Sheridan’s Le Reve Makes Exclusive James Beard List Of Best New Restaurants

Christer Johansson of Sheridan always hoped that someday down the line, his Le Reve Restaurant and Raw Bar would earn what every fine-dining restaurant covets: recognition from the James Beard Foundation Awards. 

They are the Oscars of the food world, and one of the highest honors a chef or restaurant can ever earn. 

The idea of James Beard recognition was behind every hire, every decision Johansson made for Wyoming’s new hot spot. 

That includes hiring Zoilan Ruiz as the chef. Ruiz has a celebrity dining background, managing dinners for the White House, as well as for one George Lucas of the Skywalker Ranch. Yes, that George Lucas of “Star Wars” fame.

In Johansson’s mind, though, anything related to James Beard was more of a maybe it’ll happen someday kind of dream.

They don’t, after all, just hand out James Beard Awards right and left. Johansson figured this was simply something to aspire to, that would not come until after years of working toward an ideal, toward perfection. 

That’s why, when Johansson got a text Thursday telling him Le Reve is one of 30 restaurants nationwide listed as a semifinalist for best new restaurant, he didn’t at first believe it. He had to look at the list himself to be certain.

“I’m, like, flabbergasted,” Johansson told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “How did they pick us? We’ve been open for four months. It makes no sense. I have no idea how that part of it happened.”

How The James Beard Awards Work

Founded in 1990, James Beard Foundation Awards are given annually to recognize the best of the best chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. It’s considered one of the most prestigious honors a chef or a restaurant can achieve in their lifetime, and it generally takes a lifetime to win one. 

The process starts with an open call for recommendations in the fall. Anyone can make a recommendation, even members of the general public. Local experts weigh in too, including anonymous judges who have been appointed across every region of the country.

Wyoming is in the Mountain region, which includes heavyweights Colorado and Utah, as well as Idaho and Montana. There are 20 anonymous judges between those states. It’s their job to have a handle on the food scenes in their territory, and report their findings back to committee members, of which there are two per region. 

The committee members will sift through hundreds of recommendations, narrowing the list down to a much shorter list of about 20 best of the best — these are the semifinalists.

After that, the names are presented at a more national level, and the list is further narrowed from 20 or so semifinalists to five finalists and then, finally, one winner.

The 20 semifinalists are not necessarily visited by every judge and committee member, but the final five chefs’ restaurants will be tasted by at least one judge or committee member, and more likely both, and probably more than once.

Winning a James Beard award isn’t easy. Few make it to the semifinalist stage, and most winners have been nominated multiple times before going on to be selected as the winner of a James Beard award.

Not Even A Full Kitchen Yet

That exclusivity is what makes Le Reve’s appearance on the James Beard List as a semifinalist for best new restaurant, just four months after opening, so phenomenal. With only 30 restaurants on the list from the entire nation, that’s not even one new restaurant per state.

Wyoming also has two other establishments listed in other James Beard Categories. Sitti’s Table in Cody is on the list of 20 semifinalists for Best Chef of the Mountain region, and Atelier Ortega in Jackson Hole is on the list of 20 semifinalists in the Mountain Region for Outstanding Bakery. 

The category Le Reve is in, however, isn’t by region. It’s across the entire nation. For Wyoming to have one of those spots is nothing short of amazing, Ruiz said.

“I thought we would do this one day, but this, this is nuts,” he said. “This is crazy.”

The potential, though, was something Ruiz believed in the moment he accepted the role of chef at Le Reve.

“Christer, that guy, he dreams big,” Ruiz said. “I mean you’ve got that big ‘Phantom of the Opera’ chandelier, for example. That really sets the tone for me. When that thing got installed, I’ll never forget it, and I said, ‘I know exactly what I’m going to do, and I know what the expectations are going to be.’”

Le Reve’s achievement, though, is all the more remarkable considering that Ruiz doesn’t even have a full kitchen yet at Le Reve. That’s still underway, as renovations on the Cady building continue.

That’s where Ruiz’s experience as a private chef at the Skywalker Ranch has really come into play. He learned everything he needed to know about not having a full kitchen there.

“That involved a lot of what I call schlepping,” Ruiz said. “We would build the menu for George Lucas about 20 miles away, and then schlep it, bring it over. And that’s kind of like what I’m doing right now. We have a sister or big brother restaurant we call the (Gastropub) Warehouse. And they have a kitchen over there where I can do some things I can’t do here.”

Ruiz’ catering experience has helped him a lot in understanding how to handle food that will be moved to a different location. He knows all the correct procedures for keeping everything at the correct temperature.

Guests, however, would never know that Le Reve’s chef doesn’t have a full kitchen in the back.

Everything that comes out of the kitchen looks like it belongs on the cover of a magazine. And tastes just as good as it looks.

A Journey Of The Senses

Le Reve, as Christer and Gina Johansson have envisioned it, is not just delicious food to fill an empty stomach.

The whole experience is meant to be a journey of all the senses, from the moment guests step through the door to the moment they leave, returning to the everyday world. The Johanssons want guests to feel as if they traveled somewhere far away and had an amazing dream while they’re at Le Reve, which in French literally translates to The Dream.

This concept of restaurant as both destination and experience begins with the building itself, Christer says.

“When we bought the Cady building it was kind of run-down and it didn’t reflect what it originally was built as,” he said. “We decided to renovate the building into something that reflects the original intent of the building when it was built back in 1895.”

That idea was behind a lot of the decorating decisions Gina made, including sourcing the eye-catching “Phantom of the Opera” chandelier that so inspired Ruiz. 

The chandelier was a custom job from start to finish.

“That was time for the contractors to have fun, because they had to string thousands of strands by hand to get the chandeliers in place,” Gina said. “And we did put the large one in the center on a chandelier lift, so we could lower it, and they didn’t have to be on scaffolding the whole time.”

Beautiful artwork and interior design are woven throughout the restaurant, along with a piano that musicians come to play on weekends, adding to an overall ambiance that feels a bit like one has stumbled onto some sort of fancy movie set, or perhaps time-traveled to a French salon of yesteryear.

And Ruiz puts the same care and attention that went into ambiance into every dish as well. Nothing on the menu at Le Reve is anything diners will find anywhere else.

“I strive to be, I won’t say different, but I’ll say unique,” Ruiz said. 

He sources ingredients from as many local sources as possible to bring the freshest of flavors forward. And even his few mistakes have turned out to be grand adventures. 

“We were ordering the caviar right,” Ruiz recalled. “And there’s like two levels. There’s white sturgeon and then there’s Siberian, which is significantly more expensive. And I accidentally ordered that one.”

There’s no option to return such an item, Ruiz said. But Christer didn’t bat an eye as Ruiz blubbered his apologies. 

“Let’s offer both and see what happens,” he told Ruiz.

To everyone’s surprise, the Siberian caviar that had been such a mistake sold out. It was a huge success, and now it’s a permanent part of the menu. 

Being Unforgettable 

Ruiz has taken inspiration from some of his favorite culinary scenes for Le Reve. And those start with a rather famous mentor, Hiro Sone, who owned the Terra restaurant in the Napa Valley, until he retired in 2018.

“I was like 24 when I went to work for him,” Ruiz recalled. “And I had stepped down from a chef position at a tiny restaurant I was at, and I took a big pay cut to do it, but I went there to work for him because I knew if I got in his kitchen and did well, I can write my ticket.”

One of the primary things Ruiz learned there was that great restaurants are about so much more than just great food.

“If people like my food, love my food, that’s great,” Ruiz said. “But what I’m really trying to do is create moments. I’m here to feel good about what I’m doing.”

And that’s why he goes out to touch every table, talk to every customer. He wants to see that the experience he tried to create is meeting his own expectations.

“I make it a point to go say hello,” Ruiz said. “And one time, it was this 17-year-old couple celebrating like a fifth-month anniversary. For a kid that age to take a girl to a place like this, he’s got something going on.”

Ruiz was so tickled by the pair, he decided to “blow them up” — make a big deal out of their meal. He sent them extra little items like an amuse bouche — a savory bite of food that’s presented as a tiny appetizer before a meal. He also created a special dessert presentation for them, as well as sending along a few other extras throughout their meal. It’s the kind of thing he loves to do from time to time, when the occasion seems to warrant it.

“It was a five-star type of effort,” Ruiz said. “To make sure they knew they were special. And that’s the kind of stuff that tickles me to death. They’re never going to forget that, whether they get married or not.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.