Farm to Mountain

How PARC Aspen Strives to Get Locally Sourced Food in Mountain Wonderlands. Getting locally sourced food to the mountains is not an easy feat, yet here at PARC Aspen, we still manage to establish and maintain relationships with local vendors who prioritize quality over convenience. 

What is Farm to Mountain?

The concept of farm-to-table has gained traction in the restaurant world over the last decade, thanks to curious eaters paying attention to the journey their food takes from the field to the plate. For us in mountain towns, our unique locations present various sourcing hurdles such as ever changing climate, availability, and price point, making it challenging to provide ethically sourced, nutrient rich ingredients with the “local” sphere.   

Therefore, we at PARC Aspen are venturing out to create a new category, which maintains the general principles of farm-to-table with looser parameters about what is considered “local”. Our goal is to create an “Aspen Seasonal” genre, or Farm to Mountain, with an emphasis on cultivating relationships with vendors in-state to provide sustainably farmed, ethically sourced ingredients. 

While some mountain-based restaurants are still trying to figure out the best ways to make staying local work for their business model, here at PARC Aspen, we feel as though we have really set the standard in terms of staying true to the movement in making sure that when we have to reach outside our local borders we are still prioritizing vendors who share our same values when it comes to sourcing good, quality food.

What Barriers Does PARC Aspen Face When It Comes To Accessing Local Ingredients?

When considering what vendors to partner with, we start by asking one simple question, will they deliver to us? That question does tend to weed out anyone who may be put off by the extreme factors that pose a threat to on-time deliveries. From closed interstates to freezing temperatures to icy roads, some local vendors just cannot commit to relationships with us and other restaurants in the area. 

For those who don’t know, Colorado’s weather is very unpredictable. It can be sunny and warm one day and a blizzard the next. In fact, May of 2019 saw 3 feet of snow in its second week! So, it’s clear how these temperatures can impact what food is available, especially in the winter months, making it difficult for some local farms to produce certain ingredients year-round. 

How is PARC Aspen Accessing Local Ingredients?

So, what happens when your restaurant is located in one of the most popular ski towns in the country but is also at the mercy of unpredictable weather conditions, a desert-like climate, and requires navigating some pretty gnarly roads to access? You start finding your vendors and making those lasting relationships early on

In preparation for opening to the public on Friday, December 16th, we began reaching out to all four corners of Colorado for our ingredients. Executive Chef Mark Connell and Sous Chef Carson Kennedy both hold the same values when it comes to ingredients - the more they are cared for, the better the dish will be. And this is clearly reflected in our menu offerings.

Our goal to create a new genre in “Aspen Seasonal” cuisine is to rely on the principles of farm to table freshness with an emphasis on expanding our local footprint. “[The food] doesn’t necessarily have to come from Colorado, but we tried to find ingredients that are raised sustainably by individuals who are interested in what the product looks like when we get it. How are the items being cared for - that you can tell right away.” Executive Chef Mark Connell states.

One of our unique features that helps us define the term “Aspen Seasonal” / farm-to-mountain is that we not only partner with local vendors on produce and livestock, but we also source other ingredients like honey, cheese, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar from local vendors. In order to be able to do this, our chefs Connell and Kennedy spent the summer visiting farms all over the state from Boulder to Montrose and beyond - a practice that is not commonplace for other restaurants in the area. In doing this, they were able to see firsthand livestock and the conditions for produce.

How is PARC Aspen Committing To Keeping It Local?

Our sous chef Carson Kennedy grew up in rural South Dakota and has produced his own food from an early age. Being in close proximity to large-scale agriculture for much of his life, he saw firsthand how quality ingredients slowly lost nutrients due to the mass production of these ingredients in soil that wasn’t properly cared for.

To combat that, his family and neighbors adopted a shared philosophy that in growing their own food they were honoring the ingredients and in turn, themselves. Kennedy has carried this philosophy over to PARC Aspen taking a lot of pride in how he is sourcing ingredients for the restaurant. “A local mindset is appreciating what we have available to us in that time of year and making it more accessible to the visitors and Aspen locals making them feel like they are eating those comfort foods that make them feel at home.” Kennedy wants to remain transparent in that PARC Aspen is not a true-to-form farm-to-table experience in that there are certain things that Colorado simply cannot produce such as limes and avocados, but where they can stay local, they do.

What has helped us maintain our commitment to staying local is our very close relationship with Farm Runners out of Hotchkiss, Colorado which has given us access to farms within a 100-mile radius. We are also proud to partner with Colorado-owned Red Bird Farms, Christensen Ranch, Kinikin Butchers, Big B’s Orchard, Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy, and Yoder Shrimp Farm. Our partners can be best described as “A great crop of passionate young people.”

To push the envelope even further, we are also creating many of our menu offerings in-house ensuring that nothing, aside from coconut milk, is processed or pre-packaged. You can look forward to breads, pastas, and pastries made from scratch using as many local ingredients as humanly possible by people who are excited about nutrient-rich, flavorful, ingredients. 

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Book a table at PARC Aspen today to experience farm-to-mountain cuisine amidst the beautiful Aspen backdrop and let the team know how much you appreciate all they do to make sure you are getting quality ingredients and local flair.