Vicki Haan came to Estes Park eight years ago with $200, no car, a small suitcase, and a dream of opening her own restaurant.
She didn’t have a culinary degree or deep pockets. But she knew how to cook, had learned from chefs she worked alongside over the years, and was willing to start small.
Since arriving in 2018, Haan has built a following through several ventures, including her Kissing Moose food truck, Mountain Berry Bakery, and Mountain Berry Event Center catering business.
Now, she has the restaurant she came here hoping to open.
Chef Haan’s fans can find her at the new Kissing Moose Café and Kissing Moose Saloon, which opened in late August in the Expedition Lodge, 1701 N. Lake Ave. The café serves breakfast and lunch from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week, while the saloon is open daily from 4 to 9 p.m.
Why Estes Park?
Originally from Loveland, Haan says she loves Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. She describes herself as a person of faith who has long believed, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Without formal culinary training, Haan learned her craft from accomplished chefs she worked for. She still finds inspiration in cookbooks rather than Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, or television chefs. She says she has a knack for analyzing a recipe, figuring out what makes it work, and then putting her own spin on it.
“It comes easy for me,” she says. “I cook from my heart, and it comes out in my food.”
Today, Haan, petite and wearing a bandana rather than a chef’s toque, stands in the restaurant she envisioned years ago.
She describes it as “a restaurant that is peaceful and beautiful.”
“Here you can have good food and relax or gear up for the day,” she says.
Several guests mentioned that cozy atmosphere, saying they enjoyed having a place where they could linger over a meal, talk, and listen to their tablemates.
That is exactly the mood Haan says she wanted to create.
And then there’s the food.
The menus bring together many of the dishes that built Haan’s following in Estes Park, including her pastries, famous cheesecake, and original wonton creations she calls Haan-tons.
As I surveyed diners this month at her new venue, it was no surprise that guests recommended Haan’s sweets. One customer described her cinnamon rolls ($5) as “a hug in your mouth,” and more than one diner told me her cheesecake is famous. In fact, it is now served in two high-end Estes Park restaurants.
A slice of Haan’s New York-style cheesecake ($10) is rich, tangy, and velvety smooth, with a dense filling set atop a generous graham-cracker crust. It just might be the best cheesecake you’ve ever eaten.
For lunch, I enjoyed a beautiful mountain view and blue sky in the quiet restaurant, with soft music playing in the background, while trying the Mexican Haan-tons, Haan’s take on an egg roll.
The crisp, golden Haan-tons combine spicy chicken and Hatch chiles inside delicate wonton wrappers and come with a green chile sauce that delivers just enough heat to bite back.
The Haan-tons ($15.50) offer plenty of room to explore beyond the Mexican version, with BBQ and Italian fillings as well as a popular Reuben stuffed with the familiar flavors of the deli classic and served with Thousand Island aioli.
The lunch menu also includes classics such as a traditional Reuben, stromboli, French dip, BLTA — the A stands for avocado — on a croissant, and mac and cheese ($14.50-$17.50), along with soups and salads.
At breakfast, biscuits and gravy ($17.50) pair thick, hearty gravy with a top-notch biscuit. The avocado toast ($15.50) combines bacon, sweet peppers, feta cheese, and eggs. And the omelets ($13.50-$18.50) are, as the menu puts it, “eggstraordinary.”
When the café closes for the afternoon, Kissing Moose Saloon takes over from 4 to 9 p.m., with Haan putting her own spin on hearty, crowd-pleasing bar fare.
Brats, chili, burritos, and nachos (each $15.50), along with snacks, are served with beer and wine ($5-$13), spirits, and liqueurs. Just outside is a spacious, covered patio with comfortable seating and a spectacular mountain view.
For Haan, however, the restaurant represents more than another place to serve her food. It is the culmination of the journey she began eight years ago with $200 and a suitcase.
A visitor who has followed Haan’s career for several years summed up what has kept customers coming back.
“Vicki cares, and it shows on the plate.”
Other longtime followers describe her as “intuitive with recipes and flavors,” “very gifted in her field,” and “exceptional in many ways.”
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