The 20 Best Places To Eat And Drink If You're Skiing In Colorado This Winter

Nov 26, 2012 3:01 pm

Dining out in Telluride, Vail, Aspen & Beaver Creek

By Food Republic

Each year, thousands of people travel to Colorado to hit the slopes. With ski season fast approaching, Food Republic is here to offer suggestions on where to eat in Telluride, Vail, Aspen and Beaver Creek, four of the state’s most storied ski towns (all visited by contributor Brad A. Johnson). Elk carpaccio and rattlesnake/pheasant hybrid hot dogs included.

The 20 Best Places To Eat And Drink If You're Skiing In Colorado This Winter

Telluride - Alpino Vino

At 11,966 feet above sea level, this on-mountain chalet is America’s highest-altitude restaurant. It might also be the very best restaurant in Telluride. Wood-burning fireplace. Italian cuisine. Accessible by snowcat. Savvy sommeliers. Sexy hostess. Lunch is à la carte: best grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup EVER. Take the Gold Hill Express (Lift 14); turn left off the lift and ski See Forever, which will take you to the font door. 970-728-7474

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Telluride - 221 South Oak

This ultra charming house in downtown Telluride is the perfect spot for date night. Chef Eliza Gavin makes some of the best sausage in Colorado, which doesn’t sound very glamorous, but she manages to make it just that. Rocky mountain trout is pure locavore perfection. Grilled elk chop, brilliant. Pumpkin and butterscotch custard pie? Yes please. 221 South Oak Street, 970-728-9507

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Telluride - Chop House

Come nightfall, this is the social epicenter of downtown Telluride. Excellent steaks. Wagyu carpaccio with black truffles. Frisee salad with miso-glazed pork belly. Creamed corn brûlée. New Sheridan Hotel, 231 W. Colorado Avenue, 970-728-9100

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Telluride - Allred's

Epic views — guaranteed to blow your mind. It’s no wonder this is the most popular sunset happy hour scene in Telluride. Located on-mountain at the gondola stop (Station Saint Sophia) midway between Telluride and Mountain Village, the restaurant is perfectly accessible without skis. Elk carpaccio. Crumb-crusted rack of Colorado lamb. Sticky toffee pudding. 970-728-7474

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Telluride - La Marmotte

Chef Mark Reggiannini serves truly excellent French bistro cuisine with a modern American twist. He stuffs quail with mushroom risotto and serves them alongside red quinoa with hedgehog mushrooms, pine nut oil and quail jus. Duck breast is roasted with vanilla and spiked with kumquats and fennel. 150 San Juan Avenue, 970-728-6232

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Telluride - Tomboy Tavern

A gastropub at the base of the mountain, just steps from the ski lift, this is Mountain Village’s newest restaurant. Killer bloody marys and monstrous burgers. Great beer selection. Mountain Village Core, 970-728-7467

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Aspen - Steakhouse No. 316

Best table in town. Period. Rising star chef Kathleen Crook serves enormous, outrageously fine steaks from a nearby herd, perfectly cooked and dramatically presented still sizzling in cast-iron skillets. Insanely plump mussels are steamed with jalapeños and garlic. A single serving of bread pudding is as big as your head. 316 E. Hopkins Avenue, 970-920-1893

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Aspen - Justice Snow's

This is mixology at its finest, and the only place in town committed to the craft. Chef Jonathan Leichliter sources locally farmed eggs to be deviled with sriracha aïoli. Flat-iron steak with potato-cauliflower puree. Papardelle with Brussels sprouts. Beware the crowds letting out from the adjacent Wheeler Opera House. 328 E. Hyman Avenue, 970-429-8192

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Aspen - Cloud Nine

Located at 10,740 feet atop Aspen Highlands mountain, with stunning views of the Maroon Bells (twin peaks in the Elk Mountains). Ski in from the Cloud Nine lift. Unbuckle the boots and feast on elk ragout with lingonberries and crème fraîche, pheasant sausages wrapped in pancetta, or the biggest Colorado lamb chops you’ll ever see. But start first with a big pot of fondue (chef Andreas Fishbacher is Austrian). Aspen Highlands, Cloud Nine lift, 970-544-3063

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Aspen - Montagna

One of the oldest, most acclaimed spots in town has a hot new chef in the kitchen, Robert McCormick, who’s serving wildly delicious taleggio agnolotti with salsify, parsnips and black truffles, as well as perfectly roasted Columbia River sturgeon paired with housemade boudin blanc and light-as-fresh-snow dill späetzle. Extraordinary wine pairings. The Little Nell, 675 E. Durant Avenue, 970-920-6330

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Aspen - Finbarr's Irish Pub

A new, very authentic Irish pub in the middle of town. Rowdy après-ski scene, with pints of Guinness and platters of shepherd’s pie and bangers and mash. 415 E. Hyman Avenue, 970-925-2719

Vail - The Tenth

You’d be stupid to ski Vail Mountain and not call ahead to book a table for lunch at The Tenth, a fabulous new on-mountain restaurant located at the base of Look Ma run, accessible via three different chairlifts. It is quite simply the best new restaurant in Vail, with head chef Paul Wade (formerly of Aspen’s Little Nell and the Four Seasons Maui). There’s an awesome lamb chili made with local Colorado lamb and smoked green chiles, topped with Humboldt Fog chevre. The chicken and pheasant pot pie will put your grandmother’s to shame. The beef short rib ravioli, holy crap. And the s’mores pudding will have you in tears, I promise. Mid Vail Mountain, 970-754-1010

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Vail - Leonora

The two-year-old Sebastian hotel in the heart of Vail Village is picking up steam with Leonora, a new restaurant concept that opened on December 1. Leonora is the next evolution of the property's once signature restaurant, Block 16, and offers Alpine-inspired bistro fare, tapas and an exquisite wine bar. Chef Sergio Howard prepares dishes such as Serrano ham and cheese croquetas and lobster pot pie with heirloom vegetables. The restaurant has a 1,000-bottle strong Wine Silo central to the dining room. 16 Vail Road, 970-331-0015

Vail - Matsuhisa

Capitalizing on the enormous success of his restaurant in Aspen, Nobu Matsuhisa has launched another Matsuhisa, this one in Vail. This one’s really good, and it’s got the best view of any fine dining restaurant in the Village. The scallop with jalapeño salsa is truly kick-ass. And save room for dessert because it steals the show. 141 E. Meadow Drive, 970-476-6628

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Vail - Bully Ranch

Chef Steve Topple is now at the legendary Sonnenalp (home of the best maître d’ in Vail!), and in the resort’s casual pub he’s introduced what is easily Vail’s best line-up of burgers, made with freshly ground beef, buffalo or elk — stacked higher than a Dagwood. 20 Vail Road, 970-476-5656

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Vail - Elway's Steakhouse

This first-rate steakhouse from former Denver Bronco great John Elway is precisely everything a great steakhouse should be: a testosterone-fueled ode to big-ass steaks and even bigger red wines. Plus shrimp cocktail the size of Chihuahuas. 174 East Gore Creek Drive, 970-754-7818

Photo: Mountain Living

Beaver Creek - Beano's Cabin

This is my favorite restaurant in the whole valley. The cabin has a fairly new chef, Bill Greenwood (formerly of Aspen’s The Little Nell and San Diego’s Eddie V’s), who fills the wood-fired rotisserie with whole suckling pigs and beef tenderloins. An appetizer of fluke tartare tastes like it was just yanked from the sea. A snowball-sized chunk of pork belly sinks into a creamy, pillowy mound of polenta. The fireplace roars. The wine list is extensive. Lunch, which is ski-in/ski-out, accessible via the Larkspur Express chairlift, is open only to members of the private Beaver Creek Club. Dinner, accessible only by snow cat, is open to the public. 970-754-3463

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Beaver Creek - Cima

Globetrotting superchef Richard Sandoval (of New York’s Maya and L.A.‘s Zengo, etc.) opened Cima earlier this year, just below the ski basin at the Westin in Avon village. This is vintage Sandoval, a brilliant weaving together of Latin American and Asian flavors and techniques: tuna tiradito and octopus ceviche; pork belly ramen with a coddled farm egg; chipotle chicken udon noodle soup with a red chile pozole broth. Westin Riverfront Resort, 126 Riverfront Lane, 970-790-5500

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Beaver Creek - The Metropolitan

This new wine bar features a self-serve enomatic wine dispenser loaded with 16 savvy selections, including stuff like Opus One. Chef Mike Bickelhaupt serves easy-going comfort food—pulled pork tacos, awesome Colorado lamb albondigas, addictive homemade potato chips with blue cheese mornay and an incredible charcuterie plate—to match the chill, laid-back vibe. 210 Offerson Road (in the main plaza, upstairs directly above The Market), 970-748-3123

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

Beaver Creek - 8100 Mountainside Grill

Chef Christian Apetz (formerly of Hyatt Harborside in Boston) has taken over the wood-burning grill at the elegant dining room at the base of Beaver Creek Mountain in the Park Hyatt. The aprés ski s’mores on the patio are meant to hold you over ‘til dinner. So take it easy on the s’mores. You’ll definitely want to save room for elk carpaccio, followed by the wood-grilled Berkshire pork chop with vanilla cider-poached peaches. Actually, it’s a toss-up between that or an espresso-and-chile-crusted filet mignon or the pan-roasted Colorado striped bass with root vegetables, blood oranges and ossetra caviar. Park Hyatt, 50 W. Thomas Place, 970-827-6600

Photo: Brad A. Johnson

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The 20 Best Places To Eat And Drink If You're Skiing In Colorado This Winter

Dining out in Telluride, Vail, Aspen & Beaver Creek

The 20 Best Places To Eat And Drink If You're Skiing In Colorado This Winter

Telluride - Alpino Vino

Telluride - 221 South Oak

Telluride - Chop House

Telluride - Allred's

Telluride - La Marmotte

Telluride - Tomboy Tavern

Aspen - Steakhouse No. 316

Aspen - Justice Snow's

Aspen - Cloud Nine

Aspen - Montagna

Aspen - Finbarr's Irish Pub

Vail - The Tenth

Vail - Leonora

Vail - Matsuhisa

Vail - Bully Ranch

Vail - Elway's Steakhouse

Beaver Creek - Beano's Cabin

Beaver Creek - Cima

Beaver Creek - The Metropolitan

Beaver Creek - 8100 Mountainside Grill

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