When I travel, my gut gets messed up. It’s happened for years now and I’ve chalked it up to too much eating out. I’ve come to expect it and carry tums as a matter of course. Something interesting happened on our trip to Delta County, Colorado, however. Even after three days on the trip, I felt great.
This is very odd, I thought, but then I realized that almost everything we’d consumed on this trip was organic food that had been grown within miles of where we ate it. There are very few places in Colorado where farm to table is possible, but it’s pretty standard if you visit Delta County.
My happy tummy was no coincidence; eating good food makes you feel good, so I thought I’d share what we ate and where we ate it.
The Living Farm Café
Paonia, Colorado in May is one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever visited. As we drove into town the sound of a crowing rooster greeted us. I was in love.
We were booked for two nights at The Living Farm Café & Inn in downtown. We’d previously been at the Leroux Creek Inn & Vineyard (read about it here). Our room above the café was small, but clean and adorable. The room had two windows and afternoon sunlight fell across the colorful quilt on the bed as we entered.
That afternoon, we were off to The Living Farm, just a mile down the road. Our visit is documented in this previous post. All the food served in the café is grown on The Living Farm and I highly recommend taking a tour while you’re in town.
Over the next few days we dined on fantastic food at this true, farm to table café. One evening we indulged in an appetizer of goat egg rolls with dragon sauce, strawberry and arugula salad, lamb enchiladas and lemon truffle chevre ravioli. I paired my lamb with the 2010 Collage from Alfred Eames, a local winery and Ryan paired his meal with the dry, hard cider from Big B’s.
Breakfast is included with your room reservation, and so I got to try turkey eggs for the first time. They are huge and rich, and I would definitely order them again. I even tried the sausage, despite the fact that I’d met the farm’s cute pigs on our visit. Those pigs are tasty.
Our visit to the farm had instilled in us an entirely new respect for the food on our plates, and in fact, we both nearly licked our plates clean at every meal, mostly because it was scrumptious, but in part because we knew how much love and hard work had gone into getting it to us.
Other good food in Delta County
We ate lunch twice at Delicious Orchards, a must-stop café and farmers’ market between Hotchkiss and Paonia. On the first stop we dined on sandwiches made from local ingredients and the second time we ordered local goat cheese with a huge loaf of fresh baked bread laced with cloves of garlic.
We were visiting the area right before the busy season and most wineries were still closed, but we were able to taste the region’s wines at Delicious Orchards, along with ciders by Big B’s. Ryan’s favorite was the Big B’s Pommeau, which has set him on a mission to find more Colorado Pommeau.
Another meal that was “good enough to write home about” was brunch at Fresh & Wyld Farm House Inn & Gardens, also in Paonia. From the first course to the last, the food here was packed with flavor.We also ate a memorable dinner at The Flying Fork in Paonia. As we crossed the the courtyard we were transported to Italy. Olives are my addiction, so when I discovered the plate of olives waiting on the table, I knew it was going to be a good meal. It was, and the staff was also a delightfully happy group.
I suppose if I lived in this amazing corner of the world, where good food was always at my finger tips, I’d be a delightfully happy person too. I know my tummy would be content.
Thank you to Visit Delta County for hosting us on this visit.
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