You never know what you’ll find when you run across a little cottage in the woods. At Mirabelle Restaurant at Beaver Creek - well known for convincing even the weariest downhill-addled legs to get up and move come suppertime - you’ll discover Belgium-born Master Chef Daniel Joly’s menu, which vacillates between classic French concoctions like foie gras paired with a caviar crepe and black truffles to game-driven offerings with a decidedly American twist. Attention carnivores: Chef Joly’s elk filet with celery fries, turnip and quince compote and a berry wine reduction sauce is not to be missed.

But there’s something endlessly alluring about Mirabelle that goes far beyond the charms of its menu. It’s the kind of place where you’re likely to see co-owner Nathalie Joly casually maneuvering through the dining room, where a prominent portrait of the husband-and-wife team hangs above tables lit with flickering oil lamps. It’s the kind of place where your waiter was likely up before you that day, headed to the top of the mountain and can also likely give you a full ski report after he’s done explaining the daily four-course tasting menu. And it’s the sort of place with a history that precedes high-tech underwear, fancy resorts and the droves of women in furry boots that seem to dominate them these days.

Long before Mirabelle became one of Beaver Creek’s most popular dining destinations, it was, in one form or another, a gathering place for the region’s movers and shakers. According to local historians, the first home erected in the valley way back in the 1880’s occupied the land where the restaurant now stands. The current building’s west wing was built in 1898. The east wing, built later, made the house the largest in Avon, Colo. Its size and prominence made it a social hub for the growing local community.

To be sure, this little mountain cottage in the woods - now dwarfed by mammoth luxury homes and the glitz of nearby resorts - is no longer the grandest dwelling in the land. But we’d dare say the stream of eager guests is much the same as it ever was. Of course, we’re pretty sure our pioneer predecessors weren’t leaving full of lobster bisque and chocolate-laden sweets. Here’s to living in the present…