A really Grand View 🍽

Garden of the Gods Resort and Club reboots its lavish, premier dining room, with arguably the best tableside overlook in the city

The entrance to Grand View, with a stunning vista of Garden of the Gods directly across the way. (All photos by Matthew Schniper.)

I confess: I’ve done something rather swanky recently.

Before I chew into this week’s review, I want to extend another heartfelt thank-you to my paid subscribers who’re doing their part to make Side Dish feasible for me. I’ve been very busy out in the community working on fundraising over the past many weeks, and I’m proud to report that it’s starting to pay off. (Thanks to my first sponsors in the door: Visit Colorado Springs and Ranch Foods Direct). Support from local organizations and businesses will fill in some more of the pie slices to make a more realistic annual income (whole pie) as an independent journalist. But my paid subscribers were the ones to provide me a stable launch pad, early encouragement and, now, sustained backing.

On that note, I want to make sure you tuned into the two perks available that I highlighted in last week’s newsletter: Those can more than return your monthly investment in Side Dish if you take advantage of them. 1) Sip with Schnip Happy Hour, third Thursdays monthly, from 5-7 p.m., at The Carter Payne. The first beer, featured wine or cocktail is free to any of my paid subscribers; $7-$10 value; tip accordingly. 2) For the month of June, my paid subscribers (existing and new sign-ups) can pick up a free pound of 80/20 Callicrate ground beef ($6.39 value) and get 5% off a retail market purchase in any amount at Ranch Foods Direct. (Doing the math, you can save more money than you spend with me. Not bad, huh. Tell a friend, or 10.)

I’ll be working on more perks in the coming months as I work to ensure long-term viability. Meanwhile, I do feel I owe an acknowledgment that I have needed to skip a couple of my planned reviews as I made time for other opportune events, such as getting a tour of soon-to-open Casa Bonita (a half day in Lakewood) and co-judging The French Kitchen’s sixth anniversary chef’s battle this past weekend (a six-hour time commitment worth every bite of the competition food and my thank-you Queenuts, an exclusive Queenet/donut hybrid). In industry terms, I’ve been deep in the weeds. There’ll likely be other weeks I’ll call audibles. Bear with me.

Anyway, I do have a photo review to offer this week on my dining experience last Thursday evening at the newly renovated and reopened Grand View restaurant inside the Garden of the Gods Resort and Club. Grand View is open to non-members of the club, and fair warning, it’s priced for the view and luxury experience. Call it special occasion dining. My caveat and transparency note here is I attended a comped media preview, meaning there was no secret shopping aspect here and many of the resort’s top brass were present to guide and dine with us.

That said, I don’t doubt the quality we experienced won’t be consistent given the setting and standards. I feel comfortable in giving all due credit for our pretty fantastic, wine-paired, five-course sample dinner, created by recently hired Chef and VP of Culinary Keith Theodore, a Broadmoor alum with a lengthy and respectable fine dining resume I’ll elaborate more on below. Of note: most of the items you’ll see below are on the regular menus, so you can go try them for yourself. Let’s get dining!

The new, hickory wood bar features Turkish onyx panels lit from behind.

Another look at that bar, facing west.

A wall of fine wines partition the bar from the entry corridor.

Course one: Wagyu tartare with egg yolk jam and potato chips. Chef Theodore sources his wagyu beef from Durango-area Cross Creek Ranch. He also tells me during a brief interview that he’s planning a nine-course wagyu chef’s dinner coming up, with a bone marrow ice cream for a dessert course.

Course two: poached halibut with smoked trout roe, artichoke and radish. The smoked element really pops the dish. The striking overhead chandeliers reflect light off the pretty plates, a garnish of its own. This was beautifully paired with a Basque white wine: Gaintza Txakolina (the winery) Hondarribi Zuri (the varietal).

Again, you can’t really beat this view of Garden of the Gods from atop the opposite mesa where the resort sits. Check out its history if you aren’t familiar. This recent renovation, property wide, was roughly a $40M investment I’m told. That included updating nearly 60 rooms, exterior building repairs and landscaping, and interior renovations like the total overhaul of Grand View.

Course three: chargrilled octopus with Brussels sprouts, lardons and white beans and a piquant salsa macha. A really excellent bite, tangy and rich.

Course four: stellar wagyu ribeye with cipollini onion. Paired with an excellent South African Meerlust Rubicon red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

The unobstructed view from Grand View’s patio, on a rainy evening in June.

Course five: Earl Grey crème brûlée with crémeux au chocolat and macaron. The tea flavor could have been more prominent but it was a fine bite anyway.

Chef Keith Theodore started at the Garden of the Gods Resort and Club in early February, 2023. The 41-year-old was born in Woodland Park and joined the Broadmoor’s apprenticeship program in 1999, working on property until he left from the Charles Court in 2007. He then spent 12 years in Aspen, including time at the St. Regis Aspen Resort and The Little Nell (where he served as executive chef in his final of eight years there). He left Aspen and worked with chef Duncan Holmes at Beckon before coming back to the Springs area. When I ask him to describe his food and mission here, he calls it “new Colorado cuisine, with flavors of the Southwest, but in balance, not in-your-face… more prep, seasoning and finish.” He sites his trout dish as what Colorado cuisine can achieve, saying he cooks it crispy then finishes it on coal. He snips spruce tips on the property for the dish; he described walking around the resort tasting tree tips to find the ideal flavor. “We are building something here,” he says. “It takes time. It continues daily. We don’t just open and say we are done. The work is just beginning. We won’t stop…. We’ll focus on excellent service and give great hospitality and showcase our property.”