Buon cibo is “good food” in Italian. To Italians, it can also mean so much more. While Italy feels so far away from us here in the Roaring Fork Valley, we are still deeply connected. Northern Italians were among the first wave of migrants who tamed this land. There were no highways, and railroads were considered state-of-the-art travel, but these settlers persevered and established themselves for generations. Their culture, work ethic and cuisine have helped create our local identity.

I am one of their descendants. My great-great-grandparents, Jeremie and Cecile Gerbaz, brought their eight children to Woody Creek from Detroit. The couple originally immigrated from a tiny village in northern Italy called Doues. They settled near Aspen and put their boys to work on their new ranch. Life was surely difficult for them, but they thrived there. Their children would go on to be county commissioners and successful ranchers. They even have a road named after them in Woody Creek.