Meet Shawn Chilcote. He is currently working as a Barista at Lion Head Coffee but has aspirations of opening up a food truck and creating Grand County’s own taco empire or hosting a travel/food show of his own. He was born and raised in Philadelphia and moved to Grand County in 2016.

Questions:

Q: Are you a Grand County native? If not, where you from and what brought you to Grand County?

A: I am not a native, I am from Philadelphia. I  had been visiting for about eight years. After one visit, I went back home and felt something was missing. You could say Colorado got in my blood and it’s hard to get it out. The winters can be exhausting, but the rest of the time it’s great living here.

Q: What inspired you or led you to your current career?

A: I am a barista at Lion Head Coffee, I’ve been there for a little over a year. I learned that I like coffee a lot. I am planning on opening my own food truck and I am going to serve tacos, but not your average everyday tacos, expect anything and everything to be in them. I have a degree in design and marketing. One of the challenges and sacrifices you make living up here is that there is not always a lot of opportunities for work.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Grand County, and what do you love there?

A: It’s Moo Moo’s. It has officially sold to the former Chef and his family. It’s still Moo Moo’s for now, but they’re working on a new name and more authentic Mexican cuisine. My favorite food there is tacos! (Editor’s note: The new restaurant is now called My Cabin Mexican Food.)

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in Grand County?

A: It took me a little bit to think about it. Here’s my house and the train station is right here, I love trains and have been fascinated by them my entire life. If you look out the window from here you can see the Moffat Road Railroad Museum. Dave Naples is the driving force behind the museum. He’s really a cool guy, he’s got a lot of information and he knows so much. If you want to learn about trains, he’s the guy! There is just so much history–if it wasn’t for the railroad, this town wouldn’t be here. Then there is my friend Christy Helming who has a tattoo shop, she’s another interesting character!

Q: How long have you lived or worked in Grand County?

A: 4 years in 2020.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?

A: I want to go everywhere, that’s my goal. However, because I want to get the food truck going, I have to pare back some travel. I have a trip to Japan booked for next year, but, if I had to choose one place, it’s Thailand. There is something about that place that calls my name. The people are just wonderful and the food is amazing. I fell in love with it, it’s something I can’t explain. I like Vietnam, and all of southeast Asia, there’s just something about it that speaks to me.

Q: What is your favorite movie OR what is the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?

A: The Goonies. My whole right arm is a tattoo sleeve dedicated to the movie.

Q: What advice would you give to someone moving to Grand County?

A: Be prepared for the cold and the snow. I love it, though I don’t like the -30 degrees we get sometimes. But that’s not normal.

Q: What is something on your bucket list?

A: There’s so many things I want to do, it’s a never-ending list but if I have to pick one, I want to go sky diving. I also want to travel around the world and eat (just about) everything. I draw the line at dogs, but I am a food explorer!

Q: What is your favorite music/ 3 bands you would like to see (dead or alive)?

A: I’ll give you two answers. Since I was a kid, and I always come back to it, it’s heavy metal music. It’s not a lot of people’s taste but I like it. I also like classic rock, really all kinds of music. I love music in general, all kinds of music. The first person I would like to see is Freddie Mercury number one, number one, number one, and no question about that! Then, Bob Marley, I love that kind of music, too. The third one is David Bowie. I fell like I should ad John Lennon to the list, but decided this list is for me and this is who I would like to see.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?

A: Travel and eat! That’s what I want to do for a living.

Q: Choosing anyone non-relative with whom would you love to have lunch? Why and where would you have lunch?

A: I thought about this a lot, and I would really like to take someone who is dead. He is my idol; it would be Anthony Bourdain and I would take him to Moo Moo’s for, can you guess? TACOS! Authentic street tacos! He was such a real person that I think he would appreciate that place.

Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Grand County?

A: Grand Lake, because it was the first place I lived when I moved up here. I first took pictures of it, people said it was not real, it’s like a postcard. It’s like living in the Hallmark channel. It has cool things like Adams Falls, I like hiking back there. I love seeing all the wildlife and big lakes. And when you first get to town, there’s that huge mountain, it’s huge, right in your face above the lake! (Editor’s note: this mountain is commonly referred to as Mt. Baldy, but is officially known as Mt. Craig.)

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

A: I want to be the next Anthony Bourdain, I want to travel and be like him. I don’t want to replace him, but I aspire to be like him. Just travel, eat and show people the world and create my Taco empire.

Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

A: I wanted to be a comedian when I was 14. I am just naturally goofy.  Getting up on a stage might be too much for me–but making videos is easy for me!

Q: What 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?

A: I have been very global lately, so I think of the world is my home; but, Philadelphia will always be home since it is where I was born and raised, and Grand County has a special place in my heart. As much as I want to travel, I want to spend time here and open up my business in Grand County.

Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?

A: Johnny Depp. He’s unique, he’s different. He’s unique in doing all these different movies. He doesn’t need to find work, he creates it. I love his movies like Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean, I could go on and on.

Q: If you had a full-time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose? Chef, Housekeeper, Driver, Coach, Physical Fitness Trainer, or Nanny?

A: I don’t need a Chef or a nanny, and I keep my house pretty sparkling clean. I love to drive so I think I need a Physical fitness trainer, because,  I’ll be honest with as many tacos as I eat, I need reinforcements to get me up and exercise.

Q: What is one business or activity that you would like to see in Grand County that currently isn’t here?

A: There are so many things that are already here and I want to keep things authentic. Something that might benefit everyone, but it would need to be done in the right way, would be a Target or some kind of retail. I don’t want to see other small businesses shut down because of it, but something so we wouldn’t have to go to Denver. But we do need more variety of small businesses and more of our buildings being used.

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