The Food & Wine Classic
If you are a food or wine connoisseur chances are you were in attendance, or watched enviously on social media, as the 39th annual Food & Wine Classic descended upon our hometown of Aspen, Colorado. This year’s classic was extra special because we were able to host our first event at the restaurant space as well as participate in Saturday’s Grand Tasting! To say we are EXHAUSTED would be an understatement; it was worth every lost hour of sleep.
While we recover from our hangovers and reminisce on all the fun had, we’d like to give you a full recap of our EVENTful weekend ;)
Friday. First Pours with PARC Aspen.
To start things off on the right foot, we hosted a patio event titled First Pours with PARC Aspen to commemorate the first glasses of wine being shared on our newly completed patio space. We partnered with Evan Martin of Martin Woods and Tommy Tollesson of Entourage to offer a our guests a variety of Rosé, Red AND White Wine.
Evan Martin was pouring a delicious Pinot Noir from Martin Woods Bednarik Vineyard as well as a Chardonnay from the collaboration of Ajax Cellars & Martin Woods in the Willamette Valley. To assist him with this pour was our very own Greg Van Wagner, owner of Ajax Cellars. Guests were dazzled with the subtle flavor profiles found in both wines and more than once circled back for a second, or third, glass!
On the opposite side of the patio, Tommy Tollesson was serving up some of his most popular Entourage Rosé from Côtes de Provence! The beautiful bottle artwork and generous smile from Tommy drew people in to learn more about his rosé. Tommy is also a longtime local to Aspen and has been serving locals for years with his flavor rich rose
Since we were well stocked in the beverage department, Executive Chef Mark Connell, Sous Chef Robert Regan and Line Cook Carlos Perez Torres took it into their hands to present a world class cheese & charcuterie board. The selection of cheeses included a Colliers Cheddar, Sawatch Aged Gouda, Jumpin Good Goat First Snow and Origin Dairy A2 Camembert. All the meats were purchased from our preferred vendor River Bear Meats and featured the Colorado Beef Green Chili Salami, Habanero Orange Salami, Spanish Lomo and Coppa.
The patio remained abuzz for the 2+ hours and guests left with the hope of seeing more events take place in the coming months! Below is a gallery of photos captured by local photographer Nikki House.
Saturday. Locals Showcase at Grand Pavilion Tasting.
Following the success of our First Pours event on Friday, the team was up early to load in for the morning Grand Pavilion Tasting. As this was our first time really showcasing our food to the “masses”, we wanted to be sure we did it right! We were fortunate enough to be selected by the Food & Wine team to take part in the Locals Showcase, which was a new feature for the classic to build awareness of the great local chefs and restaurants.
The tasting was an all hands on deck situation. Executive Chef Mark Connell and his team had been taste testing recipe options for close to a month before landing on our TWO selections: Gluten Free Grilled Ham & Cheese Panini and Morello Cherry Explosions. Our Gluten Free Grilled Ham & Cheese Panini was made with Mark’s Homemade Focaccia Bread, River Bear Country Ham, Fontina Val D’aosta and a Local Colorado Asiago. To finish it off, the sandwich was brushed with Banyule Honey and served on a bed of Fennel & Tomato Purée. For the Morello Cherry Explosions, we had a Morello cherry purée inside coated with a thin white or dark chocolate shell, elderflower syrup, lime zest and black pepper to round out the flavors. Both were plated together and created quite a buzz around our booth!
Assisting Mark with plating and presenting the dishes was our trusted kitchen team of Sous Chef Robert Regan and Line Cook Carlos Perez Torres as well as our Wine & Beverage Director Greg Van Wagner. Behind the scenes, Co-Owner Maryanne Sefton, Operations Director Madie Bailey and Sommelier Jeff Otterson were helping prep the cherry explosions and dice the fresh paninis.
When there was a moment of downtime, we each switched off for an opportunity to walk the neighboring booths and try some of the other well crafted samples prepared by our fellow restaurateurs! Overall, the Grand Pavilion Tasting was another GREAT success for the team. With only a few cherry explosions and paninis left over, we walked away feeling confident and excited for what’s to come next.
###
With the conclusion of this weekend being a true success story, we are anxiously awaiting the next opportunity to host an event on our patio. To keep up with our journey to opening, please subscribe to our newsletter below. For private events or marketing inquiries, please email Camille@parcaspen.com. For employment opportunities, please email management@parcaspen.com.
