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Top Chef Telluride

Chef Eliza Gavin takes top chef honors at the World Wine Tasting & Telluride Top Chef Competition Fundraiser

By Jessica Chapman

published: Thu., Aug. 26 2010 @ 8:05AM

Eliza Gavin does her thang.​Top Chef does Telluride? Well, sort of. It was more like Iron Chef than Top Chef during last week's culinary competition pitting a clutch of Telluride chefs against one another during the "World Wine Tasting & Telluride Top Chef Competition Fundraiser."

Eliza Gavin, chef and owner of 221 South Oak, took top honors at last Thursday's benefit, organized to support a local mentoring program. The competition, held at The Peaks Resort and Spa, matched four local chefs against one another via four rounds of 30-minute battles.

In addition to Gavin, competitors included Mark Reggiannini, chef/owner of La Marmotte, Erich Owen, chef of New Sheridan Chop House and chef Bud Thomas, owner ofTasteBuds Catering.

In predictable Iron Chef-style, just prior to each round, chefs were presented with a mystery ingredient -- in this case, a meat -- they were required to feature in each dish.In her first round, which featured halibut, Gavin took on Owen, who she narrowly defeated, before going head-to-head against Thomas, this time with lamb.

It took several rounds of voting by the competition's five chefs (one of whom paid $1,000 in an auction for the honor of judging), but Gavin edged out Thomas for the win.Gavin, who had never before engaged in a timed competition, characterizes the experience as rewarding, but difficult. "My opponents are talented and able chefs and I was nervous going against them," she says. What sweetened the win for her and her assistant, Sue, was winning the competition as females, who are underrepresented in the profession.

Which dish stole the show? Gavin was pretty impressed with her lamb tartare. "I was very pleased with that." Since the victory, she's been recreating some of her winning dishes at her restaurant, and despite the stress -- and even though she only won a trophy and a toque out of the deal -- Gavin says she'd give competition another go. "Three days ago I was saying I would never do it again, but then two days ago I was like, 'I'm absolutely doing this again!'"

Maybe even for Top Chef: Telluride 2011.In the meantime, here are the dishes that garnered Gavin this year's Top Chef: Telluride honor:First Round: HalibutGrilled halibut with grilled asparagus, housemade elk sausage and balsamic brown butter

Mustard and cumin seed-crusted halibut with zucchini cake and peach red wine jamHalibut and foie gras ravioli with corn, mushroom and sweet potato reductionSpicy cherry-glazed halibut with watermelon, fennel, cucumber and mint salad

Third Round: Colorado LambMustard and smoked paprika-rubbed rack of lamb with sweet potato, cherry and red wine reductionBalsamic vinegar-glazed rack of lamb with grilled vegetables

Lamb tartare with capers, lemon zest, Serrano ham, shallot and garlic with a blood orange yuzu reductionOregano and brown sugar-crusted lamb with cheddar corn cake and broccolini

Telluride Season Pass Sale

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Record turnout likely at 3-day Telluride fest

Record turnout likely at 3-day Telluride fest

By Bret Saunders

The idyllic surroundings are part of the Telluride Jazz Celebration's appeal, which will be held Aug. 6-8. (Denver Post file )

Over the past 20 years, Paul Machado has really learned how to put together a party in the mountains. That's how long he's served as executive director of the Telluride Jazz Celebration, and he's become expert at figuring out ways to bring the most acclaimed musicians in the business to the remote mountain community for a three-day blowout.

"It is a tough place to put on a festival," he admits. "There are more than 400 jazz festivals across the country, and it has its difficulties. And jazz is a small market."

Still, through the sheer appeal of the music being presented and the idyllic surroundings, Machado expects to break attendance records for this year's celebration, which will be staged all over town Aug. 6-8. He predicts about 3,000 attendees over the course of the weekend, which is sparse for a rock festival but considered successful for a festival of this scope.

Past visitors will notice that the celebration has been moved back to August after experimenting with June dates last year. Machado explains that it's advantageous to hold it later in the summer, especially when it comes to booking talent.

"Artists are getting back from the European festivals (in August). It's a business of routing schedules. And I wanted there to be something for everybody."

This year's lineup has an "eclecticness" about it, according to Machado: Bassist and fusion pioneer Stanley Clarke will bring his band to Telluride Town Park, featuring rising piano star Hiromi. Pianist and composer Toshiko Akiyoshi will be the 2010 guest of honor, and she'll perform with an orchestra and a quartet, featuring her husband, saxophone great Lew Tabackin.

Festival favorites like guitarist Larry Coryell (who will be joined by saxophonist Karl Denson) and organist Lonnie Smith will appear. Denver artists Dianne Reeves, Hazel Miller and the Bob Montgomery- Al Herman Sextet will represent the Front Range, and Machado has booked the funk-drenched Greyboy Allstars and inventive guitarist Charlie Hunter to help entice followers of the rock group Phish to attend on the final day. Phish arrives in Telluride for a run of shows soon after the jazz celebration concludes.

Machado is upbeat when discussing the festival in spite of its many logistical challenges, and it's obvious that he is as much a jazz devotee as he is an organizer. He does admit that the town's 8,700-foot altitude has been a rare problem for a few performers not accustomed to the thinner air.

"It makes some people sick. You never know," he says. "But the older artists (who have played in a lot of different environments) tend to know better."

The 34th Telluride Jazz Celebration, Aug. 6-8. Ticket prices range from $49 for daily park passes to $165 for "all access" passes. Lodging and camping available. Get information at telluridejazz.org.

Phish Telluride After Shows

TINY UNIVERSE SUBSUMES ROCKIES!

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe will hit the Telluride Conference Center for two very special shows after the Phish concerts in Town Park on August 9th and 10th. This will be an 11:30pm show with doors to open an hour prior (Phish will end at 11pm latest). The Gondola will be running for free all night to accommodate concertgoers and there will be a full bar at the venue. Tickets will go on-sale at 10am MST through fan club ticketing at karldenson.com. There will also be cash tickets available at Telluride Music located at 201 East Colorado in downtown this Friday while they last. This show will be all ages and additional Telluride ticketing outlets may be announced soon.

Come on, you know you wanna get down with the get down with these guys!

KDTU by Rob Chapman

GO! ROAD TRIP: Destination Telluride

GO! ROAD TRIP: Destination Telluride

WARREN EPSTEIN

THE GAZETTE

TELLURIDE • Like Aspen, this former mining town-turned-hippy hangout in the 1970s has become a magnet for the rich and famous.

But unlike Aspen, Telluride has retained its flip-flops-hippy vibe, and while it can be a playground for the rich, they let the rest of us play there, too.

Once the skis and snowboards get packed away, Telluride turns to festivals, some fun regional affairs (there’s a mushroom festival — see, hippies still rule), others world-class (including the film and bluegrass festivals.)

Located in a gorgeous, red-hued box canyon in the San Juans, the town feels isolated and happening — the center of a very cool universe, where the culture you’d expect to find in a huge city somehow flourishes.

The old-time Western downtown, a National Landmark Historic District, invites strolling with a tremendous assortment of cafés, shops and galleries.

If you’re looking for more Aspenlike chic, take the free gondola to the Mountain Village, a newer resort area on the other side of the ski hill. You also can take your bike in the gondola and have some wicked fun speeding down the ski runs and bike trails.

Your experience of Telluride can be natural, cheap and roughing it, or as elegant and pampered as you can afford. Some of the best trips incorporate a bit of both.

 

THE BIG FESTIVALS

The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the Big Kahuna of Planet Bluegrass’ schedule, is like Woodstock with banjos. It draws about 30,000 people each year into Town Park for a four-day party. Traditional bluegrassers, such as the Del McCoury Band and Ralph Stanley, mix with such popsters as James Taylor, Lyle Lovett and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Camp if you’re into all-night musical parties.

This summer’s festival ran June 17-20.

bluegrass.com

 

The Telluride Jazz Celebration started as “that other” Telluride music festival but is growing into one of the premier jazz events in the West. Like Bluegrass, the Jazz Celebration gives nods to the traditional while mixing in plenty of other influences — pop, blues, African and Latin jazz music.

This year’s festival runs Aug. 6-8.

telluridejazz.org

 

The Telluride Film Festival gets a thumbs up from Roger Ebert, who calls it his favorite film festival in the world. I have to agree. I love Sundance, but Telluride’s better. Sure, the setting is stunning. But it’s the great cinematic taste of the organizers that wows me every year. Telluride premiered “Cinema Paradiso,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Juno,” “My Dinner With Andre,” and so many other wonderful mainstream and art-house films. The lineup isn’t announced until the week of the festival, but regular attendees book months head, expecting quirky, dark, enlightening, disturbing, uplifting and brilliant works.

The festival runs Sept. 3-6 at various venues downtown and in Mountain Village.

telluridefilmfestival.org

 

A HIKE

Bridal Veil Falls, on the east end of the canyon, provides a moderate hike with a terrific payoff. The hike begins about 2 miles east of town on a jeep trail. A 30-minute hike up the switchbacks will get you to the bottom of the 365-foot cascade, the highest in Colorado. It’s great to cool off by standing on the banks of the stream, getting wet from the spray. If you want to go farther up, another 30 minutes or so will take you to the top of the falls, where you’ll find a pump station that provides about a quarter of Telluride’s electricity.

 

 

BEDS

Few resort areas in the West have the quantity and quality of lodging options that Telluride has, and it keeps getting better. Here are a couple of great choices (and keep in mind that rates vary wildly depending on how big the festival that’s going on at the time is):

 

The New Sheridan Hotel

231 W. Colorado ave., 1-970-728-4351; newsheridan.com

The Sheridan has always won the Miss Congeniality Award for its character, but a recent $6 million renovation has launched her into beauty queen status. Walk into the lobby, which looks much as it did when it was built in 1895, and it feels like you’re walking onto the Titanic. You know, but without the iceberg. Rates are about $169-$249.

 

Capella Telluride

568 Mountain Village Blvd., 1-970-369-0880; capellatelluride.com

If you’re looking for the luxurious European-style spa vacation, this new resort in Mountain Village is hard to beat. Rates run $195-$1,281.

 

BITE

 

Rustico Ristorante

114 E. Colorado Ave., 1-970-728-4046; rusticoristo rante.com

When you’re in Telluride and you’re looking to indulge, you have many great and pricey options. This one’s our favorite: authentic northern and southern Italian dishes served in a dining room that balances American contemporary with Old World charm. The enclosed veranda in back is about the most romantic spot on the planet.

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/telluride-101910-destination-roadtrip.html#ixzz0uWluRucJ

Michael Ondaatje Selected As Telluride Film Festival’s Guest Director

Michael Ondaatje Selected As Telluride Film Festival’s Guest
Director

Celebrated writer and film enthusiast Michael Ondaatje has been
selected as the 2010 Telluride Film Festival Guest Director. Ondaatje,
best known for his Booker Prize winning novel “The English Patient,”
will select and present a series of films at the festival this fall. The
slate is kept secret until Opening Day, September 3, and Festival
Director Gary Meyers promises that “Michael’s choices will present
audiences with an enthralling program of surprises and discoveries.”

Telluride: Home sales slowly improving

Telluride: Home sales slowly improving





May sales up 155 percent from last year
By Kathrine Warren
Staff Reporter - Telluride Daily Planet


Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 8:10 AM CDT


With economic news all over the map these
days — mortgage rates are at an all time low, the stock market has
dipped once again and the world’s leading countries agreed at the G20
summit to cut back on spending — it’s a good sign to see Telluride’s
economy improving, slowly but surely.

Take San Miguel County’s
real estate data from the month of May, for example.

“We’re
continuing to see steady activity which was initiated at the beginning
of the year,” said Sally Puff Courtney, a broker with Peaks Real Estate.
“There is continued interest and movement in our markets.”

According
to numbers compiled by Telluride Consulting, there were 28 real estate
sales in May worth $33.7 million. That’s a 155 percent increase in the
number of sales and 165 percent increase in dollar volume from last May.


“I’m actually surprised, and pleasantly so, that the market is
up so nicely,” said real estate broker George Harvey. “That’s better
than what I thought it’d be.”

In May 2009, there were only 11
sales worth $12.7 million.

Harvey, who is also the president of
the Colorado Association of Realtors, is a numbers guy. He compares
local numbers with economic reports from across the state, and thinks
Telluride’s real estate market is on the road to recovery and doing much
better than other resort communities in Colorado.

“Steamboat and
Telluride are recovering faster than any other market in Colorado,” he
said.

He’s not exactly sure why Telluride is doing better than
other resorts, but suggested that in this small economy a small upturn
makes a big difference.

“We’re a pretty small economy, and we
went down faster than [Aspen and Vail] did, and we’re coming back faster
because fewer sales affect us more,” Harvey said.


Telluride’s real estate market is unique because most buyers
are second and third homebuyers and generally don’t take out loans to
buy their properties — a characteristic found in a lot of resort
communities.

“The affluent resort markets are very different than
big city markets,” Harvey said. “We have all this wealth here that
somewhat stabilizes the market.”

However, that doesn’t mean
resort communities weren’t affected by the economic downturn of the last
18 months.

“We’re subject to the whims of the global economy and
the affluent and if they feel comfortable making a business decision,”
Harvey said.

Harvey estimates that home prices are down 20 to 40
percent from 2006 and 2007 when they peaked, turning the market into a
buyers’ market.

Sellers are either holding onto properties to see
if things improve, or they are dropping prices to get buyers’
attention.

“It’s been a good year for buyers,” Harvey said.

Jill
Masters, a broker associate on the Telluride Association of Realtors’
board of directors, said there are a lot of people in town looking at
properties, but this year isn’t anywhere near the banner years of 2006
and 2007.

“But compared to 2009, it’s very encouraging,” she
said.

She said Telluride is largely in a holding pattern for the
rest of the summer because people are either holding out for good prices
or the low-priced properties have already been purchased.

“People
are holding because as a seller they want to get their price or as a
buyer they’re waiting for their price deal,” she said.

However,
she was cautiously optimistic.

“In the Town of Telluride, there’s
a lot of good product for sale at prices we haven’t seen in 10 years,”
Masters said. “Because we are a limited product here, Telluride will
always hold its own as far as value.”

Courtney said homebuyers
are still looking for a good value and choosing where to invest their
money.

“People are still interested in their quality of life,”
Courtney said. “The beautiful thing about real estate is you can use it
and enjoy it and it doesn’t evaporate like stock.”

Sexy new blonde Bentley caught sunbathing topless in Telluride, Colorado

Sexy new blonde Bentley caught sunbathing
topless in Telluride, Colorado




It wasn't all that long ago that we
had a hot four day fling with the 2010 Bentley Continental Suspersports.With
a twin turbo W-12 6.0L engine that produces 621 HP, the Bentley is
certainly ready to rock your world. Luckily, our passionate love affair
also included a one day ménage à trois with a Cadillac CTS-V.You
can watch that steamy video HERE.





But just when we thought we had found our true love, or is it lust?
It looks like the Bentley Suspersports we tested has an even hotter and
certainly...shall be say more hotter extroverted sister.This
weekend the blonde beauty, unlike her crimson sister, was caught on
camera topless in Telluride, Colorado sunbathing.And yes...we've
got these salacious photos to prove it.

Starting at about $280,000 the
topless Bentley is anything but cheap.But for your hard earn
money you get the world's fastest Bentley ever...and if you're not
partial to blondes we suspect the a little bit of jazzier color can be
had at your local Bentley dealership...Colorado mountains not included.Wink...wink.
Nudge...nudge....see photo below:


The topless Bentley Continental
Suspersports goes on sale this summer. http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b18a69e20134850da85c970c

Telluride resident Richard Thorpe recognized as Ski Instructor of the Year

Ski
Instructor extraordinaire Richard Thorpe was recently honored with the
"Ski/Snowboard Instructor of the Year" award by Colorado Ski Country USA
at the 47th CSCUSA Annual Meeting held on June 10, 2010. The Double
Diamonds Awards Dinner took place at the Denver Center for Performing
Arts Complex in downtown Denver.

"I am truly honored to receive this award from Colorado Ski Country,"
said Thorpe. "It is so nice to be recognized amongst my peers and the
industry as ‘Instructor of the Year'".

Thorpe
trying to contain his excitement as pro snowboarder and Olympian
Gretchen Bleiler hands over his award

Adding to the honor for Thorpe was the celebrity presenter of the
award. Planet
Earth "Eco Athlete" and hottie snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler took to
the mic to name Thorpe as the winner, resulting in him immediately
falling into cardiac arrest before a speech could be made. It took 14
paramedics to revive Thorpe and 13 of those paramedics asked Gretchen
for her number. The lone holdout asked where she got her shoes...

Originally hailing from California, Thorpe began his teaching career
at Snoqualmie Summit, Washington, just outside of Seattle. He then spent
11 years teaching at Taos before moving to Telluride in 2000. Richard is a certified PSIA Level
III Alpine instructor, and is accredited as both a basic freestyle and
children's instructor as well as being a Telluride ski school staff
trainer.

"We have one of the leading ski and snowboard
schools in the country, and we are thrilled Richard is a part of our
staff," said Telluride Ski Resort CEO Dave Riley. "We are proud of
Richard's achievements."

Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) is the not-for-profit trade
association that represents 22 Colorado ski & snowboard resorts.
CSCUSA is the worldwide voice of the Colorado ski industry, as the
association functions to provide an outlet for the marketing and public
relations efforts of these fine resorts.

The No. 1 rule at Telluride

TELLURIDE, Colo. — Telluride is a town that doesn't live by the rules.
Or, to phrase it differently, rules are not a big part of life there.

A
bluegrass band playing on a downtown street corner till 3 a.m.? Sure —
just make sure it's good picking. And last weekend, at the luxurious but
laid-back Capella Telluride Hotel, when I asked when checkout time was,
the accommodating response was, “Checkout time is whatever time you
would like it to be.”

But there is one inviolable rule that
Telluride lives by: You don't miss the last gondola back to Mountain
Village. I learned the consequences of that rule by, of course, breaking
it.

Seems J., my running partner for the weekend, and I were
having too good a time at the Sheridan Opera House Saturday night,
taking in a NightGrass concert, part of the bigger Telluride Bluegrass
Festival. J. was inebriated, but I can't claim such a solid excuse. I
was just spacey and stupid, half expecting the band would announce from
the stage when it was 1:45 a.m., and that all gondola riders should head
for the exits.

By the time I realized no such announcement was
coming, it was after 2. We hustled out, but by the time we biked to the
gondola station, we were screwed. Last gondola is at 2 sharp (midnight
when Bluegrass isn't in town). We tried taxi companies; none seemed to
be in operation. I floated the idea of finding a party to crash — it
seemed like an easy proposition — sitting on a couch, drinking a beer
and enjoying some bluegrass till we fell asleep. Or ducking back into
the Opera House and finding a dark corner till 7 a.m., when the gondola
got rolling again.

Not on the table of options: hiking up the
mountain (nearly 2,000 feet vertical, I was told) or biking (a 10-mile
ride, up steep hills).

Instead, J. called the hotel and persuaded
the lone overnight employee to pick us up, which involved 1, going to
get his own car; and 2, convincing the overnight guy at a neighboring
hotel to cover him for a half-hour. When he arrived to pick up our
sorry, chilly butts, he was understanding and kind. We got into a
well-informed discussion of mountaineering films. (I recommended “North
Face”; we agreed “The Edge of Never” was top-notch.)

We got into
bed at 4:15 a.m., and when I woke, five hours later, I was given the
good news about the easygoing checkout policy. Rarely have I been so
pleased to be reminded of Telluride's casual approach to rules.

Stewart Oksenhorn
The
Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado