Hygge Dinner at Bread Bar - Silver Plume, CO
On the day that marked the beginning of autumn, September 22nd, our fifth Hygge Dinner took place in historic Silver Plume, Colorado. We started the Hygge Dinner Series with the intention to put hygge into an experience, to teach about the Danish concept, and to help people find the hygge in their everyday lives. In order to do so, we intentionally set a stage that people are somewhat unfamiliar with, yet will feel completely comfortable in. A lot of thought goes into the food and drinks that are put on the table, how everything is prepared and served, how the dinner table is set and which stories will be told.
This past Friday, the stage was set at Bread Bar, a hidden gem in Silver Plume, CO and if you haven’t been, please try to visit this special place. The word historic can be used to describe practically every building in Silver Plume, an old mining town that peaked in population during the gold and (obviously) silver rush in the late 1800’s. With a current population of about 175 people, Silver Plume is for most people a town they pass by, when travelling up or down the I-70 between Denver and their mountain destination. It was fun to see how many guests, of which many long time Colorado residents, had not previously spent any time in this little town. Yet, arriving at Bread Bar, (located on Main Street; which is still a dirt road) surrounded by mountains showing beautiful green, yellow and golden fall colors, people had no trouble feeling immediately at home.
Welcome drinks were served by Nick Touch of Bon Vivants, and people could freely roam around the property to find Chef Kevin Grossi of the Regional cooking over fire, just below the deck where the dinner tables were set. Squashes, Beets, Prime Rib, Potatoes and Golden Trout had been cooking, smoking and grilling since noon, and were about to be served at the perfect moment. For us, it is truly inspiring to see how Chef Kevin turns ideas and dreams about fire cooking into reality.
As the lovely Jazz musicians of Au Dela filled our ears with beautiful sounds, dinner was served family style and multiple dishes were passed around each table over the course of the next hour and a half. Handwritten menus by the talented Laura Sharp of Koselig Creative Co, explained what we were enjoying along the way. Despite a fresh fall breeze, we decided to dine outside, underneath a star lit sky. It was wonderful to see how people embraced the elements. Even though it wasn’t ideal or the warmest of evenings, everybody was comfortable, enjoying great food, incredible paired drinks and above all, each other’s company.
Through story telling we encouraged people to ‘find hygge’ as the night progressed. Could it be a shared meal? Fire cooking? Great drinks? Meeting new people? Being outside in nature? Everyone finds hygge in their own way.
In order to delve even deeper into the quest of ‘finding hygge’, we had a special dessert program organized. We had the honor of hosting very special guests, namely the film crew behind the upcoming documentary: Finding Hygge. The 12 Stars Media team flew in from Indianapolis not only to join the Hygge Table, but to share their hygge experience with everyone there.
The evening continued across Main street in the historic Silver Plume Theater, which came as a surprise to all of our guests. In the theater, we enjoyed dessert and paired cocktails while the film crew treated us with a few short clips from the upcoming documentary followed by Q&A sessions after each clip. Guests had the opportunity to discuss hygge with Rocky Walls, Braden Worrell and Grant Michael from 12 stars Media, and Alexandra Gove from Hygge Life. Broad questions like ‘What is Hygge’, ‘Why so much recent interest in Hygge’, ‘Can you find happiness through Hygge’ and ‘How do you find hygge’ were posed. It was incredible to watch and listen to the interesting points and discussions that followed. We really loved how everybody got involved. For answers to these questions, we highly recommend keeping an out for the documentary, which is planned to premiere sometime in early 2018. In the meantime, please follow the film crew at @findinghyggefilm.
September 22nd, the first day of autumn, was a special, fun, adventurous and meaningful evening that we hope all 60 guests enjoyed immensely. I’ll let the photo’s tell the story…
We truly find it special to host these dinners and absolutely love that people sign up for ‘a dinner’, not knowing exactly what they will eat and drink, but ready to embark on an evening filled with adventure, surrounded by friends they haven’t met before. After each dinner, we can’t help but dream ahead about future Hygge Dinners and new experiences. We will try to realize many new ideas and dreams, so please stay tuned and keep an eye out for the Hygge Dinners ahead. We hope to welcome you to the Hygge Table next time.
A special thank you for the photography: Ali Vagnini – Ali V photography
Written by Koen van Renswoude – Hygge Life
