{"id":30762,"date":"2023-11-09T00:03:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T07:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-boathouse-on-grand-brings-spain-to-the-four-corners\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:24:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:24:44","slug":"the-boathouse-on-grand-brings-spain-to-the-four-corners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-boathouse-on-grand-brings-spain-to-the-four-corners\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boathouse on Grand brings Spain to the Four Corners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jennifer
Jennifer and Dave Stewart run The Boathouse on Grand in downtown Mancos.<\/span>Joseph Williams<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

At the Boathouse on Grand, every day is a new experience.<\/p>\n

The Mancos restaurant, which took over the spot formerly held by Olio Restaurant, is the embodiment of decades of culinary experience between its two owners, Jennifer and Dave Stewart. And it\u2019s the culmination of a dream that for Jenn started at 16 years old when she worked at the Dairy Queen, and for Dave began at 15 behind the food counter at his local pool.<\/p>\n

With dishes like Fabada Asturiana and Iberico de Bellota Pork Loin, they are bringing the taste of Spain to Southwest Colorado. But what that is exactly is something of a surprise, given the menu changes every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity or experience that we\u2019re offering here is going to be different from what you\u2019re going to find anywhere else over here,\u201d Dave, 52, told The Journal<\/em>. \u201cWe want people to come in with an open mind and be willing to try what we have to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

One constant, however, is the use of local producers, whether that\u2019s squash and tomatoes from Banga\u2019s Farm, beef from Cross Creek Ranch Premium Meats or garlic from Mountain Roots Produce. (\u201cSome of the best garlic I\u2019ve ever seen in my life,\u201d David says.) There\u2019s even a wine on tap with grapes sourced entirely from Hawks\u2019 Nest vineyard in Dolores.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many farm-to-table places actually barely buy anything (locally), but they advertise it like crazy,\u201d said Mike Nolan, part-owner of Mountain Roots Produce. David and Jenn \u201cjust do it really well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Every week, while Dave plans the menu, Jenn, 44, is on the phone with their many suppliers figuring out what is available. (\u201cIt\u2019s probably more vendors than what the bookkeeper might say is reasonable,\u201d she said.) But for them, the extra work is worth it.<\/p>\n

After an extensive remodel, which included new wall finishes, floor, air conditioning unit and appliances, The Boathouse on Grand opened its doors this year to a community in need of culinary inspiration.<\/p>\n

\"Both
Both the menu and the redesign are inspired by Jenn and David\u2019s travels through Spain.<\/span>Joseph Williams<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Alongside Olio Restaurant, The Mill at Junction, a town staple for 42 years, closed its doors in 2019. LivWell, a cannabis dispensary, took over the space. And after taking over Hamburger Haven\u2019s former location in 2022, Missy\u2019s closed later that year.<\/p>\n

Now, with a captive audience, it\u2019s a chance for Dave and Jenn to do what they do best: build a community around their food.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work really hard at finding the good stuff, both on the menu and on the wine list. And we\u2019re not going to sell anything that we don\u2019t absolutely love,\u201d said Dave. \u201cAll it takes is somebody willing to say: \u2018Sure, we trust you. Put us in your hands.\u2019 And we\u2019ll take care of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dream deferred<\/div>\n

One night in May 2007, when Dave was working as the executive chef at Seasons of Durango, his friends came to dinner and brought Jenn along.<\/p>\n

Intrigued by their guest, Dave introduced himself and proceeded to send several complimentary dishes to their table. But the night ended with Dave and Jenn going their separate ways. A week later, Jenn came back to the restaurant and handed Dave a business card over the counter with a message on the back: \u201cLet\u2019s get dinner sometime\u201d.<\/p>\n

They started dating after that. And soon, Jenn took what was supposed to be a temporary role as a pastry chef at Seasons. She would end up working there five years before the two of them quit together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we wanted to start our own thing,\u201d said Jenn. \u201cBut as long as we were giving all our energy and brain power to another business, we couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Boathouse on Grand is the culmination of decades of experience between its owners.<\/span>Joseph Williams<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

They soon got the opportunity to run The Boathouse at Electra Lake, about 30 minutes up the road from Durango. And it quickly became a dream job.<\/p>\n

The restaurant was only open during the summer months, so Dave and Jenn could spend the rest of the year traveling and figuring out the menu for the next season. But when the lake was drained to repair the nearby dam, the restaurant, which had its own purification system, lost its only water supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had really gotten into the groove of it and were loving the lifestyle, loving the community that we had built,\u201d said Jenn. \u201cIt was really heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the lake to Mesa Verde<\/div>\n

For nearly three years, Jenn and Dave searched for a new location.<\/p>\n

Most of the spots they looked at were too big and would have been too difficult to staff. Then, they got word that another chef had backed out of the downtown Mancos location. And Jenn and Dave knew they had found their new home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d always imagined ourselves one day having a restaurant in this space. And now here we are,\u201d said Dave.<\/p>\n

Given their past success, it\u2019s likely the community Jenn and Dave built at Electra Lake will have no trouble driving 30 minutes West instead of North to visit the new location. Now, the focus is on establishing themselves in a region they believe is only going to grow.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Boathouse on Grand opened its door to a community in need of new dining options.<\/span>Joseph Williams<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cMoving to Mancos in 2023 feels like when I moved to Durango from Boulder in the early \u201990s. It feels like a lot of stuff is starting to happen here,\u201d said Dave. \u201cMancos is still a pretty traditional, small, Southwest Colorado town. But there are a lot more young people now, there are people raising families.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Dave and Jenn, the focus is always on delivering the best quality food. But it\u2019s also about creating an experience for guests, one that transports them from Southwest Colorado to a lively night out in Seville.<\/p>\n

\u201cCooking is the easy part,\u201d said Dave. \u201cIt\u2019s being able to go above and beyond, remembering names and faces and giving people a special experience, giving them more than what they\u2019ve expected when they walk in the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Boathouse on Grand is open for dinner Thursday to Sunday. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are recommended and can be made by calling (970) 533-9177.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer and Dave Stewart combine local flavors with a Seville-style menu and ambiance <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,438,439,28,83,445,450],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-food","tag-food-drink","tag-headlines","tag-mancos","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-restaurant-and-catering"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30762"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81197,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30762\/revisions\/81197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30762"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}