"Leading Chefs Ride into Ranch Country"

Ranchweb's brand new Dude Ranch Food and Wine website celebrates some of the best chefs at guest ranches in this country and abroad. More guests are asking for the very best in cuisine and this website allows ranches to highlight their accomplished and inventive chefs, creative individuals who love the ranch life.

You'll find profiles of such chefs as Clyde R. Nelson of The Home Ranch in Colorado, June Davies of Teton Ridge Ranch in Idaho and Jeffrey Tappero of 320 Guest Ranch in Montana. They may have different specialities and backgrounds, but they all come to the table with a long resume of work in noteworthy hotel and restaurant kitchens before arriving at their respective ranches. And many are graduates of the nation's best culinary school.

That's the case with Jonathon Gillespie of Vista Verde Ranch in Colorado, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, who defines his cooking as walking "the fine line between ranch and fancy."

And then there are chefs like Jeff Miller, executive chef at Papoose Creek Lodge, a five?star property on the banks of the stellar waters of the Madison River in Montana.

"My training has been influenced by Northern Italian and Mediterranean influences," Miller says. "But I don't want to get too contemporary urban or chic here. I want to serve good rustic fare."

Miller's cooking may stretch your definition of "rustic." His creations include a cannelloni of wild nettles and local goat's milk ricotta with a roasted garlic tomato sauce. Not to mention a stuffed beefsteak tomato filled with a ragu of Big Sky Natural Beef short ribs, with sun choke puree, red wine garlic sauce and a Parmigiano chip. It's hardly the fare that dude ranches were once known for.

The new website allows serious gourmands to choose a ranch based on the culinary expertise of the chef. Or simply to get a taste of the menu and the wine list that awaits them. Visit at www.duderanchfoodandwine.com