Eliza Goodall 221 South Oak
By Deb Dion
They say married couples begin to look alike after many years, and that dog owners start to look like their pets, but the same cannot be said of chefs and their dishes—at least not if Telluride chef Eliza H. S. Gavin is any indication. Svelte and with stunning looks that radiate good health, Gavin's favorite dish is a surprise—sausage.
Gavin, owner and chef at 221 South Oak, says she likes to butcher the meats and create a dish of chicken cranberry, duck rosemary, beef garlic and spicy pork sausages from scratch. “It's my specialty,” she says. “I make all of the sausage myself, which I really like.”
Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, the young chef-to-be discovered her talent while making fortune cookies in her mother's skillet. Her own fortune proved not to be on the slip inside, but in the cookie itself, and when she was attending a private university in Tennessee, her destiny again presented itself. She applied for a job waitressing in a fine dining restaurant, but the only position available was as a cook. “Six months later, I was the kitchen manager,” says Gavin. “I liked cooking better than going to school.”
Soon Gavin was in New Orleans, learning more about food. She attended a culinary institute in Napa Valley and in 1998 pursued a degree from Cordon Bleu in France. “I always wanted to study in France-they really have a handle on how to make the ingredients shine,” Gavin says.
After living abroad, Gavin says she wanted to return and live in someplace “really American.” “I thought Colorado was that kind of place,” says Gavin. “Then I came to Telluride and fell in love.” She didn't just fall in love with this small mountain hamlet; she also fell in love with her new husband, Brian Gavin, to whom she was married last May in Florida.
Gavin loves the intimacy of a small town such as Telluride, where she knows most of her clientele and also has a good relationship with other local chefs. “If I need somebody or something, I can call any of the cooks in town,” Gavin says. “People are not afraid to share secrets because they're not going far. But you're not going to go across town and find the same dish. We influence each other.”
The bistro that Gavin operates is intimate with a small number of seats and just a handful of employees. “We have a really sweet team,” Gavin says. “Working with them is heaven on earth. And I know almost all of my customers.” She prefers it that way and even started a small newsletter to send to a modest list of repeat clientele.
She says she also enjoys “decompressing” during the off-season, when she is able to travel and learn more about cuisine. Her honeymoon consisted of eating her way up from the Caribbean to New England, experiencing styles of food that she says have a bearing on her work. “Combine that with New Orleans and France, and you get my mélange,” says Gavin.
Although tall, slender Gavin is differently shaped than her favorite plump dish, she is as spicy as her creations. An avid Widespread Panic fan who loves live music and hanging out with friends, she says that people are sometimes surprised to see her out of her standard chef attire, not spattered with food, and without her hair tied back in a neat knot. “Even though being a chef is kind of a tomboy thing,” says Gavin, “I love to get dressed up and go out with the girls. Make-up and everything.”
