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 Mangia Winter 2002 "Everything about Vail exudes excellence. So it's no surprise to find one of Colorado's best fine-dining establishments at this resort. What is a surprise about Larkspur is the "Sex-and-the-City" feel you get the minute you walk into the place. "When you consider Larkspur's location in the Golden Peak Lodge at the base of Chair 6, a sophisticated dining experience is the last thing you expect to find in the same space where skier service desks and ATM machines bustle with business. But here it is - an oasis of gourmet. "Four intriguing sights catch your eye as you enter the restaurant. The two-sided up-lit glass shelves separating the bar from the dining room dazzle in a splash of color and light. An intriguing display of more than 4,000 bottles of wine in a glass-encased wine room fills the west end, while a perfectly placed flock of origami hummingbird sculptures fly across the opposite wall. "At the far end, chefs busily prepare food in an open kitchen, but don't be fooled - this open kitchen is the tip of the iceberg. A huge stainless-steel kitchen lies behind it, originally designed as a teaching venue when Johnson & Wales University had a campus in Vail. With group functions like weddings and corporate parties being a major part of Larkspur's business, the large kitchen gets a frequent workout. "Larkspur is owned by internationally trained chef Thomas Salamunovich and his art-consultant wife, Nancy Sweeney, who decorated the interior down to the plates and silverware. Together with their team of twelve key management employees, they have created a modern culinary masterpiece, like colors fusing together to produce a fine painting. "'Thomas and I may have spearheaded the starting of Larkspur, but so many people are responsible for our success,' says Sweeney, particularly citing General Manager Adam Baker. 'We are very much a family.' "Sweeney, a Colorado native, met Salamunovich in San Francisco after he had graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 1984. He was working for Jeremiah Tower as a line chef at Stars Restaurant. There he not only picked up the nouvelle American style of cuisine that he uses today, he also formed a friendship with colleague Peter Hillback, whom he later hired as Larkspur's chef when it opend three years ago. Salamunovich continued his West Coast training under Wolfgang Puck at the famous Postrio restaurant, then left for a career-enhancing year in France. There he worked at the three-star restaurants Paul Bocuse in Lyon and Lucas Carton in Paris, as well as the two-star Elysee Lenotre in Paris and the world-famous bakery Poilane Boulangerie, where he learned the recipe for a bread starter that he uses today for all his breads and rolls."'My roots are classical French,' he notes. 'In France I learned how to cook peasant food the way French grandmothers do. They call it 'cuisine bonne femme.' I tried it out on Nancy all the time until she finally begged, No more! You'll make me fat!' "'At first, I aspired to be a chef at the best level I could be,' he says. 'When I started, it was about cooking and the soul of the ingredients. Then I learned that the food is just one cog in the restaurant business. It hurts for a chef to say this, but I believe it's about the service. If a customer is uncomfortable in the space, he won't come back even with great food. It's over the top when both are exceptional.' "The peaceful and soothing atmosphere matches the unhurried service of the waitstaff, who are as knowledgeable about the food as though they had cooked it themselves. Twice a day the staff attends lineups when the chefs present new dishes for tasting as well as detailed printed sheets about the food's origins. A sommelier is available at all times to talk guests through the wine list, which consists mostly of American wines from boutique wineries rather than large, well-known ones. "Simple sophistication and a striving for excellence are Salamunovich's mantras for Larkspur. 'You are only as good as your last meal. This business is incredibly energy-driven, but passion always wins.'" - Claudia Carbone, Mangia, Winter 2002