A ‘chef farmer’ pivots to survive the pandemic and heartbreaking loss

When the coronavirus pandemic shuttered his two Boulder restaurants in early spring, Skokan reinvented his farm-to-table business to keep most employees on payroll.

Then, on July 24, as Skokan prepared a cabana for guests, a speeding dump truck lost control on the tight curve of Nelson Road that borders the property, swerved into the oncoming lane and hit a car. Two of his sons, Kelsey and Ian, were in the convertible.

Younger brother Kelsey was crushed in the driver’s seat. The truck pushed the car back 40 feet, veered off the road, careened down an embankment and plowed into the homestead’s century-old farmhouse. In the aftermath of the crash over the summer, scores of neighbors, patrons and friends pitched in to harvest vegetables, bottle-feed lambs, move fence lines and even assist on the Skokans’ house reconstruction.A s the volunteers came to Skokan’s aid, his wife, who runs the business operation, urged him to take care of their employees.

“My goal became to make farm dinners stable so I could feel comfortable saying to staff, ‘We’ve got you,’ ” he said. “We can keep going until the vaccine kicks in.”