Before opening his restaurant in Evergreen, Travis Smith cooked at ski resorts and competed at the Olympic level in culinary arts.
, competed on the U.S. military culinary team and has won numerous awards and titles from the American Culinary Federation, including Chef of the Year, and will be a judge at the Colorado regional competitions this March.
“Having the competition experience as a chef translates to being competitive, being an entrepreneur and trying to survive,” he said.
He is one of a handful of chefs who have brought their high level of experience to the palates of the people of Evergreen.
While it’s not a bustling metropolitan dining scene, and it faces challenges like the spring ski season that draws locals out of town to mountain resorts, Evergreen does seem to be supporting these higher-end dining options.
“We had our best year ever last year, increased (business) 30 percent,” said Jim Sylvester, general manager of Keys on the Green, the restaurant at Evergreen Golf Course.
Sylvester credits the arrival of new ownership three years ago and an overall revamp of the restaurant’s interior and menu, as well as chef Chris O’Brien, who has led kitchens at the Isle of Capri in Black Hawk, the Hyatt Regency and some of his own restaurants.
Betsy Hays, president of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce said the community embraces restaurants with chefs and owners who connect with their customers.
“What’s great about Evergreen is all the businesses here, people know the owners and that’s what folks like about it, that is what keeps businesses successful,” she said.
Brian William Bailey started cooking at Wildflower Cafe in 1993. After an international tour of sorts, honing his culinary skills after working with chefs at top caterers in London and the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, he returned to Evergreen to open his own restaurant.
He has been chef-owner of the Bistro at Marshdale since 2007 and said the French-Italian fine-dining restaurant — in a circa-1923 cabin shared with Bears Inn Bed and Breakfast — has seen 25 percent growth for the past three years.
“Giving people options and making sure they feel a sense of value” helped the restaurant survive through the Great Recession, Bailey said, which hit just months after they opened. He offered a three-course “stimulus menu” that he said won back the hearts of regulars, who knew the restaurant in its pre-Bailey incarnations.
Bailey credits the success of his restaurant to a two-year federally funded coaching program with .
“That catapulted us into an area of business expertise we didn’t know existed,” he said.
Willow Creek Restaurant owner Curtis Lincoln opened his Evergreen Lake-side restaurant in 2009 after working at restaurants in New York City, Vail and the Brown Palace. He is also a return resident of Evergreen, where his grandmother lived.
— finding quality staff who can afford to live in or commute to his location — and is therefore closed two days a week. But he is optimistic and recently welcomed the return of chef Mart Steinke, who helped him open Willow Creek and has since worked at Denver hot spot Linger.
He said his restaurant draws a lot of customers — about 60 percent of his business — from the Denver area.
“All of Evergreen has become a nice Denver getaway,” he said.
Lincoln credits the Evergreen community and its lifestyle for drawing the top talent to the area.
“I’ve become different about my perspective on chefs working 15 hours a day and neglecting family,” he said. “You can still be driven and not do those things” in Evergreen.
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or @JosieKlemaier
