Local chefs named semifinalists for James Beard award

Two local chefs have been nominated for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards.

Ryan Hardy, chef of Montagna at the Little Nell in Aspen, and Mark Fischer, chef of Six89 in Carbondale, are nominated as best chefs of the Southwest.

They are in competition with fellow Colorado chefs Kelly Liken of “Top Chef” television fame who operates a restaurant under her own name in Vail, Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja in Denver, Alex Seidel of Fruition Restaurant in Denver and Bertrand Bouquin of Summit at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. In all, there are 20 chefs up for the honor in the region, which also includes Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.

Hardy and Fischer have been nominated for the distinction in the past and both are celebrated for integrating natural ingredients, often locally grown, into their gourmet food. Hardy even owns a 15-acre farm in Crawford that serves as an earthly cupboard for many of his culinary creations. Both men also feature food from Carbondale, Paonia and from across the Western Slope.

In addition to Six89, Fischer also operates another popular eatery on Carbondale's Main Street, Phat Thai, and he recently opened a third establishment, The Pullman, in downtown Glenwood Springs.

The list of James Beard nominees will be shortened on March 21.

Winners will be announced in May.

Other nominees connected to Colorado include ChoLon in Denver for best new restaurant; Yasmin Lozada-Hissom at Olivéa in Denver for outstanding pastry chef; Frank Bonanno of Bonanno Concepts in Denver (Bones, Green Russell, Luca D’Italia, Lou’s Food Bar, Mizuna, Osteria Marco, and Wednesday’s Pie) for outstanding restaurateur; and Bobby Stuckey, of Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, who was nominated for outstanding wine service.

River Name / Location	Stream flow, ft3/s	Gage height ft
Gore Creek
At Upper Station, Near I-70 Twin Bridges	n/a	4 ft
Booth Creek	n/a	4 ft
Abv Red Sandstone Creek At Vail	190	6 ft
At Mouth Near Minturn	225	7 ft
Beaver Creek
At Avon	21	2 ft
Lake Creek
Near Edwards	79	1 ft
Cross Creek
Near Minturn	98	4 ft
Homestake Creek
At Gold Park	127	5 ft
Eagle River
East Fork Eagle River Near Climax	n/a	2 ft
At Red Cliff	30	3 ft
Near Minturn	234	4 ft
Wastewater Treatment Plant At Avon	671	5 ft
Below Gypsum	826	5 ft
Colorado River
Near Kremmling	402	4 ft
Near Dotsero	1,620	3 ft
Below Glenwood Springs	3,080	5 ft
Near Cameo	3,740	6 ft
Below Grand Valley Div Nr Palisade	2,160	5 ft
Near Colorado-utah State Line	4,120	4 ft
Near Cisco, Ut	4,100	3 ft
At Lees Ferry, Az	12,100	9 ft
Near Grand Canyon, Az	12,000	9 ft
Yuma Main Canal Ww At Yuma, Az	987	10 ft
Roaring Fork River
Abv Lost Man Cr Near Aspen	n/a	n/a ft
Ab Difficult C Nr Aspen	53	1 ft
Near Aspen	78	1 ft
Near Emma	476	6 ft
At Glenwood Springs	1,160	3 ft
Hunter Creek
Near Aspen	57	2 ft
At Aspen	49	4 ft
Frying Pan River
Near Ruedi	111	2 ft
Crystal River
Abv Avalanche Crk, Near Redstone	610	2 ft
Arkansas River
Ef Arkansas R At Us Highway 24, Nr Leadville	46	3 ft
Near Leadville	85	5 ft
Below Empire Gulch Near Malta	156	3 ft
Below Granite	453	4 ft
Near Nathrop	451	4 ft
At Parkdale	464	3 ft