Colorado Proud: Celebrating 150 Years of Statehood with Big Red F
Since 1994, Big Red F has built our community one relationship at a time, with the farmers, ranchers, purveyors, and fishermen who have been putting quality on our tables long before "farm to table" was a phrase on a menu. Intentional sourcing isn't a marketing line, it's an operating principle: know the grower, know the story, and let that show up on the plate. This August, in celebration of Colorado’s 150 years of statehood, we're putting that principle front and center with Colorado Month, a month-long celebration of the people and partnerships behind what we cook.
Growing food in Colorado takes grit. From unpredictable high-country freezes that cut the fresh fruit season short to navigating water in a high-desert climate, our local farmers and ranchers are constantly innovating. For Colorado's 150th anniversary, Big Red F isn't just celebrating local ingredients, we are celebrating the resilience of our regional food system. This month, our chefs are partnering with innovators like Colorado Catch in Alamosa, who are sustainably raising striped bass in the desert, and supporting generational partners like Ela Family Farms by featuring their artisan fruit preserves to help them weather a tough harvest season. This is what sustainability tastes like: thoughtful sourcing, deep relationships, and a commitment to keeping our community fed.
That commitment plays out differently at every one of our restaurants, because every chef has their own long-standing partners and their own story to tell. Try these Colorado features on special all month long.
At Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, Chef Sheila Lucero built a dish around water itself, pairing sustainably raised Colorado Catch striped bass with sweet corn from Munson Farm and hydroponic tomatoes from Rocky Mountain Fresh.
“At Jax, sustainability starts with thoughtful sourcing and supporting producers who share our values. For Colorado Month, we're proud to feature striped bass from Colorado Catch in Alamosa alongside locally grown corn and tomatoes, celebrating the farmers and producers who help strengthen a more resilient regional food system.” - Chef Sheila Lucero
At The Post, Chef Kevin Grossi turned a setback into a feature. When an early freeze wiped out the season's stone fruit at Ela Family Farms, he reworked his peach and plum crostada around Ela's preserves instead, keeping a longtime partnership intact through a hard season.
“I’ve used Ela Farm for my entire cooking career in Colorado. This dessert is our way of supporting Ela Family Farms on Colorado's Western Slope after they lost 100% of this year's fruit crop to severe weather. While this season's harvest was lost, their handcrafted preserves continue to tell the story of their orchards and provide an important source of income. By choosing this dessert, you're helping support a Colorado farming family and the future of local agriculture, one sweet bite at a time. -Chef Kevin Grossi
Brewmaster Nick Tedeschi from The Post Brewing Company is crafting his annual wet hop beer mid-August with whole-leaf hops driven same-day from Billy Goat Hop Farm in Montrose and malt from Root Shoot Malting in Loveland. Brewed, as he puts it, “to taste like Colorado in a glass.”
"Most hops in the industry are pelletized. Efficient and shelf-stable, but you lose a good portion of the oil and moisture along the way. We get excited every August, because that's when we brew with fresh, whole-leaf hop cones within 24 hours of harvest. That fresh, green flavor is unmatched. Wet hop beers are always the first signal that summer's turning to fall." - Brewmaster Nick Tedeschi
At Centro Mexican Kitchen, Chef Luis brings the mountains to the table with a Colorado inspired grilled elk rack finished in mole rojo, with smoked Olathe corn from Munson Farms and peach salsa picked from our local farmer’s market.
“We carefully source these Colorado ingredients to make this dish rich, colorful, and tasting like high-country summer at its absolute peak.” - Chef Jason Schmidt
Meanwhile, at West End Tavern, two of our chefs go head-to-head with Rock River Bison, each building their own take on a Colorado bison burger. One is stacked with pueblo green chili, pepper jack cheese, an over-easy egg and Gotham Greens Farm leaf lettuce with the other smothered in smoked cheddar, pulled pork, and Boulder Bourbon BBQ sauce. Pair it with a Colorado Whiskey Flight or one of twenty Colorado drafts pouring all month. This is as Colorado as it gets.
Wonder Press Juice rounds things out with hand picked fresh Farmer's Toasts. A Grilled Palisade Peach Toast dressed with whipped feta and chèvre mousse, drizzled with front range honey and hard grilled Blue Bird Organic peaches. On the savory side, a featured Blackened Macha Salmon & Sweet Corn Toast. This comes topped with Rocky Mountain Fresh heirloom tomato salad, Tuxedo Corn Company sweet corn and lots of delicious herbs to bring out the fresh flavors.
To top things off, Velvet Elk Lounge is pouring ‘The Boulder Connection,’ a refreshing cocktail built around the renowned Ela Farms peach purée and Suerte Tequila, layered in with other original ingredients like Combier, chamoy and fresh lime. Our long standing partnership with both organizations makes for an easy pairing for the best drink you’ll have all summer long.
“You can’t celebrate Colorado Month without a refreshing drink in hand. 'The Boulder Connection' is a carefully curated cocktail that pairs Suerte Blanco Tequila, founded right here in Boulder, with the one and only Ela Farms peach purée creating a smooth and vibrant drink while telling a fantastic local sourcing story from the very first sip.” - Beverage Lead Simon Giebler
All of these culinary creations go live on Colorado Day, August 1st, at every Big Red F location along the Front Range. Stop in for happy hour between 4 and 6pm and you'll hear nothing but Colorado artists on the playlist, and merchandise is 20% off all day at every restaurant, so it's a good day to walk out with a hat. A portion of the day's proceeds will benefit our our non-profit partner: Hunger Free Colorado* - learn more about them below.
Thirty years in, our sourcing has always been about relationships. A farmer we trust, a fisherman we've worked with for a decade, a brewer who'd rather drive across the state than lose an ounce of hop oil. Colorado Month is just us saying it a little louder than usual. Come taste what a resilient, thoughtfully sourced Colorado food system actually tastes like. It tastes like home, because that's what we've been building since 1994.
*Hunger Free Colorado connects people to food resources to meet existing needs and drives policy, systems and social change to end hunger. They serve more than 16,000 households and Colorado families each year, working to ensure every Coloradan has equitable access to the nutritious, culturally relevant food needed to thrive. Hunger Free Colorado assists people experiencing food insecurity while also advocating for policies that make nutritious food more accessible, when it is needed most. They led efforts to pass a Healthy School Meals for All policy in Colorado - which is providing free and healthy meals for all Colorado public school students. In the coming school year, Hunger Free Colorado will bring together school districts, parents, students and their local farmers and ranchers to create healthier school menus that appeal to students and are sourced from Colorado food producers, strengthening local food systems and keeping our kids fed.