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Now the surface of every other table is decorated with a colorful collection of ephemera, marked with hand-cut cork price tags. One table is fanned with \u201cvintage\u201d L\u2019Hostaria gear: logo hats and shirts, including two azure jerseys identical to those gifted to the kitchen crew following a trip to Florence. Another displays an array of imported dried pasta \u2014 Rustichella d\u2019Abruzzo, favored brand for the few dishes that do not use house-made noodles, such as garganelli alla carbonara currently \u2014 plus three types of extra-virgin olive oil, Modena balsamic vinegar, and gianduja chocolate-hazelnut spread (the OG artisanal Nutella). <\/p>\n
There are bottles of wine from Gortan\u2019s dear friend and frequent wine dinner collaborator Enzo Boglietti, among others, in blond wood keepsake boxes interspersed with Riedel stemware. Another area showcases delicate, hand-blown Venetian glass carafes for grappa, and original artwork, framed and unframed, that echoes wall art found throughout the restaurant. (Collectors from New York and Chicago snapped up paintings this past January; an open secret here is that all art is for sale.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really difficult situation, but (this) can be an attraction for the people,\u201d Gortan explains. \u201cI don\u2019t want to leave an empty table, it\u2019s flat. This is like shopping the restaurant \u2026 little things that have big meaning for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chopping boards iron-branded with the L\u2019Hostaria logo are crafted from wood sourced from West Africa by way of California and stained to accentuate a unique grain pattern. \u201cI love it because my dad was in the furniture business,\u201d Gortan shares. <\/p>\n
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Tiziano Gortan\/Courtesy Photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Nearby is a mosaic of modest tigerwood serving boards; a ballerina cutout sculpture, leftover from an Aspen Santa Fe Ballet fundraiser; and simple puzzles sliced from raw, burled wood, all made by Gortan\u2019s brother, Luigi, who lives back in their homeland of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Recalling vibrant bicycles hanging from the ceiling above the bar are neatly folded Italian cycling jerseys custom-printed with a world map graphic in grayscale, the boot of Italy featured squarely between the shoulder blades. \u201cI wear that when I ride my bike,\u201d Gortan notes.<\/p>\n
L\u2019Hostaria\u2019s pop-up boutique \u2014 arranged after nearly two months of painstaking cleaning, when staffers showed up to paint walls, sand doors, stain beams, reupholster bar chairs in royal-blue suede, refinish outdoor tables, and completely revamp the kitchen by laying new tile grout and installing brighter overhead lighting \u2014 represents a wholly refreshed atmosphere.<\/p>\n
As a local who has visited this haunt regularly for eight years, I feel the energy. It\u2019s hopeful. And on a guided tour, it\u2019s apparent that Gortan had fun orchestrating the project, funneling creativity toward arranging these tabletop scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yeah!\u201d he says, face brightening. \u201cIt took three or four days. This (coronavirus) situation was like stopping and facing reality. I wake up, like, \u2018Is this happening?\u2019 But I tried to fix things right away. There (were) days where I couldn\u2019t see the end, stuff everywhere, it was a mess! But cleaning with the guys or questioning what color fabric for the bar seats\u2026we had time to think about the menu and this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four months ago, one ubiquitous item might have seemed strangely out of place among this curated content. Yet the bottles, produced by Aspen\u2019s own LIFT Vodka, are clear signs of our new reality. \u201cOf course,\u201d Gortan concludes, \u201cwe put hand sanitizer on each table.\u201d<\/p>\n
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