Bosq Aspen is a family-owned, fine dining restaurant in Colorado — and it received a coveted Michelin Star last week. Owensboro native Natalie Hayden serves as the Assistant General Manager and said while she doesn’t spend time in the kitchen, she works to showcase her hometown’s hospitality at Bosq.
Hayden said Bosq, which is run by Chef and owner Barclay Dodge and his wife Molly, has a menu that keeps customers interested and is full of unique food because of their use of fresh produce in their region. She said with Aspen’s weather, it’s difficult to have year-round fresh produce.
During the summer, Hayden said, they forage different ingredients that they dry and dehydrate into powders, then rehydrate them in the middle of winter so they can still have that fresh taste in their ingredients.
“It’s pretty amazing to come into a restaurant and have an amazing bone broth or an amazing soup that we were able to recreate using the items we picked in August, for example,” Hayden said.
The Bosq menu is described by Michelin as seasonally inspired cooking that “focuses on foraging, fermenting and local farms.” But the environment that’s set, they said, is open and accommodating.
In her role, Hayden said she focuses primarily on the environment that is created in the restaurant.
“Coming from Owensboro and having that humbleness and just that Southern love, it really comes out in my style of hospitality,” Hayden said.
Hayden noted that she can showcase a formal environment that also looks and feels like a home.
“That’s what we strive to do, have an elevated dining experience but you feel like you’re walking into Chef’s home,” she said.
Hayden said ever since joining the team in 2021, she’s had a passion to help Bosq earn the star and provide the best hospitality. She joined the Dodges and other staff at the ceremony in Denver where Bosq was awarded the Michelin star.
Hayden said she was filled with excitement after the ceremony and still doesn’t have the words to fully describe her feelings.
“We went back and watched the camera footage of the restaurant, and it was tears of joy and just tears of pure excitement. I mean, it was a night to celebrate,” Hayden said. “If anything, it gets more intense from here, because now it’s a matter of keeping your star and also striving for a second star.”
A Michelin Star is awarded to restaurants offering outstanding cooking. The Guide takes into account five universal criteria: the quality of the ingredients, the harmony of flavors, the mastery of techniques, the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine, and consistency both across the entire menu and over time.
With one star under their belt, Hayden said the restaurant is bound to get busier, but she is confident it won’t change the restaurant’s dynamic.
“Greeting [the customers] with a hug, greeting them with personalized cards for their birthdays, or knowing what their favorite flowers are and having those on the table,” she said of the ways Bosq creates a unique and welcoming environment. “Just really making it a customized experience and not just making you feel like you’re just another guest in a restaurant.”
