That’s right- we are bringing our private chef service to Telluride, Colorado.

We spent the entire month of July cooking in Telluride and we are proud to say that Gather and Forge is expanding to the rockies. Gather and Forge has been operating in Austin for 7 years and it has been an exceptional experience and one that I feel extremely grateful for but as with any business when it is time to expand there needs to be a lot of thought and planning that goes into it.

You see, when I was a kid I spent almost 2 years in Telluride and what brought me there was it’s beauty and opportunity for a kid to start a business. Back then the business idea that I had was trying to sell breakfast burritos at the bottom of chairlift #4. Before we could even get started, we ran out of money and quite honestly we were not ready to start our own business. Being the ripe age of 19 we literally had no idea what we were doing. So I ended up getting a job as a server at Allred’s steakhouse and staying for 2 years basically exploring my inner ski bum.

Well, after several years in the restaurant and moving around the country for 5 years in 2015 we decided to found Gather and Forge. As many of you know this is our private chef company and we are proud to say that we are Austin’s leading private chef company after 7 years of doing business. In business, there comes a time where you have to ask yourself what is the best for your lifestyle and for you company and when you cross that bridge you have to really think about what kind of situation you want to be apart of. It is interesting because at first, we wanted to go to Aspen because we thought that the demographic there would fit our specific service, which is correct but the cost of living in Aspen is in the top 1%. We are still a small business and we still have to watch what we are doing as far as spending money. Facing a potential downturn in the economy and dealing with inflation we just didn’t see how we could make Aspen work. This is when I started to have thoughts about another mountain town that is a little more affordable (not much) and one that is near and dear to my hear… Telluride.

The need for a private chef service in Telluride is astounding and after spending 6 weeks there this summer, we have decided to go for it. We have made the decision to make Telluride our second home for business and we think that it is going to be very special and as far as demand goes, we see a significant amount of opportunity for our service to thrive here. Telluride is a special place but there is still one downside and that is the cost of living. Telluride is going through some growing pains and what seems to have happened is that there is quite a bit of remote workers that are moving here to get away from big cities and what that has done is dramatically increase the cost of living for ordinary people to live in town. It is funny because we saw this same thing happen to Austin several years ago and that is when we decided to take our financial situation into our own hands. With private chef work comes a sustainable lifestyle.. one that doesn’t have you trapped in a kitchen for 80+ hours a week. It gives chefs the opportunity to create freely and express themselves in a way that allows them to create financial freedom- something that is not talked about much in the culinary world.

Opening a private chef company in Telluride would allow us to continue with our mission of creating a space where like minded chefs are able to bring restaurant experiences to peoples homes. This is where we think we can thrive and where we believe there is a market for our services. If you have been to one of our dinner parties, you know that we are the best in town and that is by design. We truly feel obligated to provide not only great chefs with opportunity but we strive to provide our customers with amazing experiences. In a place like Telluride, where it is all about experiences it goes without saying that you must be able to provide superior experiences in order to make it in such a magical place. There really is not room for average and that is why we think that Gather and Forge Telluride is the place to be.

I want to say thank you to all of the people that have supported us through the years because without a loyal following, we would never be able to bring our private chef Telluride concept to fruition. Truly, thank you for always supporting and thank you for believing in us so that we are able to try our hand at changing more chefs lives as we continue our journey. Telluride.. here we come.

Link to website is coming soon!

-Ryan