The Farmplate Blog

At Duo Restaurant in Denver, the reputation for bringing local food from farm to table has been carefully cultivated since the restaurant opened its doors in the hip downtown neighborhood of Highland about seven years ago.

Co-owners Stephanie Bonin and husband Keith Arnold have real food and community in their bones. “We are passionate about our restaurant being an extension of who we are and what our values are. Seasonal eating, sourcing locally and decreasing our footprint on this Earth are only some of those values,” says Bonin.

For Bonin and Arnold, “building relationships with farmers is as important as building relationships with our customers, and both take a concentrated effort - and time.” Spending time building relationships pays off, says Bonin, because producers who can count on a restaurant to buy their product will often set aside special crops, or their best produce.

At Colorado's peak of the growing season, Duo serves about 80% local and 70% organic. This year, they even started their own urban farm three blocks from the restaurant – a first for Denver restaurants. And Bonin says she gets a special thrill watching the seedlings start to thrive. “They especially like the fish emulsion we feed them from fish scraps in the kitchen!” she says.

Here is a list of Bonin’s favorite local food producers (don’t forget to visit their FarmPlate profiles by clicking on their names below).

Cure Organic Farm • Boulder, CO - Produce 

Red Wagon Farm • Longmont, CO - Produce 

Verde Farms • Larkspur, CO - Produce 

Tender Belly • Denver, CO - Pork 

Udi's Bread • Louisville, CO - Bread 

Savory Spice Shop • Denver, CO - Spices 

Mike Miller Tomatoes • Denver, CO -Tomatoes

Teton Waters Ranch • Tetonia, ID - Beef 

Two Bears Farm • Wheat Ridge, CO - Eggs 

Abbodanza Farm • Longmont, CO - Produce 

Photo courtesy of Laurie Smith and Duo Restaurant