Maker's Table

DishAspen

We're just back from a much-needed vacation in Aspen, Colorado. My uber-experienced skier husband Steve spent the week in Telemark gear, skinning up 12,000 foot peaks and skiing backcountry bowls with his friend and our host, Jim. Meanwhile, I took four straight days of beginner downhill ski lessons, miraculously living tell the tale. Though I got my first pair of cross-country skis for my thirteenth birthday, I'd only been downhill skiing once before, in college. I was trying to impress a boyfriend (well, actually, an already-ex-boyfriend—long story) who had dragged me to the Sierras over Christmas break and thrown me to the downhill wolves. It was more like semi-controlled falling than skiing: Arghhh! - CRASH - Arghhh! - CRASH... repeat until lifts close.

Last week was different. They know how to teach skiing out there in Aspen, Colorado. The Aspen Ski and Snowboard School's "straight to parallel" technique, in the hands of expert instructor and all-around awesome human Heather Kent, had me skiing down the Green trails of Buttermilk in two days flat, carving perfect (well, I thought so) parallel turns like a pro.

So I was on my way to becoming a downhill goddess, and working up an appetite. Fortunately, Aspen obliges. With over eighty-five restaurants to choose from, you're pretty sure to find something wonderful. We did. Last Thursday, we took our friends to dinner at DishAspen  (caution: their website has sound), a newish joint from foodies Matthew Zubrod and Mitchell Sher. The hosts are Slow Food aficionados, buying locally and supporting small, artisanal producers whenever possible. The atmosphere is upscale tavern, homey and unpretentious. The food is earthy and well-balanced, and the wine list offers enough variety to complement the range of offerings.

I started with the spinach and warm bacon salad, then had wild salmon with sweet potatoes in maple syrup butter, garnished with scallions. Steve had macadamia-crusted Ahi tuna, and our friends had the pasta special and more salmon.

It was all pretty wonderful. The tuna was meltingly tender, fresh and bright and lovingly complemented by crunchy fennel and greens. The salmon was flawless, sweet and savory, the sweet potatoes adding a base note in both flavor and texture, while fresh scallions hit the high notes, rounding it all out. My only quibble was with the spinach salad, which, while brilliantly marrying the bright and dark elements of greens and bacon, was garnished with fried scallions that had gone cold and sodden since the mise.

For dessert, we shared a single serving—in my book actually three separate helpings—of their gelato: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. All were noble representatives of their class, but the chocolate carried something extra in its pocket, a deep fudgy secret.

If you're lucky enough to find yourself in Aspen, try Dish. It's terrific.

Boqueria y Suba

I happened to catch a bit of The Splendid Table on NPR this weekend while driving around on errands. Mike Colameco presented a short bit on tapas joints in New York City, and I jumped at the mention of Seamus Mullen and his two restaurants, Boqueria and Suba.

Seamus is from Vershire, Vermont and is the son of a friend of mine, John Mellquist (a foodie in his own right, and baker of Trückenbrod organic bread). Read the NYTimes interview with Seamus.

I've never eaten at Seamus's bars, but next time I'm in New York, I will. The reviews are rave.

Stella's in Lyme

Lyme, New Hampshire, has a new restaurant. Last year, Lyme residents Bob and Denby Coyle, who had brought urban-style bagels to rural Hanover, New Hampshire, with their Bagel Basement stores, bought the old Nichol's Hardware building on Lyme's common with plans to convert it into an Italian pizzeria. Lyme rejoiced.

That is to say, it was supposed to be a pizza joint, but then Bob and Denby hired Chef Martin Murphy. Classically trained and with 25 years of restaurant experience under the belt of his chef's whites, Murphy suggested something a little different. What if we put blood orange in the creme brulée? What if the Shrimp Fra Diavolo used real green chiles instead of crushed red pepper? What if we used local and fresh, instead of pre-fab and flabby?

The result is Stella's. We've eaten there twice. Steve had pasta with an authentic ragù, made with pork and beef and simmered in milk. Meg's Fra Diavolo blew the competitor's out of the water. A Garden Veggie Pizza offered loads of lovely vegetables with a marinara made with fresh tomatoes and a crust that was crisp and discreet. For $15, it fed two for lunch with three slices left over for another meal.

Eat at Stella's soon. You won't be disappointed.