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Hello Rockers,

I'm going to Aspen in March for a few days, for the first time. I've heard about the $$$ grub, so if it's going to be expensive, I want it to be worth it. I'm interested in bkfast/lunch/dinner spots, from the easy/reasonable to the fantastic blow-out. Also, some fun apres-ski spots would be appreciated as well. Does anyone have any ideas?

I imagine I'd go to a must-go place despite the price, for one night most likely. The others nights I'd hope to be a little more sensible.

Thanks everyone.

-Rachel

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Aspen

Hunter Thompson used to hang at the Double Diamond, where I heard some great bands a few years back, and the Woody Creek Tavern, which is about 10 miles outside of town and is cheaper and rustic-er than the stuff in Aspen Proper. The bar at the Hotel Jerome was relatively informal the one time I was there -- admittedly off-season, but a half-drunk customer wandered in and handed off Dead bootleg to the bartender who put it over the PA. Try googling the restaurant at the Little Nell (hotel). Again, my info is a few years old, but it was, at one time, considered the best restaurant in town.

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Steamboat Springs

March 1 , we are heading out to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a week of skiing. This will be the first time in "ski town USA" for our group of 8 adults (all 40+). Are there any culinary delights not geared toward families or college springbreakers?

There weren't when I was there 3 years ago.
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Steamboat Springs

We had a fine meal in Steamboat a few years back.

You know, resort town dinners are rarely all they're cracked up be and they can be a little pricey. But this place -- while no CityZen -- delivered quite nicely, and it had pretty impressive wine list, as well. Expensive, but you didn't feel gouged. A location right there on the main drag was nice, too. There's still a bit of a working cow town in Steamboat, and it's nice to get away from Condo Hell and eat someplace where people at least shave before dinner (not required, I'm sure -- it IS Colorado). Sadly, I can't for the life of me remember the name. A little googling around suggests in might have been Antares, though.

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Steamboat Springs

We had a fine meal in Steamboat a few years back.

You know, resort town dinners are rarely all they're cracked up be and they can be a little pricey. But this place -- while no CityZen -- delivered quite nicely, and it had pretty impressive wine list, as well. Expensive, but you didn't feel gouged. A location right there on the main drag was nice, too. There's still a bit of a working cow town in Steamboat, and it's nice to get away from Condo Hell and eat someplace where people at least shave before dinner (not required, I'm sure -- it IS Colorado). Sadly, I can't for the life of me remember the name. A little googling around suggests in might have been Antares, though.

We had a great time skiing. As for eating, not so great. The best place we found was Cottonwood for Pacific Rim food. Nice selection of wines from Oregon and fresh seafood flown in daily.
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Telluride

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There are many who would argue for Telluride, CO being the most sublime and beautiful place on or off Earth. Having been skiing there nearly every season for the past ten years, I heartily agree. Not to be overshadowed by the sweeping majesty of the San Juan range, Telluride sports some amazing culinary talent: chefs that turn an influx of dollars from the rich and famous into a local food firestorm that overcomes the town's remote location. From regional cuisine like elk to distant imports like hamachi, the plates of Telluride sparkle.

Public transportation in Telluride takes the form of, among other things, a free gondola that sweeps people from Mountain Village up over the mountain and down into Telluride proper. At the gondola stop in Telluride is Cosmopolitan, a fusion joint whose $12 shrimp and calamari + cosmopolitan special is one of the best apres ski deals in town. Garnished with fried lemons and served in a light sweet and spicy sauce, this is not the trite calamari you're used to, and the restaurant's namesake cocktail goes down cool and clear like the waterfall thawing in back of town. The help was very friendly, if only because most of them had used their day off to come in on St. Patty's Day and do car bombs right next to us.

The same praise cannot be sung for La Piazza, whose staff was aloof and condescending, which would have been tolerable had the sauce in my linguine all'aragosta fra diavolo not tasted like it had come from a can of Chef Boyardee. Some of the other pasta dishes were decent, but the portions were extremely tiny (who ever heard of a main course pasta dish smaller than a fist?). The only reason we stuck with pasta was because the other entrees were beyond ludicrously overpriced ($60+ for a 16 oz NY strip). The yellowtail sashimi appetizer was good enough for seconds.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE decent bagels outside the immediate New York metro area. Head to Baked in Telluride for a top notch everything bagel with lox, tomato, and red onion. For more traditional wheat treats, head to Cindy Bread on the outskirts of town (by the Conoco station) for great crusty bread.

The best pizza in Telluride is at the Brown Dog. Crispy crust and extensive toppings are great, but taking a half-cooked pie back to the condo to finish cooking there is even better.

The jewel of Telluride is Allred's Restaurant (10,551 feet above sea level), accessible only by gondola and featuring views that are breathtaking no matter what direction you look (out the window or at the plate). Currently helmed by Bob Scherner (who has worked alongside greats like Keller and Trotter), everything is a delight, some highlighting exotic fare from across the globe:

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Oyster, tuna, and poached quail egg with truffle oil

While others are French classics:

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Foie gras with fig
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Duck in cider reduction
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Mango sorbet with candied blood orange

And other's highlight the best of Colorado game like elk and lamb (the elk was a rare "HOLY FUCKING SHIT" moment):
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And, if you have room for dessert:
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The views alone are worth a special trip, and the extensive wine list makes you very glad you have a gondola to take you home.

Other restaurants that I didn't make it to this trip, but are worth a visit if you're in town:

-Honga's - GREAT pan-Asian, pick up their cookbook at the local bookstore downtown
-Rustico - A light-years-better-than-La-Piazza Italian place

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Beaver Creek; Vail

This is really Beaver Creek and Vail, but I guess Aspen is probably closer than Denver... maybe.

Had a really great long ski weekend in Beaver Creek. Our friend hosted us at his parents house which is right in the park, ski in, ski out. We made breakfast at the house every morning. Friday we ate lunch at Arrowhead Village. Most of the group had Blinkey burgers (the guy now has a hut so he doesn't blink and squint as often, but the burgers are still good). I had the buffalo chili with cheese and jalapenos. It was a great way to warm up and chill out after a hard morning. The inside cafeteria can't even put out good french fries (way too salty) so I would stick with Blinkey.

That evening we went to the Gas House in Edwards. I started with a house salad which was pretty normal, but at least fresh veggies and sprouts. I then split the Ultimate Game Platter which had elk, quail, venison and pheasant sausage with hubby. We had it with a twice baked potato and veggies. The quail and sausage were really good. I thought the venison and elk were ok. I have had better, but it wasn't bad. Hubby loves twice baked potatoes, I actually am not a huge fan, but theirs hit the spot for him. They of course say their specialty is MD style seafood, but we weren't really interested in that. The buffalo ribeye looked good too, it got good reviews from the two people that had it.

Next day we had lunch at Beano's. Now this is good. And the menu has clearly labeled what is gluten free. Really nice! I had the rotisserie of the day which was chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans I think? A really nice au jus and wine reduction sauce. Hubby's bbq buffalo sandwich looked so good it made me wish I had some gluten free bread with me.

That night we went to Agave in Avon. Pretty normal Tex Mex, my fajitas were meh. The best thing I tasted was my hubby's mole sauce.

Next day another lunch at Beano's. Had the shrimp and lobster tacos, they were really good. The sweet potato wedges I had with it were perfectly seasoned and crispy. And the guacamole they had to snack o out front and seasame hummus were great. Not to mention the hot chocolate. Beano's is definitely my favorite place in the area. I think you have to be invited by a Beaver Creek Club Member, but not 100% sure. Our club member (friend's Dad) called in our reservations for us.

Had dinner at the Swiss Chalet in Vail. I had the Alper cheese fondue which was really good and very rich. Had some of hubby's raclette, too, the meat was good, they gave him liverwurst, another type of sausage and beef tenderloin. The sausages were definitely the best. This is really rich food. Other people loved the schnitzel. It was fun to have something different for a Vday dinner too.

The next day we just grabbed quick stuff on the way to the airport.

Also as a note Dough the new shop on your way into the village has gluten free items from Udi's which is nice.

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Aspen

Aspen is a small town with a ton of restaurant options. Unfortunately, a lot of them are not great. So to begin, there is no such thing as cheap eats in Aspen. Real Estate is expensive, so normally thus what you're paying for. For less expensive dining, I would recommend Ajax Tavern. They serve Simple Bistro Style food inn a comfortable environment. Lunch is the best time to eat here as it is at the base of Aspen mountain and has a amazing view. Ellina and Casa Tua can offer decent Italian food at pretty high prices for simple Italian. Cache Cache is an upscale bistro that tends to be very popular. Well executed simple brasserie style menu. But for the special evening, there is no better restaurant than Montagna at The Little Nell (my employer). Its the only restaurant with a Grand Award Winelist. Also, The new Chef Robert McCormick was Daniel Bolouds Exec Sous Chef for Five years and also did a small stint at Citronelle and Seegers in Atlanta. Sushi is also an option. Takah Sushi for a more approachable price point. Matsuhisa (Nobu) if you wanna break the bank. For late night cocktails, there's no better cocktail bar than Justice Snow's. I hope this helps. Also, if you plan on visiting during The Food and Wine festival, I would make reservations soon.

And just in case you wanna get out of Aspen for some reason, Taqueria Nopal in Basalt is amazing. If you visit on Saturday or Sunday, they offer Pazole and Manudo!

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Vail

So, many things could be said about places like Aspen and, for the purposes of this thread, Vail, Colorado. Ski resort. Lots of high-end shopping. Impossibly idyllic pedestrian-only "village" complete with streams with rapids, perfectly maintained parks where dogs on leash are kind of welcome and off leash scorned, and bronze statues of olympic ski racers, Albert Einstein and the like. Big time heat relief on summer days when it's in the 90s in Denver. As in 30 or 40 degree differences for the 3000' differential. All your normal, super posh ski town kind of stuff.

Then there are all the cultural things said about Vail, its residents and its regular visitors. Some might say those things aren't fair or true. Some might say stereotypes exist for a reason. Out of respect to those from Vail or who love Vail most, I won't say anything more about that. But, on a couple of more pragmatic topics* that may be of some use to some...

1. Consider Vail in June. Why? It's still "off-season" meaning fewer people milling about and some relief from both heat and stratospheric prices. Evidence to follow.

2. Two spots I'd recommend for Rockwellians.

Coffee: By many account, Loaded Joe's is your place for the best coffee in town. Marzocco? Check. Owner largely absentee but obsessive about coffee quality? Check. Beans of known provenance and quality? Check. This place is both bar and coffee shop. The baristas are indeed well trained. The beans are delivered weekly from Rococo in Seattle, a fine producer. If lucky, you may even run into Steve, a watch dealer drinking something stronger than coffee at the end of the bar who's very friendly, informed about Loaded Joe; garrulous even. My recc is based on three beverages tried: a drip/Americano (not sure if they do french press or pour over; uncharacteristically didn't ask), a full-on Capp. And a dry Capp. Funny sidebar about the espresso drinks. If you ask for an extra shot, they'll ask if you want two extra for the same price because their "machine only pulls double shots." Well, alrighty. I can get behind a coffee shop like that.

Sushi. Or, more specifically, Yama Sushi just across from the Einstein statue on the bench (both in bronze; this is Vail, after all). Yama is a bit of a second fiddle to the big boys in town. Matushisa is here. That Matsuhisa...Nobu. What that means is that, while still overpriced (Ibid last parenthetical), it's not AS overpriced as Nobu, et al. And, back to my #1, come here in June because, if you're in town as we were, you might see a chalk board out front of Yama promoting "30% off everything!" And indeed there is/was.

- Bai Nigori Unfiltered Saki. 300 ml at $12. Fine.

- Sashimi (kampachi, wild sockeye sake, kani crab, tamago). Excellent with 2 average size pieces of the sockeye at $8 to give an idea for normal pricing.

- Maki. Big highlight here. A "dragon's eye" ($16) featuring fresh water eel and an "orchid roll" ($19; unsure if you can save a few bucks by holding the orchid petals) with yellowtail, avocado, tobiko and orchid petals pressed into the rice were excellent.

If you put any stock in yelp reviews (sometimes unavoidable I suppose since dr.com still doesn't extend to all corners of the planet), you'd read very divergent views about the service here. About very hospitable caucasian sushi chefs. About not-as-great servers. Again, in June, less busy so maybe better service. But, if the place fills up, as it usually seems to, all bets are off and you may find yourself waiting 30 minutes for a check as we did after a dinner of uneventful but fine service.

All in, this is a very fine sushi place and probably a bit of a value by Vail standards if, well you know, this is a place you frequent or will be visiting fully aware of the "Vail Premium." But, at least in June, 2012, with 30% off all food and alcohol without exception, this is/was a screaming good deal.

* First did the search of donrockwell.com before starting the new topic. No Vail thread but, thanks to Don and, indirectly, Gillian Clark, an interesting mention of the place a few years back here for those interested in the tangent.

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Fruita

I'm not sure it this should stay as a stand-alone topic, or if it should be reassigned into, say, a small cities and towns of CO topic, so I leave it to Don's judgment.

I did want to mention the fantastic Hot Tomato Cafe in Fruita, CO, though, just in case anyone happens to pass by the town driving through the state or before/after a trip to the CO National Monument (gorgeous park, seems to host a lot of cyclists). They specialize in GREAT pizza that I would probably compare to Pete's Apizza in the DC area. Fresh, interesting toppings, with a charred and sturdy yet slightly floppy crust, it was a delightful surprise after a long morning in the park. It's a mostly open-air atmosphere (the patio door seems to stay open and they have both indoor and outdoor seating - which is great except for the flies) and seems to be frequented by youngish outdoor enthusiasts (i.e., dirty, happy people). Bonus points because they have a pizza called "Thai me up." The small pizza is 14" (we had the mean green) so is plenty for 2 people and they seem to be pretty serious about their beer (lots of stickers everywhere from a localish brewery and lots of folks indulging in drafts at lunch). We also had a tasty slice of the stromboli. This was one of the best finds from our road trip! It was a case where the good folks of Tripadvisor are not on crack. The little downtown area also looked cute and worthy of exploration.

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Fort Collins


I'm not sure it this should stay as a stand-alone topic, or if it should be reassigned into, say, a small cities and towns of CO topic, so I leave it to Don's judgment.

I did want to mention the fantastic Hot Tomato Cafe in Fruita, CO, though, just in case anyone happens to pass by the town driving through the state or before/after a trip to the CO National Monument (gorgeous park, seems to host a lot of cyclists). They specialize in GREAT pizza that I would probably compare to Pete's Apizza in the DC area. Fresh, interesting toppings, with a charred and sturdy yet slightly floppy crust, it was a delightful surprise after a long morning in the park. It's a mostly open-air atmosphere (the patio door seems to stay open and they have both indoor and outdoor seating - which is great except for the flies) and seems to be frequented by youngish outdoor enthusiasts (i.e., dirty, happy people). Bonus points because they have a pizza called "Thai me up." The small pizza is 14" (we had the mean green) so is plenty for 2 people and they seem to be pretty serious about their beer (lots of stickers everywhere from a localish brewery and lots of folks indulging in drafts at lunch). We also had a tasty slice of the stromboli. This was one of the best finds from our road trip! It was a case where the good folks of Tripadvisor are not on crack. The little downtown area also looked cute and worthy of exploration.


New Belgium is one of the countries' largest craft breweries. Not quite local to Fruita/Grand Junction, as they're in Ft. Collins, 300 miles away on the northern end of the Front Range.

I had never heard of Fruita before this thread, though I do recall reading an article in the NYT recently about old Victorian homes and architecture in nearby Grand Junction, as well as biking in the city and its environs.
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Grand Junction; Fruita; Colorado National Monument


New Belgium is one of the countries' largest craft breweries. Not quite local to Fruita/Grand Junction, as they're in Ft. Collins, 300 miles away on the northern end of the Front Range.

I had never heard of Fruita before this thread, though I do recall reading an article in the NYT recently about old Victorian homes and architecture in nearby Grand Junction, as well as biking in the city and its environs.

Just goes to show how ignorant I am about beer. In my mind, draft + stickers!! = craft = small. Also, somewhere in CO counted as localish in my mind since it's all far from DC! Luckily Don linked up my post so no one will be fooled. Sorry y'all!

We'd never heard of Fruita before either, until emerging from the CO Ntl. Monument and needing something to eat. You can enter/exit the park most easily from either Grand Junction or Fruita. We'd stayed the previous night in Grand Junction but it was completely dead, kind of creepily so, by 8 PM (we took the long way into town so drove through a lot of it). We saw some pretty Victorian homes, but it felt very Baltimore-ish, with somewhat grand and decaying architecture. Take this all with a hefty grain of salt as our views have been tainted by a meal of crappy Asian food and a sleepless night in a sketchy motel (both our fault so I didn't post about it but we looked and looked and couldn't find anything we'd consider solid recommendations so rolled the dice and lost, hard).

I found this NYT article about the Co. Ntl. Monument. It's really a beautiful place, doesn't take a huge amount of time to get through if you don't do any serious hikes, and retains that hushed feeling of discovery, since so few people are there on any given day. It's easy to get to off of I-70 and definitely worth a look if you're into that sort of thing.
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near Aspen

Lunch at Pine Creek Cookhouse http://www.pinecreekcookhouse.com was lovely. We snowshoed in about two miles (you can only get there by x country skiing, snowshoeing, or sled - rentals available near the restaurant in a hurt) and it is in a beautiful valley about ten minutes from Aspen. Nice atmosphere, good service, and fun, well cooker local food. We shared some Nepalese momos, and two of us had an open face bison burger with local mushrooms and a fried organic egg. Served with a faro salad, it was excellent. Friend had a trout dish that was also excellent. Desserts were just ok. Still, a great way to spend an afternoon, and we burned off all the calories with the snowshoeing!

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Glenwood Springs

Glenwood Springs is a small mountain town about 3 hours from Denver, at the intersection of I-70 and Route 82.  Glenwood is known for its hot springs and is a quaint little place for a weekend trip.

Brava Modern Trattoria:  A small family run Italian trattoria, vibe was very much your neighborhood fall-back place when you can't decide where else to go.  Good thin crust pizza, decent bowls of pasta.  The arancini and matchstick french fries were fine.  Beer and wine list were nothing special.  They have only been open for a couple of weeks and still finding their groove.  

Sacred Grounds Coffee House:  The local coffee shop and cafe, nice space and they did enough to fulfill my morning coffee fix.  

Grind:  Gourmet burgers and local beer in a mountain town seems like the perfect match right?  Not at Grind.  Maybe we hit them on a bad day, but I definitely would not recommend.  Dry and bland burgers.  Fries and onion rings were solid.  Good list of local and west coast beers on tap.

Tequila's Mexican:  Has the hallmarks of a tourist trap, but really good, freshly made Mexican.  Good fresh salsa and a cabbage type slaw, kind of a like a cousin of curtido, comes with the tortilla chips. Food portions are huge.  I enjoyed my huevos rancheros with a pork and green chili sauce.  Definitely a local vibe with several large families eating lunch.  The restaurant has several other locations around Colorado. 

Glenwood has two large hot springs resorts, Glenwood Hot Springs Resort has been around since 1888 and claims to have the world's largest hot springs pool.  Iron Mountain Hot Springs is a more modern take with 16 mineral hot tube style pools set at different temperatures and a larger family-oriented fresh water heated pool and hot tube, all overlooking the Colorado River.  Iron Mountain was really busy around 5pm, and the hot tubes had a sceney vibe, although everyone was really friendly.  By the time we left around 7pm, things were clearing out.  

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is a kid friendly, western themed amusement park sitting on the mountain-top overlooking Glenwood.  The entrance fee is $16, take the gondola to the top.  I would say it was worth it for the gondola ride and amazing views of the valley, but the rest was on the tourist-trap side of things.    

Hanging Lake Park:  About a 5 mile drive east from Glenwood is the Hanging Lake trail head.  The hike is about 3.2 miles round trip with a 1,000 foot elevation gain.  You're basically going straight up the side of a canyon!  Amazing views during the hike and the lake is wonderful.  Allow about 3 hours for the up-and-back hike, including rests and photo ops.  The trail is well marked and easy to follow.  This is a popular hike and the parking lot is small, so go early in the morning.   

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