Owner and recent Julia Child Award recipient Bobby Stuckey was joined by Tavernetta executive chef Cody Cheetham, executive sous chef Bennett Caldwell, and former executive pastry chef Charlene Vogel Stinson; together, they showed off Tav’s chops to the residents of one of America’s wealthiest counties – many of whom spend time in both Jackson and Colorado.
“There were some guests who were already regulars of ours,” Stuckey shares. “Then, there were a lot of locals who came up to us and said things like, ‘My son’s going to DU next year, I can’t wait to try your restaurant,’...When there's a group of guests that are [also connected to] Denver and Boulder, that's where you get to build your brand with people that are actually going to come see you.”
Choosing the Right Festival
Tavernetta gets invited to a lot of festivals, but the team doesn’t say yes to every invitation.
“Whether we participate really depends on who invites us and whether the event aligns with what we want to do professionally; we always do our due diligence,” Stuckey says. “I won’t name names, but I’ve been to some food and wine festivals that were poorly run, and that’s a huge liability for a restaurant. The guest doesn’t think it’s the festival’s fault; they think it’s yours.”
Fortunately, Jackson Hole passed the test. “Jackson Hole was new for us this year, and it was awesome,” he continues. “I don't want to go to an event that’s not professional. There's nothing I hate more than that."
Frasca Hospitality Group had already participated in several events this year, including Aspen Food and Wine, Ojai Food and Wine, and the Sundance Film Festival, as well as local affairs like Drink Red Wear Red. Its publicist suggested participating at Jackson Hole; it will also be at The Big Eat on July 24, sponsored by Eat Denver at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
“Anyone that has spent time with Bobby knows he has a wonderful way of talking about wines on a level everyone can understand, and his incredible enthusiasm really made every event shine,” says Megan Gallagher, founder and director of Jackson Hole Food and Wine. “Having the Frasca Hospitality Group and Tavernetta teams here really elevated Summer Fest, and we’re humbled they took time to join us for a beautiful weekend in Jackson Hole."
Behind the Scenes: What It Takes to Execute
For executive chef Cody Cheetham, the lift begins the moment the Frasca group accepts an invitation. “We look at the ask, what kind of event it is, how formal it is, and what the organizers are hoping for,” he explains. At Jackson Hole, Tavernetta participated in two very different formats: a formal multi-course wine pairing dinner at the Rusty Parrot Lodge, and the larger Savor event at Mead Ranch, which had around 350 attendees.
Stuckey also joined one of the weekend’s standout wine panels, hosted by importer Billy Weiss and featuring Jean-Luc Pépin of Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, one of the most revered wineries in Burgundy. “Tastings like that are becoming rarer and rarer,” Stuckey shares. “Drinking thirty-year-old Burgundy poured straight from the domaine is a pleasure for the guests, but also for me as a speaker.”
In addition to joining the wine panel, Stuckey worked with Cheetham to prepare for the dinner at the Rusty Parrot.
“Bobby and I sat down and discussed the wines first and then he gave me flavor profiles and pointed me in directions there. Then, we created dishes around those tasting points,” Cheetham recalls.
During the dinner, Stuckey and Jean-Luc Pépin, estate manager for Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, guided 34 guests through a five-course tasting menu. Rare wines from the Domaine’s 2022 vintage were expertly paired with a luxurious meal that included diver scallops with sweet corn polenta and pancetta, an incredibly pillowy gnocchi with bechamel and parmesan, a rich foie gras risotto with confit duck, suckling pig chops with chestnut puree and rhubarb mostarda, and a perfectly balanced olive oil cake with pistachio ganache and strawberry to finish the meal.
But executing a high-level dinner like that in someone else’s kitchen is no small feat. To avoid any surprises, Cheetham coordinated in advance with the lodge's chef. “We talked through everything: what kind of plates they had, how many, what their line setup was like, what equipment they had. That helped us plan our menu accordingly.”
One of the biggest considerations was pasta. “Being a pasta-focused restaurant, we’re used to having a pasta well, which is a machine that keeps water boiling for cooking fresh pasta to order,” Cheetham explains. “Most kitchens don’t have one, and that can make doing pasta service really tricky. So instead, we designed a menu around items like gnocchi and risotto that are easier to execute in that kind of setup.”
Getting the food and ingredients across state lines was a quest of its own. The team packed everything on ice in insulated containers and checked them with their luggage. While overnight carriers were an option, the risk of a box getting delayed or lost was too great. Most ingredients were pre-prepped — cut, vacuum-sealed and ready to go.
“For the larger Savor event, we brought 48 pounds of lamb,” Cheetham said. “We marinated it overnight and skewered it the morning of. We probably served around 350 lamb skewers.”
The Payoff
The benefits go beyond brand awareness and customer growth. Festivals offer meaningful professional development for the chefs, too.
“It’s a kind of culinary networking,” says Cheetham. “You meet other chefs, connect with their teams, and build relationships you can carry into the future. I can go to San Francisco now, pop into Melissa Perello’s place [Frances and Octavia], and we’ve got that connection. And she can do the same here.”
It also helps elevate Denver’s standing in the national food conversation.
“Events like this remind people how serious the food scene in Denver and Colorado has become,” Cheetham adds. “It’s no longer just a ski town or cow town – it’s a food destination.”
