aspen - the last chapter

If you only have one day in Aspen, it's going to be a busy one. You'll need some hiking gear, biking gear, and your finest understated yet flattering fashions. While Aspen is famous for it's skiing, the summer more than exceeds expectations in every possible way. Start off at Ink! Coffee for the caffeine injection of your choice - you'll need it. If you haven't found the right rocket fuel to start your day there, devour a granola and vanilla yogurt parfait from Zele Cafe a few blocks away; it's loaded with fruit. While taking in the morning sunshine, pick up a free copy of the Aspen Times, or an Aspen housing magazine and become delirious while laughing away the cost of housing in Aspen. It's time for a hike. Ask anyone, where the Ute trail is, and be prepared to breathe heavily. Aspen is at 7900 feet, making it one of the most precarious airports to land, asides from accidentally running into a Gulfstream, as there is hardly any descent to the runway -- but also a fitness fanatic paradise. At elevation, you will work hard, and your efforts will be rewarded by loose-fitting pants, lean-mean muscle, and most importantly - glorious food to enjoy. Be sure to take a bottle of water, or a camel-bak if you decide to hike all the way up the mountain, as the Ute is only part of the way. If you make it to the top, attempt to take a deep breath, smile at your accomplishment and the vista, then fortunately for your knees, you can also take the gondola back down into town. There are many other hikes around, ask a local, or stop in a sporting goods shop, and they will point you in the right direction. Nothing is easy, but that's the best part. The gondola will drop you off near Big Wrap, one of the best values in town. For $6.70 + tax, pick up a savoury wrap, such as the Mr. Potato Head, which includes fresh roasted potatoes, spinach, grilled portobello mushrooms, pinto beans, jasmine rice, salsa, lettuce, cheese, with a roasted garlic vinaigrette in a whole wheat wrap. My favourite, is Rock Your World with fresh roasted turkey breast, confetti slaw (jicama, carrot, cucumber, green onion), lettuce, sprouts, guacamole, ranch dressing, and toasted pumpkin seeds in whole wheat. For further satiation, ice cream is a summer afternoon necessity. Paradise Bakery is the place, just follow the line. The peanut butter cookie, and chocolate brownie ice creams include their fabulous baked products, in creamy, dreamy ice cream, and are served with a mini chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. The muffins are scrumptious too. While Paradise Bakery is a chain, there aren't many ice cream shops that frequently have bassoon(!) or string quartets performing in the summer air. Now it's time for a quick change into cycling attire, and head up to Maroon Bells, just off the traffic circle (trust me, there's really only one). Maroon Bells is one of the most frequently photographed images anywhere, and often visited by tourists, but not by car. It is a road-bike ride with minimal traffic as it is accessible by bike or bus only. It is a definite climb, but well worth the effort, if not just for the racy downhill portion of the ride. Alternately, the entire morning can be rearranged to cycle a much further distance, but somewhat easier ride, and enjoy lunch at Pine Creek Cookhouse. A summer sojourn in Aspen would not be complete without enjoying a concert at the Aspen Music Festival and School. All the concerts are good, so don't worry too much, if you can only make one. It features the best of the best - the best young musicians to international starlings such as Canadian Measha Brueggergosman, John Zirbel, and Joaquin Valdepenas, to Yefim Bronfman, Sarah Chan, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Even if you aren't sure of what to do at an orchestral concert, you will be dazzled and amazed, if even only by the fashion, and by the tent itself. It's not exactly a tent, but more of a semi-permanent structure, of higher quality than most concert halls. Finally, it is time to relax. Reserve a table at Montagna, located within the Little Nell, a Relais & Chateaux. Enjoy an aperitivo at the bar, the negroni are quite good, or save yourself for Master sommelier Richard Betts fine wine picks. A table outside near the pool can be lovely, and inside is equally enchanting, elegant and refined. You are in for a treat. Just to tease, the butter is sprinkled with fleur-de sel. It is a hotel, yes, but the food is strikingly good, with an emphasis on local products. Of the two nights we were here, the chef's farmhouse tasting menu, is to die for and a steal at $42 for three courses. Local vegetables, melt in your mouth pork with herbed pappardelle, and peach crepes to finish. It changes nightly. The second night we opted for a la carte, and were not disappointed. As expected, the service is impeccable. Above - porchetta with zucchini and chili Homemade lamb sausage with rapini and mustard: Ribeye with porcini, parmigiano-reggiano, and arugula: Pistachio gelato, chocolate-hazelnut gelato, with fabulously fresh local cherries: If further hiking time in Aspen is not an option, try to swing a drive up to Independence Pass. Make sure your car has turbo, or one can invariably be left to walk back down. The views, and race-track driving possibilities are well worth the effort. Finally, to conclude the day, take a stroll around town and gaze into glowing shop windows. A little window-shopping, and star-gazing, is just the way to end a delightful summer day. Ink! Coffee 520 E Durant St. - Downstairs (970) 544-0588 Zele Cafe 121 S Galena St. Aspen (970) 925-5745 Big Wrap 520 E Durant Av. Aspen - Downstairs (970) 544-1700 Paradise Bakery 320 S Galena St. Aspen (970) 925-7585 Aspen Music Festival and School Pine Creek Cookhouse 314 South 2nd Street (970) 925-1044 Montagna, at the Little Nell 675 E Durant Ave. 888.843.6355 For more info on eats: EatAspen Big Wrap video (not mine):
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Six89 in Carbondale, Part 1 & deux

I refuse to travel and eat exactly the same things I can eat at home. Then frankly, why bother going anywhere at all? The more I travel, I make it my goal, to purposefully go out of my way to find rare, unusual, or even bizarre things and places to eat while travelling. Okay, maybe not quite like Anthony Bourdain, just yet. I still prefer to accidentally choke on bugs only when I'm sleeping. Perhaps I just get bored easily, but I just don't see the point of eating exactly the same thing everywhere, and expect it to be the same. I think if I really needed that kind of consistency, I would choose a particular drive-thru restaurant found the world over, and at every interstate exit and mundane shopping mall food court, and never divert to any other hidden gem I would otherwise be missing out on. Chances are good, or I'm completely a naive optimist, that in every town, there is at least one ma & pa place with something delicious to eat. Made with love. Is that such a terrible quest? Or I may just as well stay home, and stick with what I know. Which isn't half bad, but sometimes you just gotta get off your tooshie and find something else good to eat. Go ahead, I dare you. Although, this really puts me in a bit of a conundrum; I also tend to prefer foods which are authentic, but then what can I even eat most of the time? What does authentic even mean anymore? Does this mean I should exclusively eat pizza in Naples? I don't think so. Then if I lived in Naples, I would have to forego sushi, pho, and falafel, and that's just plain wrong. I think in some other universe there just must be a good pizza in Californian-style, but there is also certainly a Neapolitan-styled pizza in California which is probably good too. (although, a part of me never wants me to admit that there could even possibly be a decent pizza pie with BBQ sauce on it, but I'm sure it exists, at least somewhere. OK, probably not). Luckily, there are places like Restaurant Six89 in Carbondale, Colorado. The ingredients are pretty much local, but the dishes are well, not from anywhere. They aren't fancy or exotic dishes. But just darn good stuff. Like really good stuff. And, in some ways, therein lies the absolutely terrible thing about traveling: it makes you want to go back! OK, maybe that's not such a bad thing, but let's face it; travel can screw you. It can mess with your head, your stomach, and your soul, and make you completely confused. You are forever changed, and completely incapacitated. Let's face it: really you're #^#(&#@$!. Yep, that's right. $#%^@*&. I haven't had any kids yet, but I know that when I do (gawd, my ma better not be reading this!), poor Jeff will have to cook his arse off, and I simply don't know where he's going to get his ingredients from (please Doug, and Julie?), but I bet that as a pregnant woman I will want everything that is impossible to get or make at home. Seriously, what if I "need" Chubby Hubby Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (which you can't get in Canada, please start writing letters on my pathetic behalf), and then I "need" biscuits 'n fried chicken, and then I "need" steak tartar (which pregnant women are recommended not to eat) and then... I get into the list of things pregnant women "aren't" supposed to eat. Let's leave that for another day. In any case, I really enjoyed the food at Six89 in Carbondale. It wasn't complicated, or fussy. And I wish I had more pictures, but it was such a beautiful night...ahem...the first night (yes, we went back the very next day, and snagged a few pictures then) that we sat outside in the summer warmth and enjoyed the meal. It was too dark for any decent pictures, and I'm not a good flash photographer, plus this is still an Aspen crowd, and it would just be well...weird. Anyways, it went like this: first we got a nice little amuse buche (both nights), which was simple and delectable; a fresh rainier cherry stuffed with essentially a corn nut (yep, like you ate in high school, but the real deal), in a little bit of basil oil and syrupy balsamic. I ordered this great farm fresh egg (literally, I think the chickens were in the back, as Jeff noticed a chicken coop near our car) with a deeply flavourful hash with bacon, and chanterelles. I discovered I love chanterelles. I mean, really, I was mmmminng, and awwwing, and just would not shut up. I'm sure everyone there thought I was nuts, but hey, it was that good. Jeff wasn't sharing his dish either, so I know it was good (don't worry I still stole some!); he had something girlie with a manly twist like agnolotti and goat. He says the goat tasted like a finer version of lamb. What a manly description. We were just devouring everything, and one of the reason's Six89 is so fantastic, is that they really do only make what is fresh and seasonal. It is only a couple days later, and the website is already different (making this more difficult to do as accurately!). Then, I enjoyed Milagro ranch meatballs with lemon ricotta ravioli. The meatballs had a roasted tomato sauce, and a walnut parsley pesto on the ravioli. The meatballs? They were tender, and huge! I know size doesn't really matter, but these were good. Three of them. Jeff was lucky, and I gave him the last one since he shared a few bites of his dish. The ravioli were good too. I know it seems kinda weird to have what seems to be a lot of different flavours going on at the same time, but I liked it. It worked. Now, I admit, I kinda had a crush on Jeff's dish (yes, of course that's why we went back the next day!) of slow roasted Berkshire pork and anson mills stone ground grits with smoked mozzarella. This is what I had the next night (and it's the picture at the top). This stuff was really great! Nothing fancy, although it might look like it, just soft and gooey, and well, fatty-tasting. Good stuff. The second night, Jeff ordered the burger. And well, now, I can say that I thought it was a mistake at the time, but I didn't say so. I mean, everything there is local, or the restaurant made it. But as if, they are going to spend the time to make a damn good hamburger bun. Jeff says, "the hamburger bun was a day old piece of WuunderBread without the preservatives, so it didn't quite survive the trip. It disintegrated with any pressure, as it seemed to be made with faux eggs". Surprisingly, the other complaint he had, was that the burger too rich. With cambozola cheese, and nearly burnt red onions, it just needed a bit of moisture from tomato apparently. Jeff thought this would be a unique burger experience given everything else we've had, but it just didn't live up to his expectations. It's got a start, just not quite right yet. Instead, Jeff thinks it would be cool to find a plate with three or four mini burgers. Each one could feature a different ingredient: one with the cheese, with the onions, another with heirloom tomatoes etc. Sounds like fun, and fits the sharing part of Six89's menu. Somehow, we also ate a combination of three side dishes; truffled parmigiano fries, feta dumplings, and fava beans. These were good too, but we didn't finish them. Desserts were a distinct favourite and great value. Nutella semifreddo for $4.50? Is the joke on me? It was great, with a dollop of not too stiff whipped cream, and sweet dark cherries. Yes, we both ordered it - it had Nutella in it! (Can you blame us?) Then, the next night, I ordered the cinnamon donut with rhubarb strawberry cream. Not my favourite, but still good. The donut was pretty heavy and more like a gingerbread cookie. Jeff had the semifreddo...again. The infamous for the wrong reasons burger:
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Aspen eats so far

A few moons ago, I was solely dedicated to becoming the best musician I could be. And one of the best places for any young musician to venture is to the Aspen Music Festival and School. It's a little beyond what is even expected of a summer program; there are five orchestras, and international guest artists. It's a little surreal. Recently, I guess I was becoming a little nostalgic for the past, and wanted to see where Aspen was at today. You know, you go somewhere new, find new flavours, and then spend years craving those flavours again? I think I look at Aspen as the beginning of my adventures in food; the last summer here I was training for a marathon with a terrible cafeteria to serve all the best slop you can imagine. So, off to restaurants I went to fend off hunger. But more than that, the Festival has a "student dinner program", whereby students are invited to dinner in the homes of local residents. The dinner program sounds simple; unless you know Aspen. There are currently dozens of homes with a price-tag of over twenty-million dollars, and beyond. It can be a little absurd. Not many "local" cooks exactly, however, there are many chefs and caterers to meet the burgeoning need. So, lucky me, spent several fine evenings with chef prepared food, fine wine, and incredible conversation in some over-the-top homes which generally resemble fine hotels in size and in detail. It was over the top! This was definitely hard to get over, and thus began my continued delving into the world of good things to eat... certainly not many of which are ever in such luxurious surroundings, that is for sure. All fine and good, but the restaurant scene of Aspen is somewhat fascinating as well. As can be inferred, money is no object here, and most of the folks don't really live here. Just a handful of the glitteratti you see. The rest essentially have vacation homes or cabins here, which I say lightly, as the dwellings are palatial. Many restaurants, can "make it" here for awhile, but with the exceedingly high cost of goods and labour in Aspen, there has to be some real substance to keep things going long-term. So it is interesting, that after six years, I return to check things out. Which restaurants are still here, and which places are not? A few of my favourites are gone like Blue Maize. I see a bit of a trend with locally owned places, that are just shutting their doors when the owner decides to get out of the business. Jeff and I have had several stints of ice cream from Paradise Bakery, including some of their fabulous baked goods. Pretty darn good stuff. I learned that I am still enthralled with the creamy richness of the "peanut butter cookie" ice cream. It's a chain, but still, it's still fairly close to what I call "real food". There's still real chunks of fruit and nuts. To me, this rationalizes most any ice cream or cookie consumption. On Tuesday, we had some so-so food from Gusto. I had a grilled calamari and arugula salad, which I liked enough. The amatriciana bucatini was flavourful, but nothing to write home about. There were too many ingredients over-complicating things. Jeff's gnocchi were made in house, and better than we expected. Nice and light, with a sauce needing some improvement. Mostly, we weren't fond of the food, and the service made it worse. They were trying too hard, but nearly hovering over the table. Lambrusco was going to be served in a champagne glass, which seems fitting, but that would never happen in Italy. Luckily Jeff inquired in advance. The manager decided to open a window behind Jeff, after other customers requested it, but then it was sticking into his shoulder. It was eventually moved, but a little frustrating nontheless. Our server was often arriving at inopportune times, which could have been overlooked, if everything else was on par. Ah well. Onto the next day! On Thursday, our salvation was found at Montagna, situated in the Little Nell. The Little Nell is a Relais-Chataux and has exceptional service to go along with all that requires. I can literally hear voices through this computer, charging with disdain, that how could I possibly eat at a hotel restaurant?? Perhaps in Europe you say, but never in North America. It can't be good, it is just plain wrong, and an insult to gastronomes everywhere! I implore you to not run away screaming, as I always do from hotel restaurants. The food at Montagna is good, very, very good. Yes, the surroundings are beautiful, and the service attentive and detail-oriented, but the food is honest, well-executed, and flavourful. It was the third time I have eaten at Montagna, and I have yet to be disappointed. Jeff and I decided to enjoy the "Farmhouse Tasting Menu", and it was brilliant. When a tasting menu is "inspired by local farmers", there really isn't much that can be bad about it. Good ingredients well prepared, well, should be good! There is love behind this food, and I can't help but fall in love with the taste. We started with house-cured bresaola with radish, greens and pitted cherries. A refreshing combination of a little salty and a little sweet. Then, again I do have a soft-spot for cured meats and fruit. Next, was pappardelle with lamb from Rendezvous farms of the Roaring Fork Valley, and this was highlighted with mint. The lamb would kind of sit on your tongue, and then decide that it really did just want to melt away into deliciousness. This dish was the highlight of the evening; I wish I could have again and again. The sweet finish of the evening was cornmeal crepes with fresh peaches. A beautifully romantic meal, in equally elegant surroundings. Yesterday, we were not so lucky. I was looking forward the tasty appeal of the menu at Pacifica, but unfortunately it was a bit of a let down. After a bit of confusion with our reservation, we were seated and enjoying the comforting ambiance on a warm summer evening. The scallop and foie gras appetizer was quite lovely; the sweetness of the tender scallops were well complemented by a little crunch on the foie. Getting better. Then, the truffle fries were so-so. They were crisp, but they just needed a little bit more truffle. Oh well. The blue marlin I ordered came with sugar snap peas, and was absolutely beautiful on the plate. The marlin was cooked correctly, with a little bit raw as it should be, but I was not fond of the dish. There wasn't much flavour, but I was dreadfully hungry and just trying to get through the dish. Jeff ordered a whole striped bass, and again it was plated like a piece of art. Although, Jeff's summary: "It was bad". My summary: the fish was alright, but the noodles and vegetables were simply covered in a spicy sauce purchased at the grocery store. Too bad. Up next? Six 89 in Carbondale. Wish us luck!
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