rolls and edamame), moving to the Middle East (baba ghanoush), into Europe — Belgium (Brussels sprouts), France (baked petit brie) and the U.K. (tavern fries) — down to northwest Africa (Moroccan meatballs) into the ocean itself (fried calamari and ahi tuna poke), over to the eastern United States (Buffalo wings, lobster mac ‘n’ cheese), and finally to the farthest southwestern peninsula of the North American continent (Baja fish tacos).

On the entrees, find English and American favorites like ale-battered fish and chips, buffalo meatloaf, St. Louis-style BBQ ribs, and herbcrusted organic salmon.

“We try to find dishes that match the vibe here,” says executive chef Douglas Dodd. “My favorites are the tomahawk steak and the winter ale seafood boil, because they’re interactive dishes that you can share with the table, share with your family and friends after enjoying a great day in Vail. They’re also very unique to the Tavern on the Square, I don’t know of anywhere else in town where you can get a steak with a bone that’s two feet long.”

But make sure you save room for dessert. Forget Ben and Jerry’s, at the Tavern on the Square you can buy homemade ice cream by the pint.

Have a few spoonfuls at the table and take the rest home with you: We recommend the rosemary honey variety. And when you’re ready for more, you can skip the dinner and go right for the pint.

They don’t mind if you grab one to go. •

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Vail

Tavern on the Gore 223 GORE CREEK DRIVE / 970.476.2828 TAVERNONTHEGORE.COM

BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

S

unday afternoon après just got a little more entertaining. Tavern On The Gore is the new place in the village to catch a kickoff and drink a draft, but it’s certainly not your typical sports scene.

“We’re not a sports bar, but we just happen to be the best place to watch football games in town,” says general manager John McKenzie. “We call ourselves a high-end alpine tavern — we’ve got a great chef, an open kitchen and a great culinary team. I think everybody who comes here will surprised by how good the food is.”

With a personal flatscreen at most tables and booths, it’s easy to see how the restaurant will draw an easy fan-base. What’s even more apparent, however, is how the space creates a sense of class and comfort. Creative woodwork covers the ceiling, and several stone slate pillars are spread throughout the dining room, offering a truly rustic feel.

McKenzie says specific tables can be reserved,

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EAT winter 2013

Above Sunflower crusted Colorado striped bass.

Right East and West Coast oysters.

including Vail’s “best corner booth” for watching any sporting event. A private room is also available to rent, so up to about 30 guests can enjoy personal service and creek-view dining.

On sunny afternoons, the deck above Gore Creek is an obvious après destination, especially with an extensive selection of creative cocktails and Colorado micro brews. Nice glassware is essential for the spirit of swirling and sipping, and this tavern serves wine right.

SEAFOOD AND MORE And don’t forget the oyster bar. The

delicious gems are flown in daily from some of the world’s best salty beds, including Prince Edward Island, Canada and Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Hit it right, when they’re half off — a mere $1.50 per precious pearl.

The menu’s seafood influence comes from head chef Jason Lahrman, a Florida native and fond visitor of the California coastline. The chef’s lump crab cakes are definitely an appetizer to try — plump and panseared to perfection.

The cuisine is dynamic and fresh, with options to please every palate.

Perfect for sharing, the fried green tomato bruschetta is stacked with asiago-parmesan crostinis, thick-cut fried green tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, diced tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette.

Keep it light with the roasted pear spinach salad mixed with brie, pecansmoked bacon and arugula, or try the 8-ounce beef tip entrée, served with rice and topped with a white wine and wild mushroom sauce.

Even with a prime location, the restaurant’s price point is also appealing. McKenzie says Tavern On The Gore is a balanced blend of casual and fine dining, so it can appeal to everybody.

“When we came in, there was really no “in-between” in town,” says McKenzie. “I think we are the medium — you can come in for less than $30 and have a great meal, or you can spend a little more and have a fine dining experience.” •

Vail

The 10th VAIL MOUNTAIN / 970.754.1010 / VAIL.COM

BY KIM FULLER PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

A

s blood rushes back into my sock-lined shins, I’m happy to leave my ski boots in complete après abandonment. My frozen toes begin to thaw with every step, warming in the embrace of fuzzy brown slippers.

The 10th’s expansive windows display a lively mid-mountain scene, but any slope-envy is overcome amid this chalet’s cozy sophistication. High vaulted ceilings and slate stone pillars hold true to an alpine tradition, but it’s an elevated creativity that executive chef Vishwatej Nath says brings inspiration and fulfillment in this genuine ski-in/skiout experience.

When midday ale calls your thirst, consider that the restaurant’s wine program is what’s really starting to shine. Derek Reijmer, sommelier at The 10th, says he is confident the wine cellar fills just about every hole that can exist on a list.

“We’ve made it affordable and we’ve definitely got the selection,” says Reijmer. “We’ve got coverage from all the recognizable names and regions, and we’ve also done

a really good job of highlighting the up-and-coming regions and the less familiar varietals.”

If you’re not up for sifting through all 450 wine labels, maybe just take a look at the 25 wines that are offered by the glass. Raise a toast with splash ofProsecco or a Brut Rose, since every day on Vail Mountain is one to be remembered.

Above The bar area is hopping. Below The 10th is located across from Mid-Vail.

The 10th is open for lunch, apres and dinner.

FEEDS THE SOUL In the Tyrolean taste of hearty dishes, this mountain menu is filled with pizzas, salads, sandwiches and main dishes that are all great for savoring and sharing. Try the buffalo meatloaf with bacon jam glaze, green beans, au gratin potatoes and thyme juice, paired deliciously with a robust glass of Cabernet Franc.

Nothing will fill your belly and warm your soul more than the heirloom chicken and pheasant pot pie — a beautifully rich dish with root vegetables and vermouth cream, topped with a flaky pastry crust. Every bite is creamy, but far more memorable when followed by sip of Chenin Blanc.

Settle in for some chocolate bread pudding, and definitely don’t rush after lunch to put your boots back on. Vail’s new gondola has made après specials and dinner service a reality for The 10th this year, and wine director Matthew Pauls says it’s something that should not be missed.

“The evening menu here is going to hold one of the best meals in Vail,” says Pauls. “Our goal is not only be the best place to eat on the mountain, but to also complete with some of the best restaurants in town.” •

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Vail Sheard also owes a great deal of Two Elk’s success to his loyal crew.

Kitchen staffer Sander Turpin says he loves working at Two Elk, and not just for the ride down on his snowboard at the end of the day.

“I just love being up here,” he says.

“We have a great executive chef who I’m learning so much from, and the food’s really great. I usually eat the chicken posole soup every other day.”

In addition to their famed soups, you can also get grill items, pastas, and made to order items from the burrito station, wrap station, pizza station and salad bar.

Vail Mountain

TWO ELK, MID-VAIL, WILDWOOD, EAGLE’S NEST / VAIL.COM

BY JOHN LACONTE PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE TAYLOR

T

here’s nothing quite like the warm and comforting feeling of getting back on the mountain after filling up with a good meal.

Vail understands this — the ski area has quick and delicious meals available on all corners of the mountain to have you fueled up and ready for more action on the slopes.

TWO ELK At Two Elk Restaurant on the eastern side of the mountain, executive chef Mike Sheard calls it mountain comfort food.

“Most of the people who come in want a hot bowl of soup or chili,” he says. “So we really try to be creative on the soups and chilis ... We make them all from scratch.”

Last year, the restaurant featured their pork

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EAT winter 2013

Above Buffalo chili and cornbread.

green chili in an advertisement on the safety bars of the Vista Bahn. If you saw it, the image was probably burned into your head for the rest of the day. Sheard, who’s been working at Two Elk since ‘99, says people come in to Two Elk just for that dish.

“It’s one of my personal favorites,” he says. “Because it’s a little different.”

Sheard says repeat customers like those who come in for the green chili contribute to the success of Two Elk, but also make it a welcome challenge.

“I love the high volume,” he says.

“Quality food in a high-volume environment is what I thrive on.”

EAGLE’S NEST On the other side of the mountain from Two Elk, at the far west, you’ll find Eagle’s Nest at the top of the Eagle Bahn Gondola in Lionshead.

Executive chef Jack Ridenour proudly exemplifies a quality all of Vail Mountain’s chefs possess, a strong passion for the job. He juggles the responsibilities of several eating options under one roof, including the cafeteria style experience at the top of the building, a pizza and coffee bar below, and a sit-down service restaurant at Bistro 14.

“The versatility of the building, right at the top of the Gondi, allows us to do a lot of different things,” he says.

“Ninety-eight percent of the food is made here, in house.”

At the cafeteria, he recommends the gyro.

“I love the lamb/beef combination of the meat we get,” he says. “And the sauce is really good. It’s just a nice sandwich and it fills you up well.”

But other options abound, including kids meals, grab-and-go salads, deli items, pasta, burritos, grill items, baked potatoes, nachos, a salad bar and fresh soups. Look for pork pastor tacos, a new item this season, in the wrap station.

“But year in, year out, a lot of people just go for the Epic Burger,” he says.

Vail Hours Wildwood Smokehouse: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Pavilion: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Mid-Vail Look Ma’s: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Terrace Level: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Two Elk 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Eagle’s Nest 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Epic Mountain Burger is available at all Vail Resorts hills and consists of two never-frozen Angus patties, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, organic white cheese on an artisan roll.

It was released a few years ago and became an instant classic, but new for this year is a vegetarian answer to the Epic Burger, a veggie burger, also available at all Vail Resorts restaurants.

MID-VAIL At Mid-Vail, the most classic of the various spots to stop for a meal on Vail Mountain, general manager Ken Woodbury says the veggie burger is the most noticeable of any new item on the menu.

“If you come here every year, that’s one you may recognize as not being here last year,” he says.

With the new “One” gondola terminal right outside the back door, MidVail is more of a hub than ever this year. Woodbury says veggie burger aside, the change in scenery is the most noticeable difference in the Mid-Vail experience from year’s past, but there’s a few other things worth checking out, as well.

“Up top, (on the Look Ma level), we’ve completely revamped all the food for the most part,” he says.

“Right now, what’s selling great is the chicken pot pies and the Swiss beef.”

In addition to your standard cafeteria fare, the Look Ma level also has a full service bar with veggie-infused vodka bloody marys and espresso drinks.

The mid level, called the Terrace, boasts the largest salad bar on the mountain, and is a great place to try a tilapia fish taco or some fresh sushi.

“We also have an Asian station with stir-fry shrimp, tofu, beef and chicken,” says Woodbury. “It’s really good.”

Above Wildwood’s famous house smoked ribs in the smoker overlooking Sundown Bowl.

Below Build-your-ownsandwich and a side of wild rice salad at Marketplace in Eagle’s Nest.

WILDWOOD But if you want something quintessentially American and classically Colorado, then the barbecue at the Wildwood Restaurant and Pavilion at the top of Chairs 3 and 7 is your spot.

“Smokin’ Two Miles High” is the theme, (the words are actually welded to the outside of their smoker), and they start early. Executive chef Scott Dodd’s crew gets there in the 6 a.m. hour, and the smoking begins.

“We’re not able to smoke overnight, so we have to start early and use different methods to cook that meat long and slow,” says Dodd. “The end result is a product that has a lot of love and care in it.”

Dodd recommends you check out the beef brisket, new this year.

“Our brisket is more of a Texas style,” he says.

“Like you’d find at a barbecue place in Austin.”

Other favorites are the rack of ribs, the smoked chicken and wild rice soup, the combo platter (which includes a half of cup of soup, a half of sandwich either pork or brisket, and a choice of sides). Sides include waffle fries, hot and smoked baked beans, onion rings, coleslaw, fresh cornbread, banana chocolate chip bread, and sides of the day like smoked gouda potatoes au gratin, smoked meatballs in mushroom sauce and lemon honey smoked salmon.

“People here appreciate good barbecue,” says Dodd. “We make everything from scratch right here, and we get compliments all the time which we love to hear.” •

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A Powerful Thirst Solve your problems — temporarily — one cocktail at a time

W

BY THE EAT STAFF

THE DILEMMA: You have a 10-year hangover and the mountain unexpectedly reported 11” of overnight snow.

THE CURE: Head to the breakfast buffet at Sonnenalp for a spicy Bloody Mary.

THE DILEMMA: You drop a glove from the lift and can’t find it on the way down.

THE CURE: A Oaxacan Fizz at Vin48.

THE DILEMMA: You’re supposed to meet your friends for a nice dinner, but they’re stuck on Vail Pass until it reopens.

THE CURE: Nibble some nuts and drink a Winter Spicetice with cardamom-infused CapRock gin and Lillet Blanc.

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THE DILEMMA: You have a long-lost friend in town (with rentals) on a powder day.

THE CURE: Have him/her meet you at Moe’s around 3 p.m. for whiskey and a tall-boy.

THE DILEMMA: You show up for some afternoon runs on a holiday, but realize your pass has blackout days.

THE CURE: Stop in at Toscanini for some limoncello.

THE DILEMMA: You’re tired of après music.

THE CURE: Head to La Tour for an early après and a glass of Prosecco.

THE DILEMMA: It’s the first powder day in weeks and it happened to fall on a Saturday. Now everyone is on the mountain.

THE CURE: Pick something up at Grappa and head to Belle’s Camp at Blue Sky Basin.

THE DILEMMA: Planning ahead for the powder day, you told the boss you had a morning doctor’s appointment — but now you realize the boss is two chairs ahead of you on the lift.

THE CURE: Duck into MidVail, the 10th or Eagle’s Nest immediately for a shot of tequila.

THE DILEMMA: You thought it would be warmer on the mountain and you realize when you get to the top that it’s frigid and you forgot to layer up, but the powder is too good to call it a day.

THE CURE: Stop in at Spruce Saddle for some bourbon.

THE DILEMMA: Got stuck in a gondola with a delusional Chatty Cathy (or a Talkative Tim) who felt the need to share all the ways in which Aspen is a better town/ski resort.

THE CURE: Get yourself out of the gondola and into Bistro 14 for Colorado brew.

THE DILEMMA: You almost got nailed in the head with some far-too-long skinny skis carried by a 60-something dude in jeans strutting down Bridge Street.

THE CURE: Drop into the relatively quiet Sweet Basil for glass of bubbly.

THE DILEMMA: There’s a blizzard and serious wind on top the mountain.

THE CURE: Skip skiing and go cozy up in the front of the fireplace inside the Sebastian with a smoky scotch from Frost.

THE WINTER SPICETICE FROM KELLY LIKEN. PHOTO BY ZACH MAHONE

e’re a dedicated bunch of eaters here at the Vail Daily, but we are also good drinkers. Sure, we know that alcohol isn’t a good idea as a coping mechanism long-term, but it sure helps take the edge off when you have a hiccup (or sinkhole) in your day. Here is how we like to problem solve in the Vail Valley.

BATES WILSON STINGRAY RECLAIMED MIXED MEDIA SCULPTURE 86” H x 23” W x 16” D

(970) 476 2525 www.vailgallery.com info@vailgallery.com

Bowled Over

Soup does a body good, especially when it’s cold and snowy outside. Belly up to the kitchen counter and cook up a cauldron of one of these super concoctions by local chefs.

BY KIM FULLER

S

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LEONORA Wild Mushroom Soup

PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN MCCARTY

oup seems so simple — start with a crock and some flavorful stock — yet the liquid legend is nothing without wholesome additions and bold flavors. In its own tradition of nourishment and warmth, soup’s culinary longevity simmers with its versatile appeal of comfort in every form of broth, stew and cream.

“In the winter, it’s cold here and I think having different soups on the menu makes for satisfaction and warmth,” says Marc Rouse, chef/ owner of Food By Marc Cooking Studio and Market in Avon. “We try to use the most organic and natural ingredients that we can to create really great food that is comforting to the soul, and I think soup really does that.”

When 20th century society realized that comfort can be sold in a can, soup became a mainstay for meals of ease and affordability. The success of non-perishable products made a market for forming meals, and even literary inspiration, around chicken broth and noodles. If Campbell’s chicken soup is really for the soul, imagine what a real chef can craft.

Colorado does get cold, and that’s what spooning is for. Stir up your own inspiration with some of these great soup recipes from a few local masters, but Rouse recommends venturing into a vat of your own intuition.

“Don’t overcomplicate things by getting stressed out about following the recipe exactly,” says Rouse.

“Keep it simple and try variations to your liking. Tasting your food as you make it allows you to start understanding flavors and concepts and how they build on each other.”

Wild Mushroom Soup with White Truffle Oil LEONORA ‘S EXECUTIVE CHEF SERGIO HOWLAND GROUP SERVING

3 tablespoons Olive oil 2 White onions, diced 3 kg Wild mushrooms (6.6 lbs) 5 Garlic cloves, finely minced 1 Bay leaf 1 teaspoon Paprika 3 sprigs Fresh thyme 1 sprig Fresh rosemary 3 quarts Vegetable stock and dried mushrooms 1 quart Heavy cream Salt and pepper to taste INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Sweat the vegetables in olive oil for 10 minutes, until translucent.

2. Add the mushrooms and spices and let them caramelize lightly.

3. Add the liquids and bring the soup to a boil.

4. Reduce the temperature and simmer for 20 minutes or until all the ingredients are cooked through.

5. Season to taste, blend well and strain through chinoise strainer.

Wild Mushroom Ragout (soup garnish): 3 tablespoons Olive oil ½ lb Mixed mushrooms

(chanterelles, crimini, oyster, etc.)

4 Garlic cloves, finely sliced 2 Shallots, finely sliced ½ Parsley piece, finely chopped Kosher salt and white pepper (freshly cracked), to taste 1 teaspoon White truffle oil INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat a sauté pan and drizzle the olive oil.

2. Add the mushrooms and let them caramelize (or cooked in the sauté), for five minutes or until nicely browned (do not flip or move…just let them caramelize).

3. Add the garlic and shallots and let them sweat for a couple more minutes.

4. Take the pan off the fire and finish with the chopped parsley and white truffle oil. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup FOOD BY MARC COOKING STUDIO AND MARKET CHEF-OWNER MARC ROUSE SERVES 4

22 ounces Fire roasted tomatoes 16 ounces Chicken stock (or vegetable stock) ¼ cup Olive oil ¼ cup White wine ¼ cup Yellow onion, diced

¼ cup Carrot, diced ¼ cup Celery, diced ¼ cup Garlic, chopped 1 ½ cups Cannellini beans 2 cups Kale, cut into thin strips 2 tablespoons Basil, freshly chopped 2 tablespoons Oregano, freshly chopped 2 teaspoons Parsley, freshly chopped ½ Lemon Salt and pepper to taste INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a stockpot with hot olive oil, add carrots, celery and onion. Cook for six minutes and add garlic.

2. Cook another three minutes and deglaze with white wine — dissolving into the food to add the wine’s flavor.

3. Once the white wine has evaporated add chicken stock and tomatoes.

4. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Add kale, parsley, basil and oregano. Add white beans and lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese.

Spicy Seafood Soup MATSUHISA VAIL EXECUTIVE CHEF BRIAN BUSKER SERVES 4

8 cups Dashi (Japanese cooking stock — use an instant dashi mix to make a broth) 2 ½ tablespoons Chili garlic paste (Lee Kum Kee brand recommended) 4 tablespoons Soy sauce 8 pieces each of: Large shrimp, mussels, clams, squid (cut into bite size pieces) and scallops 4 leaves Cilantro INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Put dashi, chili paste and soy sauce in a large pot and bring to a boil.

2. Turn down to simmer, and add clams and mussels (it should stop simmering due to the cold seafood).

3. Once broth has come back to simmer, add shrimp and scallops.

Bring the soup to a simmer for three minutes and then add the squid.

4. Simmer for an additional two minutes. Turn the soup off and take it off of the heat.

5. Distribute two of each piece of seafood between four bowls.

6. Add hot broth and garnish with cilantro.

MATSUHISA MARKET

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTIN ANDERSON

Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup

Spicy Seafood Soup

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Bite Sized

Did you know...

Although considered a fruit, the fig

is a flower inverted

In 1956, a 750-POUND

CLAM

The ARTICHOKE is in the THISTLE group of the

SUNFLOWER FAMILY.

was found in Okinawa.

“All you need is love. But a

little CHOCOLATE now and then doesn’t hurt.”

— Charles M. Schulz

into itself.

QUEEN HATSHEPUT of Egypt USED CINNAMON in her perfumes.

Brazil produces

MORE

ORANGES than any other country.

COLLARD GREENS

might be a Southern staple, but ANCIENT GREEKS and ROMANS cultivated them.

They are native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Asia Minor.

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EAT winter 2013

THE WORLD’S SUPPLY of Piment d’Espelette is grown on

less than 3,000 acres of land.

TM

THE WORLD’S BIGGEST SKI DAY FOR BREAST CANCER

MARCH 9, 2013

l Sign up solo or form a team l Incredible prizes! Costume contest, checkpoint challenge and scavenger hunt

l Celebration Ski Down and free concert in Arrabelle Square

l All proceeds benefit our “Spirit of Survival” program at Shaw Regional Cancer Center. This new program offers Shaw patients: • • • •

Free exercise classes on-site Free nutrition counseling Free mentoring and emotional support Free outdoor camps through Shaw’s First Descents Camps

REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.PINKVAIL.COM THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS:

Shaw Regional Cancer Center is a service of Vail Valley Medical Center, a nonprofit 501(c)(3).

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ail Gateway Penthouse

European romance and style exude from this lavish penthouse. An abundance of natural sunlight floods through the solarium skylights spanning the gracious and open living areas. Step off your semi-private elevator and experience all this luxurious residence has to offer. Four bedrooms, a lofted study and a great room designed for entertaining have been thoughtfully decorated by Venetian designer Katia Bates, winner of TLC’s Four Houses.