In the Rockies, wild boar, buffalo and elk may be the equivalent of pork, beef and chicken elsewhere in the country, but alligator ribs? "It's a Southern thing," explains Adrian Carpenter, chef and co-owner of the Dogwood Grill in Basalt, 20 minutes northeast of Aspen. "At first, we thought they'd make good bar food. But people love them, and they've become a big deal."
Carpenter gets the alligator ribs, farm-raised, from Florida. To ensure fall-off-the-bone tenderness, he sears them, then braises them for three hours. The racks resemble baby-backs in size but are milder in flavor, and come slathered with a honey-based sauce laced with cayenne and topped with roasted mirlitons (wild squash) and mangoes.
The idea of offering Southern-inspired cuisine was something Carpenter, a North Carolina native who co-owns the restaurant with pastry chef Joseph Munoz, had been kicking around during stints at The Wild Fig and Rustique Bistro in Aspen. In addition to the ribs, diners will also enjoy the restaurant's modern, low-country décor (scarlet red walls and palmetto leaf ceiling fans) as well as dishes that put a fresh twist on traditional Old South cuisine, such as roasted oysters with homemade crackers, pecan-dusted sweetbreads and quail with apple-smoked bacon and roasted shallot jus. Fixings like crispy okra and sweet potato fries are a must. For dessert, go for Ms. Nancy's (as in Carpenter's mother) pecan pie.
305 Gold Rivers Ct., Basalt; 970-927-4000
JANUARY 2005
