I've been to Aspen & stayed at The Little Nell in July 2013, November 2013, January 2014 & April 2014. Since Element 47 is the premier (& only) restaurant at the Nell, we ate here regularly each trip. That included many breakfasts & dinners each trip.
I've finally given up! The chef makes everything so salty that it's usually been hard to eat, but was still convenient as the only restaurant in The Little Nell. This last trip we stayed for a week. Element 47 has gone downhill so badly that I feel the need to express it so other travelers can find a better alternative.
Inconsistent ingredient quality: The fish was of excellent quality one night, then a fishy, over-cooked, diner quality version the next. Each time was the same erratic food quality experience.
Severely oversalted: Literally every single item that could have been salted, was so badly oversalted that it was inedible.
The final example was our dinner was Sunday night, Even when we ordered ALL food with no salt, 3 fish entrees were so salt crusted (supposed to be grilled halibut) that we sent them back, only to have 1 come back ok, and the other 2 were still salt crusted. We asked for the roasted Brussels sprouts without salt, but yet another failure. They were ridiculous & yet another inedible dish! Literally, every single item on our table, from scallops to mashed potatoes, was severely oversalted. This was the case for every single meal we had this trip.
Breakfast echoed the same thing, with scrambled eggs, eggs over easy & the potatoes so oversalted they burned your mouth. The ONLY thing that wasn't salted was the fresh fruit, but they charged $5 to get fruit instead of salty greasy potatoes.
We've kept dining here thinking that they MUST have fixed the issue since July 2013, but instead it continues to get worse. When we spoke with the person in charge of all catering & food service, he said he eats here all the time & never has that experience. Really? How on earth anyone thinks this approach is fine is completely mystifying to everyone in our group, and that includes 2 people who can't get enough salt!!
Recap:
I find it hard to believe that this restaurant is the only choice when staying at the amazing Little Nell. I find it hard to beleive that the chef has a job still.
Element 47 is beautiful restaurant, but with horrendous food. There are MANY fantastic choices in Aspen, so don't waste your money until a new team is brought in.