In February, the Michelin Guide announced that it would expand its reach across Colorado, awarding its coveted stars and recognition to restaurants from the Front Range to the Western Slope. Until now, that recognition was restricted to Denver, Boulder, Aspen, Vail, Beaver Creek and Snowmass Village — much to the chagrin of restaurants in other cities.
Still, there was plenty of buzz around the restaurants that made the list. Last year, Colorado earned its first two-Michelin-starred restaurant with The Wolf’s Tailor, along with three new one-star restaurants with Mezcaleria Alma, Kizaki and Margot.
But when the fourth edition of the Colorado guide is released, likely in September, some far-flung eateries in towns from Crested Butte to Lyons, Breckenridge to Grand Junction, have the potential to join the conversation. Here are five with potential.
Soupçon in Crested Butte
Tucked inside a historic wood cabin dating back to the 1880s, Soupçon first opened in the 1970s and has anchored Crested Butte’s fine dining scene ever since. Over the past 50 years, the French-inspired restaurant has changed hands many times. In its latest iteration, chef-owner John Leonardi, who has lived in this ski town — 3.5 hours from Denver — for nearly 16 years, helms the intimate nine-table dining room, bringing a refined approach to its French roots.
“Classic French cooking can get pretty heavy,” said Leonardi. “My approach has been to make things a little lighter, and also add a small dash of Italian from my background.”
The hyperseasonal menu is largely influenced by what Leonardi and his team can find at nearly 9,000 feet. When we were there, Leonardi served pink banana squash bisque with a decadent duck confit and Gruyère croquette nestled in the center. That was followed by expertly prepared diver scallops flown in from Maine that morning, and Canadian elk tenderloin that avoided overly gamey notes. The meal finished with a delicate crème brûlée, its crisp sugar shell giving way to a silky custard underneath.
“The way I was taught is to use the ingredient and show it off the best you can,” Leonardi said. “You might have a great idea, and it works for a few days, but then the productap gone. So itap like, alright, whatap the pivot?”
The beverage program is equally thoughtful, with an ambitious wine list curated by wine director Joel Grill, who frequently travels to Europe to find primo bottles.
The attentive service is as detail-driven as Soupçon’s menu, something Leonardi and Grill pride themselves on. Both started in 2011, Grill as a dishwasher and Leonardi as a sous chef under then-owner Jason Vernon. For five years, Leonardi built on his experience at the Culinary Institute of America and absorbed Vernon’s classical technique before buying the business in 2019.
“There’s a strong history of Crested Butte as a ski town, with people providing hospitality for decades,” Leonardi said. “I’m just trying to do my best to take it to the next level with the training and the opportunities that I’ve had.”
127 Elk Ave. A, Crested Butte; soupconcb.com
Rootstalk (and Radicato) in Breckenridge
If Soupçon represents longevity and refinement, Rootstalk and Radicato in Breckenridge offer a more modern take on Rocky Mountain fine dining.
After more than a decade working with Denver James Beard award-winning chef Alex Seidel (Mercantile, Fruition, Chook Chicken), Summit County native Matt Vawter opened his flagship restaurant, Rootstalk, in 2020. Housed in a quaint late-1800s Victorian home, the fine-dining establishment strikes a balance between polish and approachability. Clad in earth tones, leather booths, and brick walls, the two-level space makes diners feel like they’re at an old friend’s place.
Vawter’s premise is to connect diners to the farmers and producers behind the food, resulting in a menu that changes nearly every month. The options lean New American in style with a focus on seasonality, meticulous technique, and dishes that showcase the bounty of Colorado’s terroir. When we visited, the squash tartine, fried oysters topped with caviar, housemade mushroom agnolotti and scallops were all standouts. There’s also an extensive wine list and notably well-balanced cocktails like the “Beets of Strength,” made with gin, beets, Alpine amaro, honey and lemon.
Expanding on his vision, Vawter debuted his “mountain Italian” concept, Radicato, in 2022. It is rooted in tradition but filtered through Colorado’s seasons, and the menu features housemade pastas, fresh bread and regionally driven dishes like Hayden Farms (Routt County) pork collar and salads with produce from Esoterra Farms (Boulder County).
Rootstalk and Radicato simultaneously showcase Vawter’s dynamic range and distinct point of view — something the James Beard awards recognized in 2024 when they gave him the prize for Best Chef: Mountain category.
Rootstalk, 207 N. Main St., Breckenridge; rootstalkbreck.com. Radicato, 137 S. Main St., Breckenridge; radicatobreck.com.
Marigold in Lyons
On the other side of the mountains, chef Theo Adley has put Lyons on Colorado’s culinary map with his intimate European bistro, Marigold, which opened four years ago.
“Marigold is a restaurant that I’ve had in my heart for a really long time, and we finally got the opportunity to put it up in Lyons,” said Adley, a longtime Colorado chef who has lived in Boulder for the last two decades.
His ever-shifting menu is guided as much by intuition as it is by technique, and Adley describes the cuisine as firmly rooted in traditional French fare, with a bit of Spanish and Italian influence as well. “We take our creative liberties,” he said. “I’m very much inspired by our ingredients, the prima materia that we get from the farms and the ranches and the fishermen.”
Some creative takes include a Caesar salad that swaps croutons for puffed wild rice and anchovies for shaved bonito flakes and gin-washed trout roe; or a celeriac parmigiana that reimagines traditional chicken parmigiana as a vegetarian plate featuring celery root and carrots tossed in brown butter and sage. There are also lesser-seen cuts like wagyu beef collar alongside more composed dishes like the deeply flavorful farfalle with confit rabbit, a nod to Adley’s previous life as a pasta lead at Frasca Food and Wine.
The wine list, curated by sommelier Eric Bronson, focuses on small European producers from regions like Jura, Savoie and Sicily rather than heavy hitters from California or big-name wine regions. “We don’t go too deep on the big-ticket California wines,” Adley shared. “We try to do our best to not only educate the guests, but also educate ourselves and our staff.”
“We’re not trying to be the best at anything,” he added. “We are trying to be the favorite. ‘This is my favorite restaurant,’ is all I want to hear” from diners.
This spring, Adley plans to return to Denver to open a second restaurant, Heretik, at 1441 26th St. It will specialize in the cuisine of northeastern Spain and Southern France, with a raw bar and a rotisserie chicken.
Bin 707 Foodbar in Grand Junction
“The honor is absolutely amazing. The category is a completely surreal category.” Those were the words of Josh Niernberg, head chef and owner of Bin 707 Foodbar, when he reached the semi-finals in March for Best Chef in the James Beard awards.
Of course, Niernberg has been nominated for other Beard awards in the past, at least four times, actually, for his 17-year-old Grand Junction restaurant, which is known for serving bison and elk, not to mention dishes made from the blue corn grown by Ute Mountain Ute farmers. Bin 707 was also recognized by the New York Times in 2025 as one of the 50 best restaurants in the U.S.
Niernberg “goes for playful, even risky, flavor combinations, and you will wonder if he can pull them off,” the publication wrote then. “Itap just a magnetic restaurant, with the most stylish dining room this side of the Rockies, or at least on the Western Slope.”
400 Main St. in Grand Junction; bin707.com
Pêche in Palisade
Matt and Ashley Chasseur already had significant experience in the world of fine dining when they moved to Colorado in 2019 and opened Peche, with Matt in the kitchen and Ashley in the front of the house. But their goal was to be much more approachable both with the atmosphere and their food — a restaurant that paired well with the laid back vibes of the Western Slope’s wine country in the sme way that French Laundry pairs with the high-priced glitz of Napa Valley. It worked — because not only did Pêche garner attention throughout Colorado, but it also earned a James Beard nomination in 2023.
The menu can change seasonally and intra-seasonally, and while it might include cuisines from anywhere in the world, the kitchen tries to use local ingredients. Starters right now include “Chips & Dip,” with salmon, trout roe and Yukon Gold potatoes; buratta with Balsamic, fig and fresh-baked sourdough, and foie gras with peaches and brioche. Current entrees include moo shu duck with hoisin sauce; American ribeye with pomme frites, pesto and charred lettuce; and pineapple fried rice.
336 Main St., Palisade; pecherestaurantcolorado.com
