nourish
Pickled. Kitchen + Pantry Restaurant spotlight
Eagle
F
our years ago, Micheal Joersz was parked in front of Boone’s Wine and Spirits on Market Street in Eagle. He was cooking up cheesesteaks, Chicago-style hot dogs, crispy chicken sliders and honed-in classics from his food truck. Joersz had refined his kitchen chops with lengthy stints in the Vail Valley: Golden Eagle for over a decade, Balata at the Sonnenalp Golf Club in Edwards, Two Guys Catering, Customfoodworks and the Wolcott Yacht Club. However, during the height of COVID, a brickand-mortar opportunity presented itself during one of the most challenging times for an eatery, especially one that hoped to serve shared plates in a bistro-style seating area with shared tables. Nonetheless, with zero marketing and
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COVID restrictions, which meant only one or two groups of people could eat inside at a time, the European-style deli thrived. “I had to really focus on what people needed and could easily accommodate during the pandemic,” explains Joersz. “I knew success was going to depend on having seasoned and dedicated support — reaching out to long-time friends and co-workers including David Strazan, whose operations expertise has been essential to the shop.” Chef started with a staple menu of two soups — oven-roasted tomato purée and a daily special — a half-dozen salads, nearly a dozen hot and cold sandwiches, including the best-selling Don Vito, Joersz’s version of the classic Italian stallion of sandwiches, the Chi-Town, a take on Italian Beef, the Mountain Christo and more.
c o v e r e d b r i d g e va i l . c o m
PHOTOS BY BY JULIE BIELENBERG
By Julie Bielenberg
