With the guiding values of connection, food and community, Snowmass Base Village is partnering with local chefs Mawa McQueen and Martin Oswald to host a community dinner next week.
The dinner, which will be outside of The Collective and will feature four courses with an optional wine pairing, aims to bring people together for a fun, unique culinary experience while abiding by public health and safety guidelines.
“We’ll use Colorado ingredients prepared with an international flair,” McQueen said. “It’ll be a fun, safe way to bring the community together.”
McQueen and Oswald — renowned Aspen chefs who have been friends for years — are “neighbors” in Base Village, with McQueen running The Crepe Shack and Oswald the mix6 restaurant inside of The Collective.
For Oswald, he said the combination of their close proximity, close relationship and McQueen’s experience hosting monthly community dinners at Mawa’s Kitchen made them the “perfect match” for hosting a community dinner in Snowmass.
“It’s important now more than ever to have this,” Oswald said. “It’s a great opportunity and a stunning, safe environment with plenty of room to host these types of events.”
From seared, seasoned scallops on a bed of roasted corn by Oswald to McQueen’s famous lamb chops, both Aspen-Snowmass chefs hope to give roughly 60 locals and visitors a flavorful taste of summer utilizing all Colorado-based, locally grown ingredients.
“We’re pouring our hearts and souls into this so people can experience something different in Snowmass,” McQueen said.
Dawn Blasberg, plaza and events manager for Snowmass Base Village, said the village developers have been wanting to host a community dinner for some time and are excited to be working with McQueen and Oswald.
Blasberg said depending on how the first dinner goes July 15, the plan is for it to be the start of a summer community dinner series with two to three more dinners tentatively planned for August and September.
“We hope the first one is so successful we can continue doing them,” Blasberg said.
Last week, much of the Snowmass Base Village area reopened its doors for the first time after being forced to shut down in March due to COVID-19, and this week will bring the revival of many of its weekly activities and events.
Blasberg said the gradual reopenings have gone well so far. She hopes people continue to be receptive and understanding of the health and safety rules in place so activities and events like the community dinner next week can continue to provide opportunities for people to safely gather.
“All in all it seems a lot of people want to do stuff and to do it in a way that’s safe for them and their families,” Blasberg said. “And it’s important to us to help make that happen.”
Maddie Vincent, Aspen Times, mvincent@aspentimes.com