The historic miner’s cabin puts a gourmet spin on an old classic
Story by Katherine Nettles
This year marks the 10th anniversary for Drew Henry and Sarah Jane Lebely as owners of the Dogwood, one of Crested Butte’s most treasured places for craft cocktails along with light, charcuterie-style bites. Drew and Sarah Jane purchased the Dogwood on July 4, 2015 and have continued producing the artisanal drinks that made it popular in the first place. They have also integrated their own gastronomic creations—perhaps the most impressive of which is the pickled egg.
The Dogwood’s pickled eggs are not the stereotypical Midwestern dive bar snack, fermenting suspiciously in a smudgy glass jar on the bar counter. They are an elevated statement dish, bearing richly saturated earth colors from a vinegar and root vegetable brine, served on a bed of microgreens and topped with house-made sauces and fresh garnishes.
Drew rotates the style and recipe about every two weeks, depending on what he and his patrons are excited about at the moment. He says he did get the idea from those lowly dive bar eggs, though.
“I was a river guide in California for about 15 years, and we had this dive bar that we would all go to after running this one big class five trip,” he explains. After he and his crew had spent multiple days running big rapids, camping overnight and managing pack mules, they would drag themselves to a saloon in Lake Isabella and get less than savory pickled eggs. He decided to make a dressed-up version for the Dogwood, a unique addition to the bar menu.
He succeeded so well that the eggs now have a following.
“I wanted it to be something that was easy for my chefs to prepare during service but that we could put a lot of time and thought into beforehand. And something quick and easy if one person at the table just needs a little protein after skiing but they don’t want to commit to a charcuterie,” says Drew.
“But it has turned into my creative outlet. I get to go to the farmer’s market during summertime and see what kind of fun, fresh ingredients there are. We live right over the hill from the Fertile Crescent of Colorado—being Paonia,” he says, which makes it easy to source those ingredients seasonally.
“What I love when I go out to eat is being able to try a bunch of different flavors. So I can kind of pack a whole dish, flavor profile-wise, into it. The pickled egg is just the vessel.”
He uses a base pickling liquid, and adds or subtracts ingredients for each iteration. Whatever the recipe, Drew pickles each batch for a few days, then uses the bed or toppings to bring out the flavors he didn’t get enough of in the pickling process.
Some of his favorites: roasted green chile with elote on a bed of spun jicama with lime juice and tajin, and a Japanese barbeque style using sea salt and miso, served with short ribs.
Drew and Sarah Jane have continued the Dogwood’s signature practice of custom-made liquor infusions for locally famous cocktail creations like the beatnik (beet-infused vodka, ginger and lemon) and the beesting (tequila, habanero, mint and local honey). They have added several more, like the pear-infused bourbon, which Drew made with two cases of pears a friend had given him from Paonia. It’s listed in the menu as Au Pear. “And it is perfect. I do a little bit of lemon around the rim and that’s it. That ends up being the only infusion we offer that isn’t mixed with other ingredients as a cocktail,” he says.
They have also built up the options of their back bar to accommodate classic drinks and simpler options—particularly rare whiskey. “We have probably the best whiskey selection in town,” he says, and they get allocated rare brands like Pappy Van Winkle.
Chasing history
Drew and Sarah Jane have been trying to piece together the 100-plus years of history to the shotgun-style cabin, whose front section was built in Irwin in 1891, and eventually moved to town.
He tells one favorite memory of setting up the bar on a summer day when a small woman with white hair called in through the open window. “She told me, ‘I was born in this house. Can I show my great grandchildren around?’ I stopped what I was doing and we opened the door up,” he says. “She said when she was born, it was just this front cabin, and then they kept building on every time they had another kid.”
When Drew and Sarah Jane purchased the cabin and the business, the Dogwood had already been fully remodeled from electrical wiring to insulation to a new roof and foundation.
“It’s kind of like a 20-year-old, 120-year-old building,” says Drew.
What comes through in all he touches on is that they are passionate about what he and Sarah Jane, who handles the books and management side of the business, do. “We love that this has been a place where everyone feels comfortable coming, from locals to second homeowners who all feel like this is their bar. Since we hide out back here, half a block off Elk Avenue, we get people who have been coming to town for a decade and never found us before. But we love that this has turned into a place for everybody.“
Cocktail Recipe
As a rule, Drew and Sarah Jane don’t share their recipes—but they made an exception for a recent cocktail Drew created that is now on their menu. “I think it’s a fun one to share because it’s a mezcal cocktail and people are finally drinking mezcal,” he says. “It’s spirit-forward, so you really taste the alcohol but it is still a bit more approachable for people who aren’t just crazy about mezcal. The 12-year Barbados rum helps make it a little bit less smokey, more rounded and sweetens it up a bit.”
Doldrum Nostrum
1 ounce Los Vicinos Mezcal
1 ounce RL Seals 12-year Barbados Rum
¾ Fig liquor
½ ounce sweet vermouth
3 drops Oaxacan Mole bitters
Two dashes Peschodes bitters
Stir on ice, strain and serve up in a martini glass. Express an orange peel over the cocktail and garnish with one on the rim.
