Bruce LeFavour ’57

Bruce LeFavour ’57 died on October 4, 2019, at his home in Port Townsend, Washington. Bruce left Dartmouth for the Army and was stationed in France, where his education in French food began. With three years of experience in Europe and an innate appreciation of ingredients, he opened three highly successful restaurants across the United States. He married Patricia Saaf in 1963, and in 1965 he opened The Paragon in Aspen, Colorado. There he developed a version of nouvelle cuisine before the cooking style or the ski town had caught on with the nation’s elite. The Paragon ran until 1974 and was both a hippie haven for counterculture royalty and a top-notch classic for foodies. As Aspen grew, Bruce became restless and moved his family to central Idaho, where he opened a restaurant at the storied Robinson Bar Ranch north of Sun Valley. There he raised chickens, rabbits, ducks, pigs, and sheep, grew vegetables, made butter, and cooked his own version of French cuisine. His next move was to the Napa Valley, where his restaurant, Rose et LeFavour, was an early adopter in California’s farm-to-table movement. Local farmers grew what he wanted. He would bring them seeds that yielded unusual varieties of carrots and beans. In 1990, he married Faith Echtermeyer, a photographer. Together they hiked the French trail system and in 1999 collaborated on the book, France on Foot. Bruce is survived by Faith and daughters Cree and Nicole.