Pot pies aside
Heather’s is also popular for its live music—mostly jazz and blues. For many guests, the entertainment is as integral as the food. Often the sounds of local voices and jazzy rhythms drift onto the str...
from the kitchen
Comfort Zone
Everybody’s at home at Heather’s.
There’s an immediate feeling of warmth when you walk into Heather’s Savory Pies & Tapas Bar, in downtown Basalt. The cozy former residence boasts a wraparound porch flanked by red trellises; inside, a chalkboard lists daily specials in flowery cursive. These homey touches are the physical manifestations of the philosophy behind Heather and Rene Lujan’s 6-year-old restaurant: the notion that every customer is a friend and that cooking for them provides nourishment for their bodies and spirits. “I didn’t want to go to my deathbed not trying something I really wanted to do,” Heather Lujan recalls of her desire to have her own restaurant. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done but now we have a reputation and people love us, and that keeps us going.”
Lujan likens her namesake restaurant to the iconic bar in the television show “Cheers,” where everybody knows your name. Yet even as customers are grateful to her for providing a place for regular dinners or family celebrations, it’s not just about the atmosphere and camaraderie. The food from this self-taught chef is the mainstay of the magic.
Photo 1: Proprietress Heather Lujan in the doorway of her namesake restaurant.
Photo 2: The eatery is located in a former residence.
Photo 3: Heather Lujan puts the finishing touch on a cream pie.
Lujan’s mother was an avid cook. “She always had great homemade meals: Polish and French food, American,” she says. When Heather and Rene moved to Basalt in 1991 (they’d previously lived in Aspen for over a decade) they couldn’t afford to dine out, so Lujan cooked at home. “I can read,” she says with a smile. “So that’s how I started—by looking at recipes in books and magazines. I made it my mission to prepare homemade food for my family.” The couple has three grown children: Hannah, Breton and Loren.
Lujan’s skill as a home cook and baker led to a catering business and, eventually, to the Mayberry Cafe in Basalt’s Phillips 66 gas station. On Fridays, she’d prepare extra food and leave it in the refrigerator for patrons to purchase on the weekends (she employed the honor system, requesting payment be left in a bucket).
“We think of Basalt as an extended family—we all know one another. We try our best to hear people’s requests and answer them. Those are the little things you do for your own relations, so it’s what we do at the restaurant.”
By way of example, when a longtime local asks for clam linguini, Lujan makes it for him, or if she knows a customer loves a specific dish, she’ll call to let them know when it’s on the menu. While the restaurant employs line cooks and has a set menu, Lujan’s passion is for creating and preparing specials, like pork tenderloin stuffed with turkey and farmer’s cheese, and seasonal dishes like butternut squash and chard manicotti, pumpkin cheesecake and Olathe corn pudding with scallops. “We make flavorful, hearty and plentiful food,” she says.
Rene is a constant presence front of house, greeting diners and making sure their experience is stellar. “It’s very important to know your customers and make them feel welcomed,” he says. “I usually walk around the restaurant and talk to our customers to ensure their food has been prepared properly. The hardest thing to remember is, you can’t always please everyone, but we try regardless. When issues arise I try and handle them to the best of my ability. If I can fix it, I do.”
Photo 1: Pot pies draw diners from both ends of the valley.
Photo 2: Rene Lujan checks reservations.
Photo 3: The dessert case is front and center at the restaurant.
Heather’s is also esteemed throughout the Roaring Fork Valley for its worth-the-trip pot pies and classic desserts, including cakes, fruit and cream pies and cobblers. Lujan’s chicken pot pie recipe is closely guarded because it’s so popular and the dessert case is packed with treats; this time of year, expect carrot cake and coconut cream, pecan and pumpkin pies.
Even after more than half a decade in business, Lujan still scours magazines for recipes and derives inspiration online. “One of my favorite things is a five- spice marinade I found from a Hawaiian cookbook I got at a yard sale,” she says. “Everything we do is homemade.”
Because Lujan’s pot pies have such a following, the couple is currently working on bringing them to the Front Range. Basalt, however, will always be home. As far as the Lujans are concerned, Heather’s is—as Rene is fond of saying, “a place where people come in as strangers and leave as friends.”
Go Find It!
Heather’s Savory Pies & Tapas Bar
166 Midland Ave., Basalt
970.927.0151
HeathersSavoryPies.com
Photo 1: Brunch on the patio is a local tradition.
Photo 2: Pies, both sweet and savory, are hallmarks of Heather’s.
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