By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor
CALF PROFILES
Great steaks and fine dining are a trademark of Steakhouse 316 in Aspen and Boulder, and Monarch Steakhouse in Aspen. Dobesh utilizes Prime Certified Angus Beef, relying on the product’s excellent consistency.
Chef BARRY DOBESH
accomplished chuckwagon cook and meats expert, smoking, curing and preparing any kind of domestic meat or game. An enormous smoker sitting in his backyard is proof of his love of meat preparation. Mom, Jan, is a baker, creating a good balance of foods in their household. Following the Chef’s Path Dobesh says he had no direct career path or desire to become a chef as a youth, but leaned heavily on creative activities while a student at Broken Bow High School. A teacher, Paul Loomer, found a culinary program in Denver that seemed to fit Barry’s interests. He and his mom checked it out. Dobesh applied and was accepted at the Art Institute of Colorado. In the summer of 2000, the newly hatched high school graduate took a “shot in the dark” and moved to the big city to attend the business and arts college. After suffering a moment of culture shock, Dobesh decided he liked it there. He explains he’d had zero experience in food service, having only worked at a local feed store and lived an agriculturally idyllic life. It was a major adjustment for a kid who used to show horses. His perseverance won him an associate’s degree in the two-year
program. He explained he’d delayed a required externship until the end of formal classroom work, enabling him to apply himself 100 percent to an important segment of the learning process. As it happened, family friend Mike Callicrate hooked him up with Hilltop Café in Golden, Colo. The homemade French-American food provided a great learning curve for the would-be chef. He stayed 18 months and calls it his “own personal graduate school.” He says that a trend in American fine dining had taken off at that time; his next stop would be the big city. Off to Chicago At the time, Chicago was a culinary hub where chefs were in charge of their own menus. This idea was favorable to Dobesh. Formulating a plan, he traveled home from Golden, Colo., to spend time at the local library (which had internet service), researching Chicago-area eating establishments. The gutsy youngster soon found a ride to the big city, armed with a duffel bag and prospects of a job interview. Arriving in Chicago, he found both a job and house within 24 hours. He remained for three and a half years. Here he worked with legendary chef Homaro Cantu at his restaurant, Moto. He also spent time at Alinea Restaurant, working with Grant Achatz. Type these
How was your steak? That loaded question doesn’t scare Barry Dobesh, a chef in Aspen, Colo. He knows it was great. Ranch-born Dobesh was raised in Custer County, Neb., near Broken Bow. His family runs a cow-calf herd and breeds and sells Quarter Horses. Theirs is a long rural history. Dobesh’s childhood was chock full of great cooks. A grandmother, Bonnie, faced ranching challenges near Eddyville. Regardless of blizzards, dust storms or the delivery of a backwards calf, Bonnie delivered her own kind of goods, a great meal from a hot oven. Her grandson reminisced about picking chokecherries with her, preserving jams and baking breads. He recalls that his Grandma Hyslop’s applesauce was “Just right.” Great- grandma Lillian Amsberry had a real, honest-to-goodness root cellar in her backyard, which remains a staple of Dobesh’s childhood memories. “Her backyard was like an enormous playground.” Lillian made delicious pies and left him with a deep appreciation of “homesteader recipes” – simple and down-to-earth eating from rural culture.
Most recently influential, however, is Dobesh’s father, Greg. He’s an
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