By Joe Ross

When you’re running a restaurant in a remote Colorado town, you’d better deliver food and an atmosphere that attracts attention.

Welcome to the world of Spencer and Kari Harden, owners of the Antlers Cafe & Bar.

The couple realized that owning and operating a restaurant in Yampa, would be a challenge. The town’s population isn’t much more than a large wedding (430). The big city – Steamboat Springs – is 40 minutes away with a population of about 13,000.

Yampa serves as base camp to The Flat Tops, the nation’s third largest wilderness area, featuring more than 235,000 acres of lakes, streams and pristine backcountry.

Summer visitors flock to the area to hunt, fish, hike, bike, ski and explore The Flat Tops.

So, how do you attract patrons to the seasonal restaurant that is open (roughly) from May through November each year?

Spencer said you start with a solid menu that will please the taste buds of the folks in town, as well as area ranchers and tourists.

Popular items include steak, seafood, lamb potpie and other homemade dishes, including desserts. The menu, which features a few Cajun twists, is tweaked a few times each summer.

His experience in the kitchen was tuned up in the South. Spencer said he never dreamed that when he was gaining experience cooking in New Orleans that he would end up in a mountain paradise like Yampa, preparing food he loves in his own restaurant.

Like most chefs, Spencer said he enjoys cooking for 100 people, rather than 1,000. “It’s nice to come out here and kind of do my own thing,” he said.

There are other perks, such as his buddy Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters fame, who plays fund-raising concerts each summer adjacent to the restaurant. Even more importantly, Spencer married Kari. She grew up in the area, and they have a beautiful little girl, Hazel, who is a hit among frequent flyers and employees in the restaurant. “We had a baby shower and everybody came,” he said.

Spencer loves life in Routt County – a far cry from the bustle of NOLA and the East Coast where he grew up. Raised in Connecticut, Spencer eventually attended culinary school in Vermont. From there, he moved to New Orleans and spent 13 years at several restaurants, including a large hotel chain.

While there, he met Kari, who had moved to the Big Easy to volunteer after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. With a journalism degree from the University of Oregon, Kari also worked for The Times-Picayune, The Advocate and other New Orleans papers.

Once they made the decision to move west, they pulled the trigger on buying the 113-year-old Yampa restaurant, which demands most of their time in summer.

Although tourists enjoy the area during warm weather, it’s the locals that keep things hopping.

“The support of the Routt County people has been amazing,” Spencer said. “It’s amazing to see the restaurant business we can conjure up here.”

For Carl Ray, a 68-year-old local who retired a few years back, the Antlers represents a gathering place for cowboys and Spandex-clad adventurers alike. Although he said he’s never heard of anyone spreading avocado on their toast, he isn’t opposed to tourists coming and going. With a chuckle, he pointed out that the town had “been gradually increasing our population from 430 to 435 over the past 30 years.”

Carl often joins a group of regulars for a late afternoon beer and some friendly conversation at The Antlers. The invitation to join them is open to anyone who might venture to the middle of nowhere this summer. Don’t wait too long because when the snow gets deep, the Hardens will close up shop until spring.

But if fate lands you in Yampa early in August, Todd Park Mohr is scheduled to perform at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3 at the Antlers, 40 Moffat Ave., in Yampa. The concert will benefit the South Routt Education Endowment Fund.

Joe Ross is editor and associate publisher of Thirst Colorado Media.