Have you ever had a meal so good that part of you wants to never mention it to anyone? But then it’s also so good that every time someone asks for a good date spot or somewhere to catch up with a girlfriend or a place to celebrate an anniversary, it immediately pops into your mind?
Well, that is the experience of Western Daughters Wine Bar, a perfectly intimate neighborhood spot in The Highlands that is also worth traveling across town—and beyond—for.
But let’s back up for a moment, because the story about how Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe also became Western Daughters Wine Bar is as compelling as the food and drink menu they’re offering.
Or as Noah Heaney tells it, “We full on Kool-Aid Man-ed through the doorway, and then we called the building owner and said, ‘By the way we’re taking over next door.’”
Back in 2013, Kate Kavanaugh and Josh Curtiss opened what they lovingly refer to as a hole-in-the-wall butcher shop. To source the meat, they started cold calling Colorado farms and ranches in search of regenerative practices, 100% grass-fed beef and lamb, and pasture-raised, omnivorous pigs and chickens.
“We got laughed off the phone,” says Curtiss. “Now it’s much easier to find, but back then it was not easy.”
It was so difficult, in fact, that Kavanaugh helped co-write legislation to change poultry processing to improve their ability to procure chicken locally.
To this day, they continue to source local whole animals directly from farms and ranches that they’ve worked with for almost a decade. They then break them down in-house for steaks, short ribs, brisket, and more for the butcher shoppe, the wine bar, and their meat club.
The name Western Daughters refers to Kavanaugh’s great-grandmother who immigrated to the United States from Ireland in the 1800s with her husband and five daughters. Upon arriving in Philadelphia, her husband passed away, and she packed up her daughters in a covered wagon and moved them west to settle in Sterling, Colorado. There’s a photo of these brave women hanging in the butcher shoppe, continuing to watch over Kavanaugh and her customers.
For those familiar with the area, you’ll know the Western Daughters Wine Bar space has had a few different businesses rotate through. This time, when it became available, they had the right team in place to be able to expand their business and show what can be done with meat when it’s treated really well.
They have a similar approach to all of the ingredients on the menu. In the summertime, they have a basket of Mike’s Tomatoes in the shoppe and also spotlight them in a salad alongside peaches. He’s been crossbreeding his own tomatoes for 10 years and brings in a crate in exchange for meat.
In the fall, Chef Chris Snider is looking forward to bringing Chile Colorado with tortillas and cabbage to the menu. He’s also planning to dry-age pork chops and serve them alongside apple butter and mostarda, and he will be making beef raviolo.
The plan is to keep everything seasonal and local and to intentionally layer flavors and textures to really let the ingredients shine. No matter the season, they also make an effort to keep refined sugar at a minimum and do not use seed oils.
“After eating this steak, you can tell the chef respects the meat he serves,” says Noah Heaney, who is responsible for the extensive wine program as well as the 30-foot walnut bar.
In fact, it’s clear that the entire project is a labor of love, shared by the people who are making every day at Western Daughters memorable.
“Tim holds babies while people go to the bathroom,” says Heaney. “And I’ve never seen him not sit down with a table.”
He’s of course referring to Tim Kuykenndall, the man with the bow tie who will be taking your order, mixing your drinks, and generally elevating this from a bar to an experience.
In addition to changing out the menu, they’ll also be bringing butchering into the wine bar, allowing customers to choose their cut from the far end of the bar. This is just one more step in their effort to bring high-quality ingredients from ranchers and farmers directly to the consumer.
“This is the result of 13 years of Josh and Kate grinding to introduce people to unmanipulated meat and making relationships with farmers and growers,” says Heaney. “It’s more accessible for people who don’t know where to start.”
The most consistent thing I heard from each staff member is how collaborative the environment is and how aligned they are around that ethos and intentionality. They’re also incredibly humble, so I had to trick them into saying nice things about each other.
“Noah has extensive wine experience,” says Curtiss. “He’s approaching the wine list with the same intentionality as the meat.”
At any given time, there are about 40 bottles on the menu, pretty much all by the glass and priced so they’re approachable. The goal is to have people try things they’ve never had or heard of before. They’re all natural wines and are organic and biodynamic wherever possible.
As the weather cools off, Curtiss is looking forward to bringing in more winter whites that can hold up to heartier dishes.
For more info on the hours, menus, and ethos, head to WesternDaughters.com or just make a plan to pop in.