© 2024 Aspen Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Want Food and Wine on a budget? Local chef is trying to bring it

Patrick Fort
/
Aspen Public Radio

While the Aspen Food and Wine Classic might be the biggest food event of the summer, local chef Susie Jimenez is trying to create a smaller event designed to bring the community together.

You can think of Taste of the Valley like a hyperlocal version of the Food and Wine Classic held in June. Vendors come and demo their recipes. You can watch local chefs make recipes to try at home. Susie says that she wants the festival to be as homegrown as possible.

 

“Everything’s not processed," says Jimenez. "Everything’s right within our valley. Everything grows in our valley. No one participating is from Denver. They’re all within this area. You probably go to the store and find most of their stuff there too.”

 

Susie’s festival is part of a larger trend going on in Carbondale. More and more events like Taste of the Valley are springing up, next to established ones like Mountain Fair. Andrea Stewart, executive director of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce, says more events have strengthened the economic health of the organization.

“Our Carbondale Chamber membership is up, which is great," says Stewart. "We are at 462. We haven’t seen that since pre-recession, 2008, so that’s really exciting."

 

Stewart says Carbondale is now establishing itself as its own brand, and not just a town that people pass through on their way to skiing or for a soak in the hot springs.

 

Local businesses are a focal point in the Taste of the Valley. Jimenez has enlisted nearly a dozen vendors who will gather in the Fourth Street Plaza in downtown Carbondale on Saturday.

 

David Matthews is the head distiller at Woody Creek Distillers. They are one of the local producers that was invited to participate in the first Taste of the Valley event. And while, yeah, the ultimate goal is to grow their business, David says it’s still important to remember your roots and make sure that the people back home like what you do.

Credit Patrick Fort / Aspen Public Radio
/
Aspen Public Radio
Susie Jimenez will be putting on the inaugural Taste of the Valley event. She is trying to focus on bringing local vendors and communities together.

“Part of our goal is to get our products out as far and wide as possible," says Matthews. "That being said, being part of our community is particularly important to us.  Everyone who works here lives locally. All of our potatoes are grown very, very locally — within two miles of the distillery.”

Andrea Stewart from the chamber says these events provide a platform for building a social network in the communities around Carbondale. They help everyone involved.

 

“These events provide that platform of networking," says Stewart. "They also — the majority of them — have a purpose behind it besides just a large event. Whether it’s giving back to the community, or a fundraiser for a local event, it continues to give after that one day.”

 

And Taste of the Valley is one of those events that is giving back. Proceeds for the event go to help a program Susie started that helps children learn how to cook with real food, rather than bringing in processed snacks to school every day.

 

Jimenez says the event is something really close to her heart. She hopes that in a few years she can be proud of what she has created. And to her, that all starts with a successful first Taste of the Valley.

 

“You know, I’m hoping that this is sort of a platform for the years to come. If I sell out, I know that I did a good job.”

Related Content