Eric Skokan’s home-sourced feasts may be Colorado’s coolest ever farm-to-farm table experience
By John Lehndorff
Photos By Jeff Goldberg Photography
First-time diners at Black Cat Farmstead may be puzzled: they drive winding rural roads north of Boulder to a farm dinner with a surprise menu.
But once they arrive near Table Mountain, a sense of calm sets in. Glass-walled cabanas dot the hillside beside old farm buildings, and guests begin the evening in a pergola with drinks and farm store goods like heirloom meat and fresh flour.
Owned by Eric and Jill Skokan, who also run Boulder’s Bramble & Hare, the Farmstead hosts summer dinners with unmatched intimacy. Seven private dining cabanas, each with wood stoves and antique furnishings, are set in gardens of berries, flowers and fruit trees.
Diners don’t see a menu beforehand—not for show, but because it’s created fresh based on the week’s harvest. Skokan begins crafting the menu days before, offering four main courses with surprises from the kitchen. One meal featured foie gras, smoked trout, duck prosciutto, farm-raised lamb and cheese with house-made crackers.
Lingering at the Table and Living the Farm Life
Black Cat Farmstead isn’t just about farm-to-table—it’s farm-to-farm-table, with a strong sense of place and pacing. Guests dine on their own schedules, lingering over multiple courses, sometimes wandering off to admire sunsets before resuming dinner under the stars. Skokan encourages a casual approach: no fancy shoes, just an appetite for nature, dirt and good food.
Skokan and his wife Jill moved the restaurant to the farm to be closer to family life. The property—one of the region’s oldest—was once Blacksmith Ridge Farm. An 1883 barn now houses a commercial kitchen where the evening’s menu is hand-written and taped to the wall.
Unlike many chefs focused solely on logistics and staffing, Skokan juggles 500 acres of farming, menu planning months in advance and serving meals on-site. The farm supplies their Farmstead dinners, their Bramble & Hare restaurant, local farm stands, and the Boulder and Longmont farmers’ markets.
CSA, Cats and the Cabanas: The Rest of the Story
Black Cat Organic Farm grows more than 200 varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers, along with raising 500 sheep and 100 heritage hogs annually. Skokan recalls 2013’s floods as a low point—when bursting tomatoes turned fields into soup.
The Farmstead dining experience was born during the pandemic, after Black Cat Farm Table Bistro closed. Skokan turned to the farm itself, designing and building the glass cabanas used today. While construction only took eight months, the red tape around permitting and restaurant codes was overwhelming.
Since launching in late 2024, demand has soared—reservations are booked six weeks out. Skokan and his wife Jill, who runs the admin and kitchen logistics, have no plans to expand. “This is just the way we like it,” he says. The couple’s focus remains on hospitality, sustainability and keeping the experience intimate. Even their cats have jobs—keeping the mouse population in check.
Black Cat Farm
9889 N. 51st St.
Longmont
303.444.5500
blackcatboulder.com
