Tasting Tour: Aspen
| January 12, 2010 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Executive Chef, Bryan Moscatello
With restaurant week so early in January 2010, and 2009 coming to an end with Potenza and Zola each having very successful New Year’s Eve Nights; I felt it was an optimum time to try and get away for a week. Lucky for me, my wife was going on a business trip to Aspen Colorado. I felt compelled to tag along. I am so glad I did.
It has been almost ten years since I have been back in aspen during the winter and so much has changed but in many ways it remains exactly the same. I had decided that I was going to relax and visit with old friends. The best part of visiting old friends is that they were all working, and they all work in hotels, restaurants and bars. On my first night I just wanted to grab a quick bite so I stopped by my friend Dena Marino’s new restaurant, Ellina, and had a delicious artichoke bruschetta with soft poached eggs, and fresh black truffles. This dish was superb. Dena was also recently featured battling Iron Chef Morimoto on Iron Chef America this past Sunday January 10, 2010.
Day number two started with a dry cappuccino at café ink, it was 22 degrees out but I was able to sit outside in the sun comfortably without being cold and there were no heaters. I dare you to try that here in DC. After a short walk around town and a quick peek inside the Prada store a quick lunch with my friend Johnny at Il Mulino New York overlooking Ajax Mountain. A walk in the magnificent west end and off to dinner at Cache Cache, a French bistro that is one of a few restaurants that has been operating for over twenty years in the town. Here I was able to have some great scallops with shaved white truffles and then a rack of Colorado lamb that was cooked to perfection.
The next day I got together with Alyson for a quick bowl of noodles at noodles by kenichi one of two new places for Bill. Then to begin working all of this food off a nice little walk up Smuggler Mountain. For dinner we went to see Walt who has been operating Syzygy in town for nearly 25 years. Their lease ran out so he bought a building tore it down and built a new one which now houses not only Syzygy but also a second restaurant named Ute City. There we ate great local steaks beef raised in the valley, as well oxtail, duck confit and even some sweetbreads.
On my last day in town, feeling extremely full, almost not wanting to eat anything until a friend invites us to have dinner with her at the new Viceroy hotel in Snowmass. The restaurant, 8K; the chef, a former colleague Rob Zack. The restaurant was amazing the chairs and tables were right out of a Park Avenue townhome. And then the train of food began and did not end for three hours. The night is a blur of food that left me feeling quite content. All in all this was a great trip and I rested up and now back in DC for Restaurant Week. I am ready to meet a lot of new people that are going try out our restaurants for the first time. See you soon.
