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Pile up your plate with shepherd’s pie

In this special weekly feature, TODAY Food editor Phil Lempert brings you recipes “stolen” (with permission) from notable restaurants across America. See how much fun you can have (and money you can save) by cooking these dishes at home.In keeping with the season, this recipe has been stolen from chef/owner Jake Linzinmeir of Chair 8 in Telluride, Colo. Jake was featured on Steal This Recipe i
/ Source: TODAY contributor

In this special weekly feature, TODAY Food editor Phil Lempert brings you recipes “stolen” (with permission) from notable restaurants across America. See how much fun you can have (and money you can save) by cooking these dishes at home.



In keeping with the season, this recipe has been stolen from chef/owner Jake Linzinmeir of Chair 8 in Telluride, Colo. Jake was featured on Steal This Recipe in 2005 and we loved his recipes so much we asked him back for an encore!

This is shepherd's pie with a few twists — you won’t see cream of chicken soup or corn flakes in any traditional recipe, but then Jake’s not known for traditional recipes — another favorite being a potato chip-encrusted burger — yum!

Good thing Chair 8 is located so close to the slopes in Telluride, so you can quickly go and ski away the guilt of this calorie-laden recipe — until dinner, when you can come back for cocktails and more heartwarming food!

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Image: Chef Jake

1PfalsefalseAbout the chef: Indiana-born Jake Linzinmeir knew he wanted to be in the restaurant business since he was 16 — and graduated from the renowned School of Hotel & Restaurant Administration at Cornell University in 1992. From there, because he always had a passion for the Colorado Rockies, he went on to intern at the historic Hotel Jerome in Aspen.

Linzinmeir then took a job at the Excelsior Café in Telluride, where he rapidly advanced to chef de cuisine and, at age 22, purchased the restaurant with partner Elaine Palminteri, a Cornell classmate. Linzinmeir has had the advantage of spending most of his career in ski resorts, giving him the full understanding of the business model needed to succeed whether with an upscale ski-town restaurant, a slopeside café or the world’s most exclusive private mountaintop lodge. He and his partners have gone on to open additional venues in the resort city, including the popular seafood and steak restaurant; Blue Point Grill, and its adjoining Noir Bar, as well as Wildflour Cooking Company, an acclaimed local bakery and bistro.

Several years ago, Linzinmeir took a year off to travel to Italy and serve as sous chef at Ristorante Le Calandre, a Michelin three-star restaurant near Venice, where he collaborated with young Italian superchef Massimiliano Alajmo. Although Linzinmeir is known for his menus combining inventive American fare with comfort-food favorites, the sophisticated techniques and global perspective he acquired at Le Calandre are continuous influences in his kitchen. As might be expected, Jake is an accomplished skier, mountain climber and member of the Telluride Search and Rescue Team.

Ski country shepherd’s pie is served at Chair 8 for $8.95

Chair 8

250 West San Juan Ave

Telluride, CO 81435

917.728.887







Want to nominate your favorite restaurant dish for a “Steal This Recipe” feature? Just e-mail Phil at Phil.Lempert@nbc.com (or use the mail box below) with the name of the restaurant, city and state, and the dish you would like to have re-created. Want to know more about Phil and food? Visit his Web site at www.supermarketguru.com.