Hello from House Rock Kitchen!
First, we wanted to tell you all thanks a lot for the great support you’ve given us since we opened, almost 4 months ago! When we opened in June, we were thrown straight into the fire since Buena Vista was already well into its summer tourist season. We were all “on the job training”, trying to find our flow, and working out the kinks as efficiently as possible, while at the same time providing for the customers. The fact that we made it through the summer without too many messed up orders, broken dishes, annoyed customers, or burning the building down is a testament to the great team that works here (and they are thanked daily, trust me). It was a wonderfully chaotic, nerve-wracking, beautiful first summer full of learning experiences that I’ll never forget. We were also extremely grateful for all the support, guidance, and hard work we got from other businesses in town before we opened our doors. The Asian Palate, The Evergreen Cafe, Deerhammer Distillery, South Main Corporation, CKS, Vista Works, Trailhead, Spoon It Up, Boneshaker Cycles, Colorado Trim, Riverside Electric, Plumbing Plus, Collegiate Peaks Realty, and DSI in particular, as well as all our other wonderful friends and family. Thank you all so much. It’s a pleasure to be part of such a supportive and great community.
I had been interested in opening a restaurant for the last 5 years or so. We had moved to Buena Vista in 2006, and I was eager to get away from my landscaping business in the Vail Valley and start something new here. In that time, I had played with the idea of many different restaurant concepts and menus. Jess and I have both travelled to over 40 countries each, so we’ve had the good fortune to have eaten at a lot of very cool, interesting restaurants with great menus. Tasting different foods and sauces from other countries has always been a particularly favorite part of traveling for us. The idea of owning this place, or that place, that we really liked was a game we sometimes played.
When we decided to go for it and open our own restaurant, the game got real. Real quick. What kind of restaurant should we start in this small town? What will the people like? What need could we fill? What kind of place did we want to be? We went through many different ideas, concepts, and menus for the first few months, but what stood out most for us, what we kept coming back to, was the health and well-being of our customers. We knew that sending anyone out our doors after a meal feeling bloated, sluggish, or otherwise unhealthy would be unacceptable. We wanted our customers to leave our place feeling energized. We wanted them to feel good about choosing to eat there. We realized that the only way to accomplish this goal was to focus on serving up fresh, natural foods, made with intention. From that desire, our menu started to grow, and with a little more time and effort, the great choices and variety that we have today. Food quality has been our focus from the beginning of House Rock Kitchen, and it is our commitment for the future.
Jess and I also had a personal agenda when it came to designing our menu. Jess had be diagnosed 3 years ago with chronic Lymes Disease (after trying to figure out what was making her feel ill for 2 years previously with no diagnosis). Lymes creates many issues for the sufferer internally, and one issue usually concerns that person’s diet. It seemed that everything Jess ate was making her feel sick. Besides a gluten and dairy intolerance, we realized the biggest culprit was sugar. It was no wonder that almost everything she ate was making her feel ill, since sugar is in nearly everything! Sugar and salt are the two most popular taste enhancers for prepackaged foods. Unfortunately, many studies are showing that sugar is also the leading cause of chronic illness and cancer in the United States. Corn and soy is another concern of ours as both these foods are used as “fillers” in most foods Americans eat, most being GMO products. We take a lot of pride that our menu is 95% sugar free, corn free, and 100% soy free. Jess has, at this time, mostly healed herself from Lymes with a complete change of diet. Many of the foods that she has switched to we have incorporated into our menu. Jess’ dietary restrictions has also made us very aware of others’ diets and needs, and that is why we made sure to add a variety of dishes that provide for Paleo, Vegetarians, Dairy Free, and Gluten Free. For all the ‘meat and potatoes’ people out there (myself included), we also smoke our own brisket and pork in house, and have the best grass fed and finished burgers around. I really believe that our menu is one of the healthiest, most well rounded, menus you will find anywhere.
I’ll be posting up blogs here in the future, mostly fucusing on questions we get from our customers. Please feel free to contact us through our website with questions, concerns, or ideas.
Thanks,
Turtle
