Breckenridge, one of my favorite mountain towns about 1.5 hours from Denver, always seems to deliver on all fronts: mountain adventures, beautiful views, cute boutiques, and an outstanding foodie scene.
Just when I thought I had my favorite go-to foodie spots figured out, I was surprised yet again by new restaurants that keep popping up and upping the game on the foodie scene. On my recent visit to Breck, I was not expecting to venture outside my norm, but indeed I did, with no regrets.
My friends and I stumbled upon this hidden newbie gem, when we are at my go-to happy hour place, Hearthstone, and brainstorming places to go for dinner. Our waiter at Hearthstone recommended we try Tin Plate, which surprisingly was new to me. I was excited to give this one a try!
What makes Tin Plate Pizzeria unique?
Located just a block off of the main street and restored from a mining cabin originally built in 1883, Tin Plate is a welcome new addition to the mountain town, with its unique style pizzeria complemented by its homemade sourdough cookies next door.
Tin Plate transforms your traditional pizza experience with high quality artisan pizzas, made with locally sourced unique ingredients and its specialty, house-made sourdough crust. Tin Plate has options for everyone, those wanting a simple cheese or pepperoni to foodie tourists who want to try a fancier style pizza with peaches, prosciutto, blue cheese and honey.
Executive Chef James Harris, owner of Tin Plate and Dynamite Cookies, chose to return to Breckenridge to pursue his passion of opening up a restaurant and his family to move from NYC back to an outdoor haven.
Tin Plate won us over with its first impression.
From the minute my girlfriends and I arrived at Tin Plate, we felt at home, greeted kindly by our waitress Evan and with an experience of feeling like we were the only ones in the restaurant.
We pondered the menu, wondering how we would narrow down our options, everything looked so good! Amongst the group we ordered the Golden Beets Salad, the White Pizza, and the Peach Chili Pizza. We went back and forth whether we should try the Cacio de Pepe but in the end went ahead with the pizzas, but oh boy we didn’t know what was awaiting us.
When our food arrived, it looked so beautifully crafted and so fresh, I exclaimed, “I will have to post this on my travel blog.”
We thought we’d ordered everything we needed, and then this happened.
Another team member at the restaurant was so excited about our enthusiasm for the food, that he decided he would let Chef James know. Given the place is new and we came so late in the night, the wait staff brought out some more samples of dishes to try.
Soon in front of us, more beautifully crafted plates started appearing in front of us, from the sliced house bread with cultured butter and sweet pomodoro sauce, house ranch dressing, tender meatballs, to a bowl of buttery warm spiced olives, and finally followed by the most talked about, Cacio de Pepe. It turned out, we deserved all that rich, creamy goodness after all.
Looking at the spread in front of us, excited yet nervous about how we would eat all of this amazing food in front of us, we dug in.
Note: Some items may be seasonal and may have changed.
What a night – we will be back!
The experience was so incredible. Chef James came out to ask our opinions of the food and share his story. Jazmine – another member of his team came out and offered to be our photographer to take our pictures together. We experienced high passion and personality reflected in the food, the environment, and the chemistry amongst the staff.
After our unforgettable night at the Tin Plate, we were escorted out with the talked about Dynamite Cookies, which Tom described as medium rare sourdough gooey cookies. The same sourdough crust for pizza is also used to bake these delicious cookies. Make sure you save room for Dynamite Cookies. Flavors include Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Snickerdoodle, M&Ms, and White Chocolate Macadamia – the last being our fave. My friend jokes that she still has dreams about those cookies!
We giggled out the door, with full bellies and joyful hearts, and a box of the gooiest cookies. This brief visit left us feeling like we had been adopted by the most wonderful family, and a return visit is inevitable—if only to see what else the chef has cooked up in the kitchen!
