Crusted in almonds and pan-fried. Cooked in a citrusy broth of tropical fruit. Slathered in hollandaise next to poached eggs and grits.
Trout aren’t just found in Colorado’s rivers and lakes but are also a staple across a range of restaurants in a wide variety of forms, from a simple roasted whole fish over seasonal vegetables to decadently dressed-up plays on the savory dish.
“We felt as though putting trout on the menu fit into the dining culture in Colorado,” said Daniel Mangin, executive chef at American Elm in Denver’s West Highland neighborhood.
But most of the trout trotted out to Colorado diners don’t hail from Colorado, and they’re definitely not caught streamside with flies and ties. Instead, nearly all of it is raised on trout farms in Idaho and Iowa. Some even come from further afield, like an island off of Australia.
Guard and Grace, a modern steakhouse downtown, serves Tasmanian trout in a Thai coconut sauce with pickled chanterelle mushrooms and herbs.
Trout used to be a staple and a popular fish in restaurants in the 1970s and 80s, said Troy Guard, executive chef and owner of Guard and Grace. But many customers now want something more exotic, he said.
“Now I can get Tasmanian trout from Australia in a day,” he said. “I’ve always been one to try new things, and a lot of people have never had it before, so I wanted to do something different.”
But less exotic trout specimens still retain broad customer appeal, according to several chefs.
“If I were to take the trout off the menu, I’d have a number of people who would be very upset with me,” said Mangin of American Elm.
The neighborhood bistro’s dish centers around the classic trout almondine dish — a lightly fried filet with a crispy crust of crushed almonds. The trout is then paired with quinoa, pickled onions, garlic chili oil and vegetables. It’s a year-round staple at the restaurant, Mangin said.
Russ Fox, executive chef at Boulder’s River and Woods, has also found that the establishment’s roasted Rocky Mountain trout is consistently a top seller. It fits the restaurant’s goal to serve familiar comfort food with an elevated twist.
“River and Woods is what you would find if you were out foraging and in the woods looking for something to cook with,” Fox said.
Despite an abundance of wild trout — rainbow, brook and brown being some of the most common — in Colorado’s gold medal waters, restaurants looking to source trout locally don’t have a lot of options, the chefs said. River and Woods uses trout raised in Idaho while American Elm cooks steelhead trout from Iowa.
As far as he knows, Kermit Krantz is the only farmer raising trout in Colorado for commercial restaurant kitchens. His Frontier Trout Ranch in Saguache has supplied fish to some of the most high-end restaurants in Colorado, he said.
“We’re not a very big farm, but we try to compete,” he said.
Krantz bought the trout farm — a former fish hatchery — in 2013 and is rebuilding his small business after COVID-19 disrupted his customers’ livelihoods and his supply of fish food and trout eggs. He raises rainbow trout now, but hopes to again start selling golden trout and brook trout.
On any given day, tens of thousands of fish swim on Krantz’s farm. When it’s time to harvest, he euthanizes the fish by dunking them in an ice bath. Then he puts them on ice, hops in his truck and delivers them to his customers. “They can be on a plate in Denver that day,” he said.
Krantz sells 100 pounds of trout a week to Shavano, a new restaurant an hour north in Salida, he said.
Sourcing ingredients locally is important for Shavano’s owner, Robbie Balenger, and its chef, Jesse Rogers.
“We want our influence to come from around the world, but not our ingredients,” Balenger said.
Rogers modeled his trout dish after a meal he had last year while visiting Tulum, Mexico. He wanted to add a similar dish to Shavano’s menu, but only if he could source the fish locally.
“That dish in particular really sets us apart, to be able to have a fresh fish option here in the middle of the Rockies,” Balenger said.
Rogers butchers Krantz’s trout once it arrives and marinades it in a mixture of garlic, orange, lemon, vinegar, Dijon mustard and achiote — a spice common in Mexican and Caribbean cuisine. He then grills the fish and serves it whole.
The restaurant often sells out of the fish nearly every day, Balenger said. Some people started coming to eat earlier so they could be sure to get the dish.
“I’ve been humbled by the fact that people have taken to it so well,” Rogers said. “People are stoked.”