Colorado lamb rack with Japanese eggplant confit and double-baked potato.
Dominique Taylor/EAT Magazine
It’s not every day you’re invited into a Master Chef’s home for dinner — especially when that home happens to be one of the Vail Valley’s most charming restaurants.
Just beyond the gatehouse of Beaver Creek, Mirabelle isn’t just a fine dining restaurant; it’s an experience. The historic farmhouse, built in 1898, is one of the original buildings in the Beaver Creek area, and is home to Master Chef Daniel Joly and his wife Nathalie — literally. They live upstairs and have owned the property since 1999, although Mirabelle has been around for more than 40 years. While many talk about cooking from the heart, Joly cooks exquisite European cuisine from his actual home.
Tuna and artichoke ravioli with seared rare yellowfin tuna and artichoke cream.Dominique Taylor/EAT Magazine
Step through the front door, and you’re met with a cozy living room anchored by a modern stone fireplace with plush couches and fur throws that encourage lingering over a cocktail or glass of Burgundy from the bar before dinner. Patios lined in flower boxes wrap around the home, inviting guests to dine outside in the summer under bistro lights strung between old-growth trees next to the babbling creek. Of course, the dining room inside is also inviting and quaint.
Belgian-born Chef Joly honed his craft in MICHELIN-starred kitchens across Europe, and now owns a MICHELIN-Recommended Restaurant. His creative style is a graceful blend of classic French dishes, Belgian soul and Colorado freshness. With a focus on farm-to-table cooking, Joly sources meat and produce from local farms throughout the state — or his backyard. Behind the restaurant, a garden and greenhouse provide many of the ingredients you’ll find on the plate.
Dinner begins with an amuse-bouche: perhaps a swirl of smoked salmon, basil oil and edible flowers that are a bite-sized nod to the chef’s style — skillful and seasonal.
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Garden tomato salad, summer melon, basil and mozzarella.Dominique Taylor/EAT Magazine
Not sure where to start as you mull over the menu? Le Menu Gourmand offers a curated four-course tasting menu, all of which can be ordered a la carte as well. Or if you’re feeling decisive, dive right in.
The hot foie gras is a classic French dish with a distinct Colorado twist: foie is seared crisp and paired with plums from Joly’s property in Palisade, topped with a sweet vanilla Sauternes reduction and a slightly tart rhubarb sauce. It’s rich and refined, a harmonious balance of flavors with local produce. Another standout? The poached Maine lobster, a luxurious and lighter twist on arancini. Lobster risotto is rolled in corn dust, crisped in a pan and topped with chunks of lobster, sweet corn, spicy aioli and a cloud of basil foam. It’s as decadent as it is delightful.
For the main event, the Dover sole meunière is a classic nod to French tradition. It’s a seemingly simple dish in a butter, lemon and parsley sauce, but it requires precision to perfect this light fish in a rich dish. Meanwhile, the roasted elk tenderloin, a common Colorado protein, is tender and elegant, elevated by a black truffle reduction and creamy cauliflower puree.
Mojito dessert with mint dacquoise cake, kafir lime mousse, mint cremeux, rum and soda gel, lime and rum sorbet.Dominique Taylor/EAT Magazine
And just when you think the meal can’t get any better, dessert arrives. If indecision strikes, opt for the trio of desserts. But for summer, the Mojito is a showstopper: a deconstructed, minty-lime masterpiece that tastes uncannily like the cocktail itself, featuring mint dacquoise sponge cake, kafir lime mousse, fizzy rum and soda gel that captures the effervescence of bubbles and a lime rum sorbet. It’s rare to find fine dining that feels as personal as Mirabelle does. It’s not just about savoring exquisite cuisine (although your taste buds will be singing praises); it’s being welcomed, warmly and deliciously, into the home of the chef who crafted it.