Our great state has nine Michelin-starred restaurants, but among those glittering kitchens, only one belongs to a born-and-raised Coloradan. Meet chef Justin Fulton of Margot.
Keystone’s native son grew up the way a lot of locals did, with a board underfoot in a hardworking home where everyone pitched in. “It was like, your turn to help us out, Justin, because you like those snowboards, right,” he laughs. Soon, he was tweaking the neighbor’s spaghetti sauce recipe to rave reviews.
Culinary school and jobs in Michelin-star kitchens followed. “I wanted to go work for the best,” he says. Upon return, those lessons became the backbone of Margot, which began as a one-day-a-week pop-up that thrived on word of mouth and borrowed kitchens. The name had been in his back pocket for years, inspired by his wife Maggie (“if she were French, she’d be Margot”) and a vision of dining that was elegant without the pretension. Margot finally landed on South Pearl Street, where Justin could deliver the full experience he’d been sketching for years.
Step inside and the first impression is balance: a stone and wood-clad dining room that feels both polished and warm, a chef’s counter that hums with energy, and a disco ball overhead to keep things from getting too serious. “That’s our way of letting you know we came to party too,” Justin says. The service is unbuttoned enough to keep you comfortable, a vibe that’s half elevated dinner party and neighborhood hangout.
That same balance defines the plate. Justin’s ever-evolving menus lean on Colorado’s best ingredients, treated with precision but never fuss. “We were pickling rhubarb in the spring so we could use it in the summer,” he explains. “And green tomatoes in late summer so we can use them into the fall and winter.” The goal is to preserve what’s grown here and stretch it across our short seasons. Dishes might pair cured steelhead trout with coconut broth and kumquat or transform a diner who “hates beets” into someone who loves them. “I get a little bit of a high from the joy of hearing someone say they’ve never tasted anything like this,” he says.
That philosophy of refined elegance, but always with a wink, earned Justin a Michelin star this year, and plenty of validation for the late nights and lean paychecks of the pop-up days. The recognition matters not just because it puts him alongside some of the best chefs in the world, but because it proves Colorado can produce its own. Nine stars shine across the state, but only one belongs to a chef who was raised here, raced down these slopes, and came back to feed his neighbors. Not that we’re counting.
To learn more about dining at Margot, pick up the print issue of Denver Life Magazine at local newsstands or subscribe to the digital version.
