Element 47

Verdict

Most visitors assume Element 47 is primarily a hotel restaurant — a convenient, competent option if you happen to be staying at the Little Nell. That reading undersells it considerably. The wine program here is among the most serious in the Rocky Mountain West, a 20,000-bottle cellar overseen by a team of sommeliers that includes multiple credentialed experts, operating under a master sommelier-led structure. The food is contemporary American with a seasonal, locally sourced focus that earns a Michelin Plate and a La Liste score of 76.5 points (2025). If you are returning after a first visit, the question to ask is not whether to go back, but whether you have yet to let the wine program do the heavy lifting for your meal.

The Space

Element 47 sits inside the Little Nell Hotel at 675 East Durant Avenue, steps from the base of Ajax Mountain. The room reads as sophisticated rather than showy: silver, grey, dark brown, black, navy are the dominant tones, with occasional bursts of colour — deep red glass water tumblers, for instance, that keep the space from feeling austere. The defining architectural feature is the wine wall connecting the bar and dining room, where around 600 of the cellar's 20,000 bottles are displayed behind glass. It functions as a visual statement of intent before you have ordered a thing. The adjacent lounge has a fireplace, which in winter becomes a natural pre-dinner gathering point. If you have been once and sat in the dining room, consider arriving earlier and spending time at the bar before your table: the bar menu runs snacks, sides, mains, the après-ski energy in the late winter afternoons is a distinct experience from the more formal dining room register.

The Bar and Wine Program

This is where Element 47 separates itself from every other restaurant in Aspen. Wine director Chris Dunaway leads a team that includes sommeliers Jesse Libby, Rachael Liggett-Draper, Adam Darlington. The list has 3,585 selections across 20,025 bottles, with particular depth in Burgundy, Bordeaux, California, Rhône, Italy, Champagne. Star Wine List has ranked it among its leading three for multiple consecutive years (2025 and 2026), and the White Star designation from that platform signals a list that passes serious scrutiny. Fewer than 200 Master Sommeliers exist worldwide, the sommelier structure here reflects that calibre of institutional knowledge. The practical implication: if you are willing to have a conversation with the floor team about your preferences and budget, you will drink better here than almost anywhere else in Colorado. The bar itself runs a Colorado Well, Colorado-made spirits and beers by default, meaning your mojito uses Montanya rum from Crested Butte unless you request otherwise. Local brewery representation spans Aspen, Fort Collins, Boulder, Durango. For guests who care about cocktails as much as wine, this is a bar with a coherent regional identity, not a generic luxury hotel pour.

The Food

Executive chef Keith Theodore leads a contemporary American menu that changes seasonally and, according to available inspection notes, sometimes weekly based on ingredient availability. Expect wild mushrooms, locally raised lamb, wagyu beef, house-made pastas to anchor the menu at various points in the year. The à la carte format means a dish you had in December may not appear in June, which is worth knowing before you return specifically to chase a previous favourite. The cheese course, which highlights Colorado-made cheeses, is consistently cited as one of the stronger orders. Book as far in advance as your plans allow, three to four weeks minimum for peak dates is a reasonable baseline, weekends will go faster. Budget: $$$$ at the food level, with wine pricing in the $$$ tier (many bottles above $100; the full list skews significantly higher given the depth of the cellar). Budget accordingly if you intend to drink well. Dress: Smart casual to business casual; the room is sophisticated and the clientele tends to dress for it, particularly at dinner. Group size: The space works for couples and small groups. For larger parties or celebratory occasions, contact the hotel directly about private dining options. Parking and access: Located at the Little Nell Hotel at the base of Aspen Mountain, walkable from most central Aspen accommodation, a natural end-point after a day on the slopes.

Who Should Book

Element 47 is the right call if wine is a priority and you want a sommelier team that will actually engage with your table rather than deliver a list and disappear. It is also the right call for a return visitor who experienced the dining room on a first trip and wants to use the bar and lounge format on a second. For guests primarily focused on the food alone, Bosq and Prospect offer comparable contemporary cooking at a similar price point, Cache Cache provides a more intimate room. But if the drinks program is part of your calculus, nothing else in Aspen competes at this level. For broader context on dining in the area, see our full Aspen restaurants guide, our full Aspen bars guide, and our full Aspen hotels guide. For those benchmarking against contemporary American fine dining nationally, the reference points are operations like Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg and Le Bernardin in New York City, Element 47 operates below that level of recognition but punches above its weight given its mountain resort context.

How It Compares