The Cache resides in a building that has stood in Fort Collins, Colorado since its infancy. For over 100 years, the building on Linden Street known until recently as “The Northern Colorado Feeder Supply,” was an integral part of the daily life in the agricultural and ranching outpost of Fort Collins. It became a fixture in the city and watched as the years became decades and the community grew up around it, into a thriving college town. Ranchers and farmers would gather at the store to buy and sell grain, sip coffee and talk about their crops and the weather. And, even though the stately building was woven into the fabric of the community, the years had taken their toll, and the structure showed its age.
When the Feeders Supply came up for sale in 2014, Ginger and Jack Baker saw a diamond in the rough. The Bakers had a sincere desire to retain the history of the place while infusing it with their vision, a new type of gathering spot for the community. After three years of renovation and a designation on the National Register of Historic Places, Ginger and Baker and The Cache was opened to the public.
The original foundation and vintage brick walls were retained on the main building, and additional rooms were added utilizing many of the original patinaed wood beams and sliding barn doors. The changes and additions transformed the old feeders supply into a high-end restaurant named, The Cache, a casual eatery – the café, as well as a bakery, retail store, cooking school, rooftop bar, and unique event venue. All the businesses occupy the same space where the store, grain elevator, warehouse, and local hangout once stood for all those years. Today, it remains a great place to sip coffee, local craft beer or a spectacular glass of wine from the cellar that was just awarded the 2018 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.
Location: The Cache, 359 Linden Street, Fort Collins, [amazon_textlink asin=’178657344X’ text=’Colorado’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’theyums-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a193d196-c19f-11e8-aab4-45365342813a’]
Menu: The Cache features a menu that changes seasonally and pays homage to Colorado inspired cuisine. Chef Tucker Creveling utilizes abundant local produce, cheeses, and proteins procured from around the state, including fish, buffalo, beef and bison. The appetizers might include a cold-smoked bison carpaccio or house-smoked Colorado Bass and the salads brim with combinations of greens, fruit, nuts, cheeses, and heirloom tomatoes. Entrées like the Bison ribeye, Colorado lamb loin, and grilled filet mignon are prominent on the menu, but other choices include pan-seared duck breast served alongside artfully prepared sides like confit potatoes, caramelized fennel, Hazel Dell mushrooms roasted peppers and truffle vinaigrette. The desserts are all made in house and if you can’t decide on one, order a flight of pie slices and sample a few of the offerings from the bakery.
Thoughts: As you step into the modern, pie-shaped restaurant, you are struck by the beautiful and impressive renovation of a historic building. The dining room is the perfect combination of upscale and understated with one wall of gleaming glass windows opened to face Linden Street and the other, a wall of reclaimed wood bearing the name, “The Cache.”
The service is swift and attentive, and you are treated as if you were a special guest for the evening. The menu includes many exciting selections but is small enough to help you narrow your choices and hit upon something that is not only delicious but reflective of the farm to fork aspect of seasonal cuisine in Colorado.
Our starters for the evening included a duck cassoulet pie and a seasonal salad. The cassoulet came to the table bubbling hot and bursting with duck confit, Sea Isle red peas, and an herb crust. The portion was perfect for two to share. The salad looked like a work of art with verdant green butter lettuce as the backdrop for thinly sliced bright orange Palisade peaches, rouge red strawberries, blackberries and hazelnuts drizzled with a sweet vinaigrette. The salad was crisp, light and refreshing after the richness of the cassoulet.
For dinner, I selected a grilled rib eye cap steak served medium rare. The portion was sized correctly and accompanied by herb whipped potatoes, roasted shallots, fresh spinach, and a red wine demi-glace. My husband chose the double bone pork chop with cornbread pudding and honey-bourbon jus. The chop was slathered with the sweet and spicy jus that kept the portion moist and flavorful, and the buttery cornbread made the perfect side. The wine we selected from the list of over one hundred bottles paired perfectly with both of our entrees.
Even though we were utterly satiated, we could not leave the Cache without trying the pie. We chose the pie flight which is a selection of three of the many choices offered in the bakery. We settled on the banana cream, lemon meringue, and mocha chocolate cream pie. The pies were as delicious as they looked in the case and the portions were so generous that we wrapped them up to go. From start to finish, it was a perfect evening.
Price Range: First courses range from $7.00 for bread service to a charcuterie board for $20.00.
Salads are $10-12, and main courses run from $30-45 dollars. Desserts are around $10.00, and a pie flight is $13.00.
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