A taste of Aspen: Michelin Guide recommendations and new culinary hotspots
It's been a big year for Aspen's ever-evolving culinary scene.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
In September 2023, Aspen solidified its status as a food destination with the arrival of the Michelin Guide to Colorado. Local establishment Bosq was the only restaurant outside of the Front Range to earn a coveted Michelin star. The intimate, tasting menu eatery is run by Aspen native and James Beard Award-nominated chef Barclay Dodge and his wife, Molly.
While Bosq was the only restaurant among Colorado’s iconic resort towns of Aspen, Beaver Creek, Vail, and Snowmass Village to receive a star, other restaurants in the region earned “recommended” status from the guide, including Element 47 at The Little Nell, Mawa’s Kitchen in the Airport Business Center, and Prospect at Hotel Jerome.
The past 12 months have also seen the opening of several new eateries that are sure to satisfy every type of diner.
For those who pine for the days of Aspen’s historic The Red Onion, Bar Under Cooper + Kitchen (Buck) is here for locals and visitors who are looking for a cult ski bar with affordable bar fare. The lively subterranean joint, which is run by former co-owner of The Red Onion Brad Smith and partner Jordan White, offers standard bar fare like wings, burgers, and the unexpected, blackened ahi salad, sliders, and sandwiches. Buck also offers a nightly special that taps out at $22, which is the best deal in the core.
Owners of beloved Meat & Cheese, Infinite Hospitality, teamed up with Austin-based New Waterloo Restaurant Group to expand their footprint in Aspen’s restaurant row with a modern Thai concept, sway Thai.
“sway was a long journey for us. It started with inspiration from a chef to do Australian Thai,” said John Thompson, New Waterloo director of restaurant operations. “Now it’s more of a modern Thai chef’s menu. Things that might not be 100% traditionally Thai but have been translated like dumplings with all Thai ingredients.”
Diners flock to the eatery for Som Tum (green papaya salad, Thai chili, cucumber, cherry tomato, long bean, tamarind), Pad Thai (rice noodles, egg, green bean, tamarind-lime sauce, peanuts), Son-in-Law (braised pork shoulder, crispy farm egg, thick soy, nahm prik pla, sticky rice), and Thai curries.
Another exciting addition to Aspen’s hotel and culinary scene is the food and beverage program at the recently-opened MOLLIE hotel. The program is led by the award-winning Gin & Luck (behind Death & Co) and includes a lobby restaurant and bar with year-round heated outdoor seating, an all-day café, and a serviced roof terrace.
“I want the locals to love this place,” said MOLLIE owner Michael Brown. “Because everyone who’s coming to visit here invariably knows somebody here already. And they always ask, you know, ‘Where should we go?’ And people recommend the places that they like going to. It’s important to me that people locally feel welcome here and feel like it’s for them, too.”
The restaurant offers mountain-appropriate small bites to main dishes that include Wurst Bites (bratwurst, kielbasa, roasted cabbage, horseradish mustard), lamb meatballs, as well as Colorado lamb, with soft polenta, stout reduction, and winter herbs. The steak-cut corkscrew fries are a must-have while enjoying the daily bar and happy hour menu.
Earlier this year Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey returned to its Roaring Fork Valley roots and opened its first food concept with the Aspen Whiskey Lodge located on Mill Street by Wagner Park.
Keeping in mind that the whiskey is the foundation for everything at the Lodge, this location offers a menu of complementary Alpine-inspired bites that focus on locally sourced ingredients, built by head Chef Nick Ragazzo, a 24-year veteran of James Beard-nominated restaurants.
Colorado Lamb Flatbread (with roast tomatoes, feta buttermilk dressing, mint hot honey), whiskey smoked wagyu brisket (with bacon, onion, mushroom, BBQ jus), pork schnitzel meatballs (pumpernickel crust, sauerkraut slaw), and Rocky Mountain game and cheese boards are just a few of the delicious dishes on offer.
Plato’s restaurant at Bauhaus mecca The Aspen Meadows also saw a restaurant revamp in new concept West End Social. The menu, which was designed by Chef de Cuisine Rachel Saxton, focuses on shareable, Colorado-forward plates.
Chef Saxton found her way to the Roaring Fork Valley after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and externing at Chef Daniel Humm’s 3 Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York City.
Menu highlights include dry-aged, Maple Leaf duck glazed with blood orange and fennel pollen served with caramelized pear puree and charred turnips, hazelnuts, and a black licorice duck jus, as well as a Wagyu tartare with a gochujang sauce, garlic crema, pickled kumquats, sesame seeds, scallions, and chips with scallion salt.
“My philosophy towards food is keeping things simple and delicious while honoring the products,” she said. “I firmly believe in using the highest-quality products with care and showcasing the flavors as best as possible. Great products can speak for themselves when cooked with love, passion, and care.”
Enjoy the evolution.
Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in the 41st Annual Food & Wine Classic Weekend Magazine. To read more magazine stories, go to aspentimes.com/magazines
Sarah Girgis is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9151 or sgirgis@aspentimes.com.
