Jonathon Gillespie - Vista Verde Ranch

How does a guy from Burlington, Vermont who went to the Culinary Institute of America end up at an exclusive guest ranch in the Rockies?

"I applied on a whim," chef Jonathon Gillespie of Vista Verde Ranch recalls. "They interviewed me three or four times for the sous chef position. But on my last interview, they told me that the sous chef position had already been filled. And then they asked me to be their executive chef."

That was eight years ago, and Gillespie recalls that he was flattered to be hired. Vista Verde is located 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In winter, it draws devotees of cross country skiing and snowshoeing. In summer, serious riders are joined by folks who get into hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing and kayaking. Many have also become fans of Gillespie's kitchen, which keeps the culinary frontier interesting indeed.

When he first got to Visa Verde, Gillespie says that "I guess I went a little crazy. If I wanted barramundi or Brittany lobsters, I'd get them. They reined me in after first summer. Now I walk the fine line between ranch and fancy, whatever that means."

What that currently means is a three?course menu that changes every single night. On a recent evening, Gillespie was serving pan roasted reindeer with potato parsnip puree and pear compote, with a red wine vinegar sauce. He was also offering paka paka, a Hawaiian pink snapper, as well as Cornish game hen wrapped in melted bacon and cabbage and served with a potato tart.

As for dessert, "last night I prepared a black truffle panna cotta and it did not go over well," he says with a laugh. "We have a great mix of guests and most of them are down to earth. They're really pretty cool and appreciate what we're doing in the kitchen. But I think they were all expecting chocolate. So tonight we'll offer our 'Chocolate, Chocolate Chocolate.' It's warm chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and a Chocolate garnish with chocolate sauce and fresh raspberries. It's too much chocolate for me but the women seem to like it."

If you visit the ranch for cross country skiing or back country skiing this winter, you might encounter peppercorn seared goose breast sliced and served over melted cabbage and apples, splashed with a red wine vinegar sauce. Or roasted loin of wild boar wrapped in Parma ham, sliced and served over creamy polenta with an apple fennel salad and spicy apple jus. Or seared Maine diver scallops with truffled butternut squash "risotto" with beurre rouge and squash chips. It might be followed by Port?poached pears with cinnamon ice cream and crushed pistachios. Or chocolate, for that matter. Gillespie also conducts weekly cooking classes at the ranch and the most recent one found him preparing an entire meal.

"We started with a Roquefort dip for an appetizer," he recalled, "and the main course was a Cornish game hen with maple vinegar sauce. For dessert, we finished with a blueberry cornmeal upside down cake."

Gillespie also organizes wine tastings at Vista Verde and had recently uncorked some wines from Sineann, an Oregon producer of remarkable pinot noirs. For Vista Verde's winemaker dinners, Gillespie is "starting to get into smaller plates and portions," he says. "I might serve 10 or 12 courses for a wine dinner but the portions are small, as they are for a tasting menu. The guests come away happy and get to experience a lot of different foods."

"Tonight's starter?" Gillespie pondered aloud over the kitchen noise, quite unruffled by the fact that the dinner service began a scant four hours later. "I think we'll go with seared Hudson Valley foie gras, caramelized pineapple with pineapple chips and 50 year balsamic."

He recited this off the top of his head. No worries indeed.