There’s nothing quite like a Christmas in Aspen. Record snowfall last season and an epic start so far in December, Aspen is enjoying some of its best skiing in years �" providing your flight isn’t canceled due to weather getting there. This year, The Little Nell will be hosting gala dinners for Christmas and New Year’s followed by dance floor debauchery in its Chair Nine lounge with midnight New Year’s countdown and champagne toast �" providing you’re not heading to newly remodeled Bootsy Bellows or Belly Up that’s throwing it back with Huey Lewis & the News for Dec. 31st.
Dining gets a few new infusions for this season including the new David Burke Kitchen that’s scheduled for a February opening in an all-new space along Hopkins Avenue. Acqualina enjoys its first full season in the former-Gisella space with its menu of Italian farm table classics and daily happy hour. And alas a worthy woman arrives to that iconic space on South Mill Street where NYC’s The Grey Lady serves feel-good New England seafood in a rustic and casual space with a menu that mixes brick chicken, cast iron cooking and lobster beignets.
Progressively leaning more towards comfort and casual than refined gourmand, many high-end restaurants and lounges in Aspen are feeling the pinch that began with competitors like Justice Snow. Respectively, you’ll find many newcomers trending towards casual dining including new Meat & Cheese on Hopkins that offers all-day dining and farm shop along Hopkins Street and Zeno at the base of Aspen Mountain that expunges the former posh of Il Mulino with an Italian gastro-pub that’s teaming with creativity from the kitchen to the hip crowd.
