‘An agent of change’

Hordes of hungry Crested Buttians gathered for the grand opening of Two Twelve, the new live-fire grill from local restaurant mogul Kyleena Falzone on July 15. Patrons, dressed in signature, Elk Avenue fashion, donned felt hats and Blundstone boots, while sampling wood-fired salmon and foraged mushrooms.

Jam-packed restaurants are a familiar sight for Falzone, who also owns Secret Stash Pizza and Bonez Tacos and Tequila on Elk Avenue. But in 2020, the pandemic cast a dark shadow on the future of Crested Butte dining. Falzone was forced to lay off almost all of her 140 employees, and shut the doors on her restaurants indefinitely like many others in the valley. She responded to the food shortage by donating dinners, and opening the Secret Stash as a “farmer’s market” to feed locals throughout the pandemic.

This month, Falzone is being honored by the Mountain Roots Food Project at its flagship fundraiser.

Mountain Roots will host the event, coined “Feast-in-the-Field” on July 27 at Red Dog Ranch. The nonprofit, which works to build a “resilient and equitable food system” across the valley will serve food sourced from their gardens and hydroponic farms to wine and dine its network of partners and donors.

“Kyleena is a champion for all things food in Crested Butte," said Mountain Roots Executive Director Holly Conn. “She is the biggest cheerleader for new food ventures in the valley, and is a rockstar within community food security, and supporting local farms and regenerative agriculture.”

“Our fundraiser has evolved into an uptown dinner, where we’ll serve produce from our gardens and offer a ‘makers area’ that displays local vendors and strategic partners," said Mountain Roots Development Director Rudy Germany.

Falzone will be recognized as the honored guest for her work in food security during the pandemic. For three months in 2020, the Secret Stash opened as a free farmer’s market and handed out produce. Falzone also packaged free pizza and taco dinner kits for locals that were out of work. By crowdfunding on social media, Falzone fed thousands while her restaurants were shuttered.

The donations inspired Conn at Mountain Roots, and led to a similar market opening in Gunnison that ran for 18 months.

“When Kyleena opened the free markets in Crested Butte at the height of the pandemic, we realized we needed it in Gunnison too,” she said.

Falzone’s markets directly inspired a new program at Mountain Roots, called the Backyard Harvest. Every Tuesday, the program boxes up vegetables, eggs, bread and cheese from local producers, and delivers directly to 150 food-insecure households in Gunnison.

Now, over four years since the start of the pandemic, Falzone has added another restaurant to her Crested Butte fleet. She is maintaining a strong bond with Mountain Roots by using produce grown directly from their hydroponic farms and community gardens.

“I’m beyond honored to take this pivotal step in my career to work with Mountain Roots, and continue to be an agent of change in our small community,” Falzone said. “It’s been amazing to watch Holly continue donating boxes long after the pandemic, and keep that tradition alive.”

(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or alex@gunnisontimes.com.)