2023 Craving Colorado

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INSIDE PIZZA PRIDE

HIDDEN GEM

CRAFT CLUES

Fifty years after its ornate doors opened for business, Fargo’s Pizza Co. is still going strong.

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In the middle of the San Luis Valley, an Alamosa eatery has garnered the attention of the world.

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Need help navigating Colorado Springs’ growing beer scene? Here are tips to get you around town.

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LOT OF LUCK

FIVE STARS

Celebrity chef Brother Luck sits down to discuss all things food and dining in Colorado Springs.

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The Broadmoor continues long streak of fine dining excellence with a variety of options for food.

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ON THE COVER

MAGAZINE STAFF

Gazette photographer Christian Murdock teamed up with Ephemera executive chef Ian Dedrickson to create a cover image worthy of Colorado’s high-end cuisine.

Dedrickson prepared this housemade eclair with carrot-white chocolate mousse, peanut butter powder, rose and spirulina on site in Red Rock Canyon Open Space.

When not on a hike with Gazette staff, you can find Dedrickson in the kitchen at Ephemera, an experimental, multi-sensory fine dining restaurant inside the CO.A.T.I. building in downtown Colorado Springs.

Designer — Nichole Montanez Editor — Nathan Van Dyne Photographers — Jerilee Bennett, Gabi Broekema, Timothy Hurst, Christian Murdock, Parker Seibold Reporters — Seth Boster, Stephanie Earls, Jennifer Mulson, Carlotta Olson

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CRAVING COLORADO

15 YEARS IN A ROW

The Enchanted Oven’s chestnut cream cake.

Timothy Hurst

A taste of home

By Seth Boster

Sunday, August 27, 2023

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THE GAZETTE

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A taste of home

Cliff divers perform at Casa Bonita. Timothy Hurst

s a state, officially, Colorado has had 100 fewer years than New York to develop its food culture. Consider that when you consider this state recently joining New York in gaining a prestigious, culinary recognition that only four other states and cities across America have gained — all older or much older than the Centennial State.

Welcome to the Michelin club, Colorado.

This summer, it was announced the French-rooted guide would add the state to a short list of food destinations in the U.S. Inspectors have previously bestowed coveted stars — one, two or three — to restaurants in California, Florida, New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Now Michelin inspectors have fanned out across this state in continued on page 8

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Bruce’s Bar and Restaurant. Chancey Bush

Colorado continues to build on impressive culinary landscape

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A taste of home

The legendary slopper at Gray’s Coors Tavern in Pueblo. Christian Murdock search of star-worthy restaurants but more so stories of who we are to enlighten travelers. Those are as Coloradans. travelers searching for the finest of Coloradans are delighting in the the finest. return of a strange pride and joy Colorado Tourism Office director this year with the rebirth of Casa Timothy Wolfe counted his staff Bonita. We go not to eat as much “thrilled” by the announcement. as we go to simply be there, to “Colorado residents have long enwatch divers in a big, pink palace joyed the expanding food scene of that feels uniquely Colorado, colour incredibly talented chefs, who orful indeed. bring locally harvested ingredients Equally colorful is the craft beer to life,” he said in a statement. “The scene. It’s no wonder the indusMichelin Guide will further elevate try’s biggest party, the Great AmerColorado as a global dining destiican Beer Festival, finds itself evnation, serving a variety of flavors with the authentically ery year in Denver. friendly attitude that can only be found in Colorado.”

But dare we overlook the state’s wine. Who says we Yes, young and scrappy Colorado has caught up fast can’t grow grapes where winter bears down? A vast, vito the gastronomic world. And that is partly what this brant industry thrives in Palisade, thrives alongside the magazine seeks to celebrate. peach orchards. Peaches are among the legendary crops It arrives along our continued, years-long tour of eathere, reminding us every harvest of our Colorado life, eries up and down the Front Range and across the Conthe sweet life. tinental Divide. Since 2020, our Craving Colorado series It is sweetness thanks to farming families who have has sought to capture the culinary character of the state. stood for generations, who have stood the test of drought Our conclusion, in short: the scene is true to Colorful and freezes. They represent the persevering, pioneering Colorado. spirit that built this state.

We admit we haven’t so much been focused on the finIt is a spirit found across the food scene. It was tested est of the finest. No doubt, Michelin inspectors will find like never before during the pandemic. elevated gourmet to match the mountainous atmosphere.

And yet through the hardship, we found Ken and Lisa No place does aprés quite like this state’s resort towns.

Gonzales sticking firm to a selfless mission in the San But with Craving Colorado, our focus has mostly been Luis Valley. At All-Gon Restaurant & Pizzeria, their little elsewhere. On icons, yes — how could we ignore the eatery often passed along U.S. 160 in Fort Garland, the birthplace of the slopper or Denver’s oldest restaurant food identity was hard to pinpoint between the Mexican specializing in wild game — but also on lesser-known fare and pizza. nooks.

The identity was otherwise clear: “We think of this as Places standing for home, or reminding us of home in our mission field,” Lisa told us. ever-changing communities. Places of traditions refusIn the hardest times, she and Ken said they had ining to fade. Places that leave us with food stories, yes, creased their daily portion of sales to help workers and continued on page 10

All-Gon Restaurant & Pizzeria in Fort Garland. Christian Murdock

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Juicy Lucy burger at Lucy’s Burger Bar. Christian Murdock

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A taste of home

Buckhorn Exchange. Christian Murdock Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

Timothy Hurst

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families in need. The couple said they had increased the number of homes where they were delivering free meals.

Nothing like that green chili to lift the spirit. And on the opposite side of the state, in the little town of Severance, nothing like a basket of Rocky Mountain oysters to brighten the day.

The cringe-worthy delicacy to some has quaint meaning at Bruce’s Bar and Restaurant. It’s believed bulls’ fried private parts have been tradition since the 1960s, when it seemed livestock were much more around town.

“The town’s turning into the suburbs,” a local told us over a cold beer. “But Bruce’s still holds onto that old Severance feel. It’s our home away from home.”

South in Sedalia, we found a group of old-timers gathered around for their regular burgers and booze at Bud’s Cafe & Bar, the staple since 1948.

These were men who were kids back then. They were telling stories of riding horseback into the bar and shooting rattlesnakes out back. Outside, the pastures they knew were gone, overtaken by cookie-cutter homes and shopping centers. But the steamed burgers were the same as always, delicious.

We’ve eaten a lot of burgers on the road. A standout: Lucy’s Burger Bar, “Denver’s Home of the Original Juicy Lucy, est. 2021.”

Peaches from Clark Family Orchards The founder, Michelle “Meesh” Mcin Palisade. Jerilee Bennett Glone, does a lot of explaining to people unfamiliar with the burger of her native Minnesota: The cheese is inside the beef, gooey and ready to ooze upon breach.

Lucy’s Burger Bar is an unlikely story, a fast success tale of a woman who had just left behind a career in dancing. “There was never anything that was gonna stop me,” McGlone told us.

It’s another familiar storyline in Colorado’s food scene: outsiders bringing a slice of home.

In Broomfield, we delighted in the sweets of Maki Fairbanks’ native Japan. She started introducing custard buns, milk bread and jiggly cheesecake at The Enchanted Oven in 2019.

When it came to these lighter, fluffier goods unfamiliar to decadent American eaters, it wasn’t the positive reviews that stayed with her as much as the negative ones. Her daughter, Elissa, told us it was hard “watching some of the misery. ... She loves making people happy, and that’s what keeps her going.”

We can be tough to please as Coloradans. Maybe that makes us worthy of Michelin.

But we can be easy to please too.

An average plate of enchiladas, so long as the divers are diving. A bowl of green chili, a basket of something strange and fried. A burger, a slice of pizza. A peach, fuzzy and juicy.

Nothing fancy. Just right — something like home.

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Beau Jo’s in Idaho Springs. Christian Murdock

‘Colorado-style’

By Seth Boster

How the

IDAHO SPRINGS • Fifty years ago, Chip Bair gave rise to a pizza empire.

That’s Beau Jo’s, with locations in Arvada, Evergreen, Fort Collins, Lone Tree and Steamboat Springs. The flagship is in Idaho Springs, in an 1880s building of brick and wood that can seat almost 700 patrons craving something loyalists swear can’t be satisfied anywhere else.

Beau Jo’s is the proclaimed home of “Colorado-style pizza.” Or “mountain pies.”

It’s defined by a braided crust that rolls like the foothills around this former mining capital — the “containment system,” as it’s described, for a heaping of toppings. It’s thick, but don’t call it Chicago-style.

You don’t see anyone in the Windy City dipping crust walls in honey, as you see here. This is the trademark “built-in dessert.”

There’s also a “prairie” option at Beau Jo’s. It’s a much thinner creation that resembles something closer to the New York staple.

The regional disciples arrive here, sometimes voicing their bias above a dish deemed too absurd.

“But what do they tell me most of the time?” says Alli Bair, one of Chip’s kids running the show today. “That it’s the best pizza they’ve ever had.”

It all began with a 25-year-old in 1973.

Chip Bair was entrepreneurial beyond his years, having stacked cash on hustles from his Minnesota youth: shoveling driveways, penny-for-peanuts vending machines, flipping skateboards.

One day Bair boarded a Greyhound bus with a suitcase in either hand. He tried classes at the University of Colorado. “I

was never a very good student,” he says. He was more interested in business.

One came up for sale in the old mining town along Interstate 70: a small pizzeria owned by a couple named Beau and Jo Ann. They were part of some meditative movement at that time, Bair remembers, feeling called to Hot Springs, Ark. “The price was right, $8,500,” Bair says.

The original owners grossed about $22,000 in a year, he recalls. Today, he says, that’s close to a single day’s total in the summer. And little did he know back in the ‘70s that business would boom in the winter as well — would boom along with the I-70 ski resorts.

The beginning was humble. Bair kept the Beau Jo’s name but changed pretty much everything else.

His guiding principle: “You can do anything with pizza.” Another idea that would prove prophetic for this social media age: “People eat with their eyes.”

Hence the hand-braided crust and dipping honey, which also substituted sugar in the dough. A whole-wheat crust was developed, a renegade move in the industry at the time. Dehydrated veggies were tossed for fresh. And meats were precooked and topped, rather than popularly cooked with the cheese, resulting in a greasy mess.

Bair was a self-described “little guy” who “could always eat a whole lot.” He ate a whole lot of pizza in those days — days that ended in a sleeping bag on the restaurant floor or in his cabin with no running water.

With a friend, “we’d build a fire and think about, ‘What else can we do?’” Bair says.

Decades later, it appears he’s done it all.

proclaimed state pizza was born

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Maybe Colorado Springs is still catching up to Denver and Boulder when it comes to the culinary scene. Those two cities to the north this year gained the attention of Michelin inspectors, who for the first time are exploring restaurants to highlight in the prestigious guide to worldwide food destinations.

But don’t tell Colorado Springs residents their town doesn’t bring it. Every year, they pick their favorite eateries and dishes as part of another helpful guide: The Gazette’s annual Best of the Springs.

This magazine will highlight some local, perennial winners — going to show just how varied and vibrant the scene is:

On the menu

PIZZA

• Slice 420: Call it New York-style, call it gourmet — whatever you call it, any pie with the sweet, creamy, housemade ricotta cannot be denied.

• Louie’s Pizza: It’s the name seen all around town, with five locations to serve its growing base of customers. The cheese bread is crazy good.

• Walter’s 303: Residents of the Flying Horse neighborhood to the north are grateful that the Denver-based company picked them for a location.

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e v o l

C A Fargo’s Pizza celebrates

50 years in Colorado Springs

Y S E E H

Fargo’s Pizza Co. Gabi Broekema

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Y

Y R O T eS ulson

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By Jennifer

While Fargo and his beloved Sophia gaze into each other’s eyes, hungry diners stare raptly at the magic mirrors in Fargo’s Pizza Co. The fictional couple, said to have founded the Colorado Springs pizza institution, never have tasted their famous pizza. Preserved forever in mannequin form on the second floor of the restaurant, the handsome duo wait in perpetual stillness as thousands every week wait for their order number to light up in the six magic mirrors scattered throughout the Western-themed eatery.

Once their cheesy cuisine is ready, patrons head to the counter, where women in Victorian outfits, with high, lacy collars, corsets and long, cranberry-colored skirts, slide over the hot pies, with their cornmeal crusts, tomato sauce and thick layer of buffalo mozzarella.

The city’s grande dame of pizza celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. A celebration is planned Sept. 23, along with a buy one pizza, get one free promotion, general manager Al Martinez says.

“It’s a family place to gather,” he says. “It always has been. It’s a gathering spot for the city.”

The pandemic closed the building’s ornate doors before Christmas in 2020, but longtime owners husband and wife Dave Lavin and Paula Gardner and Paula’s brother, Evan Gardner, along with new management reopened the 548-seat restaurant six months later, a much ballyhooed return judging by the line out the door, Martinez says.

“It’s a phenomenal, iconic place that we’re trying to keep alive for the city,” he says. “This is the birthday capitol of the world. Every weekend there’s some kind of birthday party or celebration.”

The eatery, as famous for its Old West setting as its cheesy fare, sells 3,000 pizzas a week, 12,000 salads a month. They roll 450 skins — pizza crusts — every day.

Fargo’s also serves up pasta dishes, sandwiches and garlic knots.

Martinez knows he’s got to keep the quality high to stand out in a sea of pizza shops. A lot has changed since Fargo’s opened in what was then the center of town.

“The name of the game for this place is you’ve got to be consistent,” Martinez says. “Every time you walk in here, it’s got to be the same.”

The Fargo’s story hails back to a pair of brothers: Leon and Landon Gardner, the former of whom was Paula and Evan’s father. Leon grew a series of dry cleaning businesses in Seattle that he sold to seed the chain Herfy’s Burgers. In 1970, he sold the burgers to Campbell’s Soup and signed a noncompete agreement that covered the West Coast, meaning he had to go elsewhere if he wanted to get back in the food business.

When he and Landon decided to build a pizza operation, Landon was living in Colorado and the Springs seemed like the best candidate.

“It had charm from the day it opened,” Lavin says. “There’s a historical connection, and the overall theme fits Colorado Springs very well. For the most part, the concept hasn’t changed. We’ve made some updates, but the theme hasn’t changed and that’s comfortable for the longtime client base.”

Lore has it the California architect hired to design the building had trouble marrying the idea of a pizza joint with the saloon theme the brothers wanted. So the Gardner brothers dreamed up a fictional backstory.

“It was a challenge because Leon wanted to mix the Old West, which was his passion, with the pizza and Italian theme,” Lavin says. “They concocted this fictitious bit of lore between Sophia and Fargo. She was a high society damsel from Italy, and he was a wild west kind of guy.

They struck up a romance and, hence, got Fargo’s pizza.”

Downtown boasts the largest concentration of independent restaurants in Southern Colorado.

Come dine with us!

DowntownCS.com/dine CRAVING COLORADO

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Heather’s Savory Pies in Basalt. Chancey Bush

n 2019, The Gazette launched its Craving Colorado series with the intent of highlighting eateries both known and unknown around the state. Nothing fancy, just downright delicious.

And you can bet we’ve gained a few pounds.

Some of the best we’ve eaten? Glad you asked.

10 restaurants not to miss as you journey across Colorado

By Seth Boster

Made from

scratch

Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs.

Chancey Bush

Pan-fried chicken at Castle Cafe.

Christian Murdock

Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs: Anthony Bourdain loved a hot dog. On “No Reservations,” he was seen at this Denver staple scarfing down elk, rattlesnake and reindeer. “More,” he insisted. We had to stop at the elk jalapeño-cheddar dog topped with cream cheese and caramelized onions. But, yes, we keep going back for more.

Castle Cafe: A lot is changing in downtown Castle Rock.

It seems small bites and cocktails are prevailing on one developing end. On the other end is this “blast from the past,” as the owner called the historic hotel-turned-restaurant. The pan-fried chicken arrived to our table crackling and juicy, surrounded by house-baked rolls and mashed potatoes.

The Enchanted Oven: We are fans of Maki Fairbanks, who against the odds opened this bakery in Broomfield. With semisweet treats classic to Japan, she’s both providing something hard to find for people who know while also adjusting the taste buds of Americans who don’t know. We loved the curry buns, a blend of meat and spices packed in a chewy bread coated with panko and fried.

George’s Drive Inn: In Walsenburg, the red roof known since the 1970s is appropriately the color of a stop sign. The building is a square block, unremarkable. We found the breakfast burrito to be anything but. It was stuffed with Italian sausage, eggs, diced green peppers, tomatoes, cheese and layered with green chili and hand-cut fries.

Heather’s Savory Pies: On a snowy drive through Basalt, this hit the spot. We’ve noticed the menu has expanded since our stop, with gourmet tapas and entrees that would make neighboring Aspen blush. But it’s still all about the pot pies.

Heather’s Famous Chicken Pot Pie is a medley of herb-roasted chicken, veggies and cranberry sauce under a dome of buttery, flaky crust.

The Hot Tomato in Fruita.

Christian Murdock

Latke Love: It’s not the traditional Jewish potato dish you might expect. Fried in a converted house in Littleton, the latkes here might better be called potato balls. Four are dropped in a bowl and topped with various combinations. Our favorite: Rabbi I’m Confused, with smoked pulled pork and pickled red onion smothered with a tangy barbecue sauce.

Switchback Smokehouse: Here in Colorado, we’ve had great barbecue by Texans, Missourians, Carolinians and Oklahomans. People from states where barbecue rules. But Michigan? Take a bow, Darryl Swarts. He came to these unlikely mountains of Kittredge to perfect the unlikely likes of Montreal brisket — beautifully smoked, thinly sliced and seasoned, like pastrami.

Zoe Ma Ma: The best, cheapest grub on Boulder’s Pearl Street? Look no further than tiny Zoe Ma Ma, which is the story of a son’s and mother’s love. You’ll taste the love in this Chinese street food, inspired by Ma Ma’s native land. Beef and veggie noodle bowls. Pork belly bao. Potstickers. Get it all.

Rachel’s Keep On Keepin’ On: Next time you’re driving through South Fork in summer and fall, don’t pass the colorful food truck on the side of the road. It’s the vision of a fifth-generation native of the valley. Rachel Davie is in tune with the local ingredients that compose mouth-watering sliders such as Wolf Creek Brake Burner: jalapeños, grilled onions, cream cheese and a spicy aioli.

The Hot Tomato: If you’re an avid mountain biker, you probably already know about it. The pizzeria has become legendary in certain circles just as the surrounding singletrack throughout Fruita has become legendary. You don’t expect to find great, New York-style pies here in the western Colorado desert. But here we are.

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Doughnuts draw hungry crowds in Glenwood Springs

By Seth Boster GLENWOOD SPRINGS • It’s just past 9 a.m., and the popular. As is the apple fritter. As is the croughnut, party is on at Sweet Coloradough. the crispy, flaky marriage of cake and croissant bound Outside this blue shack, where a bus displays the by crumbly cinnamon and brown sugar. company motto of “Awesome, Super Awesome, RiOr one might opt for savory. The burritos and sanddiculously Awesome,” the parking lot is packed with wiches are crafted with “quality, locally sourced ingrepeople wanting to get a taste of the carnival-like scent dients whenever possible,” the menu promises, addthat fills the air. That’s the scent of “hot action,” as goes ing: “Everything made from scratch, by hand, with the greeting here. That’s the scent from the kitchen, love, in the Rocky Mountains of Coloradough.” where the ladies report making between 2,000 and Badolato opened Sweet Coloradough in 2013, short3,000 doughnuts a day. ly after moving to Glenwood Springs with his wife, Inside, classic funk blasts from a color-changing Anne, and then-1-year-old daughter. The idea was speaker. Bright-colored Colorado swag fills racks and to swap the busy city life of Denver with something shelves — T-shirts, socks and hats for tourists and also slower in the mountains. for locals, because owner Aaron Badolato doesn’t see “We just wanted to settle down at our favorite vacawhy locals, too, wouldn’t want to tion spot,” Anne says. “And we’ve sport the red, blue and yellow of been running, running, running this state that he finds to be aweever since.” some, super awesome, ridiculousSure enough, on the first day ly awesome. of business, Aaron sold 3,500 No day-old doughnuts are sold doughnuts. Lines out the door. In here. That would go against the the 10 years since, Sweet Colorarules of “hot action.” The doughdoughs have opened in Rifle and nuts must be eaten now, so all Eagle. of that hot and doughy goodYes, “this kind of turned into an ness melts in your mouth with animal,” Aaron admits, thinking the freshness of the frosting, be back to the slow life he and his Sweet Coloradough.

Christian Murdock it strawberry, blueberry or lemwife envisioned. on. The German chocolate is also “But it’s been good,” he says.

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On the menu

SWEETS • Boonzaaijer’s Dutch Bakery: Cakes, pies, cookies, creamstuffed eclairs — you’ll find a little bit of heaven from a family of master bakers.

• Amy’s Donuts: These are big, soft, fluffy treasures that are both classic (apple fritter, chocolate bar) and quite unusual (candy-coated).

• Josh & John’s: Purple Mountain Majesty, Moose on the Loose, Malted Mazel Toff are some of the delectable ice cream flavors featured here.

SETH BOSTER

VOTED BEST SANDWICH IN COLORADO SPRINGS

Try our new Mustard Ice Cream!

On the menu

BREAKFAST • King’s Chef Diner: Eaters near and far swear by the breakfast burrito, worthy of entry on Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” Find two locations downtown.

• Urban Egg, A Daytime Eatery: A brunch go-to in the Springs with four locations. Strawberry cheesecake, blueberry streusel and cinnamon swirl on the pancake flight.

• The Omelette Parlor: An old-school, homey staple with much more than omelets, though they are indeed the stars. This place has served up quality for decades now.

SETH BOSTER

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• Consistently voted best German, Best Patio • Live Music *Imported Beer and Wine • open everyday 11AM-9PM 34 E. Ramona (between S. Nevada and Tejon) online reservations at edelweissrest.com CRAVING COLORADO

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The Sink still stands as culinary landmark

The Sink in Boulder. Chancey Bush

By Seth Boster

Celebrating a century BOULDER • The popular image of the food scene here is of a bright, boujee atmosphere with small, fanciful servings and a big check.

None of this applies to The Sink. Well, that last one could happen — if, like many a patron, you can’t help yourself.

Occupying a corner of downtown off Broadway, the family-owned landmark pays no mind to aesthetics. No leafy plants. No staffers in collared shirts. No chandeliers. There’s artwork, if you consider graffiti artwork.

Multicolored signatures and doodles consume every spot of the cavernous enclosure. A beatnik artist brought the walls’ rowdy, counterculture scenes to life beginning in 1950.

And the artwork seems fitting today. The Sink rages against the norm.

Still, the joint abides by Boulder’s credo of locally sourced and scratch-made.

While you’ve had plenty of burgers and pizzas and many of the other staples served here, you’ll taste the difference at The Sink.

It started as Somer’s Sunken Gardens in 1923, a fitting name that was swapped for something simpler and even more fitting.

“This place has a certain ‘Sinkness’ to it, and in that place lies our story,” reads the greeting from the Heinritz family in the menu’s opening flap. It’s a story of generations who’ve come and gone, all of them finding the perfect place to chum up and chow down.

Also in the menu you’ll find Guy Fieri. The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” host stopped by, of course. As did then-President Barack Obama, whose visit in 2012 inspired a new specialty pizza, the one he ordered with pepperoni, Italian sausage, green peppers, black olives, red onion and mozzarella.

Pizzas here are beloved for their “ugly crust.” Believe one of the messages on the wall: “Ugly is a term of endearment.”

It’s big, doughy and crispy, and the secret is to eat it with honey. While Obama had his, Fieri went with the Buddha Basil, a grand marriage of pesto-marinara sauce, basil, spinach, chunks of tofu, artichoke hearts, garlic and tomatoes.

The Sink knows pizza goes best with beer, and the craft offerings from the bar are impressive. But the food doesn’t start or end with pizza.

Burgers and beef sliders sizzle on the hot grill at The Sink.

Chancey Bush

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T H E B ROA D M O O R

A Culinary Masterpiece

Artisanal bread, pasta made with only the finest double zero flour, peaches from Palisade, Olathe corn, and Eagles Nest Wagyu highlight just a few of the intentional choices made for our guests. Not only does this hold true throughout the multiple restaurants, but it extends to the private events, cafes and lounges. The chefs at The Broadmoor’s goal is to source the best quality ingredients possible and let those ingredients shine, so come and bask in the sunlight.

844.209.6878

1 LAKE AVENUE • COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80906

BROADMOOR.COM

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CHEF’S CORNER

By Seth Boster

Chef Brother Luck.

Parker Seibold

R

O

n a recent August afternoon, we met Brother Luck in downtown Colorado Springs on the upper level of a building along Wahsatch Avenue, where this year he opened his latest, highly anticipated restaurant: Folklore.

In a small nook above, Luck has been collaborating with chefs and bartenders on a concept called The Studio. Luck likes to think of it as a playground for creatives — a lab for them to test ideas and spread their wings.

It’s a fitting concept at this stage of his career.

Now 40, the Springs’ most celebrated name in food says his focus is on “creating opportunities for the next generation.”

Also on this upper level of the building, the irony isn’t lost on him.

Below is where Luck got his start in the city where nobody knew his name. In 2013, he moved into the back kitchen of what was then a bar and punk rock hangout.

“I remember scrubbing the toilets, I remember doing the grocery shopping, I remember repairing the holes in the wall from the mosh pits the night before and carefully removing heroin needles from the bathroom,” Luck says. “That’s part of my story I had to go through to get to today.”

Today he’s a name known from Food Network’s “Top Chef,” “Beat Bobby Flay” and “Chopped.” He’s the name behind Four, perhaps downtown’s greatest gastronomic venture.

It’s a rags-to-riches tale beginning in San Francisco, where Luck grew up fatherless. He says he found his place with gangsters before moving to Phoenix, where he found his place in kitchens. More than 20 years after culinary school and stops in Asia, Chicago and Texas, Luck is at home in Colorado Springs.

For a James Beard Award-nominated chef, it might seem an unlikely home. Luck is all too aware of that. That’s where we pick up our conversation with him: Gazette: Did you ever think about leaving the Springs?

Luck: I like my quality of life here. I don’t want to live in a (big) city. I grew up in a (big) city ... it’s just not the lifestyle I want. And I don’t want the country. So, for me, Colorado

Brother Luck

sits down to talk — what else — all things food

Springs is the perfect medium.

My favorite part about living here is what we’ve created.

We’ve changed the (food) culture (from) first coming here and seeing this was a very corporate, chain-oriented town.

Gazette: Was gonna ask you about that.

Luck: To some degree, it still is that. I mean, we’re a perfect test market. Our demographic fits the model of any corporation wanting to try something out. We have so much military, medical, religious — it makes sense to put something here because that’s your average median income across the country.

Gazette: You heard about the Michelin guide coming to Colorado. They announced looking at Denver and Boulder, but not Colorado Springs.

Luck: Perfect example of how they don’t respect us.

Which is crazy to think because The Broadmoor is here.

You would assume that would immediately get Colorado Springs in the mix, and we’re the second largest city (in the state). It just summarizes how I feel about the respect level of the Springs. We are treated like the stepchild or the foster kid.

Gazette: What needs to change?

Luck: We’re seeing other brands coming into our city and raising the bar. I think TILL is a perfect example. ... They came in with this standard and this training that elevated a lot of our hospitality professionals. Then you get a place like Cowboy Star, does the same thing. Came from San Diego and did amazing things.

Ambli Global is another perfect example. They’re out of Denver, and I think they have the most beautiful restaurant in this city, some of the best food and the hospitality is phenomenal.

Gazette: How do you feel about our food scene when you look around?

Luck: I think our food scene is not what most people would categorize as a food scene, because they’re looking for contemporary American. I don’t think this is a contemporary American, fine dining-style city.

Our city is built on a lot of culture because of our infrastructure and economy. We have an amazing Jamaican community here ... our Vietnamese community, our Filipino community. Our food scene is actually better when it comes to ethnic food, and it’s what I prefer to eat when I get out.

Gazette: A lot of hidden gems, you might say?

Luck: Yeah. If you want great food in this city, beyond downtown or Old Colorado City or Manitou Springs, you need to go to South Academy. Go to Fountain, go to Widefield. You’re gonna find some culture. You’re gonna find history. You’re gonna find stories.

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Festivals

The Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival is a showcase for farmers. Christian Murdock

Olathe is home to acres of sweet corn. Jerilee Bennett

Food & fun The best way to celebrate the best in food that Colorado has to offer? By attending some of the state’s best celebrations, of course.

A bucket list

Here are six for your bucket list.

of Colorado’s

COLORADO BBQ CHALLENGE: It’s billed as the state’s longest running barbecue competition, backed by well-established pros with Kansas City BBQ Society. After 27 years in Frisco, the festivities recently moved to Copper Mountain Resort. New location, same great taste.

• When: Father’s Day weekend FOOD & WINE CLASSIC: You can’t get your tickets soon enough for this three-day extravaganza in Aspen. For 40 years now, some of the world’s top chefs, sommeliers and cocktail wizards have converged here where culinary creativity is a way of life.

• When: June 14-16, 2024 BACON AND BOURBON FESTIVAL: When the skiing is done at Keystone Resort, the anticipation builds for the weekend centered on the pig and the barrel. Music and mountains accompany guests who know the finer details of bacon — and who know how best to wash it down.

• When: Typically late June OLATHE SWEET CORN FESTIVAL: The latest billing for the affair listed the daily schedule as 10 a.m. “till the cows come home!” That’s the party attitude of the humble farmers who work hard to provide the impossibly sweet crop that brings joy all across Colorado.

• When: Typically early August PALISADE PEACH FESTIVAL: The festival turned 55 this year — an idyllic gathering among the mesas and riverside orchards that brought western Colorado national acclaim long ago. Move aside, Georgia. Anyone here will say this is America’s home of the peach.

• When: Typically mid-August PUEBLO CHILE & FRIJOLES FESTIVAL: This rounds out your calendar for festivals honoring our state’s legendary produce. There’s nothing like the smell of freshly roasting green chiles in the morning. And nothing like the chihuahua parade.

• When: Sept. 22-24 24

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top culinary festivals

Festivals

ON THE CALENDAR SEPT. 6-9: Denver Food & Wine Festival: Four days of seminars and grand tastings with a cocktail competition Sept. 7. Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus, denverfoodandwine.com SEPT. 9: Palmer Lake Wine Festival: Enjoy wine tastings from 25 Colorado wineries, live music and food, 1-5 p.m. Palmer Lake Recreation Area, palmerlakewinefestival.com SEPT. 9: Park Hill Beer Fest: A 1990s-themed throwback party with unlimited samplings, food trucks and dance party, 3-7 p.m. Denver, beerfestco.com/ parkhillbeerfest2023 SEPT. 9: Chili & Beer Festival: A celebration of locally made chili and Colorado-brewed beer. Crested Butte Mountain Resort, cbchamber.com/chili-andbeer-festival SEPT. 9: Big Chili Cook-off, Music & Arts Festival: Enjoy food, live entertainment, kids’ activities and vendors, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Buchanan Park in Evergreen, bigchili.org SEPT. 9: San Luis Valley Potato Festival: Celebrate America’s favorite veggie with a Spud Run, chef demonstration and mashed potato dunk tank. Monte Vista, coloradopotato.org SEPT. 15-17: Telluride Blues and Brews Festival: A celebration of music and craft beers at one of the most scenic and intimate music festivals in the country. tellurideblues.com SEPT. 16: Best of the West Wing Fest: Enjoy local brews, live music and vote for the best wings, 1-6 p.m. Western Museum of Mining & Industry, bestofthewestwingfest.com SEPT. 16: Colorado Mountain Winefest: Food, wine pairings and more, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Riverside Park in Palisade, coloradowinefest.com

SEPT. 16-17: Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival: Enjoy live music, craft beer and locally sourced food. Westcliffe Outpost Amphitheater, visitwetmountainvalley.com SEPT. 16-17: Sugar Beet Days: A homegrown celebration with regional food, entertainment and beer garden. Sterling, facebook.com/sugarbeetdays SEPT. 21: City Aud Eats: This event features food, local artists and performers to activate all of your senses. Colorado Springs City Auditorium, communityculturalcollective.org SEPT. 21-23: Great American Beer Festival: Explore America’s best breweries, discover new beers and more. Colorado Convention Center in Denver, greatamericanbeerfestival.com SEPT. 22-24: Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival: Created to promote the town’s rich agriculture, with cooking competitions and live entertainment. festival.pueblochamber.org SEPT. 24: Taste of Old Colorado City: Day of eating, drinking and entertainment with more than 20 restaurant and beverage vendors. Bancroft Park, shopoldcoloradocity.com SEPT. 29-OCT. 1: Strings, Ciders & Sours: Sample an array of ciders and sours from local and national craft breweries. Breckenridge, rockymountainevents.com OCT. 6-8: Cedaredge Applefest: Celebrating area fruit growers with food vendors, live music, a chili cook-off and more. cedaredgeapplefest.com OCT. 7: Apple Day: Celebrating Penrose’s famous apples with a softball tournament, food vendors, apple pie and more. Penrose, penrosechamber. org/apple-day CARLOTTA OLSON

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Rocky Ford melons. Jerilee Bennett

By Jennifer Mulson

Sweet, juicy Rocky Ford proud home of world-famous cantaloupes

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ROCKY FORD • It’s already a scorcher on a mid-August morning in the Arkansas Valley, but world-famous Rocky Ford cantaloupes wait for no man. They must be plucked daily from their green, curled vines.

“The crop doesn’t wait,” says Michael Hirakata of Hirakata Farms, the largest packer and shipper of cantaloupes in the region. Hirakata was born in La Junta and grew up on the farm started by his father and uncle in Rocky Ford. When his dad retired 20 years ago, he and a cousin took over, though he’s been growing cantaloupe for 33 years. “We’d like to rest, but that’s why we have wintertime.”

All year, lovers of the famed fruit anticipate late summer, when their favorite melon finally ripens and makes the journey from Rocky Ford to grocery stores and farmers markets.

“They’re the sweetest in the world,” says Gail Knapp of Knapp Farms. “Everybody will tell you it’s the hot days and cool nights and the soil. The growing conditions are perfect for growing sweet can-

taloupe and melons.”

Cantaloupe sprout from tiny blue seeds, planted about mid-April, depending on weather. Sub-inch farming uses data on soil, seeds and weather to map the most efficient layout of each field and program it into GPS on a planter that goes on autopilot. Irrigation also is applied with GPS under the seed bed.

Each cantaloupe at Hirakata Farms is categorized as a No. 1 or No. 2, with size and appearance the deciding factors.

Those that are nicked, overripe or green are deemed No. 2s. While No. 2s wind up in big bins headed to farmers markets and roadside stands, No. 1s are bound for grocery stores.

The rough, scaly melons are shimmied along the packing line, washed, sanitized, packed in cardboard boxes and cooled to 40 degrees through a forced-air cooling system to extend their shelf life.

A good day at Hirakata Farms ends with 60,000 packed cantaloupes. A full season sends 2 million cantaloupes to grocery stores.

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Family

matters

Dani Santilli at The Owl Cigar Store in Cañon City. Christian Murdock

ot long ago on a drive through Cañon City, we stopped at The Owl Cigar Store, a local staple with a deceiving name.

Cigars are not sold here.

Burgers have been the speciality inside the bar that looks about the same since the Santilli brothers started it in the 1940s.

We found a third-generation member of the family flipping burgers. What kept Dani Santilli here?

“I don’t know,” she said over the grill. “It’s just family legacy.”

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Recipes, traditions pass test of time

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We’ve heard a similar answer “I look at it as the foundation from other multi-generational for future generations,” Cynfamilies we’ve met over the years thia James Stewart said. while writing on restaurants The gift to the next generaaround the state. These are some tion will be a gift for us all — a of the families to thank for some true, lasting taste of Colorado, of our favorite eats — including a grown and raised in our valleys fried taco. of plenty.

Close to Opening Day at Coors “A Taste of the High CounField in Denver, we popped into try,” reads the sign for the litMexico City Lounge. A Mexican tle building turning heads of Dave and Kay James at the James Ranch. immigrant, Willie Garcia, opened drivers through the canyon en Christian Murdock the place in the 1960s along Larroute to Estes Park. That’s the imer Street, decades before the busy shop of Colorado Cherry Rockies moved down the road and Co., one of four in the state. forced big changes to the business.

The originators of the beSome things didn’t change, such loved cherry pie, Katherine as Grandma Esther’s menudo. But for better and for worse, and Oswald Lehnert, never thought they’d see an expansion things got busier than any of Garcia’s kids and in-laws ever of the stand they started at their home. imagined.

“And I assure you, (they) never thought it would be fourth They kept it up for the third generation, David Muniz, to generation,” grandson Anthony said. take over.

His son, Elias, now oversees a stand in Denver. He couldn’t “I know my grandpa and grandma are looking down on resist, he said. “It’s a cool legacy that we have.” me,” he said. “I know they’re proud.”

A legacy similar to another family behind familiar, cherMaking ancestors proud. That’s another common refrain ished sweets. At the hilltop factory of Patsy’s in Colorado of Colorado’s long-going families in food.

Springs, we found the third generation of Niswongers preThey include farmers such as Dennis Clark. His greatparing candies beloved for more than a century. great grandpa is one to thank for Palisade’s peach heritage, “We still do things the old-fashioned way,” Si Niswonger having arrived from Iowa in 1897 and going on to plant one told us. “We do it the way we were taught growing up.” of the valley’s first trees.

There’s no other way to do it, we kept hearing on our food The years have not been easy, Clark told us. Far from it. tour. We stopped at Pueblo’s Pass Key Restaurant, home of “We’ve made it a long time,” he said. “If I was the last, that the so-called “Best Italian Sausage Sandwich in the World.” would be the end of the book, and so be it.”

Mary Jo Pagano’s late husband, John, created the Pass His daughter nearby seemed intent on keeping the pages Key Special in the early 1950s. The ongoing success, she turning. said, had to do with the meat coming from the same famElsewhere in western Colorado, the grown children of ily-owned butcher in town, with the bread from the same Dave and Kay James have been intent on growing James family-owned bakery.

Ranch. The Durango land that their parents came to in the The secret was no secret at all, the family matriarch said.

1960s now produces the beef, pork, cheese, veggies, eggs It’s something Pagano has always told her kids and grandand other goods found at the farm-to-table restaurant and kids running Pass Key: market.

“John and I always told everybody, ‘As long as you stay We visited in 2019, when the facility was under construcwith what you know and keep honest and be consistent tion. with what you serve, you will be OK.’”

Come celebrate the 120th year of flight with Good Food and Good Service 1665 Newport Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80916 www.theairplanerestaurant.com |(719) 570-7656 CRAVING COLORADO

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On the menu

On the menu

VEGAN/VEGETARIAN

INTERNATIONAL

• Adam’s Mountain Cafe: The Manitou Springs spot typically wins the Best of the Springs’ vegetarian category. But anyone who appreciates local, seasonal ingredients will find something they like.

• Burrowing Owl: In an otherwise drab strip mall, Burrowing Owl surprises with a cozy, nest-like environ and a menu vegans never knew existed for them. Who says they can’t enjoy a sloppy Joe? • Santana’s Vegan Grill: Yes, you will find tacos, burgers, hot dogs and breakfast burritos. Here again is a kitchen making the seemingly impossible possible for non-meat eaters in the Springs.

• Edelweiss German Restaurant: Schnitzel, sauerkraut, bratwurst, goulash, pretzels — you’ll no doubt feel transported here, and very full.

• Little Nepal: The eatery has earned a Best of the Springs nod every year it has been open since 2007. Voters can’t get enough of the buffet.

• Jake and Telly’s Greek Taverna: It’s the vision of Jake Topakas, whose recipes have been passed down from family on the island of Chios.

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The Sanctuary at The Friar’s Fork in Alamosa.

Christian Murdock

By Seth Boster

Unlikely honor ALAMOSA • Denise Vigil would rather tend to other things — inventory, payroll, food prep, etc.

— than check social media. But checking social media also comes with running a restaurant.

One day this spring, Vigil was checking The Friar’s Fork Instagram account when she came by a message from a local customer.

It was a note of congratulations on the James Beard Foundation — the culinary Oscars — naming The Friar’s Fork a semifinalist for America’s best new restaurant. continued on page 34

Unlikely honor

Colorado chef’s star-studded journey led her back home

The braised lamb shank at The Friar’s Fork. Christian Murdock

“Somebody is lying to you,” Vigil recalls thinking.

Vigil wasn’t the only one who had to scan the semifinalist list twice. Foodies across the nation did a double take.

Nominees included New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore. ... ... Alamosa, Colorado.

“It was a little bit surreal,” Vigil says.

Soon after the announcement, The Friar’s Fork website showed traffic from people around the globe. The reservation list suddenly grew with out-of-state visitors.

“Everybody I think was interested ... like, what, Alamosa?” Vigil says. “I mean, even people in Colorado don’t all know where Alamosa is.”

Alamosa is in the heart of the San Luis Valley, an isolated place between farms and desert and mountains and sand dunes. This is Vigil’s hometown.

In 2021, along Fourth Street, she came by a historic, abandoned church of Mission Revival architecture: stucco walls, curving parapets, arching windows of stained glass. This is where Vigil, 51, would open her one and only restaurant after a long, winding career in much bigger cities and resort destinations.

After three decades of cooking for the rich and famous, Vigil would cook for the rural, blue-collar people of her town widely unfamiliar with fine dining.

However fine, The Friar’s Fork can’t quite be called fancy.

Vigil would not want that. She wears a red T-shirt like the rest of her staff; approachable is the aim.

Her approach to The Friar’s Fork upon opening last year: “I’m gonna take it way down. I’m not gonna be plating stuff with tweezers anymore. I’m gonna go really simple.

Simple but good.”

Simple but good — that’s the braised lamb shank, which

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falls off the bone and melts in the mouth with herbed polenta. The menu skews Italian, with classics everybody knows: spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parmesan.

Not everyone knows the kind of flavors that can be achieved by a trained chef. The difference is in the sauces and in the patience behind that lamb shank, which stews for 12 hours before reaching tables.

Vigil is quick to downplay any magic. “It’s pretty basic,” she says.

It’s not all local ingredients, she’s sorry to say. Ingredients are far from the exotic she came to know in her career out of culinary school in New York. Such ingredients would threaten prices she seeks to maintain; she’s heard one too many local complaints about $16 spaghetti.

On the topic of anything more elevated, the workforce must also be considered.

“We’re in Alamosa,” Vigil says. “While I love our crew, we’re dealing with what our local talent pool has to offer.”

When she opened last year, she hired mostly young people who mostly never worked in the industry. One for the kitchen had previous experience at Jimmy John’s.

Next door to the former parish hall where people dine today is The Sanctuary that Vigil transformed into a speakeasy-style bar. The bar manager is responsible for crafting upscale cocktails.

The bar manager just turned 21. He is a friend of Vigil’s daughter.

All that matters to Vigil: “They give their heart. They pay attention to what they’re doing, and they’re required to be proud of what they’re doing.”

It paid off with the James Beard recognition. Judges dine undercover across the country to find nominees.

That’s what representatives for the foundation explained in interviews regarding the surprise Friar’s Fork. They also

Unlikely honor

Chef and owner Denise Vigil visits with customers at The Friar’s Fork. Christian Murdock

explained the mission to diversify, not only when it came to race and gender but also in terms of geography. (The Friar’s Fork did not advance past the semifinalist round.)

As a woman all too aware of male-dominated kitchens and the industry’s unweighted focus on major metros, Vigil appreciated the nomination. There was something else she felt.

“I felt like I was back at that level of high pressure, high stress, like you have to perform at a top, top level,” she says.

“This wasn’t supposed to be that.”

Following a life in high cuisine and high-octane kitchens, The Friar’s Fork, she says, was supposed to be “a different page out of a different book.”

Vigil’s culinary story starts in the 1990s at Colorado State University, where she increasingly felt uneasy about her English major.

“I know this sounds super crazy,” she says, “but I started feeling really introspective and meditating and praying.

Like, what am I gonna do? And I literally just had a dream, like this really intense dream.”

In it, she was cooking. And so she followed the dream, leaving college to find herself in the graces of a Frenchtrained chef who happened to cook at a ranch close to Alamosa. That’s where Vigil learned how to hold a knife among other basics. She picked flowers and herbs out a back door to be used in recipes.

Her education continued in New Mexico at Santa Fe’s acclaimed Coyote Cafe. There she worked under Mark Miller, the first James Beard Award-winning chef whose tutelage she sought.

She then went to New York, a move that startled friends and family back home. “It was like I was announcing I was half lizard people,” Vigil says.

She forged ahead, drawn to this world of science and sacrifice. She found comfort in the chaos, the shouting and

the stove heat, hot as the competition around her, and the long hours and the little pay. She bounced around high-profile kitchens, from Sundance in Utah to Aspen to another James Beard Award-winning boss in Portland.

In 2003, everything came to “a screeching halt.”

Her daughter was born. A divorce followed. Those kitchens and late nights were no place for a single mom, she thought.

“It was hard, because it was what I spent my whole life training for,” she says. “I got to that level only working for celebrities and billionaires this whole time, and now what?”

She joined Starbucks, helping the company’s expansion in Colorado. For seven years, she felt out of place, less than herself.

Then the opportunity arose to cook for Louis Bacon and esteemed guests of his ranch in the San Luis Valley. Vigil married a maintenance man she met at the ranch.

“Tough,” is how Nelson Vialpando came to see Vigil. “Very tough. She’s just set in her ways.”

And so he wasn’t surprised when her relentless ambition took her to the abandoned church on Fourth Street.

Raising a child was a proud accomplishment. But all along for Vigil, perhaps another pride tugged.

“You always wonder if this is what you’re supposed to be doing,” she says.

Vigil’s daughter was grown and off to college. Now Vigil could attempt something she never thought she’d attempt: As crazy as kitchens could be, running them seemed even crazier.

It seemed crazy enough cooking back home in Alamosa — “the last thing that I was expecting,” Vigil says.

Or maybe the James Beard nomination was the last thing.

“That was a dream for her,” Vialpando says.

But there was little time for celebrating.

For Vigil, as ever, there was work to be done.

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When we think about eating in Colorado, we think about green chili meeting a beefy, unlikely partner. We think about a very unlikely part of a bull. And then, of course, there’s the colorful variety that grows from our beautiful, gracious Earth.

Here’s a look at the state’s iconic foods: The slopper: About that unlikely pairing — an open-faced cheeseburger smothered in green chili.

The birthplace is said to be Gray’s Coors Tavern in Pueblo. Where Adolf Otterstein saw a showcase for his brew in the 1930s, the tavern later became known for the excessive, irresistible pairing.

The tale told around town is of an old regular named Herb Casebeer. In the 1950s, he supposedly asked owner Johnnie Greco to “slop up” his burger. The rest is history.

Rocky Mountain oysters: At Bruce’s Bar and Restaurant in northern Colorado, baskets of fried morsels arrive before youngsters, and parents insist it’s chicken fingers. And so the next generation is fooled into loving the odd cuisine that makes outsiders lose their lunch.

These are not chicken fingers. Nor are they oysters. But who wants to call them by their real name?

You might find the bull testicles to taste like chicken at the bar that is said to sling more of them than anywhere else in Colorado and beyond. “Welcome to Severance,” the town sign reads, “where the geese fly and the bulls cry.”

Fish and wildlife: How did restaurants along the rugged, dusty frontier impress visiting bigwigs? With plates of bison, trout, elk and other animals that dominated the landscape.

The same dishes impress important visitors today in Colorado. Look no further than Buckhorn Exchange.

It’s known as Denver’s oldest restaurant, dating to 1893. High-paying patrons make a reservation to dine as “Teddy” Roosevelt and “Buffalo Bill” did — with some of the finest, wildest cuts around.

Produce: Pueblo’s green chiles bring the heat. Palisade’s peaches bring the sweet, on par with Olathe’s corn. And come time for picking, Rocky Ford’s melons bring drivers to otherwise lonely roads on the southeast plains.

All together, the famed crops bring identity to colorful Colorado. It’s not summer without a taste of the harvest. With every bite, we’re left thinking the same: Life is good.

On the menu

On the menu

BARBECUE

MEXICAN

• Rudy’s “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q: Impossible to miss along U.S. 24, the line tends to stretch out the door with people willing to wait for meats done right, Texas style.

• Front Range Barbeque: The Sloppy Pig sandwich — saucedup pulled pork, sausage, bacon, cheese, slaw and crispy onions — gained Food Network fame in Old Colorado City.

• Bird Dog BBQ: The place with three locations was born with a firm ethic in oak. Never mind hickory or mesquite. The belief is that oak-smoked allows the truest meat flavor.

• Arlene’s Beans: The family-owned spot in Monument most recently took home Best of the Springs’ honors for taqueria, tamales and enchiladas.

• Monica’s Taco Shop: Tacos are in the name — and rightfully so — but Best of the Springs voters also have praised the delicious burritos.

• Crystal Park Cantina: Not to be overlooked: the burger with jalapeno-cilantro cheese, caramelized onions and chipotle mayo on a corn bun.

SETH BOSTER

SETH BOSTER

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Las Montañas in Aspen. Aspen Chamber Resort Association

High marks

By Seth Boster

Mountain towns boast wealth of fine dining possibilities

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When certain cities and resort towns Vail were announced as targets for an exclu• “Feel Vail” is the motto at Almresive food guide coming to Colorado this si, where you’ll feel it in the rustic, year, the list was no surprise.

European setting that the resort has There was Denver and Boulder, of aspired to since its origin. Families course. The others: Aspen and Snowgather for fondue or opt for entrees inmass Village and Vail and nearby Beaver cluding pork shank and veal goulash.

Creek Resort.

• Nonna is grandmother in Italian, Fine dining at Alpino Vino. Ben Eng Those will be the places for anonymous and that’s who chef Simone Reatti inspectors to determine restaurants aims to honor at La Nonna Ristorante. worthy of a spot in the Michelin Guide, His fresh pastas are tastes of his native a trusted source for traveling foodies village in the Dolomites. around the world. The guide previously • Dating to 1977, Sweet Basil helped has highlighted New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., put Vail on the luxury dining map. It continues to set the and Miami. standard with such starters as lamb tenderloin tartare and Inspectors will find something different in Colorado. chorizo and corn donuts.

“People really appreciate being able to be in the outdoors and then enjoy world-class cuisine,” says Carol Breen, speakSteamboat Springs ing for Aspen Chamber Resort Association. “Being in a small • Kate Rench is celebrated chef in Steamboat, letting her town, being in the mountains, but also having the comforts imagination run wild with whatever fresh goodies she can they’re used to having in a big city and eating really well, it’s uncover. Cafe Diva’s high-end menus change with the seaa huge part of the Aspen experience.” sons, along with an ever-growing wine list.

An experience that has inspired our state’s broader apres • When it comes to happy hour at Laundry Kitchen & Cockscene. An experience that has inspired some big-city chefs tails, “you gotta get there right on time,” says Laura Soard to plant their creative flags in these remote, unlikely places. with Steamboat Springs Chamber. Cocktails delight with However small the populations, the food and drink options mix-and-match spreads of smoked and cured meats. can be overwhelming. We asked people such as Breen for tips • Yampa Valley Kitchen is the creation of another heraldaround some of the destinations they call home. ed, self-made chef in town, Hannah Hopkins. Local, organic goods are key to classic but elevated American breakfast, Telluride lunch and dinner.

• Leave it to Telluride to spoil above 11,900 feet. In the winter, Alpino Vino matches the view with imported wine Aspen and four-course dinners reached via “snowcoach” under the • Bosq seems likely to catch the attention of Michelin. Chef moonlight. and owner Barclay Dodge has garnered a reputation for dish• At Oak, “whether it’s a beautiful day or a complete blizes crafted with ingredients foraged throughout the mounzard, that place will be jamming with locals and visitors tains. alike,” Visit Telluride’s Tom Watkinson says. Beer, bourbon, • French Alpine Bistro might seem like any other fondue barbecue. ‘Nuff said. restaurant vying for your reservation. But then there’s the • Oak is not to be mistaken for 221 South Oak, a much difadded benefit of sweet and savory crepes. ferent scene curated by Eliza Gavin, who was featured on • Las Montañas is locally beloved for its happy hour, when “Top Chef.” The menu at last look boasted duck prosciutto discounted tacos and margaritas fly fast inside this cozy and buttermilk-fried quail. nook. Sizzling fajitas and ceviches are also popular.

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The Little Man Ice Cream Co. Parker Seibold

Sweet spots

By Seth Boster

Sugary selections not hard to find in Colorado

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In Colorado, it’s OK to do as the tourists do.

Go ahead, join them for that sweet fix.

Consider these six options around the state: Crepes A La Cart: Visitors in Breckenridge are known to wait in long lines down Main Street for crepes out of the yellow cart. The difference is said to be real butter and hot and fresh off the grill. The strawberry shortcake is popular, with the fruit rolled up with angel food cake and Chantilly cream.

The Inventing Room: Ian Kleinman has built a career on molecular gastronomy, a disciple of the wild, whimsical capabilities of food when science is prioritized. He’s also a disciple of Willy Wonka. Take a mind-bending tour of “space foam,” glow-in-the-dark cotton candy and, yes, snozzberry wallpaper.

The Little Man Ice Cream Co.: In 2008, a 28foot milk can in Denver’s Lower Highland neighborhood marked the start of a beloved tradition. “I love the idea of surprise and delight,” owner Paul Tamburello told us. “I love

when something is just over the top.” As you might find in the flavors.

Patsy’s Candies: It’s the most famous name in sweets in the Pikes Peak region, starting more than 100 years ago in Manitou Springs.

The owning family still maintains recipes of Irish immigrant Patsy Mahaney. Toffee and other confections are made and sold at the factory on 8th Street in Colorado Springs.

The Taffy Shop: The number of sweet options around Estes Park can be overwhelming. Go for the original. That’s The Taffy Shop, said to be the town’s longest lasting home of salt water taffy since 1935. The promise: “Making the same melt-in-your-mouth recipe for generations of happy customers.”

Totally Nuts & Company: Across from Patsy’s in Manitou Springs is this other shop impossible to miss. It’s formed by old tuberculosis huts, recalling the history of Manitou as a healing refuge. It’s a different cure today in the huts: The sweet smell of cinnamon-roasted almonds and pecans will draw you in.

Lasting legacy

By Seth Boster

The Broadmoor. Chad Chisholm

The Broadmoor’s fine, flavorful food scene remains world-class

The seafood tower at The Broadmoor’s La Taverne. The Broadmoor

hen Spencer Penrose was building his grande dame of the Rockies, a resort like Colorado had never seen, he knew he needed the food to match.

In 1917, Penrose tapped a young maestro from Italy, Louis Stratte, to be The Broadmoor’s first executive chef. Stratte’s initial job was to feed the construction workers at the base of Colorado Springs’ mountains. Then he would feed the young city’s preeminent guests — the rich and famous who had a worldly taste of the finest.

Stratte’s kitchen was staffed with cooks from his native land as well as France and Germany. And, indeed, the finest was served.

It was the beginning of a long, world-renowned tradition of Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond excellence that continues today.

You barely need two hands to count the number of executive chefs in The Broadmoor’s 105-year history. That says almost as much as those prestigious stars and diamonds, says David Patterson, who was the sixth executive chef recently promoted to vice president of food and beverage.

“It’s world-class talent here,” he says. “You’re surrounded by people that are exceptional. You’re doing something really special by creating these amazing guest experiences, and you’re doing it in one of the most stunning environments on the planet.”

The Broadmoor could be called a foodie paradise, an empire spanning 5,000 acres and including

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much more than suites, spas, pools and other accommodations to be expected from a luxury hotel.

It also includes greenhouses; chefs coordinate with on-site horticulturalists to grow produce for the dishes of their dreams. The property includes a bakery that produces every slice of bread across almost 20 restaurants, cafes and lounges.

There’s a butcher shop, where Wagyu beef is cut from the hotel’s exclusive ranch. There’s a fabrication station, where careful hands prepare fish that is flown in daily from the west and east coasts as well as Hawaii.

The Broadmoor also maintains relationships with farmers worldwide to procure ingredients for authentic dishes. At Ristorante del Lago, for example, a highly exclusive cheese comes from a family in Emilia-Romagna, and peppery olive oil comes from Castello di Ama. “When it comes to procurement of ingredients, my thought process is local, regional, national and international,” Patterson says. “My recruitment strategy mirrors that to a large degree.”

At any time, kitchens across The Broadmoor might represent dozens of countries — chefs bringing with them an education and discipline that translates to one-of-a-kind plates.

Around The Broadmoor’s halls and towers, you can smell the difference. But there’s nothing like tasting it.

Here’s a look at some of the options:

Summit The dinner spot is a step into modern splendor — a space as elegantly designed as the menu, cocktails and sommelier-made wine list.

The vibrant, fresh Ceviche Trio is a star, consisting of a catch of the day, Japanese tuna and salmon prepared in a Peruvian style true to the native home of a head chef. You might finish the evening with creme brulee or strawberry rhubarb cheesecake. The dessert, like much of the menu, is frequently changing with the seasons.

On the menu

FINE DINING • Four by Brother Luck: Celebrity chef Brother Luck delights all who splurge on his four-course meals downtown.

• The Pepper Tree: Steak dinners are prepared or finished tableside at the restaurant that also boasts a view.

• The Margarita at Pine Creek: Brunch, lunch and dinner come with plates that are always fresh and colorful.

Ristorante del Lago The view of Cheyenne Lake recalls Lake Como, complemented by an open, high-energy kitchen straight out of Italy. Also straight out of Italy, along with the aforementioned Parmigiano-Reggiano Valserena cheese and olive oil: a sweet prosciutto di parma courtesy of family-owned Pio Tosini.

It’s the expected and unexpected here: fresh pastas and the Pollo Arrosto, a chicken slow-roasted over potatoes that capture the bird’s juices and join the plate. Also not to be missed: the Neapolitan pizza, formed by housemade dough that is fired over pecan, apple and cherry woods.

SETH BOSTER

La Taverne The rich, marbled Wagyu beef exclusive to The Broadmoor is savored amid a leafy, French-inspired atmosphere. The beef is raised just for the resort at Eagles Nest Ranch near Greeley.

With a French background, Patterson feels confident calling the steak frites world-class; the meat is soaked with a Worcestershire compound butter aged three months in local whiskey barrels. The fries are hand cut and fried in duck fat.

La Taverne also features a seafood tower consisting of Maine lobster, crab, oysters and jumbo prawns.

Golden Bee It is probably the most recognized and most modest option on this list, a longtime favorite of those living in the Broadmoor neighborhood and all around the city. Residents and tourists alike long for their return to the rooftop patio for fish and chips.

The Golden Bee was erected in 1961 with parts of a much older English pub that had been shipped to New York. A nightly piano man and sing-along completes the time travel.

THE TRUE DEFINITION OF AN AMERICAN BISTRO

Restaurant 1858 When The Broadmoor acquired the historic tourist attraction Seven Falls in 2014, of course purveyors got busy on a new restaurant. Welcome to Restaurant 1858, where customers are spoiled at the bottom of the cascade-fed canyon called “The Grandest Mile of Scenery in Colorado.”

The restaurant name recalls a year from the frontier days, as does the cuisine: bison, trout, quail and wild boar green chili.

Most of the game touches the oak smoking in the kitchen.

Cafe Julie’s Julie was Spencer Penrose’s wife. It’s easy to picture her seated in the cafe, socializing with a coffee and a pastry.

This is the sweet stop for hotel guests and visitors, what The Broadmoor calls “our very own Parisian Patisserie.”

Cafe Julie’s is stocked with the handcrafted treats of onsite bakers and chocolatiers. A pastry chef from Bordeaux oversees croissants and danishes that are prepared twice daily.

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Palisade. Christian Murdock

WINE SO SUBLIME How Palisade became the birthplace of Colorado industry

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Cassidee Shull is a top advocate for Colorado’s wineries. That’s one way she might describe her work when asked by strangers she meets on her travels.

They commonly sound surprised.

“They’re like, ‘Wait, did you mean breweries?’” Shull says.

Yes, Colorado is better known business continues today and for its craft beer. But there is continues to tell the story of perhaps no better person than how the local industry sproutShull to tell you about her naed. tive state’s vibrant, award-winColorado Cellars started in ning wine.

1978, not long after the pasShe is executive director of sage of the Colorado Limited Colorado Association for ViWinery Act. The legislation ticulture and Enology, fancy “made way for small farm words referring to grape growwineries,” explains an account ing and wine making. Shull’s

by History Colorado, which office is nothing fancy — nothtraces the interest much furing like you’d find in Napa, Cather back.

A Palisade winery. Christian Murdock lif. But this base in Palisade is “Many European settlers not to be overlooked. who came to Colorado for The quaint, tiny town is mining brought viticulture regarded as the birthplace of the Colorado industry, with them,” the account reads. proudly representing about a fifth of the state’s 170Just as Palisade peaches had grown around the turn of plus wineries. Palisade is the center of the Grand Valley, the 20th century, so had grapes. Close to town, the man which is said to provide 80% of the state’s wine-making who established Grand Junction in 1881, George Crawgrapes. The valley is one of 267 American Viticultural ford, is credited for one of the state’s earliest vineyards.

Areas.

But Prohibition in 1916 effectively shut down the vineHere along the Colorado River, under the gaze of the yards. They would remain dormant until the quiet reGrand Mesa, groups ride bikes and honeymooning cousurgence in the 1970s. ples take carriages along country roads lined by vineHow fast has the recent rise been? Consider that five yards and tasting rooms. was still the state’s winery count upon the 1990 Colo“Here from our office in the middle of town, we have rado Wine Industry Development Act, another spur to 25 or 30 (wineries) in like a 2-mile radius,” Shull says. action.

Palisade Fruit and Wine Byway is a tour to the heart of And where the elements have gotten in the way, crethe town’s flavorful economic engine. Agritourism rules ativity and innovation have prevailed. And, yes, the kind here. The same elements that bless the long-legendary of rebel attitude synonymous with Colorado. peaches are said to bless another crop slowly but surely Highbrow connoisseurs may scoff at the canning trend gaining notoriety: grapes. sweeping the world. But it was a practical, profitable The warm days and cool nights. The sun radiating from idea said to have taken off in this state, where hikers, the Book Cliffs. The breeze known as the million-dollar climbers and rafters would rather carry cans than botbreeze, drifting from De Beque Canyon down to the altles and glasses. kaline-rich soil. It’s the natural alchemy behind every Innovation is core to the grapes too. sweet and tannic sip.

“Cold, hardy varietals,” Shull says.

The ultimate showcase is set for Sept. 16. That’s the The result in the bottle is true to Colorado — as is the date for the annual Colorado Mountain Winefest that experience. While the industry grows here, it can still dates to 1992 in Palisade’s Memorial Park. often feel small.

Where five wineries poured their blends for maybe a “When you’re doing a wine tasting, you have such a few hundred back then, now closer to 6,000 visitors are huge chance of meeting the owner or the wine maker expected to sample from 53 makers. Just as the festival or the cellar manager, and a lot of times it’s the same is a showcase of the blends concocted in unlikely Coloraperson,” Shull says. “It’s such a hyper local wine experido, it is a celebration of how far the industry has come. ence that you have here compared to other wine regions Among the first representatives at the 1992 festival throughout the country and world. I think that’s somewere Rick and Padte Turley of Colorado Cellars. The thing we should be so proud of.”

Cacao Chemistry handcrafts exquisite truffles and carries unique international treats from around the world.

Visit us at 109 N. Tejon St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Or shop online at cacaochemistry.com

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Trails End Taproom and Eatery. Jerilee Bennett

A helpful guide to navigate Colorado Springs’ beer landscape

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

By Stephanie Earls

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What beer to drink — and where to drink it — might trail ride and charity nights. This is especially true be the best kind of conundrum, but it’s a conundrum when the sun is shining. Which brings us to our next nonetheless in Colorado Springs, a city home to more crisis guide inflection point: than 30 breweries and scores more craft-focused tapWhat’s the weather weather? If you’ve lived in Colorarooms and restaurants. do for more than a minute, you know weather here Generally speaking, wherever you choose to imbibe, doesn’t always hew to seasonal expectations. you’ll find good, often award-winning craft beer in On a sunny, not-too-cold Sunday in mid-February, we a spectrum of styles. That means finding a personpromise you’re not the only person mulling an al fresally perfect spot to drink, a spot that resonates both co meetup at one of the many breweries with outdoor with tastes and mood, requires looking beyond liquid seating. On a sunny, not-too-hot Sunday in summer, menus. Given the lengths breweries have gone to goose that’s what everyone is thinking. up the sensory experience, engaging and appealing to A recently completed outdoor pavilion and beer gardrinkers on multiple levels — sometimes literally, via den-esque “playground” on Bristol Brewing Co.’s Ivyrooftop patios with mountain vistas (OCC Brewing, wild School campus now has room to accommodate a Pikes Peak Brewing Co.’s Lager House) — it should be. whole lot more of them.

“There are so many places to The roughly 25,000-square-foot choose from, and each has their space, replete with firepits, exown personality and offerings. ... tends legal drinking parameters so It’s kind of a decision overload,” patrons can wander out from the says Melissa Williams, director ground-floor barrel room without of marketing for Visit Colorado having to ditch their drinks.

Springs.

“We just wanted to create some The tourism bureau’s annual more outdoor community space,” Crafts and Drafts passport program brewery founder Mike Bristol provides encouragement and strucsays. “In Colorado, people just love ture for an extended craft drink to be outside and drinking beer tour through the city, as well as outside.” (while supplies last) swag for those In the interest of keeping it that who sign up for the free promotion way, we will refrain from highMash Mechanix Brewing Co. Christian Murdock and devotedly play along. lighting any smaller venue with This guide doesn’t come with more limited outdoor seating (We graft, but we hope it can serve as a lied: Fossil Craft Beer Co., Goat basic primer to help those stymied Patch Brewing Co., Cerberus Brewby options to take the plunge. Being Co., Trinity Brewing Co., Peaks cause every pub crawl starts with a N Pines Brewing Co.). All we can first sip. suggest is get there early. (And, if Ours begins with a little IPAcureit’s raining, skip to Question 3.) an navel gazing.

Feeling hot or chill? Now that What’s your weather? A lot of you’ve narrowed down a preferred words have been spent discussing beer style and considered forecasts seasonally apt beer styles, but we and occupancy, we’ve reached our say what’s more important is your penultimate deciding factor: Conweather on the inside. Sometimes text (and noise level). you need a porter-style hug in the Do you want a laid-back vibe, middle of summer or a sprightly conversation and maybe a food lager to brighten winter doldrums. truck bite (Mash Mechanix BrewBristol Brewing Co.’s Ivywild School And sometimes all you know is ing Co., Atrevida Beer Co.)? Or campus. Christian Murdock you’re thirsty. do you want to frolic in the light, Whether you’re a brew newb or an sing karaoke or play trivia (Metric old pro looking to expand her palBrewing, Phantom Canyon Brewate, Trails End Taproom and Eatery ing Co.)? is a good place to start.

Perhaps there are other factors — or urges or sober When the bike-themed taproom opened in Red Rock companions (of all ages) — in the mix?

Canyon Shopping Center in 2017, it was the first pour“I love sending, especially families, to Red Leg,” says your-own spot in Colorado Springs and only the secWilliams, who has a young son. Opened in July 2021, ond in the state. Now at 2925 W. Colorado Ave. — and Red Leg Brewing Co.’s complex on Garden of the Gods with a second location in Monument — Trails End Road includes a 4,000-square-foot main facility, roofboasts 30-plus taps pouring a range of craft beverages. top deck, beer garden and lawn, where live concerts, Owner Kevin Weese likes to bring in cult and hardspecial events and an array of food trucks hold sway. to-find craft suds to round out offerings from more Crisis avoidance: With so many great breweries, a familiar brands. Taps are arranged by style. You only thorough pub crawl here comes with built-in concerns. pay for what you pour, be that an ounce or a glass.

Before you set out, designate a driver, agree to take “This is a great way to try out something new, maybe cabs or use a rideshare service. Also consider booking find a new favorite, and not get stuck having to pay a brew tour with a company such as Rocky Mountain for a whole pint of something you end up not liking,” Ride. Because a successful pub crawl doesn’t end until Weese says. you wake up the next day — safe, unburdened and, Keep in mind, the taproom gets hopping on group hopefully, without a hangover.

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History lives here

By Seth Boster

The 150-year-old Mint building in Silverthorne. Christian Murdock

Colorado’s history runs deep and rugged. That rich history includes a handful of bars that have stood the test of time: Silver Dollar Saloon (Leadville): From behind the mahogany bar that was freighted via covered wagon in the 1870s, from behind that copper register still in use, the friendly local might show you the spot on the floor cracked in a way to resemble the face of “Doc” Holliday. He was a regular, known to have lived across the street.

The Mint Bar (Silverthorne): Amid new condos and a hotel, this old building looks out of place. But for more than 150 years, the Mint has survived the changes. Blue River Parkway is its fourth location, following miraculous transplants from other posts around Summit County. It’s now a grillyour-own steakhouse.

Buffalo Rose (Golden): When the joint reopened in 2019, it was a celebration of 160 years. There have been several starts

and stops since 1859, when Colorado’s oldest bar opened in a building that hosted the likes of Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. But the Buffalo Rose has refused to fade.

My Brother’s Bar (Denver): As the longest-going bar in the Mile High City, this place is now a tourist destination — but not the kind that has run off the regulars. The interior remains dim. There’s still no TV on the wall. And the exterior here at 15th and Platte streets is brick, largely unchanged since 1873.

The Minturn Saloon (Minturn): The walls are covered with photos of the major clientele since the 1970s: skiers. They warm up with the time-honored dish of duck breast, just as the railroaders did in the early 1900s. The saloon is the terminus of the Minturn Mile, one of the best-known, outof-bounds runs from Vail.

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On the drink menu

BARS, BREWERIES AND DISTILLERIES • Tony’s: Tony opened the downtown dive in 1999 as a place to hang out with fellow displaced Packers fans from Wisconsin. Of course, cheese curds go with cheap beers.

• Bourbon Brothers Smokehouse & Tavern: We pulled up the whiskey list and started counting. Then we gave up. Signature cocktails take advantage of the best.

• Swirl: The sommelier owner in Manitou Springs lives close to the wine bar, where there are also spoils when it comes to food and atmosphere.

• Bristol Brewing Co.: Best of the Springs voters continue to show love for the brewery that was on the front lines of the city’s craft beer revolution in the 1990s.

• Goat Patch Brewing Co.: The Springs can’t get enough of the hazy IPA — it’s on taps all around town — but the brewer takes pride in constant innovation.

• Cerberus Brewing Co.: It’s as much beloved for the gourmet food on hand as the beer, regularly winning best brewpub in Best of the Springs.

• Axe and the Oak Distillery: The cozy tasting room at Ivywild School is a great place to take visitors for perhaps the most popular whiskey in town. Bonus points for the happy hour.

• Distillery 291: The bottles of whiskey are reaching shelves all around Colorado and beyond. Yes, the whiskey is that good.

• 1350 Distilling: The newer distillery doesn’t settle for one speciality.

It’s a wide selection of bourbon, vodka, gin and rum.

SETH BOSTER

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By Seth Boster

A BEER RUN

TO REMEMBER Odell Brewing Co. Chancey Bush

Craft breweries not hard to find in Fort Collins Good Behavior, a 110-calorie craft beer. Chancey Bush

We think it’s safe to call Fort Collins the craft beer capital of Colorado.

For starters, the presence of two big players that not only inspired the craft beer movement in this state but around the country: New Belgium Brewing Co. and Odell Brewing Co. And then there are the sheer numbers. In recent years, Fort Collins has supported more than two dozen breweries — at times slightly more than Colorado Springs, which has triple the residents.

That’s all to say: We think there’s no better place for a day or two of brewery-hopping. Here are six favorites: Horse & Dragon: The brewery is the passion project of a beer-loving couple who burst onto the scene with a coffee stout that is a superb blend of chocolate and vanilla.

Sad Panda might be a happy start to your day. Haze & Dragon IPA is another specialty that’s been shipped to stores beyond town.

Funkwerks: It’s conveniently close to Horse & Dragon, a gem tucked in an industrial zone. You won’t miss it thanks to the colorful exterior. The vibrancy outside represents the tastes inside. Funkwerks was built on the saison, a complex style associated with harmonies of spices and fruits. Try Tropic King.

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Odell: Cheers to the designers of the beautiful space.

You’ll pass aspens and cross a footbridge to enter the stone facility. There’s a patio out back, where there’s usually a food truck. You’re sure to like something from the long list of brews you won’t find in stores. If not, OBC Wine Project is next door.

Zwei: It honors the old German style of beer. You know, beer that actually tastes like beer in this age of beer slushies and juice bombs. We’re talking about lagers, pilsners and dunkels. But you’ll also find IPAs as well as something else in accordance with Zwei’s promise to mix surprises with standards.

Purpose: Peter Bouckaert is a legend, a Belgian maestro who was tapped to take New Belgium to the next level in 1996. He left in 2017 and started thinking about his next move. “The idea became going smaller,” he told us. Thus, Purpose was born. Exotic flavors are courtesy of patience and creativity.

Jessup Farm: Make this your last stop. You’ll want dinner here as much as you’ll want another beer. Hopefully you paced yourself; the Barrel House boasts perhaps the highest ABVs you’ll find on the day. The Farmhouse, meanwhile, boasts country fare from fried chicken to pork chops to fresh salads.

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