Celebrating its 50th anniversary in May 2025, the Main Street haven for bibliophiles quietly (natch) added the low-key Explore Coffee Bar upstairs in the space Pyramid Bistro occupied from 2010 to 2022. Lit by skylights and large windows, the solarium hangout serves quick bites (pastries, mini quiches) from the AABC’s French Pastry Cafe, paired with beer and wine; bread and soup may be added to the menu this winter.

If you know a New York bagel…you know. Silvers, which opened in August in the storefront dearly beloved Jour de Fête vacated after three decades, uses a patented water filtration system to remineralize Aspen tap water and enhance gluten formation—supplying that signature chew. Helmed by Executive Chef Alberto Figueroa (formerly of Toro at the Viceroy Snowmass) and Pastry Chef Andre Silva (bread whisperer at Aspen Skiing Company and Meat & Cheese), the café and market specializes in bagel sandwiches, housemade baguette and sourdough bread (challah on Friday), and salads and entrées for takeaway (chicken schnitzel, lasagna Bolognese). Soups, desserts, packaged provisions, and espresso round out the menu, plus pastrami sourced from sixth-generation fine-meats purveyor Lobel’s of New York.  

When Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue perform on December 19 to inaugurate the Paul JAS Center on the second floor of the 1892 Red Onion building, the occasion will signal “a new musical dawn at JAS,” according to Jazz Aspen Snowmass founder, president, and CEO Jim Horowitz. (The Red Onion restaurant, under construction, anticipates a reopening next winter.) The first permanent home for nonprofit JAS, established in 1991, the venue comprises a state-of-the-art recording studio, offices, and a performance stage with a capacity of up to 300 seats. Boutique catering company Epicure by Julia and Allen Domingos (formerly of SO Café at AAM) curates a creative, locally sourced menu of shareable plates for the bar, supper-club shows, and special events. 

As the new permanent restaurant within the 68-room boutique hotel, Petit Trois at Mollie Aspen launches in December in an updated dining room, lounge, and bar. Created by chef Ludo Lefebvre—whose Trois Mec in Los Angeles received a Michelin star in 2019—Petit Trois in Aspen will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner in classic Parisian style using local ingredients when possible. Think: steak frites, Burgundy escargots, French onion soup, and Lefebvre’s signature “Big Mec” burger to pair with French and California wines selected by master sommeliers and The Little Nell alums Dustin Wilson and Sabato Sagaria. 

“We’re trying to bring an uplifting, high-energy environment to a historic space,” says Justin “Chester” White, owner of Sprazzo, an Italian restaurant set to open on Main Street in December. The tongue-in-cheek name—sprazzo is Italian for “flash”—signals the scratch spirit with which chef Daniel Leon (formerly sfoglino or fresh pasta maker at Felix Trattoria in Los Angeles) prepares authentic Italian dishes with modern flair. That includes: focaccia with Sicilian olive oil, cherry tomato tuna crudo, cacio e pepe with zingy pink peppercorns, and lamb meatballs made with meat sourced from Basalt’s Marigold Livestock Co, alongside classics like branzino, rib eye steak, and linguine with clams. The foyer’s greenhouse garden supplies fresh herbs; the bar highlights Italian wines and creative cocktails (rosé Negroni). During the day, the dining room becomes a café that serves espresso beverages, chai, matcha, and a light breakfast.