Crested Butte is known as the wildflower capital of Colorado, and visitors this summer can do more than just photograph the blooms — they can eat a few flowers, too.
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Soupçon, located at 127 Elk Ave. A in downtown Crested Butte, is using flowers as a seasonal ingredient and providing diners an opportunity to use a new sense to enjoy the flora. While many of the restaurant’s dishes come garnished with bright blooms, chef John Leonardi is also incorporating flowers in other flavorful ways.
Take, for example, the Wildflower Raviolo that features five different flowers — wild roses, pansies, nasturtium, calendula, and dianthus, plus purple basil & tarragon — laminated into the homemade dough. The pasta is stuffed with squash blossom, an herb called lovage and ricotta cheese, before being cooked and served in a chicken consommé with fava beans.
While these edible flowers are primarily cultivated garden flowers, the goal of the menu was to take inspiration from the wildflowers in Colorado’s mountains. Many wildflowers aren’t actually edible — and can even be poisonous.
Flowers also star in condiments on the menu, such as the vinaigrette that tops the Bluefin Toro Nicoise Salad, which is infused with edible violas, pansies and borage. Bread service features whipped butter with purple Persian leek blossoms, while the porcini risotto is finished with a butter infused with elderflower.
Soupçon, which prides itself on local sourcing, got most of the flowers for the specialty menu from Gunnison-based Janniebird Farm and Sundrop Flora, and Thistle Whistle Farm in Hotchkiss. One notable exception is the wild roses, which are from three-year-old bushes growing behind the restaurant, said spokesperson Stephanie Paz.
If you haven’t yet heard of or visited Soupçon, you could be forgiven. The restaurant, located in a former mining cabin, has been open since 1975, but it only houses nine tables that fit just 28 guests at one time. In 2019, Chef Leonardi purchased the business, which serves French-American cuisine in a fine dining atmosphere. We’ve argued that it could be a Michelin contender as the guide moves to incorporate restaurants statewide.
“The way I was taught is to use the ingredient and show it off the best you can,” Leonardi previously told The Denver Post. We have to assume that applies to wildflowers, too.
The specialty flower menu lasts all summer long until the restaurant closes for the off-season, usually at the end of September or early October. In addition to ordering à la carte, guests can indulge in three-course or six-course tasting menus every day of the week. For more information, visit soupconcb.com.
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