Tavernetta — known for its fresh-made pastas and Italian wine list — is headed west this winter, opening a second restaurant inside the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Vail in time for the holiday season.
Tavernetta Vail will take over the space occupied by Flame Restaurant, a steakhouse that shut down earlier this summer to make room for the multimillion-dollar renovation.
While the menu details haven’t yet been hammered out, Tavernetta Vail will have breakfast service, a first for the concept. The dinner menu will travel around Italy with its pastas, gnocchis and Tavernetta classics, as well as some dishes with mountain touches inspired by the country’s alpine regions that will feel at home in Colorado’s high country.
Like the original, Tavernetta Vail also will have an entirely Italian wine list, with the exception of Champagne — because “Italians drink more Champagne than anybody,” said master sommelier Bobby Stuckey, the co-founder of Frasca Hospitality Group, which Tavernetta falls under. Italian-driven spirits and digestifs will join the menu, too.
Last August, Michelin inspectors praised Tavernetta, placing it on the first edition of its Bib Gourmand list that recognizes restaurants where diners can indulge in a high-quality meal that also is considered a good value. “The Italian menu nods to more well-known dishes from multiple regions, and the plates are refreshingly uncluttered,” the famously anonymous inspectors said.
Tavernetta’s sister restaurant, Frasca in Boulder, is among the five Colorado restaurants that received a Michelin star in the state’s debut Michelin guide last September.
The expansion of Tavernetta into Vail makes sense since many of the Denver restaurant’s winter guests are in town for a night, enjoying a cozy meal before heading up Interstate 70 for ski vacations, said Stuckey, a James Beard Award winner who launched his Colorado career at the Little Nell in Aspen.
Stuckey said that lately, when he travels to some of the world’s greatest wine regions — from Burgundy to Barolo — he’s taken notice of how on-the-radar Vail has become.
“Vail has really become such an international ski city,” he told The Denver Post. “I think it’s a great place for Tavernetta.”
Jerome Arribas, the general manager of Four Seasons Resort Vail, said that after a day of adventure in the resort town, nothing sounds better than a delicious Italian meal.
“This blending of our two worlds is certain to bring la dolce vita style to Four Seasons Vail,” he said.
Tavernetta Vail follows the lead of other Four Seasons across the country that have partnered with high-profile local chefs and restaurant groups. James Beard Award winner and Minneapolis native Chef Gavin Kaysen opened a Mediterranean concept called Mara Restaurant & Bar at Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis. A New Orleans resident of 20 years, Alon Shaya (who is the chef-partner at Safta in Denver), opened Miss River, a Cajun restaurant, inside Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans.
In Vail, Tavernetta could be poised to attract some Michelin recognition, since the ski town is in the inspectors’ territory. But Arribas says he’s focused on bringing back the locals, who had stopped coming as frequently to the 14-year-old Flame Restaurant.
“Seeing the local community come in will be the best recognition,” he said.
Studio Collective, an award-winning design group in Venice, Calif., is reimagining the space, blending Italian ambiance with mountain coziness in the dining room, bar and lounge areas with booth seating that’s ideal for après-ski dining.
Tavernetta Vail is among a series of enhancements, including renovated suites, announced by Four Seasons Vail Resort. The luxury resort redesigned its spa and has a forthcoming enhanced Ski Concierge.
The forthcoming Tavernetta Vail, which is set to open in winter 2024, will join a bevy of new restaurants in Vail. Avanti, which has food halls in Denver and Boulder, is opening with five yet-to-be-announced restaurants in 2025 at Vail’s Golden Peak base area.
Here’s a look at three more new-to-Vail spots to check out:
Makoto: Esteemed Chef Makoto Okuwa opened his first Rocky Mountain concept inside the Grand Hyatt Vail. Makoto boasts a deep Japanese whisky list, sushi and sashimi, plus charcoal-grilled wagyu. 1300 Westhaven Drive, Vail; makoto-restaurant.com
The Gambit Bar: Listen to live music and sip cocktails at The Gambit Bar inside The Sebastian Vail. The Shiffrin 75 (named after local Olympian skier Michaela Shiffrin) is a riff on the French 75 made with ginger-infused gin, lingonberry gastrique and a lemon sparkling wine. 16 Vail Road, Vail; thesebastianvail.com/dining/the-gambit-bar
Archetype Distillery: Try Archetype Distillery’s wine-grape distilled gins and vodkas at its Vail Village tasting room. Signature cocktails call in the distilled spirits, which run the gamut from the traditional (lemon, ginger, lavender) to the inventive (Worcestershire, beef jerky, black truffle). 183 Gore Creek Drive, Vail; archetypedistillery.com