Heritage Fire, Snowmass (2023)
The nation’s hottest competition, Heritage Fire is a roaming food festival that takes place all over the United States and brings about a dozen local chefs together to compete in an open-fire grilling competition for the title of Heritage Hero.
I was very fortunate to be able to go to this year’s festival in Snowmass, Colorado. I had an incredible experience and would like to share that experience by explaining who was there and what they served.
Breckenridge Distillery Restaurant-Summer Corn Uchepo
My first tasting stop of the tour was provided by a restaurant that came up all the way from Breckenridge to share their food with us Roaring Fork Valley residents, Breckenridge Distillery Restaurant.
Run by Chef Robbie Reyes, Breckenridge Distillery brings unique flavors and a cozy atmosphere for the town of Breckenridge to enjoy.
On the menu for the festival was their take on Uchepo, a type of tamale that is made with fresh corn the masa that most people are familiar with for tamales, there’s happened to be topped with slow braised beef cheeks, lemon cream, and Argentinian tomato salsa called Salsa Criolla.
First you get hit with the sweet, fresh corn at the bottom of that corn husk, then that wonderfully tender beef comes in for some extra richness which is only balanced out by the salsa.
It was a real hit.
Toro Kitchen and Lounge-Chicken a la Brasa
Going a bit more local, the next bite of the tour came to us from a Latin restaurant in Snowmass, Toro, which, with the help of Chef Richard Sandoval, provides classic Mexican and Latin fare with a twist.
On the menu was a unique Peruvian-style grilled chicken called chicken a la brasa, served over a potato round and topped with some leafy greens.
The chicken itself had a nice char flavor, but didn’t taste completely burnt which was nice, and that potato slice proved to be the perfect vessel to pick up the chicken and greens and deliver it to my mouth, it was wonderful.
Air Culinaire Worldwide-Wild Mushroom Polenta with Smoked Octopus
Taking off from Toro, the next bite of the festival is provided to us by a restaurant chain located in various airports around the world that is redefining airport food for good, Air Culinaire.
Don’t worry, I didn’t need to buy a plane ticket to experience this place, but the dish that they served brought my tastebuds past the standard cruising altitude, mushroom polenta with cherrywood smoked octopus.
Octopus is one of those proteins that people are either grossed out by or are open enough to try, and fortunately, the bite that Air Culinaire provided was exquisite! The soft polenta laced with the earthy wild mushrooms was heavenly with that bit of smoked octopus. It was lovely.
The Edge Restaurant-Grilled Snapper Sandwich
Moving next to that octopus, the next bite of food comes to us from another local Snowmass restaurant, The Edge. Provided by Chef Jason DeBacker, The Edge Restaurant & Bar provides a diverse menu featuring Alpine Cuisine.
Their offering was a grilled red snapper sandwich topped with a piece of tomato. My honest opinion? It was…ok. The fish was a bit dry and there wasn’t any sort of spread, slaw, or much else other than that fish.
Also, I must point out, their menu also offered a chilled blueberry soup with some spicy sausage, which for some reason they did not seem to have available in the 2 times that I visited their tent.
Was a bit disappointing, but luckily the next stop made up for it.
Tandoori Pizza and Wing Co.-Tandoori Mango and Chili Wings
This next bite of food comes to us all the way from Atlanta, GA, to share their unique cuisine with us Colorado mountain heads, Tandoori Pizza and Wing Co. Tandoori is an Atlanta-based restaurant and bar that puts a uniquely Indian spin on pizza and chicken wings.
For the festival, they brought one of my favorite bites of the day, grilled chicken wings with a mango-chili glaze.
I can’t say enough good things about these incredible wings! Grilling the wings made the skin nice and crispy while also adding a nice char flavor, but what took it over the edge for me was that sweet, sticky, slightly spicy glaze that was out of this world.
I hope Tandoori plans on opening a location up here near Glenwood Springs and Aspen, because I know that would be a big hit.
Foraged & Farm Catering-Tacos Cubano
Up next on this little adventure was a local catering company that provides fresh farm-to-table cuisine for all of the food lovers in Aspen to devour, Foraged & Farmed Catering, run by Chef Matthew Kennedy.
On their menu was a unique little taco that provided some of the classic flavors of the Cubano sandwich. It featured tiny blue corn tortillas, slow-braised pork, a pickle slice, cotija cheese, and a bit of prosciutto.
I will admit, this taco didn’t fully remind me of a Cubano, mostly because I didn’t taste any mustard, but the flavor combination was quite good. The pork was nice and tender, that pickle slice provided a bit of acidity, and there was some nice salt from the prosciutto.
ASC Catering-Cochinita Pibil Tacos
Up next we have a rather spicy bite from a company that has almost entirely taken over the mountains of Aspen and Snowmass, the Aspen Skiing Company. I would rather not speak of the…experience I had one winter working for them, so I’ll just talk about the food.
On the menu, a traditional slow-braised pork dish called Cochinita Pibil is served in handmade tortillas, then topped with pickled onions and chili sauce.
The pork was tender and the onions gave a nice acidic bite, but that sauce…holy hot tamales! The sauce was flavorful, but boy was it spicy! There needed to be a warning sign on their table or something!
The Little Nell-Wagyu Beef Hotdog with a Peach Crisp
The next bite happens to be from a hotel in Aspen that I had personally dined in a few times, once during a special dinner and the other for Easter Brunch, The Little Nell.
So what does a high-end hotel/restaurant in Aspen bring to the Heritage Fire Festival? A hotdog. That’s it. Nah, just kidding, they served up a house made Wagyu beef hot dog with a house made mustard and sriracha ketchup.
The hotdog alone had a nice flavor and texture, similar to fresh sausage links but with a bit more fat, and that mustard gave us some of those classic hotdog flavors that we all grew up eating.
On top of that, The Little Nell also provided us with a dessert, their take on a peach crisp. Peaches are all the rave in the summertime, especially if they’re Palisade peaches that are at their best in late July-August.
I thought their dessert was a delightful little bite, full of peachy goodness and had a nice crispy crumb topping! It was even more delightful than that hotdog.
Charlee’s Comfort Kitchen-Charred Strawberry Pain Perdu
Up next is a sweet bite from a restaurant based in Utah that provides comfort food classics to warm the hearts and nourish the soul of many Utah residents.
Their offering was a charred strawberry pain perdu topped with vanilla cream, pain perdu basically being French toast.
Their pain had a wonderful caramelized glaze on the outside that was like the crispy top of creme brulee, followed by that soft custard, but for me, the kicker was those strawberries which had a slightly smoky flavor that was surprising but not unwelcomed.
I will say that it was a little hard to cut into that bread with those thin wooden spoons that we were given.
Anyway, to wash that pain perdu down, we were also given a unique drink made up of calamansi tea and tequila, which was refreshing and paired nicely with the dessert.
Black Salt Hospitality-Vietnamese Porchetta
Moving onto the next bite of the festival, I now head over to a Telluride-based restaurant run by Chef Will Nolan, Black Salt Hospitality.
Their bite, or I should say bites, brought a unique Vietnamese spin on a traditional Italian pork roast, porchetta. Chef Will’s porchetta was first charred and treated with a pho-style glaze then served with a chili crunch marinated quail egg, chimichurri, and crispy pig skin.
The pork itself was incredibly tender and had that nice warming, slightly spicy flavor you expect from pho, but then the salty crunch of that fried pig skin takes it to another level entirely.
Cache Cache-Smoked Salmon
The next stop on this little journey came to us from a local French-American restaurant in Aspen with a lengthy wine list within a chic bistro bar, Cache Cache, run by Chef Chris Lanter, who also runs Home Team BBQ in Buttermilk, CO.
Their tasting item featured some salmon that they smoked themself over a bed of creamed corn and some veggies with a mango-yuzu vinaigrette.
The salmon had a subtle smoky flavor that was pleasant, but I somewhat felt like the sweet corn somewhat overpowered the natural sweetness of the salmon, though that could’ve just been me. Overall, the dish was well thought out and quite tasty.
Guard & Grace-Opah Sausage
Moving on but staying in the world of seafood, the next restaurant comes to us from a modern steakhouse with locations in Houston, TX, and Denver, Guard And Grace, run by Chef/Owner Troy Guard.
Their menu had promised dishes that featured an array of opah, a tropical fish, but by the time I got to them, all they had left was these opah sausages done in the style of merguez, served with an eggplant puree.
I’ll be honest; I’m not sure how I feel about seafood sausages. I feel like the subtle, light flavors of the opah ended up being lost after being ground up, stuffed into a casing, and grilled. The dish was good, I just felt like it could’ve been better.
Sugarland Farm-Colorado hog and Grilled Stone Fruit Custard
Up next, we now take to a Hawaiian approach from a Colorado farm, Sugarland. I was unable to find any further information about Sugarland, but I can certainly tell you about the food they had to offer.
There were two bites to offer, one sweet and one savory. On the sweet side, we have a grilled stone fruit custard with fruity coulis and whipped cream. When blended together, the custard is full of fruity flavor that gets lightened by the cream and makes for a wonderful bite.
On the savory side, however, we have some Colorado-roasted hog over a crostini and served with a soft lemon fromage blanc. I have to admit, I found their hog to be rather tough and chewy. Maybe that’s how that kind of hog is supposed to be but it just wasn’t for me.
Teocalli Cocina-Birria Beef Taco
Up next, we have another local Mexican restaurant in Lafayette, CO, that serves up a wide range of gluten-free Mexican fare, Teocalli Cocina, run by Chef Julio Gasper.
Their offering for the evening was a very classic birria taco, birria being beef slowly braised in a complex sauce made with chilis, garlic, and herbs, and the tacos are often dipped in that rich sauce to soak it up.
I had never actually had birria before that moment, so I was glad that my first birria experience was a great one! The beef was fall-apart tender, the sauce was full of deep flavor, and it certainly makes me want to check out Teocalli at some point.
Venga Venga-Barbacoa Tacos
We are getting close to the end here, so stay with me.
Up next is….another local Mexican restaurant, but this one is based in Snowmass and has been serving up authentic cuisine to both locals and the many tourists who come up here to ski in the winter, Venga Venga.
Their offering was a real classic, beef barbacoa tacos with some elote-style corn and pickled onions. This is the sort of classic Mexican food that makes me very happy, the beef had a ton of flavor, as if that’s a surprise at this point, the corn was a nice touch with some sweetness, and it all lead up to a perfect little taco.
The Gaucho Parilla-Aji Ash Roasted Pork
One thing that I love about festivals like this is that the locals aren’t the only ones that have to get involved, we seemed to have chefs and restaurants from all over the country, such as this next spot which is based in Pittsburg, PA, Guancho Parilla, an Argentinian restaurant run by Chef Oscar Padilla.
Their dish was described as ash-roasted pork with corn salsa, presumably they use the ash from their live fire to cook their pork.
In all honesty, the 2 pieces of pork I got were almost inedible. One piece was burnt to the point where you couldn’t taste anything else, and the other was so dry and tough that I couldn’t even bite into it. It wasn’t enjoyable.
Mizuna-Sweet Corn Anolini with Duck Confit
With our 3rd to last stop, yes we really are almost there, we are now at a Denver-based Italian restaurant run by Chef Michael Dunning that puts a modern spin on classic Italian cuisine for Denver foodies to love, Mizuna.
Given that it’s a modern Italian restaurant, they did not want to do something typical, so what they provided was a sweet corn anolini, a type of stuffed pasta, where they actually char their pasta on the grill and serve that with duck confit.
I hadn’t had much duck confit in my time, that’s where you slowly poach duck in it’s own fat, but the confit that I had at the festival was tender, rich, and delicious. But for me, the star of that dish was that anolini, which was so full of charred sweetcorn flavor that it was like Gushers.
Aurum Food & Wine-Pulled Pork Bahn Mi
Wrapping up the savory portion of the festival, my last savory bite came to me by a premiere dining spot in Snowmass and Breckenridge run by Chef Bill Saucer, Aurum Food & Wine.
Their offering, again the final savory portion of food for the festival, was a unique pulled pork bahn mi sandwich, bahn mi being a classic Vietnamese sandwich.
Their choice of bread for this small sandwich was a bit strange, it was essentially a baguette sliced in half horizontally, but the flavor of the tender pork plus the vinegary cucumber and carrots lead for a perfect sandwich to sink my teeth into.
Pollinator Chocolate-Cabernet Infused Chocolate
This last tasting item of the festival wasn’t a complete dish, but it did satisfy the chocoholic that lives deep inside me, and was provided by bean-to-bar chocolate maker, Pollinator Chocolate.
Their offering, wrapped in a small square bag, was a little square of 70% chocolate infused with Cabernet Sauvignon wine. There’s not much to say about this delightful little square except that it was rich, deep, full of dark chocolatey goodness, and had that fruity cabernet to back it up.
The Heritage Fire Food Festival in Snowmass is an excellent way to get to know new restaurants and chefs without having to travel long distances or spend upwards of hundreds of dollars.
Oh, and as for the winner of the festival, as decided by the tasters through a QR code, the winner of the 2023 festival is…Breckenridge Distillery Restaurant! Not much of a surprise to me, their corn and beef uchepo was outstanding!
Although there were many incredible dishes at the festival that I think had the potential to win the big title as well, but as it is with competitions there can only be one victor. And when the Heritage Fire festival rolls around next year, I’ll be sure to drop by.
