EAT Magazine Vogue Entertaining & Travel Colorado Golf Magazine DiRoNa Award Recipient Hemispheres Magazine Wine Spectator Award of Excellence Mangia Art Culinaire Ski Magazine Wine Spectator Award of Excellence Wine Spectator Art Culinaire Winter 2001 "A 10,000 square foot retreat at the base of Vail Mountain is not a bad place to hang your hat. Chef/owner Thomas Salamunovich and his wife Nancy Sweeney have made a home of Larkspur restaurant and market where they prepare gourmet dinners and ready-made gourmet feasts for Vail's many seasonal guests. "Salamunovich laughingly remembers his call to the Rocky Mountains, 'I went to Vail to be a ski bum. I found a restaurant job and fell in love with food instantly.' After two years on the line, Salamunovich went to the California Culinary Academy, graduating in 1983. 'The food scene was just starting,' he recalls. 'Spago wasn't even open. There was just Chez Panisse and a chef named Jeremiah Tower. People were just getting into organics and California cuisine had yet to be fully defined.' "Through friends at the California Culinary Academy and a few business contacts, Salamunovich was able to arrange for several once-in-a-lifetime stages in France working with Paul Bocuse and Lucas Carton, both 3-star Michelin restaurants in France and Elysee Lenotre, a 2-star Michelin restaurant in Paris, as well as the bakery of international fame, Poilane Boulangerie. He also worked at a small bistro in the country with no stars. "'The restaurant in the country was the most noble experience. I worked with a man who taught me to peel apples to Tchaikovsky and bone lamb to Ravel, his passion was through the roof with everything he did,' Salamunovich muses. 'The grandmother would come in with an apron full of cèpes, a hunter could come in and sling a whole venison on the table for us to butcher.' "After a year or so, Salamunovich got tired of working for free and found a job in a hip little bistro under the Eiffel Tower. Ready to climb his way up the ladder, he returned to the United States to pay his dues in San Francisco's fledgling hot spots. He then landed a job at the cutting edge restaurant, Stars and stayed for two years. Wanting to stretch his wings, he returned to Vail for a job at Sweet Basil, which had a good national reputation at the time. During his seven years at the restaurant, he built his professional reputation and cooking style. It was then time for him to write the menus. "Salamunovich often reflects on the cuisine of his peers for inspiration. 'One of my favorite books is Thomas Keller's French Laundry book, and its clean minimalism.' Less is more: Salamunovich's motto. Many of the dishes at Larkspur are solid French in style, simple and elegant, employing two or three ingredients. "The market is another project, where guests can stop by for high-end take out or homemade breads, rotisserie, cheese and pastries. The market allows Salamunovich to remain involved with his clientele. For some chef/owners, it's all about business, for others it's all about art, craft and business. "Salamunovich is very much an owner who is aware of the role business plays in sustaining his passion. He professes it's all about surrounding himself with good people and including them in the success of the business. 'We analyze the numbers every day. I show the staff, to teach them, and to empower them. The more they know, the more they care.'" - Art Culinaire, #63 / Winter 2001