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True North Tavern opens doors, looks to bring great food to North Routt dining scene

Job, Katrina and Levin Seese inside the True North Tavern on Friday, Jan. 24. Job and Katrina bought True North Adventure Lodge in December 2023 and just reopened the tavern last week. They have hired local restaurateur Sharon Stone as general manager.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today

The owners of True North Adventure Lodge have teamed up with longtime restaurateur Sharon Stone, who will manage the new True North Tavern that opened for business last week in Hahns Peak.

“We were introduced to Sharon, and she was the missing puzzle piece,” said Job Seese, who purchased the True North Lodge with his wife, Katrina, in December 2023. “We had a commercial-grade kitchen, so the vision has always been to open the restaurant.”

The husband-and-wife team live and work in Denver, but have been longtime visitors to North Routt County and have been commuting to run the business the past year.



Job, an experienced trial lawyer, and Katrina, who is assistant vice president at Alliant Specialty Insurance Services, had little restaurant experience when they purchased the lodge at 61066 Routt County Road 129.

They worked with a restaurant consultant, met Stone, and hired her to be the tavern’s general manager.



“We’ve really done this by the seat of our pants. We don’t have any restaurant experience between the two of us, and we were just figuring it out,” Job said. “He told us, ‘You need to find an experienced woman who has probably been doing this for decades and loves cooking food’ — and then we met Sharon.”

The couple sees the True North Tavern, which is connected to the True North Adventure Lodge, as an important part of the business by providing a place for guests of the lodge, locals who live in north Routt and those visiting the area to enjoy historic Hahns Peak Village, adjacent to Steamboat Lake State Park and Routt National Forest.

The couple has been leasing the eight-bedroom, 10-bathroom lodge to large groups. The lodge, which sleeps up to 18, is a popular location for snowmobiling groups, family reunions, weddings and church retreats.

Customers enjoy a meal inside the True North Tavern on Jan. 24.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today

The restaurant, which opened last Friday, will be open 8 a.m-8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 8 a.m.-noon Sunday. From 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the tavern will host a happy hour.

“We’ve always got a good special. We’ve got soup and salad instead of french fries and I’ve got a little nacho bar with queso and two kinds of salsa if you just want something inexpensive,” Stone said. “There is a grilled ham and cheese, and good burgers, and we will have locally sourced beef.”

Stone is excited to bring back Fish Fry Friday, which will take place 11 a.m. every week. Customers can enjoy haddock and walleye, as well as fried shrimp including red shrimp.

There will also be a special date-night menu on Saturdays that will include prime rib, salmon and salads. Stone hopes the night will also include oysters on half shell and oysters Rockefeller. A breakfast buffet will be offered on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Stone is also offering on-the-go lunches for groups with 24 hours’ notice. She will also offer catering services.

For the winter season, True North will start with a limited menu featuring some of Sharon’s favorites — a Friday fish fry, Saturday prime rib special, classic country breakfast offerings, and “the best cheeseburger in North Routt.” In the summer, the menu will evolve to include Mediterranean fare, meze platters, hummus with crudité, steak frites, and Mediterranean bowls with lamb or lemon chicken.

“It’s been our dream to relocate our lives up here at some point, and this has been a big steppingstone in that process,” Job said.

Katrina, Job and and Levin Seese inside the True North Tavern on Friday, Jan. 24. Job and Katrina bought True North Adventure Lodge in December 2023, and just reopened the tavern last week. They have hired local restaurateur Sharon Stone as general manager.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today

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