Meet ZigZag: A French-American bistro in the heart of Aspen

In what must be the quickest turnaround and opening of a restaurant in Aspen history, ZigZag, the new eatery occupying the former Mezzaluna space at 624 E. Cooper Ave., is set to open its doors to the public on Thursday.

Mezzaluna closed its doors after 37 years the first week of October 2024. Owners Deryk Cave and Grant “Junior” Sutherland decided it was time to move on; Cave wanted to travel and enjoy life more, while Sutherland decided to focus on running Mezzaluna in Willits.

When Cave and his partner decided to sell they turned to local realtor Angi Wang.

---

---

“Deryk and Junior came to me, and since I have sold other restaurants they asked me if it was feasible or if I had anybody interested in taking a look at the restaurant,” Wang said, referring to Cave’s partner, Sutherland. “They’ve been doing this for over 30 years, and I think they were ready to move on. They’d been at it a long time, and it’s a hard business, especially now.”

Wang said they had a lot of interest but ultimately decided to go with Romain Pavee — a 20-year luxury hospitality veteran in New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles — along with Scott and Carly Weber, longtime Aspen residents, prominent realtors, and local philanthropists.

---

---

“This all began in March,” said co-owner and operator Romain Pavee. “Scott and Carly Weber are close friends and we’ve talked about doing something together here. In March, Scott’s partner, John Boxer, called me and said, ‘Hey, I have your first restaurant in Aspen.'”

Pavee said he was initially apprehensive about opening a place sight unseen but was soon convinced that they could create something special in the beloved location. Before he knew it they made an offer to landlord Tony Mazza and signed a deal.

“It went from a funny phone call and me not wanting to do it, to ‘Oh, s***, this got very real,'” Pavee said.

For Pavee opening a restaurant in Aspen is part of his American dream, which he has been pursuing since he was a young boy growing up in a small village outside Lyon, France. That dream led him to attend an American business school in France, which allowed him to spend his last year studying in New York.

When he found himself alone in Manhattan without connections he realized his love of clubbing could be a way to socially immerse himself in New York and make friends and other professional connections.

“When I went to New York I promised my parents I wouldn’t work in the clubs while they were paying for my tuition,” Pavee said. “Three days later, I walked into a club, someone said, ‘Hey, do you want to be a VIP host?’ I said, ‘I’m not sure.’ And they said, ‘We’ll pay you $90,000 a year for three nights a week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 11 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.’ And that was it.”

Twenty years later, he found himself with just a few months to relocate his family to Aspen and undergo a renovation in just under three months. The team decided not to do any structural work to the restaurant so that they wouldn’t be delayed with permitting, and more logistics. Instead, they decided to work with the great things that were already there like the cleaned-up original tables, horseshoe bar, and traditional wood-burning oven that’s been a centerpiece of the room for decades.

“I developed the concept based on what the town needed and especially what the town did not need, and also taking into careful consideration what I was inheriting,” he said. “I didn’t want to come in and do a super fancy, $200-a-head restaurant where people felt priced out. I wanted a place for everyone.”

Pavee decided to go with a modern French American bistro that was accessible — not ostentatious but authentic — to its surroundings. And like its predecessor Pavee will offer what he calls an “après bar menu.”

“I wanted the room to be moody but not too French or too American, but very well balanced,” he continued.

To helm the kitchen he enlisted friend and Top Chef alum Sam Talbot, who has relocated to Aspen.

“Sam is an incredible executive chef who has helmed many incredible kitchens,” he said. “It was perfect timing and he was up for the next challenge.”

The dinner menu is organized by Raw Bar, To Start, From the Garden, Wood-Fired, and Mains, and features a variety of vegetable dishes, pizzas, French-American classics and focuses on locally-sourced Colorado ingredients when possible. To start the restaurant will be open for apres and dinner but will eventually expand to include brunch and lunch.

Pavee said that the name he chose for the restaurant, ZigZag, is a nod to both his daughter and the place they now call home.

“We were here for Food and Wine playing in the river behind the park and I’m agonizing about the fact that I don’t have a name for the restaurant. My daughter is splashing around and looks at me and says, ‘Look daddy, the river is going in zigzag,'” he recalled. “It had a little bit of naïveté about it. It came from a kid that’s very innocent in the world. I loved that. And she said it in the French way. I found it was catchy and cute. And it was the shape of the Roaring Fork River. So I felt like it was a name that was found in the bed of the community.”

Sarah Girgis is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9151 or sgirgis@aspentimes.com.