The Gather Dinner event takes place on selected Tuesday evenings 5:30pm-7:30pm Mid-October to the end of March. You are wowed with a four course, prefixed meal using as many local/regional ingredients as possible. During this culinary experience, you will be joined by two invited guests that have produced one or more of the ingredients on your plate that are going to share their journey in producing the ingredients we are privileged to serve that evening. This is a time to connect and honor our farmers, ranchers, producers, bakers and purveyors that go beyond what most of us can conceive in order to accomplish what they do. Our Gather Dinners are community seating, therefore you will potentially be seated next to people you do not know.
Limited seating. Prepaid Reservations only. Reservations are closed two days prior to event date for preparation time.
$115 (including tax and gratuity - alcohol not included) Prepaid Reservations Only
Join Dan and Becca James as they share their adventure in cheese making as well as educate you about the different cheeses you will experience throughout your meal. They moved to Durango in 2000 and for Dan it was "moving back to the ranch" and for Becca it was a whole new adventure. They came armed with a lot of enthusiasm, Dan's love for this land, and an idea that a 100% grass-based dairy and cheese making operation was their future. Tons of work, many mistakes, three children, and lots of calves later they have delicious award-winning James Ranch Artisan Cheese that nourishes all those that eat it.
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Appetizer
James Ranch Belford Cheese Souffle
Soup or Salad
White bean and spinach soup in house made chicken broth topped with Belford cheese croutons
or
Radicchio and butterleaf with pear, walnuts tossed in a white wine vinaigrette with a Reserve Belford toile
Entree
Risotto using James Ranch Mature Belford cheese with Jakes Seafood wild caught smoked salmon, Beet Street green beans topped with a James Ranch poached pullet egg
Dessert
Ice cream made with J/R ricotta cheese on top of roasted pistachios and chocolate soil
*Vegetarian option available. Slight menu changes may need to take place due to availability.
$115.00 including tax and gratuity
Jared and Elizabeth landed in the Southwestern region surrounding Durango, Colorado, while pursuing their respective careers as forest fire mitigator (Jared) and architect (Elizabeth). Home to over 500 unique apple varieties, it was almost impossible to ignore the heaping branches of fruit visible each summer, and the subsequent “great rot” as the fruit fell and was left largely unharvested and unused.
Jared became involved in one, then another small-batch cider making endeavor in his free time, learning the bitter sweet nuances of apples + yeast & time. Jared and Elizabeth became inundated in research about the region, and with the help of local small agriculture groups such as Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, learned the historical significance of apples for the wild Southwest.
They wanted to bring back the vibrant appreciation for the heritage apples and orchards that was known just decades before and launched EsoTerra Ciderworks in earnest in 2019, with a vision to not only create premium artisanal ciders, but also to revive a nearly abandoned apple industry that has historical roots dating back to the early mining communities of the region.
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Appetizer – French onion stuffed mushrooms with duck au jus
Guest Choice of Salad or Soup
Salad – Charred cabbage and pickled beet salad with hard cider vinaigrette
OR
Soup – French lentil soup
Entrée – Duck two ways with cherry gastrique made with local cherries and EsoTerra Baco Noir wine, grilled purple carrots, whipped balsamic sweet potato and broccoli pea puree.
Dessert – Apple crepes with a Ton of Bricks hard apple cider reduction and lavender infused whipped cream
*Vegetarian option available. Slight menu changes may need to take place due to availability.
$115 (includes tax and gratuity, not alcohol)
Jenn Wheeling (the first of the James kids) and her husband Joe had completely different lifestyles and careers before returning back to Durango in 1997 to raise their girls on the James Ranch. Since then they started The Gardens at James Ranch and partnered with Kay and Dave James in James Ranch Beef in 2010 then in 2021 succeed James Ranch Beef from Dave James. Come hear their interesting story of returning to Durango and running a grass-fed only beef business, balancing The Gardens, irrigating 450 acres, as well as stewarding the land through regenerative agriculture practices.
*Vegetarian option available. Slight menu changes may need to take place due to availability.
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TBA
$115 (including tax and gratuity - alcohol not included) Prepaid Reservations Only
Jake Glotfelty was born and raised in an Alaskan commercial fishing family and has fished the Alaskan waters since the age of 12. In 2013, he and his family moved to Durango from Alaska, but every summer Jake and his family travel back to Alaska to harvest sockeye salmon between June and August as the salmon migrate to spawn in their native rivers so they can bring it to SW Colorado.
Their son, Nick, has joined Jake on the boat since he was eight (he is now 21), and their daughter Julia will spend her 8th summer on the boat this year. Her twin, Maddy prefers land (and mountain biking) but in 2024 will spend a few weeks on the boat. Beth, his wife, manages the land based operations which brings the salmon to SW Colorado.
Join us on learning more about this family business and the adventures that take place to bring salmon to our plates!
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TBA