Thanks to inflation, and the insatiable money-is-no-object appetite of Aspen’s jet set, these days dining at 8,000 feet absolutely takes your breath away once that hefty tab arrives at the table. Whether you’ve been saving for a special night out or a blowout ski week, when you go all-in on dinner downtown, these quintessential local dishes are utterly, totally worth it. Bon app!

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• Chefs' Night Out

Ajax Tavern

Wagyu Bolognese 
Rich with ground Wagyu beef and diced pancetta, Bolognese is always bubbling inside the bustling Ajax Tavern. “We fold in ricotta and add minted breadcrumbs and Parmesan ‘snow’ on top,” says The Little Nell Culinary Director Matt Zubrod. He made a sly switch from lamb when he joined the team eight years ago, thanks to the Nell’s Wagyu contract with Cross Creek Ranch. The decadent sauce clings to house-made cavatappi or pappardelle pasta in a soul-warming bistro bowl that tempts athletes off Aspen Mountain. “Most people come and get the burger or Bolognese and a bottle of wine for lunch,” Zubrod remarks, noting The Little Nell’s award-winning list of more than 3,000 labels. “We sell a lot of wine at lunch.” $37. 

Betula 

Elk Creole Tiradito 
A reinvention of traditional Peruvian beef tiradito, Paris-native chef Laurent Cantineaux’s elk carpaccio at Betula combines farm-raised game from House of Smoke in Fort Lupton with tender sweet potato, burnt pineapple, and spicy rocoto pepper sauce. Crispy quinoa crackers and choclos (soft-cooked Peruvian corn kernels) add crunch, harking to Cantineaux’s time spent cooking in Venezuela and the Caribbean, where he opened breezy sister restaurant Bonito St. Barts.  $36.

Bosq Aspen

Winter Tasting Menu
Local potimarron squash glazed in duck caramel. Venison “bark.” Olive-fed Japanese Wagyu with pickled chanterelles, pine tips, and beef garam (dehydrated, salty crumbles akin to beef bouillon). The dishes on Bosq chef-owner Barclay Dodge’s winter tasting menu (4-5 or 7+ courses) highlight meats, fish, grain, and winter vegetables, enhanced with umami-boosting ingredients that Dodge pickles, preserves, and dries during warmer months. “We powder summer: [creating dehydrated dusts of] flowering dill tops, lovage,” he says. “We pickle and dehydrate chanterelle mushrooms. We put up 240 pounds of red plums in lactoferment, syrup, and vinegar form. In the winter you’re yearning for red pigment in some way. Our refrigerator is stocked full of mason jars; by the end of winter that will be empty.”

While most ingredients at Bosq—the first and only Michelin-starred restaurant in Aspen and one of five in the inaugural Colorado Michelin Guide 2023—hail from Colorado, some items, like Maine lobster (grilled over juniper branches) are a local obsession that won’t leave the menu any time soon. Dodge’s latest fascination: vanilla-tobacco-flavored fresh fig leaves, sourced from Basalt farmer Jerome Osentowski’s subtropical greenhouses. Multicourse, $155 and up. 

Cache Cache

Colorado Rack of Lamb
Two handsome, rosy lamb chops, crusted with herby Dijon mustard and seared, rest in a pool of savory mushroom-infused veal jus—a signature dish that Cache Cache executive chef/partner Chris Lanter treats with extra TLC since he arrived here in August 2000.

“The product is really special—it’s better than French, New Zealand, or Australian lamb,” says Lanter, who chooses sustainable lamb from Superior Farms outside of Greeley. “We pay homage to each piece of meat. We can’t take it off the menu or we would feel the wrath. And I crave it!” 

In winter, Cache Cache sells more than 100 pounds of lamb weekly. “It’s a really hearty meal, [not] little-bitty, foo-foo portions,” Lanter says of the bone-in, 14-ounce presentation. “There’s a reason why the price is what it is. We refer to Cache Cache as French American: the foundation is French, but our portion sizes are American.” $92. 

Casa D’Angelo

Pappardelle alla Bottarga
 Old-fashioned fresh pasta is chef Angelo Elia’s passion and a canvas upon which he introduces simple ingredients imported from his native Italy. This Casa D’Angelo signature incorporates nutty pesto and Umbrian stracciatella (burrata’s creamy center) with shaved salt-cured, air-dried Sicilian roe that adds a savory-sweet umami finish. “Ravioli, gnocchi, cavatelli, fettuccine, pappardelle—everything is made by the hands,” says Elia, who learned the craft at age 10 in Naples. “For me, the trick is only water, flour, and not too much salt. We have the best water [in Aspen]!” In wintertime, Elia’s three dedicated pasta cooks crank out 40 pounds per day. “We serve food like you are in Italy,” adds Elia, meaning spaghetti doesn’t accompany veal Parmesan. “My mother called it an art. Either you make it right or you don’t make it.” $44.

TRADE TRICKS
“I have a company in New York and Miami; they send me a truck two times a month for all my tomato and burrata from Campania,” says Casa D’Angelo namesake chef Angelo Elia. “My extra-virgin olive oil is a mixture from Sicily, Calabria, and Tuscany.”

Catch Steak Aspen 

Dover Sole + Wagyu Porterhouse Surf and Turf
“We focus on letting ingredients shine,” is a phrase parroted by many chefs, but access to product really does set two-year-old Catch Steak Aspen apart. And together these bestselling dishes fashion the ultimate surf and turf. Moist, firm, flaky line-caught Dover sole from the English coastline is flown in twice weekly; it’s deboned into four filets, glazed in soy-brown butter emulsion with zesty lemon supremes to cut the richness and salty fried capers to add crispiness. The 24-ounce Mishima Reserve American Wagyu porterhouse—cooked on a 1,600-degree broiler, glazed with rendered trimmings (“beef love”), rested six minutes, and sliced—represents, “the best of both worlds: The strip is more toothsome, more of a chew, more beefy flavor; the Wagyu filet is like butter and melts in your mouth,” explains Executive Chef Ryan Brooks. “These are big, big flavors meant to be shared.” Dover Sole, MP, around $160; Wagyu Porterhouse $275. 

Secret Selection
“Our twice-baked potato with whipped crème fraiche and aged Mimolette cheese with crunchy salt pockets, topped with an ounce of kaluga caviar…never hits the menu,” says Catch Steak Aspen Executive Chef Ryan Brooks. “It’s not always available. We might only do 10 for the whole night.” $90

Clark’s Aspen

Cioppino
So many fish, so little time. Taste all the flavors in signature cioppino, a year-round favorite at Clark’s Aspen—as well as at Clark’s Oyster Bar in Austin since 2012. “It’s our spin on a traditional San Francisco-style fisherman stew,” says Clark’s Aspen chef/partner and MML Hospitality culinary director Josh Hines. Historically made with “whatever was on the docks that day,” this cioppino incorporates fresh trim from fish-of-the-day, along with king crab, shrimp, mussels, and clams. The secret is in the sauce: “We cook our tomato-based broth—almost like an arrabiata pasta sauce, with lots of garlic, herbs—separately,” Hines says. “Nights when we’re all hungry, we cook the broth with spaghetti and have arrabiata. When you add it to the combination of seafood, it gets that much better.” Finished with smoky espelette chile flake, the piquant elixir absolutely must be soaked up with fat slices of Clark’s house-baked sourdough smeared with garlic confit. $51. 

Element47 at The Little Nell

Wagyu Enchiladas
Braised in chile de árbol, cinnamon, and Coca-Cola in classic barbacoa style, the Wagyu beef short ribs at the heart of Element47’s signature breakfast and lunch enchiladas form a savory stuffing for corn tortillas—a spicy upgrade from humdrum huevos rancheros. “Our a.m. kitchen crew is Mexican and El Salvadoran,” explains Culinary Director Matt Zubrod. “We love playing with different chiles and making hot sauces.” The five-year-famous dish arrives in a cast-iron skillet, topped with two duck eggs fried to order, cotija cheese, cilantro, and pickled Fresno peppers. Though The Little Nell won a “Best Hotel Wine List in North America” regional title at the 2023 World of Fine Wine Awards, Zubrod suggests pairing it with a savory La Adelita Black Añejo Cristalino Bloody Maria. $29. 

French Alpine Bistro

Escargots
In most places, the Gallic dish of escargots bathes in-shell snails in a pool of melted butter, parsley, and shallots. At French Alpine Bistro, which has carved a cozy niche on the corner of Mill Street and Hopkins Avenue since 2011, the preparation is one-of-a-kind. Shelled snails float in a velvety tomato purée, infused with garlic butter, Pastis, and a splash of cream for sopping up with golden triangles of toasted brioche. “You don’t find that anywhere else in Aspen,” states Austrian-born owner Karin Derly, “and it will be hard to find in any French restaurant elsewhere.” Ditto on other signature fusions, including the Nirvana green-curry crêpe, conceived by FAB’s Thai-born chefs, and the Midnight in Paris crême brûlée crêpe. $25.                

Home Team BBQ Aspen

Barbecue Nachos
Guests often gasp when the aluminum tray hits the table. “All those sauces and salsas we put separately on top,” says Home Team Executive Chef Carson Kennedy, “so you can mix and match different flavor combinations with each bite.” A heady combination of red, green, and orange carrot-jalapeño salsas, plus chimichurri, crema guacamole, pickled jalapeños, cheddar-Jack cheese, and a choice of barbecued protein (pulled pork, brisket, brisket chili, black beans) showcases the signature flavors of the seven-year-old pit stop at the base of Buttermilk inside the Inn at Aspen. The trick to keeping Home Team’s 15-hour-smoked meats succulent? “We mix in different kinds of vinegar,” Kennedy says. “You get that smoky flavor with an acidic kick. Brisket we smoke until it’s nicely charred and caramelized, then we wrap it in butcher paper. It continues to cook without losing the juices in the meat or getting too dried out.” $22 and up. 

Hotel Jerome

“Bumps to Bumps” Caviar Service
“Where else can you lounge in a hot tub while it’s snowing outside, looking up at Aspen Mountain, eating a tin of caviar with crème fraîche and potato chips?” muses Hotel Jerome Executive Chef Ross Kilkenny. Here a floating island, filled with crushed ice and topped with a tin of 30, 125, or 500 grams of Petrossian Royal Ossetra caviar, is delivered poolside with freshly fried Kennebec chips and either Dom Pérignon or Krug Champagne or tequila. Dubbed “Bumps to Bumps,” the bougie après-ski showstopper returns for its sophomore season. “You laugh,” Kilkenny says, “but in winter I have 2,000 grams of caviar on hand because we sell that much.” (For those who prefer indoor indulgence: Head to Prospect at Hotel Jerome, where Kilkenny presents a winter tasting menu.) From $675 for two. 

Jing Aspen

Roasted Peking Duck  
Despite running successful restaurants in Denver and Las Vegas, chef Frank Lu calls Jing Aspen customers the ultimate party guests, always up for sake bombs at his Main Street restaurant of more than two decades.

“People come to Aspen for the fancy experience,” declares Lu, carving squares of crispy skin from a whole roasted Peking duck and spooning on generous 10-gram dollops of Royal Oscietra Royal caviar at the table. Eyes roll in ecstasy: the crackly glazed duck skin melts on the tongue, washed over by the sturgeon eggs’ salinity. Super-moist duck breast meat—infused with Chinese five flavors during 72 hours of drying, basting, and slow-cooking—is sliced gingerly to wrap inside paper-thin pancakes with scallions and Lu’s secret spicy sauce. The only thing better is being fed by the chef himself, who also pours “Mothafucka Frank Special” shots (vodka, Midori melon liqueur, pineapple, lemon) directly into diners’ open mouths. $258, serves 2–4, 48-hour advance reservation required. 

Las Montañas

Sizzling Fajitas
A trail of hot steam wafts through the dining room when custom-made iron calderas deliver fajitas to the table at Las Montañas—and that’s constantly. Choose arrachera prime skirt steak, pineapple-soy rib eye, achiote chicken, jumbo shrimp, or vegetable skewers (the no. 1 seller) or in combination, along with add-ons like jalapeño-Oaxaca cheese rellenos or bacon-wrapped quail. Loaded or modest, the family-style dish is built around trimmings: rajas (roasted poblanos), rice and beans, pico de gallo, queso fundido, and a basket of just-made corn or flour tortillas, “always hot off la plancha, so they get nice and toasty to the table,” says MML Hospitality Culinary Director Josh Hines. “It’s more than a plate of fajitas.” $35 and up.

Matsuhisa Aspen

Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeño 
As with many great culinary inventions, chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño was born of Japanese kokoro, or “cooking from the heart.” In a kitchen void of spices following a Hawaii charity event, Matsuhisa improvised this dish for a staff meal, seasoning hamachi subtly with garlic paste and sliced raw chile pepper. Basted in yuzu-soy sauce and served with a pile of cilantro leaves to enhance each bite, the dish has been a bestseller since before Matsuhisa Aspen opened in 1998.

“It’s the OG,” says General Manager Todd Clark, “and you can upgrade it with toro [tuna belly] or bluefin [tuna] when we have it. Toro adds a rounder mouthfeel, more luxurious texture, and richer flavor profile; bluefin is a redder, different-textured fish, highly sought-after as far as sashimi.” $30; bluefin starting at $36, toro at $50. 

ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
To celebrate 20 years since the upstairs dining room and bar opened, Matsuhisa Aspen’s freshly renovated street-level space presents special dishes making their 2023–24 ski season debut.

Meat & Cheese Restaurant and Farm Shop

Meat & Cheese Board
True to founder Wendy Mitchell’s passion for cheesemaking and curing meats (she founded and ran the award-winning Avalanche Cheese Company in Paonia for a decade), Meat & Cheese is the top spot to quash a charcuterie craving. The meat and cheese board changes every other day, featuring items such as artisanal salami from Iowa or Italy and imported or Colorado soft, semisoft, and hard cheeses produced from various milks (cow, sheep, goat, or a blend). It’s a variety show, sometimes themed—say, three styles of cheese from one farmstead creamery—and always including cornichons, spicy mustard, and house-made seasonal jam (blackberry-thyme, Palisade peach-bourbon). “There’s a story behind every single meat or cheese or farm,” says General Manager Sam Hayes, adding that all shop staff members are trained mongers and butchers. “There’s always extra excitement for a new Colorado [purveyor].” Starting at $34 for two people; catering available. 

CATER CORNER
“A lot of people don’t know how much we can cater,” says Meat & Cheese General Manager Sam Hayes. “Anywhere from one to two people up to 40! The boards are absolutely gorgeous.”

The Monarch 

Tableside Caesar Salad
A garlic clove, anchovies, and Dijon mustard are crushed into a paste in a big wooden bowl. Wisps of red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and lemon juice are drizzled from on high, then an egg yolk, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil to emulsify. Croutons go in, crushed if necessary, and a shower of Romaine leaves. More shaved Parmesan and white anchovies crown the masterpiece: This is not just a salad. It’s a theatrical moment at The Monarch, where British steak house elegance is woven into the seven-year-old restaurant’s DNA. Made by a dedicated staffer and served for two (or more), the Tableside Caesar is the rare dish whose drama never gets old. $24 per person, 2 minimum.  

PARC Aspen

Layered Fries 
Move over truffle frites—there’s a new fry in town. Arranged like Jenga tiles on the plate, PARC Aspen’s Layered Fries turn heads through the bar and dining room. They also represent the culinary philosophy of the restaurant entering its second winter: respect the ingredients. Made from thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes, seasoned subtly with minced rosemary, thyme, and Parmesan cheese, then stacked eight high in a sheet pan, chilled overnight, cut into hefty batons, and deep-fried until the scalloped edges crackle, the fries epitomize Executive Chef Mark Connell’s masterful extraction of complex flavors from simple elements.

“We go through tons and tons of fries here,” Connell says—as in, upward of 150 solo orders per month. Served with house-made ketchup and chile aioli, the fries also accompany the popular bar burger and steak frites, the latter on special every Thursday.  $18.