During our vacation out in Steamboat Springs, my wife had noticed a place that first intrigued her when we were out there a couple years prior. It was a modern looking corner restaurant with a front patio along the Yampa Street restaurant row by the name of Carl's Tavern. It looked much nicer than what I would classify as a tavern, and a quick look on-line to learn more about it showed that it was an upscale whiskey bar and restaurant. We decided to give it a try and have dinner one evening at Carl's Tavern.
The "Carl" behind the restaurant's name is Carl Howelsen, the man who brought ski jumping to America. Known as Karl Hovelsen when he immigrated from Norway in 1905, he Americanized his name and soon was performing with the Ringling Brothers Circus dazzling people with his jumps off wooden ramps. After about five years, Howelsen wanted to get back to his roots as a world champion cross country snow skier and jumper. He took off for Colorado and found the mountains around Steamboat Springs to be similar to the ones he used to traverse in Scandinavia and he eventually built the first ski jump in the U.S. dazzling the locals with 60 to 70 foot jumps.
Pictured at right - Karl Hovelsen, a.k.a. Carl Howelsen
In 1915, Carl built a second ski jump on a hill on the south side of Steamboat Springs. The hill was eventually named for Howelsen - Howelsen Hill - and the ski area just southwest of downtown Steamboat Springs is the oldest continuous ski area in the United States. Howelsen was also instrumental in the very first winter celebration held in Steamboat Springs - the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival - that has been held every year since 1915.
After winning the national championship in ski jumping in 1921, Howelsen returned to Norway to visit family in Oslo. He fully intended to come back to Steamboat Springs, but he fell in love and got married, then settled back in Norway to live out his life. Carl continued to ski jump up through his 71st birthday and he eventually lived until the age of 78 when he passed away. Carl Howelsen's imprint on Steamboat Springs lasts through today.
And it was something that Collin Kelley first learned about the area when he was seeking out possible spots for his restaurant. Kelley grew up in a small town in southeastern Kansas and became interested in cooking at an early age. His specialty was spaghetti and meatballs, but he learned a number of other recipes from the farm wives in the area whose comfort food dishes kept their families satiated as Kelley was growing up
Pictured left - Collin Kelley. Photo courtesy Steamboat Pilot.
Kelley started at working in restaurants as a bus boy and dishwasher, but his love for the business took him to Denver where he enrolled in the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University. Kelley's first job out of culinary school was at the Ruth's Chris steakhouse in Denver. That gig eventually landed him the job of executive chef at the Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse in the Denver area - a place I've eaten at before (click here to see that entry), but it was after Kelley was the chef there.
Kelley had left Del Frisco in February of 2008 and had moved to Mexico to be the executive chef at a resort in Playa del Carmen. But a skiing accident while vacationing in Breckinridge, CO in 2009 literally changed his life.
Kelley was just 26 years old when he spent 9 months recuperating from his injury. While recovering, Kelley and his wife Noella drove around to some of the ski range communities scouting for a site for a restaurant concept he was wanting to try. He wanted to incorporate some of the things that he learned in culinary school, some things he learned while working in upscale steakhouses, and some things that he picked up from the farm ladies back in Kansas and turn those recipes into made-from-scratch, locally-sourced wholesome upscale tavern meals.
Kelley especially loved the small town, laid-back vibe of Steamboat Springs and he focused on finding a spot in the area. A new development in downtown Steamboat Springs - Howelsen Place - had begun to lease commercial and residential space. On the corner of 7th and Yampa Street, Kelley found a space the he would transform into a restaurant. He wanted it to be functional and friendly - sort of an upscale sports bar complete with its own room for darts and shuffleboard, but having a wide selection of gastro-bistro-style food and a large number of bourbon whiskies to choose from. In April of 2011, Collin and Noella Kelley opened Carl's Tavern.
Kelley's food concepts, coupled with having a selection of over 350 different types of bourbon and scotch whiskies, became an immediate hit with locals and tourists in Steamboat. The restaurant won many local awards over the years and was one of the top food destinations in the area.
Unfortunately, Collin and Noella Kelley eventually split up, a not too uncommon story in restaurants owned by a young couple. Noella moved back to Denver and Collin decided that he wanted to be closer to his two kids who were living with their mother. He sought to sell the restaurant in the spring of 2017 and didn't have to look far for new ownership.
In 2010, David Jones - who developed nearly 20 Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in the St. Louis area - opened the Truffle Pig, an American-style bistro located in One Steamboat Place, a commercial and residential development near the base of the Steamboat Ski Area. In 2013, Jones brought on Scott Engleman - an Iowa native who once lived in the northern suburbs of Chicago opening hotels for the Hyatt brand for a number of years - as the managing partner. The concept of the Truffle Pig was somewhat similar to Carl's Tavern - locally-sourced, made-from-scratch dishes that combined traditional cooking with a modern approach.
Pictured left - Scott Engelman. Photo courtesy Next Hospitality.
The deal was made in June of 2017 - two months after Collin Kelley abruptly closed the doors to Carl's Tavern to move back to Denver. Engelman - who is the incoming Chairman of the Board of the Colorado Restaurant Association - didn't change much from what Kelley had forged with the restaurant, but did add some twists here and there while maintaining the upscale sports bar/tavern vibe to Carl's Tavern.
We thought we had better make reservations because many of the restaurants in Steamboat Springs were only allowing about 50% occupancy due to COVID-19 restrictions that were in place while we were there. We were able to park on Yampa Street just down the way from Carl's Tavern and it was a short walk to the restaurant. (see map) It turned out that we probably didn't need a reservation - the weather had turned for the worse a couple days prior and not a lot of people were venturing out on a week night in Steamboat. The front patio - where we had noticed people sitting in previous days - was shut down and they had covered their flower baskets to ward off the impending frosty temperatures that were to occur that evening.
Once inside we found a pretty nice space with contemporary decor, medium-soft lighting, hardwood floors and a cozy vibe. The oval shaped bar was the center piece of the restaurant with an open kitchen directly behind it. A number of flatscreen televisions hung behind the bar and in strategic spaces around the dining area.
We were there a little earlier than our 7 p.m. reservation, but the hostess said that wouldn't be a problem. She escorted us to a table along a low wall that separated some tables and booths from the bar area. I asked if we could sit in one of the booths across the aisle from where she was going to put us and she said, "No, sorry. We've shut down these booths due to the pandemic restrictions." All the staff were wearing masks and Colorado restrictions decreed that patrons had to wear masks in restaurants until they were seated.
The hostess had dropped off a couple menus and it wasn't long before our server Amanda showed up to greet us. Amanda said that the special that night was a 12 ounce prime rib. My wife's eyes lit up because she had sort of been pining for beef over the past couple of evenings.
Because they have well over 300 bottles of bourbon and scotch to choose from at Carl's Tavern, they had a number of specialty drinks and whiskey flights. Flights waged in price from about $25 for 3 ounce shots, to $399 for some high dollar shots. My wife went with a cosmopolitan martini while I got a pint of the Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA they had on tap.
One of the first things that I saw on the menu was the pork green chili. I can't pass up trying the pork green chili at any place where they have it when I'm in Colorado. The green pork chili at Carl's Tavern was very good. It was thick and meaty with a number of chunks of pork with nearly every bite. It had a bit of a spicy bite and the cheese and chopped scallions on top of the chili helped give it a bit more of a punch in overall taste. This was just a cup that they served me - I would have hated to have ordered the bowl because that would have really cut into my appetite for dinner.
Burgers and sandwiches dominated the menu at Carl's Tavern. The burgers weren't cheap, but they were all made with 1/2 pound locally-sourced Kobe beef patties. The Zirkel garnered my attention as it had applewood smoked bacon and pimento cheese on it. They had a burger that was topped with aged white cheddar cheese, shaved black truffle, sautéed mushrooms, and a bacon jam. That sounded wonderful, but at $25 bucks for the burger, it gave me pause.
They had some entrees at Carl's that interested me. The chicken pot pie would have been a good hearty meal for a cold late summer evening. The 12 ounce New York strip steak with a side of Brussels sprouts hash was intriguing. Even one of their starters - a mac & cheese with pulled pork - caught my eye. But at $19 bucks, I sort of shuddered. But, then again, we didn't find a cheap meal the whole time we were in Steamboat Springs. Even sandwich places were somewhat excessive in price. But that's Steamboat.
My wife really wanted to go with the prime rib special that night, but the pan-seared salmon topped with a lemon thyme sauce won out. It came on a bed of cous cous with a tomato and corn relish on the side. She also got a glass of the house pinot grigio to go along with the food. It was a hefty cut of salmon for my wife and she was very happy she got it. The salmon was flaky and rich, cooked perfectly for her. The lemon thyme sauce was a great addition to the overall taste of the salmon. Along with the cous cous and tomato/corn relish, it turned out to be a great meal for her.
I ended up getting the Alpine Buffalo meatloaf - fresh bison meatloaf on a bed of smashed potatoes with a port wine demi glace ladled over the top. Like most bison meat, it was a bit dry, but the demi glace helped give it some moisture and added to the already wonderful flavor of the beef. It was a perfect meal for an unseasonably cool night. I was full, but not unpleasantly full.
As we were finishing up our meal, a man stopped by our table. He was hobbling around with a crutch under one arm. It turned out that it was Scott Engelman, the co-owner. He sort of looked at me and said, "Have we met before?" We started to try and connect dots and the only thing we could come up with is that he grew up in Iowa. "My mother still lives north of Fairfield," he told us. "I get back there to see her every so often." But other than that, we couldn't figure out how he thought he had met me before. Engelman said that he used to live in the the north shore suburbs of Chicago, but had been out to Colorado for quite sometime. "I love it here," he said enthusiastically. We couldn't agree with him more. Steamboat Springs is a great place and I'm somewhat jealous that people actually get to live here year-round.
Our meal and overall experience at Carl's Tavern was top-notch. The new ownership has carried on the legacy of founder Collin Kelley's idea for what Carl's Tavern would be - locally-sourced and made-from-scratch foods, an upscale sports and whisky bar, and a comfortable setting. I couldn't rave enough about the bison meatloaf I had and the cup of the pork green chili was some of the best I've tasted. My wife was more than happy with her pan-seared salmon with the cous cous and the tomato/corn relish. And the service we had was friendly and efficient. Carl's Tavern was a great little find and we were happy we gave it a try.
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