During our time in Steamboat Springs, we had spent some time along Yampa Street, the street that ran along the Yampa River in the downtown area. We had passed a large building next to the mountain stream a few times that just had an "E3" on the front of it. We knew it had to be a restaurant, but really didn't know what kind of a restaurant it was. We looked it up on-line when we went back to our hotel and found out that it was an upscale steakhouse that had patio dining next to the babbling stream that was the Yampa River. My wife decided she wanted to give the place a try and we made reservations on Open Table for 2 at E3 Chophouse.
Dave LaRoche was a Major League Baseball pitcher for 14 seasons for six different teams ending up with a respectable 65-58 career record. After hanging up his glove, LaRoche became a coach for a handful of teams at both the major league and minor league levels. During his off-seasons, he called Fort Scott, KS his home where he raised a daughter from his first marriage and three boys from his second - Jeff, Andy and Adam. Dave LaRoche helped his brother-in-law Dave Regan build Fort Scott High School into one of the top high school baseball programs, not only in Kansas, but in the nation. All three LaRoche boys played baseball at Fort Scott High School and all three were eventually drafted by major league teams.
Jeff LaRoche pitched in the minor leagues and was on the roster of the Colorado Rockies during spring training in 2003 until he was released just before the season started. But Andy LaRoche and Adam LaRoche both made it to the major leagues - Andy was an infielder with 3 major league teams in the early 2000's, while Adam was a 12-year MLB veteran first baseman for six teams over his career. At one point in their careers, Andy and Adam both played in the same infield for the Pittsburgh Pirates for parts of two seasons. (Adam LaRoche famously retired from baseball in 2016 during spring training in a dispute with the Chicago White Sox over the amount of time the Sox wanted LaRoche's son to spend in the locker room during the season. He left behind a $13 million dollar annual contract when he walked away from the game.)
Jeff LaRoche became a member of the ski patrol at Vail after his retirement from baseball, but ended up on the police force in Glenwood Springs, CO for four years. Wanting to get back to a ski resort town, Jeff LaRoche became a member of the Steamboat Springs police department in 2009. Andy LaRoche had effectively retired from baseball after the 2013 season and had moved to Steamboat Springs, as well, and Adam LaRoche went back to Fort Scott full time when he retired in 2016.
Even though the LaRoche boys had grown up in Fort Scott, they were never far from the farms and ranches that ringed the town. Adam LaRoche had actually worked on farms during his high school years, but didn't care for the raising of crops as much as he enjoyed the raising of beef cattle. In 2004, Adam bought some pasture land and started to raise Black Angus beef on a ranch he called "E3 Ranch". (The name of the ranch is a nod to LaRoche's career as a first baseman and a self-deprecating way of the acknowledgement of committing an error during play is scored "E3".) He found that much of the beef available on the market was full of antibiotics, hormones and were grain-fed for better flavor with marbling. He wanted to raise cattle the natural way and use the land to fatten them up. He eventually came up with the idea of a new way to raise and market hormone and antibiotic-free cattle and he called his venture E3 Meats. LaRoche began to market much of his meat to other major league ballplayers who were looking for lean, naturally-raised beef to give them a dietary edge. Soon, E3 Meats were selling and shipping their beef all over the United States.
Adam LaRoche was also an avid outdoorsman and he parlayed his love for deer hunting into recurring appearances on Buck Commander on the Outdoor Channel which has had episodes filmed on the E3 Ranch. In addition to LaRoche, the show also stars Willie Robertson (one of the Robertson family members from the popular virtual reality show Duck Dynasty on the A&E Network), as well as country music stars Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. The Adam and Andy LaRoche would join their brother Jeff in Steamboat for vacations, skiing and hunting. Robertson, Aldean and Bryan would sometimes join the LaRoche brothers in Steamboat for hunting trips in the area.
It was about six years ago when the LaRoche brothers decided to invest in a steakhouse in Steamboat Springs to bring more awareness to the E3 brand of grass-fed beef. They took over the spot along the Yampa River in downtown Steamboat Springs, heavily renovated the building and opened E3 Chophouse in late December 2013. Along with Robertson, Aldean and Bryan doing flash marketing during events by wearing E3 branded hats and shirts, the E3 brand has gotten a lot of notice. And word has it that the LaRoche's are looking to extend the E3 Chophouse brand to Nashville, possibly by early next year.
We found a parking spot on Yampa Street, just down from E3 Chophouse. (see map) We walked in at our reservation time of 7 p.m., but it turned out that we really didn't need the reservation as the place was about half full. The hostess asked if we wanted indoor or outdoor seating. Looking around the inside part of the restaurant, we found a space that featured sort of a contemporary Western rustic decor. The spacious dining area circled around a large curved bar that featured a number of spirits on the back bar along with flat screen televisions on the wall. It was nice and cozy in the dining room and we weighed that as a seated option for a moment.
It was a sort of cool evening, but there were pole heaters on the patio. It was my wife's choice since she's the one who gets cold quickly, but she opted for patio seating over the inside dining area. We were seated at a metal-mesh table along the building side of the patio, but you could still see - and hear - the rushing waters of the Yampa just beyond the patio. We were given menus and a wine list to look over.
After a bit, our server for the evening, a striking young lady by the name of Lyfe (how's that for a Colorado mountain name?) came over to greet us. I had to ask her twice what she said her name was and how she spelled it. It turned out that her mother had once lived in Fairfield, IA - home of Maharishi International University (now known as Maharishi University of Management or MUM) - where she studied to be a deep-tissue masseuse and a phlebotomist. (Once again, it was sort of hard to hear out on the patio with the water babbling in the background. I thought Lyfe had told us her mother was a lobotomist - a person who takes out parts of people's brains rather than someone who draws blood from people.) She was very friendly and open with us as she told us that she had just moved to Steamboat Springs a couple months prior from her hometown of Colorado Springs. (She gave us a wonderful tip on a brewpub that we eventually visited when we went to Colorado Springs later that week.)
Steaks were the main item on the menu, but they also featured a pan-seared duck breast, Colorado-raised lamb chops, a grilled pork chop and a seafood cioppino with clams, Prince Edward Island mussels, shrimp, and a seasonal fish in a tomato saffron broth. Appetizers included bacon-wrapped goat cheese-stuffed dates, a white cheddar and asiago cheese fondue served with pretzel bread, and cured meat and cheese charcuterie board.
I was about ready to order a bottle of the El Enimego malbec wine from Argentina for the two of us, but then Lyfe gave us the dinner specials for the evening. One included halibut pan-fried in truffle oil and that made my wife rethink her initial decision of going with the lamb chops. They had a number of choices of wine by the glass and I told her that if she wanted the seafood, I could always just get a glass of red wine because I was definitely going for the beef tenderloin filet.
Before dinner we got a wedge salad to share. It was a cool chunk of iceberg lettuce topped with heirloom tomato wedges, blue cheese crumbles and a ranch dressing. We were also given a metal basket of fresh baked bread with - if I remember correctly - two different types of flavored butter. Or maybe the butter wasn't flavored at all. In any event, both the wedge salad and the fresh baked bread were a wonderful start to the meal.
While we were eating our salad and bread, we witnessed a minor commotion at a table across from us where the people were served something wrong. The lady carried on in a loud fashion - in was somewhat embarrassing - so much so that the manager had to come over to placate both her and her husband. They appeared to be regulars as the woman pulled the "we come in here all the time" card and the manager acknowledged that they did. The manager was quick on the spot to address the problem and take care of it - the sign of great customer service.
My wife ended up getting the halibut special that evening. It was a nice-sized cut of fresh seafood topped with julienned beets. A vegetable medley came on the side with a vegetable puree on the side. She got a glass of the house pinot grigio to go along with her meal. My wife thought the halibut was outstanding - light, flaky and without a hint of fishy taste. The truffle oil in which the halibut was pan-seared gave it an exquisite flavor on the outside.
Now, before I get into my meal, I just want to say that they must have been having problems in the kitchen that evening. Another table near us had a problem that the manager had to address while we were having our meal. The food was not cooked to the liking of the patron, but he wasn't as vocal about it as the couple next to us. The manager took his plate away, came back with another plate later and that must have been fine after that.
So, here's my story...
I went with the 8 ounce grass-fed beef tenderloin filet. And I ordered it rare, as I normally do. It, too, was topped with julienned beets and I got an au poivre pepper sauce on the side. Sides that were available for entrees were extra and included lobster mac & cheese, sweet potato au gratin, asparagus in a béarnaise sauce, and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. I ended up getting a side of the marsala-glazed sautéed mushrooms. And I got a glass of the Antigal Uno malbec wine to go with the meal.
The presentation looked wonderful. The dish was garnished with what appeared to be a balsamic demi-glaze and the same pureed vegetable my wife had. The was going to be a great meal, I thought.
But when I cut into my steak, it was woefully overcooked. It was nowhere close to being rare - it was more medium to medium-well. Still, it had some good flavor and the steak was tender. But it was not cooked the way I wanted. I said to my wife that I would just eat it and not make a fuss as it appeared they were having problems in the kitchen that evening.
I continued to eat the steak, but when Lyfe came over to check on us she asked how everything tasted. My wife said she loved her halibut, but I pointed out to Lyfe that my steak was overcooked. She immediately apologized and I told her not to worry about it. It was still a good steak. She offered to comp us our dessert, but I told her that we probably weren't going to get dessert that evening. But I did say that I'd take another glass of wine on the house and that would be fine.
I had eaten nearly 3/4's of the steak when the manager appeared. He had another 8 ounce filet on a plate with him. He tried to set it down in front of me and I immediately waved him off. "No, no, no," I protested in an anguished tone. "I told her this was fine. I've already eaten most of it." When he continued to try to offer me the steak, I said, "Look, I've screwed up my own steaks at home. It's not the end of the world." Besides, there was no way that I would be able to eat what I had already eaten AND the 8 ounce steak he presented to me.
I felt bad that he had to take the steak back, but my wife was completely impressed that they tried to make a perceived wrong right. "That IS good customer service," she remarked.
"Yeah," I countered somewhat solemnly. "But he really didn't have to assume that I wanted the steak he brought. Still, it was a very nice gesture."
When we were finished with our meal - and after Lyfe tried to coax us into dessert one last time - she brought the check out to me. She said, "We took your steak off your bill, just so you know." I told her that she didn't need to do that - it was a $48 steak - but I certainly appreciated the gesture. Now, I usually tip servers on the amount of the meal BEFORE tax and with everything we got minus the steak the meal came to $113 bucks before tax. I added up the extra $48 bucks for the steak the manager took off the bill and I paid her what amounted to about a 22% tip on $161. As I told my wife, "The right thing to do in this instance is to tip the server for what the bill would have been and not what it ended up being."
It was quite obvious that E3 Chophouse was having some problems the evening we visited them. But the manager was quick to rectify the situation with the diners near us before he tried to give me a second tenderloin filet to make up for the overcooked one that was originally served to me. But I had already eaten a good portion of it - even overcooked to my liking - and it was still good. My wife completely enjoyed her pan-seared halibut and the wedge salad we shared along with the fresh baked bread we had before the meal were delicious. And we can't say enough about our server with a great Colorado name - Lyfe - who was helpful in her suggestions on the menu, as well as her tips for other places to go during our travels across the state. Even though it wasn't the perfect meal for us and it was on the pricey side of what we like to spend for a meal, E3 Chophouse was still good enough that when we go back to Steamboat Springs we will go there again for a meal.
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