Restaurants & Chefs
Lofty summer cuisine in Vail
By JOHN MARIANI
Vail may have built its reputation on its ski slopes, but this mountain town truly blossoms in the late spring and summer, when the valleys are spread with flowers, the trails are passable for horseback riding and mountain biking, and the restaurants are free of the hordes lunching in their ski boots.
Abaddon Imaging
Chef Kelly Liken in front of her namesake restaurant in Vail
A recent trip — which included surrounding areas like Beaver Creek, Edwards, and Avon — showed me that the culinary landscape is every bit as inviting as the Rockies themselves.
Where chili, burgers, and Caesar salads once reigned supreme, there is now greater variety.
The resorts are also drawing a more demanding international crowd, so the wine cellars and kitchens are getting better all the time, while the newer menus have taken a decidedly Mediterranean slant.
The restaurant to emerge as quite possibly the best in the region is, not surprisingly, the most personalized.
Nelson Kunkle
Fresh fruit cobbler with housemade gelato at Restaurant Avondale
Kelly Liken is the namesake restaurant of a very dedicated chef and her husband, Rick Colomitz, who together run this charmer of a restaurant in Vail.
No one takes better advantage of seasonal and local provender, evident in dishes like her elk carpaccio with bulgur tabbouleh and mustard aioli, or her braised Colorado beef short rib with bacon-studded gnocchi, sautéed kale, and endive salad.
Her signature dish is one of the best in the Valley — potato-crusted trout filets with caramelized Brussels sprout leaves, raisins, pecans, and brandied beurre blanc — all backed up by Colomitz's carefully chosen wine list.
Restaurant Avondale, which opened last year at the Westin Riverfront Resort in Avon, has a very cool, sleek grandeur.
Courtesy Larkspur Restaurant
Vail's Larkspur Restaurant
The broad bar is popular with those who want to commingle, as well as with those who would prefer to relax in an armchair by the fireplace with a margarita in one hand and some house-made charcuterie in the other.
Chef/owner Tom Salamunovich makes comfort food chic in dishes like veal meatballs with polenta and beef broth, and roasted “Rosie” chicken for two with onion rings and organic gypsum-grown vegetables.
And don't skip breakfast — they serve a short stack of two delicious lemon buttermilk pancakes for five bucks that has got to be the bargain of the year.
Another welcome newcomer is 8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, where chef Reese Hay hosts a chef's table and his menus list every source for every dish — from the Hudson Valley for foie gras to Haystack Dairy, Colorado, for aged goat cheese.
The brightly lit grill is the showplace of the well-appointed but casual dining room. With sweeping views of the mountains from a wall of windows, the grill imparts a lovely smokiness to dishes that seems completely right in the crisp Colorado air.
I loved the filet mignon with creamy béarnaise sauce and braised leeks, as well as Hay's halibut with grapes, pine nuts, and quinoa risotto; his lamb chop with stewed beans and shallot confit is pure succulence.
And if you still crave that classic burger after trekking back from the hills, head for the Larkspur Restaurant in Vail, where executive chef Armando Navarro turns out a great one — gilded, if you like, with seared foie gras.
Issue: July 2009
