Soupçon in Crested Butte seems to defy the laws of restaurant economics. With just nine tables, barely 30 seats, and only two seatings per night, the French-inspired restaurant has remained a destination for half a century. It reopened Friday for the season.
Housed in a former miner’s cabin, the kitchen is tight, the dining room is cozy, and the wine cellar is actually in the attic. The sommelier must watch that he doesn’t bump his head.
Chef and owner John Leonardi, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, spoke about the secrets of Soupçon’s success. He also gave a hint (that’s what soupçon means in French) of the summer menu, which will feature edible flowers – a nod to Crested Butte’s 40th annual wildflower festival.
Ryan Warner: I don’t understand how you make it work, especially in this economy and given the margins.
Chef John Leonardi: That is done through planning and being busy when we’re open. We definitely have to maximize those periods.
Warner: Forgive me if this comes across as a little scathing, but is it about charging exorbitant prices to Texans?
Leonardi: Absolutely not. We most definitely cost everything out, and we know what we need to charge in order to be a profitable business. We’re a place to celebrate. It’s not all the uber-wealthy. We have people that, I believe, make sacrifices so that they can continue to come back each year to have this experience.
Warner: Half a century in business, there have to be traditions around this place.
Leonardi: It’s so exciting to see three generations of a family here for Christmas Eve dinner. We recognize the name. Perhaps one of the daughters has another kid and now they’re experiencing this environment and keeping that family tradition alive.
Warner: You are passionate about sourcing ingredients locally – from Thistle Whistle Farms in Hotchkiss, Mattics Orchards in Montrose. But those places are still two hours away. What obstacles have you overcome to serve locally sourced, French-inspired cuisine in what is an out-of-the-way mountain town? You don’t come to Crested Butte unless you intend to.
Leonardi: It’s definitely a destination. You have to be willing to make the journey. The food is the same way. It’s gotten easier with farm runners. They do one truck a week, and they’ll bring all the stuff over to the restaurants in town here.
Warner: Are they carrying produce from multiple farms?
Leonardi: Absolutely. The order has to be in by Sunday at 5 p.m. and then the delivery shows up on Thursday, and that’s every week. So you have to plan, you have to also check what’s there. And I think the way we pull it off is really relying on technique. If we can get snap peas, we know how to get the best out of them. If the snap peas are gone, we can get broccolini – knowing how to prepare the ingredient. We reprint the menu pretty much every single day because something doesn’t show up or it’s no longer available or maybe I burnt it.
Warner: You graduated from the CIA, the Culinary Institute of America. It’s like Harvard Law or Wharton for business. When you graduated, how much was there still to learn?
Leonardi: A lot. I always say the Culinary Institute of America will give you everything you need to be successful, but what kind of work do you want to put into it? What are you going to actually take from the experience there – the best library probably in the country for food, a multitude of resources, instructors. But you also have to know how to work with people, how to get along, how to have a team, how to lead by example.
Warner: That seems in direct opposition to the kind of egocentric-my-way-or-the-highway chef persona.
Leonardi: I think that that was the way, and there’s definitely a new wave now. Chefs want longevity, and if they’re just going to do it my way or the highway, you’re not going to get people that want to stay with you. And when something goes wrong, you’ve got to be able to rely on your team to get you through it if you want to keep doing it forever. This is my “it.” This is what I’m going to do.
Warner: I want to talk about our surroundings – a cabin built in 1891 by a young Yugoslavian immigrant. I’m always surprised by the tight quarters chefs work in. This, however, seems like a new level of having to maximize every inch of a place. Talk to me about your relationship to something that is obviously very charming but that was clearly not built as a restaurant.
Leonardi: You really have to be creative. I’ve done some renovations here. This floor used to be carpeted. These beams were covered up in layers of paint. Art was all over the walls to take your vision off of what’s wrong with the wall itself. That being said, we exposed the wood beams, added mirrors for some depth in this tiny space, and then while hanging the new doors in the bathroom, we heard glass break. There was a window buried in that wall. There's a lot going on here that you can’t really see. It’s been hidden over. I’m the seventh owner, I believe. You have to maximize what goes where and understand that the first try might not work.
Warner: Recently all of Colorado became eligible for a Michelin rating. Do you have high hopes?
Leonardi: I think we’re going to do what we do regardless. Again, we’re just trying to give the best hospitality dining experience that you can possibly dream of. That being said, the Michelin rating does carry so much of a following. We’re constantly trying to do small details. Our white tablecloths come from a lending company. We need to find a way to iron these tablecloths. We’re going through the logistical nightmare of “OK, we can iron them all, but where are we going to hang them up?” There’s nowhere to put them. So these are things we’re brainstorming through the offseason. We’re not going to change what we do, who we are, but these are small details that I think are expected of a Michelin-caliber restaurant.
Warner: Summer service resumed June 19, and I understand wildflowers – or flowers – will be integrated.
Leonardi: Yeah, the Wildflower Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary, which just really ties in with what we’re doing. It’s not going to be technically wildflowers. You don’t want to be out there just picking these things. You don’t want to trample off the trail. But we do have a farm that is going to procure us some edible flowers throughout the season that we can rely on sustainably to make the plates beautiful and do infusions and gastriques and garnishes for cocktails – and focus on the beauty of what the summer is.
Warner: What will keep y’all in business? Is it innovation, tradition or a balance?
Leonardi: It’s absolutely a balance. You’ve got to have both. I think restaurants that do a good thing and end up dissolving … they’re not able to keep it interesting. I think you need some nuance to keep people guessing. So keeping the Colorado lamb rack forever but changing up what’s in-season with the vegetables, infusing the sauces.
Warner: This restaurant predated you. You bought it in 2019. How does your Italian family square the French inspiration with a name like Leonardi?
Leonardi: We definitely have to have some fresh pastas and risottos from my upbringing, but I feel like what we try to emphasize is the French technique of developing flavor, and that can really go into any culture. You can take traditional stir fry and add a little French technique to it. I think it deepens flavor and heightens senses and makes it a little more complex.
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