The Valley Cooks for Its Own
Five of the Roaring Fork's most decorated kitchens are giving up a Sunday in September to roast a whole hog on a ski-resort pool deck, shuck oysters flown in from Maine, and hand the proceeds to the people who stand between this valley and fire.
A boucherie is a Louisiana idea. Neighbors, a whole pig, a long afternoon, and an unspoken rule that nobody goes home with an empty plate. On the second Sunday in September, the first Boucherie & Oyster Fest brings that tradition to the Lift Line pool deck at Viceroy Snowmass, next to a raw bar of oysters flown in from Maine.
Partytrick, founded by event producer Virginia Frischkorn, joins Viceroy Snowmass as a presenting partner for the evening, helping plan and produce the event alongside the Viceroy team.
For three hours on the thirteenth, five kitchens are cooking shoulder to shoulder on the same deck: the Viceroy's executive chef, the kitchens behind Toro and The Little Nell, Will Nolan, and Barclay Dodge of Bosq, which holds the only Michelin star in Aspen. The team from Aspen Elevated Catering rounds it out.
The reason is local. Net proceeds go to the Wildfire Collaborative Roaring Fork Valley, which pulls local partners together around wildfire preparedness. First responders come at a reduced rate. Two hundred seats, then it is finished.
Image courtesy Viceroy Snowmass
The Roster
Image courtesy Viceroy Snowmass
What Is Actually on the Deck
The raw bar
Fresh-shucked oysters flown in from Maine, running alongside a dedicated Oysters Rockefeller station.
A whole heritage pig
Roasted boucherie style and carved in front of you on the pool deck. This is the part that makes it a boucherie rather than a reception.
Colorado Wagyu
Prepared by Edgar Hernandez of Toro.
A fall harvest spread
From the Viceroy Snowmass culinary team, built around the season rather than around the oysters.
Colorado wine and beer
Colorado wines from Terra Vin Cellars, pours from As One Cru Wines, and the Aspen Brewing mobile tap room.
Learn to Shuck
Hosted through the evening by John Herrigel, founder of Maine Oyster Company.
Live music, through sunset
Against the mountain, which in mid-September is doing its own thing at that hour.
Image courtesy Boucherie & Oyster Fest
“This valley shows up for each other, and that is what this event is.”
September is the valley's own month. The summer program has emptied out, the snow has not arrived, and for a few weeks the people who actually live here get the place back.
Wildfire risk is a real, ongoing concern in the Roaring Fork Valley. That five kitchens would close ranks around it on a Sunday night, at a two-hundred-seat cap, with first responders let in at a lower rate, says something about this valley. It is worth a ticket.
Image courtesy Viceroy Snowmass
The Details
- Event
- Snowmass Boucherie & Oyster FestInaugural year.
- Presented by
- Viceroy Snowmass and Partytrick
- Date
- Sunday, 13 September 2026
- Time
- 5:00 – 8:00 PM
- Place
- Lift Line pool deck, Viceroy SnowmassSnowmass Village, Colorado
- Admission
- $150 general$95 for first responders, in recognition of their service.
- Capacity
- 200 guests
- Benefiting
- Wildfire Collaborative Roaring Fork ValleyNet proceeds. rfvwildfire.org
- Staying over
- $225 event rate at the ViceroyNight of the event, valet waived with code OYSTER26.
- Sourced from
- Maine Oyster Company, Terra Vin Cellars, As One Cru Wines, Aspen Brewing
Tickets and production through Partytrick. Aspen Privé is not the organizer of this event.