Meet the Team

Ross joined RARE after 6 years in Vail at Sweet Basil, where he was a member of the leadership team at one of the most iconic restaurants in Colorado.  His restaurant career originally began in Ithaca, NY after earning his degree at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.  Ross’s positive attitude and exceptional leadership brings a great energy to RARE.  From his appreciation for RARE’s simplicity to the expansive (and growing!) wine program, Ross is hungry (pun intended) to elevate RARE’s presence and feels inspired to ultimately travel to Italy. What he loves most about the Italian experience? Wine is such an integral part – including wine for breakfast (we won’t tell).  Ross is delighted to be part of the community and the growing restaurant scene in FoCo.  He loves that there is always something to do in the area, especially with the mountains being just a hop, skip, and a jump away!

Steven hails from the Windy City of Chicago where he graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. Since graduation in 1999, he has traveled around different restaurants, working in corporate atmospheres to locally owned bistros. His best experiences have been in opportunities where he’s been able to try new things and learn from other chefs, like his time at The Vine Wine Bar in Grayslake, Illinois. Like many Colorado residents, Steven visited Colorado on a vacation one year and decided to relocate. He truly enjoys working at RARE and having the experience to work with Italian cuisine. Steven believes understanding Italian food is a foundation to cuisine and it’s nice to focus on a certain style to develop a specific niche incredibly well. What Steven likes most about RARE is the commitment to from-scratch food – truly home-made food that he believes is an ethical rite and important to most chefs.

In his free time, Steven enjoys the outdoors – fly fishing and camping are his joy as it brings him back to the circle of life where he can catch his meal and filet it himself.