Aspen gets some competition from a neighbor
Little Carbondale makes its move
Barely 30 miles northwest of Aspen, in the shadow of the majestic Elk Mountains, tiny Carbondale is becoming Colorado’s most exciting summer destination. True, the town has more family-owned cattle ranches than Michelin stars, and there are still more farm stands than white tablecloth spots. The restaurant best poised to elevate the town’s status doesn’t even have a proper dining room. Instead, at the Guest House, former French Laundry chef Seth O’Donovan serves her experimental farm dinners outdoors, usually next to a horse paddock or in a roomy tree house that surveys 1,200 acres of pristine Colorado pastures. Meals include savory links of deer sausage served with soft, house-made cheese and a mind-bending dessert of carrots with butter and cinnamon, cooked to the point where they almost resemble pie filling. Those who come for her experimental, starlit dinners can roll into an assortment of rustic cabins on the property, many of which date to the 1940s. In two years, O’Donovan aims to turn the main house on her property into a five-star, eight-room hotel. Some of Aspen’s best chefs are catching on. Down on Main Street, a new izakaya is soon to be opened by Aspen sushi master Kenichi Kanada. Down the same road, Mladen Todorovic and Kyle Raymond, two transplants from Aspen’s seafood-centric Grey Lady and brunch favorite Over Easy-are collaborating on Roosters, which will soon serve crepes in the morning and rotisserie-based entrees by night. “The produce that we can get in the summer in Colorado is amazing. We want to accentuate that,” Raymond told the Sopris Sun, a Carbondale newsweekly. A small ranching town with a population of 6,000, Carbondale has been for many years Aspen’s folksy, less-sophisticated little sister. But as Aspen’s image has shifted from glamorous to oversaturated and even out of touch, insiders have been turning to Carbondale as a refreshingly intimate alternative. What it lacks in ski access and five-star resorts, it makes up with raging creative energy and access to a bevy of artisanal food suppliers-not to mention average homes that are priced well below $6 million. (The average home here runs closer to $800,000.) Given their proximity, though, Aspen and Carbondale have much in common. Like Aspenites, Carbondale residents claim easy access to high-altitude hiking and whitewater rafting, as well as a world-class art museum. Its food scene has been booming since 2003, when Mark Fischer left his post at Aspen’s beloved Little Nell and opened Six89, a now-shuttered fine dining spot known for its herb-roasted Alaskan halibut and home-made gnocchi. When Fischer notched a James Beard semi-finalist nomination in 2010, he proved to his Colorado cohorts that fine dining could, in fact, exist outside the state’s ritziest destinations. Fischer has since parlayed that acclaim into a handful of other local ventures, such as Phat Thai, which continue to thrive. If Aspen is a wintertime playground, Carbondale is its summer foil. On the Roaring Fork River, which flows through Aspen and Carbondale along Highway 82, there’s excellent trout fishing, whitewater rafting, and standup paddling. It’s also scenic: The surrounding wetlands are a protected nature preserve; on your way down river, you’ll pass herds of elk and colonies of great blue heron. Frank Scotti, the 41-year-old founder of Nomad Inc., is the town’s de facto adventure concierge. For years, he’s made a name on heli-skiing trips to Chile or surfing itineraries in Costa Rica, but now he’s finding just as much success at home in the Carbondale valley. “Helicopter flight-seeing tours are huge for us,” Scotti says. “We have waterfalls, wildlife, and the Marroon Bells, which I’ve been told are the most photographed peaks in Colorado.” In keeping with the destination’s culinary-meets-adventure appeal, Scotti will also plan “white glove picnics” at such places as Cedar Ridge Ranch, Rock Bottom Ranch, and O’Donovan’s Guest House. They’re elaborate setups created in partnership with local chefs, using ingredients such as native wild greens, homemade pickles, and freshly laid eggs-a perfect way to unwind after a morning full of thrills.