Aspen’s newest bakery-cafe in the snug brick cottage on the corner of Restaurant Row
“Coffee, homemade pastries, bread and combination breakfast plates will have a line out the door most mornings. Come afternoon, find a robust melting-pot lunch menu of soups, salads and sandwiches influenced by European, Middle Eastern and Asian flavors (everything on the menu is organic). By happy hour, stay for the wine, craft cocktails and other homemade drinks.”
This is the place
“To call Alia Joonas, 27, ambitious is like saying Aspen Mountain is just a ski hill. A native of Mauritius, Joonas attended college in California and, while hanging out in a favorite café, decided on a goal: opening a chain of bakeries on the Indian Ocean island where she grew up.
While working at a French restaurant here, she walked by a cottage on Hopkins Avenue, used at the time by the Cooking School of Aspen. “I took a photo and sent it to my parents, saying ‘This is the place,’” she recalls. “I was kind of joking, but now I think it was meant to be.”
Vibrant and beautifully designed
“Brand-new this season, Bear Den is nestled in the cozy Victorian cottage at the corner of Hopkins and Monarch streets. Vibrant and beautifully designed, this local cafe and bakery serves both a grab-and-go and sit-down breakfast daily.”