Dining

If you haven't wandered into R Farmers' Market & Kitchen on Beaver Creek Place in Avon yet, consider this your official nudge.

What looks from the outside like a specialty grocery store is actually one of the more interesting food destinations in the valley — part gourmet butcher shop, part European-style café, part culinary love letter to Eagle County. The market is family-owned and operated by locals Riley and Valerie Romanin, who are passionate about food and community. Riley also owns Hooked in Beaver Creek, and his ambition here is even bigger: his goal is for Eagle County, Colorado, to be known as a culinary destination. Bold words — but one visit and you'll think he might just pull it off.

The Market

Much of the meat is sourced from their own R Farm in Eagle, CO, and their fish is flown in fresh from Japan, supplying world-class sushi-grade options. The butcher counter is the real showstopper — they break down whole animals in-house, using as much of the animal as possible, with dry-aged cuts that will make you rethink your usual grocery run. Fresh seafood arrives twice a week, and the shelves are stocked with imported Italian and Spanish specialties — mussels, tuna belly, gluten-free pastas, and more. They also have a nitrogen-preserved wine system so the last glass is as good as the first — a 100% Italian wine collection curated to complement everything from a prime ribeye to delicately prepared salmon.

The Café

The kitchen side opens at 7 a.m. and delivers the kind of breakfast that makes you feel like you made good decisions. Mornings feature fresh pastries and croissants, fruit cups and parfaits, and handmade sandwiches — everything made from scratch, including house-made deli meats like R Farm pastrami and peachwood-smoked ham. Lunch brings a French dip with a Gruyere crust, a griddled Italian sausage piled with peppers and onions, and a Reuben built on house-made pastrami and sauerkraut. There's also a poke bar for those craving something lighter, built with the same sushi-grade fish stocked in the market cases.

The pastry case alone is worth a detour — lemon blueberry gateau, flourless chocolate decadence with caramel popcorn, buttery European viennoiseries — baked fresh daily.

The Vibe

This isn't a grab-and-go kind of place, even though you can do that. It's the kind of spot where the butcher wants to tell you how the animal was raised, the chef wants to show you the crumb on the bread loaf, and the staff will re-open the door if they see you walking up at closing time (yes, that actually happened — check the reviews). As their butcher Aminadad Rosario puts it: "When you come here, you're stepping into our home."

Open 7 days a week, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 51 Beaver Creek Place, Suite 3, Avon | rfarmersmarket.com