CP Restaurant Group builds on its winning formula for success.
Samantha and Craig Cordts-Pearce, owners of CP Restaurant Group
You’ve probably heard the statistic that most restaurants fail in their first year (The National Restaurant Association estimates about 60% of restaurants fail in their first year of operation, and 80% fail within 5 years). Chalk it up to low profit margins, sky-high costs, shortages and high turnover. In Aspen, add a remote location, two offseasons per year and one of the highest-rent districts in the world (where investment groups swoop up leases), and it’s no wonder that more mega hospitality groups, like Texas-based MML Hospitality and Los Angeles-based Catch Hospitality, open restaurants here than locals.
However, one local restaurant group defies the corporatization of Aspen, focusing on authenticity and community as it grows sustainably and becomes one of the biggest employers in the valley. CP Restaurant Group and its hands-on owners, Samantha and Craig Cordts-Pearce, own and run six restaurants: The Wild Fig, CP Burger, The Monarch, Steakhouse No. 316 in Aspen and Boulder and Woody Creek Tavern. Next month, they’ll open d’Aosta, a new alpine Italian restaurant in the former Almresi space on the corner of Monarch and Durant (think pizza, braised meats, pasta, polenta, cured meats and tableside cacio e pepe served in a parmesan wheel). Next year, they’ll open The Wild Fig in Willits Town Center and reopen the historic The Red Onion, which has been defunct since 2020. Working to preserve Aspen’s independent restaurant industry, the Cordts-Pearce are proud of saving Woody Creek Tavern and the Red Onion from big-city restaurant groups. What’s next for the power couple? Turning The Popcorn Wagon in front of The Wild Fig into a taco truck.
The couple’s success is built on 30 years of local restaurant experience. Between the two, they’ve bussed, bartended, served and managed at Shlomo’s, The Tippler, Smuggler Land Office, Matsuhisa, Caribou Club and Campo de Fiori. They know and understand Aspen as only real locals can. They stay ahead of the town’s wants and needs, follow their instincts, and execute visions, from concept to construction and interior design to opening night.
It all began with the opening of The Wild Fig in 2003. Aspen residents Tom and Vivian Waldek were among the first guests to walk in the door, and they joke that they never left. The pair dines at The Wild Fig twice or thrice weekly, often bringing family or friends.
“WHEN YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO, IT’S NOT WORK.” -CRAIG CORDTS-PEARCE
“We loved Samantha and Craig from the start,” says Tom. “They were so welcoming—we felt at home in the restaurant and with them. The menu was—and is—great, and we can always count on the food being excellent and consistent. The place is comfortable, and the atmosphere is just warm and friendly.”
Theresa Mulvany, wine director at The Wild Fig, has worked at the restaurant since 2006 (she was GM and wine director from 2008 to 2023). It’s where she met her husband and where her son has grown up chatting with kitchen staff and leaving with dessert. “You become a small family,” she says.
The group’s most significant asset, says Craig, is employee retention. “People want to grow within our company and in their profession,” he says. “Servers become assistant managers, assistant managers become GM’s.” CP Group’s 225 employees might grow to 350 in the next two years.
Whether advertising or the graphics on a new menu, CP Restaurant Group hires locally. “Our focus is the valley,” says Samantha. “We aren’t pushing to open five other locations across America—we are focused here,”
While Samantha is a high-functioning master of organization with a never-wavering work ethic, Craig is a serial entrepreneur. He searches out new spaces, envisions concepts, designs interiors, and more. Everything is done in-house. “When you love what you do, it’s not work,” he says.
Fredric and Patti Winocur of Denver have been coming to Aspen many times a year for 25 years. “Literally every time we walk into one of their restaurants, especially The Wild Fig, it instantly feels like we’re coming back home,” says Fredric. “We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and college acceptance letters there. A few of our family holiday card photos are from The Wild Fig bar. It’s become part of the fabric of our lives.”
As CP Restaurant Group proves, locally owned restaurants aren’t just integral to the local economy—they make a community feel connected.
Photography by: PHOTO BY MATT NAGER
