FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS, Chef Daniel Joly has held court as one of the most respected chefs in the valley. In his historic farmhouse at the base of Beaver Creek, Joly creates inspired French cuisine that always includes a signature twist that makes it unique. Over the past few years, Belgian-born Joly has taken his love for fresh, local produce to an even more personal level: He’s growing as much as he can himself.  

With the addition of a solar-powered geodesic greenhouse behind the restaurant to his already established kitchen garden, Joly now creates farm-to-table cuisine that is hyper-local. “We cut the herbs before every service,” Joly explains. “I think the later it stays in the ground, it has more flavor.”

Joly is extolling the virtues of farm-to-table both in the restaurant and also for special events. During the Beaver Creek Wine & Spirits Festival, Joly is hosting an elegant four-course feast of locally sourced ingredients (some from his own greenhouse) on the front lawn of Mirabelle at Beaver Creek on Aug. 8 and 9. This is the third year that Joly has hosted the dinners as part of the Wine & Spirits Festival; it’s become the most anticipated event of the weekend, selling out almost as soon as it’s announced.

“Our first year (hosting one dinner) was very successful,” Joly says. “For our second year, we had one dinner on Thursday evening and it sold out in less than 20 minutes. This year we said ‘let’s do two evenings’ and we sold out in two days. It seems like it’s the new hot ticket.”

There are 65 guests at each dinner, arranged at long farmhouse tables to enjoy family-style dishes. Joly says that all of the ingredients, like produce from Palisade and fish fresh from local waters, are sourced from 120 miles away or closer. He’s also planning on utilizing microgreens from his garden (120 yards away) for the dinners, but he admitted that serving 130 people will put a dent in his allotment.

 “My greenhouse might look pretty sad after the dinner, let’s put it that way,” Joly says with a laugh.

 For those who snapped up tickets to Mirabelle’s farm-to-table dinners, the evening promises to be a special one with live music wafting from the front porch, wine flowing along with conversation and local ingredients on the plate. 

 “For me, for summertime, I stick close to home and highlight produce from Colorado,” Joly says. “We’re really looking forward to these evenings.” 

For more information/reservations: 970-949-7728; https://mirabelle1.com/

Though Joly’s farm-to-table dinners are sold out, there are still opportunities to relish local flavors around the valley. Hovey & Harrison, the café/coffeehouse/bakery/market in Edwards, hosts a farm-to-table dinner series every Saturday night from 6-9 p.m. through Aug 24. As H&H is one of Knapp Ranch’s preferred purveyors, there’s no shortage of freshly-grown local produce at these dinners (Tickets are $65; hoveyandharrison.com). Another option is the Earth to Table series at WYLD, located at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. Every Wednesday through Sept. 4, Chef Jasper Schneider presents a family-style, three-course meal with several options for each course created from seasonal produce. Guests dine on the patio, under the stars (Tickets are $68; 970-343-1168 or email [email protected]).