Steamboat Springs’ Cloverdale Restaurant Shutters

Patrick Ayers’ 32-seat Cloverdale Restaurant – just five miles from his 10.5-acre Yampa Valley farm that supplied the goods for his multi-course meals – will cease operations in two weeks.

“It is with great sadness that today, we announce our closing,” Ayers wrote on Facebook. “Sadness is one of the emotions but there are so many. Disappointment, frustration, humility, confusion, and embarrassment to name a few. Our amazing, amazing staff (read: family) did everything in their power to make this work and gave their best since day one.”

When Ayers unveiled Cloverdale last summer inside a century-old, previously condemned house at 207 9th St., in the town of Steamboat Springs, the intention was to offer a fine-dining, one-of-a-kind experience that set a high bar for farm-to-table standards. Dinner for two, without drinks and tip was roughly $130 for the five-course tasting menu, and $270 for the 10- to 14-courses. The vast majority of the produce featured on the plentiful plates was grown at the Ayers’ family homestead.

Yet, with a community of less than 13,000 permanent residents, the small-town venture was, indeed, deemed risky from the beginning.

Now and for the next two weeks, “This team will keep our heads high and continue to deliver our standards until the last plate leaves our hand. I am broken-hearted but so, so proud,” Ayers says.

• The Essential Guide to Dining in Steamboat