Restaurant Kelly Liken

Seared foie gras with french toast and a port cooked pear


Crisp Kurobuta Pork Belly with gala apple and celery root ravioli and crunchy apple-celery salad


Chikin' n Waffles: maple glazed Petaluma Quail, savory shallot studded Belgian waffle, wild mushrooms and sauce chausseur


Potato Crusted Trout Filets with caramelized Brussels sprout leaves, golden raisins, toasted pecans and brandied buerre blanc


Pan Roasted Duck Breast with duck confit studded farro, roasted cippolini onions, pomegranate gastrique and pain d'epice


All Natural Colorado NY Strip Steak with creamy braised salsify, romanesco cauliflower, shaved winter truffles and red wine jus


Sticky bun sundae


Flourless Chocolate Cake with mocha pastry cream, orange-scented espresso biscotti, coffee granita shooter and crunchy espresso meringue


Pistachio nougat terrine: spongy pistachio dacquoise with tart passion fruit gelee and frozen nougat


Vanilla-Orange Cheesecake with glossy port glazed figs, vanilla pear purée, caramelized white chocolate shards and a crisp hazelnut tuile


Caramel Apple Napoleon: walnut phyllo layers, vanilla custard, caramel mousse and poached apples


Me with Chef Kelly

Well, I finally did it, I went and ate at Kelly Liken. Kelly was my favorite on season 7 of Top Chef, and when I heared her restaurant was in the same state that I lived in, it was a mission to go. We started our meal with the chef's amuse, a creamy celery root soup. Sadly I was to busy eating it i forgot to take a picture. Now there was an argument on her season of Top Chef between Kelly and the head judge about her making thin soup. If Chef Tom had eaten this perfectly seasoned, creamy, and rich soup he would have gotten on his knees to beg for forgiveness. Next was that nights special, a fantastic seared foie gras dish. Not only was this foie gras cooked to perfection and seasoned by a god, the other components on the plate were great. The french toast added a great buttery chewy texture and the pear was not mushy. The pear, like all fruit with foie gras, cut the fat perfectly. The best part about this dish was it made my foie hating brother convert. Thank you Kelly. Next we had the crispy pork belly with apple-celery root ravioli. The pork belly was very nice, very crispy and tender. The ravioli were like little clouds, and the filling was like the soul of a little blond angel baby, sorry if I am getting a little dark, it was just great. Next we had some good old chikin and waffles. The quail was very crisp on the outside and was very tender. The waffles were nice and soft and were studded with shallots, oh god it was good. Now on to some entrees. First a potato crusted trout, Kelly's signature dish. The fish was very tender, moist and flaky. The potato crust was very crispy but fork tender at the same time. But the best park of the dish was the combo of the golden raisins and caramelized Brussles sprouts. It was out of this world. The bitterness and sweetness were in perfect balance. Next was a pan seared duck breast. When I eat duck I want my duck skin to be crispy. I hate when I get a piece of duck that has a little piece of raw fat on it. Though this duck had the fat on it, it was still good. The best part of this dish was a fantastic farro mixed with pieces of salty duck confit. Now I don't know what pain d'epice is but all I got on my plate was duck, farro, sauce and arugula. Next was the steak with black truffles. The steak was seasoned perfectly and cooked as well as I have had any steak. It was a perfect medium rare. As always fresh black truffles are good, and the sauce was rich and yummy. For dessert my family decided to order every dessert on the menu. They were all really good, but I want to talk about my two favorite. First the cheesecake. The cake was very floral and was baby smooth. I don't know if it was no bake or not but it was like a fantastic custard, I think it might have been made with goat cheese but I'm not sure. On the plate with it was a very bright pear puree with fresh vanilla bean, which was very fruity. The port glazed figs were so boozy and amazing. The caramelized white chocolate was very good to. My next favorite was a pistachio and nougat terrine. The pistachio cake was very spongy and super moist. It was sandwiched with a tart passion fruit gelee that was very nice and fruity and I think passion fruit is my new favorite thing. The frozen nougat was almost like an ice cream. It was very good. Everything was really good, get yourself up to Vail and go to Kelly Liken. The best part of the dinner was when chef Kelly came to visit our table!!!!

Fun Dessert

Banana creme brulee with chocolate mousse and sponge cake

Cooking Competition

Roulad of chicken with pea puree and honey roasted walnuts-made by Aaron

Taster of Boursin cheese and peach glazed chicken-made by Adin

Peach napoleon with grapefruit sorbet and cream cheese icing- made by Adin

Flambeed cherry tatine with vanilla ice cream- made by Aaron

Saturday Night Dinner

Poached egg with candied bacon jam and bacon foam

Pan roasted pork tenderloin with carrot puree, cauliflower puree, and blanched brussles sprouts

Deconstructed smore's cake with chocolate ice cream

Afternoon snack

Shrimp and saffron risotto balls with a lemon-garlic aioli


Apple tart tatine with butterscotch and buttermilk ice cream


Goat cheese cake with honey roasted figs and pears with a granola tuile

New Years Eve Dinner

Carrot-ginger soup with a carrot salad and ginger syrup


Bitter green salad with blood orange, pistachios, and goat cheese filled dates


Prime rib roast with yorkshire pudding, farro and black rice with squash, and horseradish aioli


Different Textures of citrus: Lemon shooter, orange gelee and froth, and grapefruit granite


Chocolate truffle tart with a salted caramel ice cream

What a great New Years Eve dinner. My 8 year old brother made the textures of citrus!!! Can you believe that and 8 year old made that dish! Wow what a meal. Happy 2011!!

Q's Reastaurant

Roasted beet and arugula salad with goat cheese, almonds, and an orange drssing


Grilled asparagus with crisp polenta, mushroom vinaigrette, gorganzola and proscuitto


Crab crepe with fennel, leek, celery, orange and saffron


Pan roasted albacore with fedelini pasta and "scampi" broth


Gold potato gnocchi with butternut squash, mushrooms, sage, sun-dried tomato and a Parmesan emulsion


Smoked long's farm pork loin with caramelized apples, sweet potatoes, onions and red chili honey


Lemon brulee tart with blueberry-ginger sorbet and speckled lemon syrup


Chocolate mousse napoleon with banana ice cream, nutella sauce, and caramelized bananas


Fourless chocolate cake with grand marnier glaze, orange sorbet, and candied orange

Q's is a restaurant in The Hotel Boulderado. In Boulder we are having the First bite of Boulder, which is an event where a lot of the really fine restaurants in Boulder let you have a three-course meal for 23 dollars. I jumped to this opportunity and took my family. We started the meal with a Beet and arugula salad. In my opinion the salad did not have enough beets in it. There were enough beets for five perfect bites. The sweetness of the beets was cut beautifully by the pepperiness of the arugula and the goat cheese added a great creamy and rich element to the dish, which made it shine. The almonds added a great punch of texture and the orange dressing was a great hint acidity. Next was the grilled asparagus with crisp polenta. This dish was really good. Asparagus has this great funky flavor and melded very well with the earthy mushrooms and pungent cheese. Adding the hint of salty pork to the dish elevated it to a whole new level. And the polenta was piping hot, crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside fantastic. Next was the crab crepe with orange. The paper-thin crepe was over flowing with delicious meaty crab and had a ton of flavor. My one criticism is that it was a little too sweet. I mean crab, fennel, orange those are all things that are very sweet and leeks do not have an oniony enough flavor to counter the sweetness. Our next offering was a pan-roasted albacore with a "scampi" broth. This dish was very nice. The fish was perfectly cooked and was on a bed of homemade fedelini pasta. The pasta was fabulous it just melted in your mouth. But for me the broth and the capers and the tomatoes made the dish a little to acidic. Next was the gold potato gnocchi. The dish was warming and would be fantastic on a cold winter day sitting by a fire. The smoked pork loin was fantastic. It was like a fine dinning BBQ sandwich. One thing I would have done different was not having the sweet potatoes and onions. Just the pork, apples and honey would have done it for me. Now into dessert we started with a lemon brulee tart. The tarts crust was very flaky and extremely tender. The lemon curd was silky a delicious and the crust of burnt sugar on top was great. The sorbet was good but did not have enough ginger flavors. Next was the chocolate mousse napoleon. The chocolate mousse was creamy and wonderful and was in between two crisp layers of phyllo. The ice cream was very nice and had great banana flavor but it could have used a little cinnamon or cardamom to give it a nice twist. The final offering was a flourless chocolate cake. I love the paring of orange and chocolate and grand marnier is always a good thing. The cake was surprisingly light but the glaze on the plate was solidified and not coming off the plate. Over all it was a great meal.