Jen Castle is a chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. With Blake Spalding, Jen Castle, she co-owns Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah. Boulder is one of the most remote towns in the country with a population of 180.

Jen wrote With a Measure of Grace: The Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant. The book features recipes from the restaurant as well as stories about living in Boulder and running a restaurant based on Buddhist principles. She and Blake are committed to sustainability, environmental ethics, and social responsibility to the community in which they live.

The food served at Hell’s Backbone Grill has been called “a blend of Western Range, Pueblo Indian and Southwestern flavors.” It is grown in the restaurant’s gardens and on a nearby six-acre farm owned by the business. Jen and Blake rely on local ranchers for naturally raised meats and poultry, and nearby orchards for heirloom fruits.

Jen is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and later moved to Flagstaff, Arizona. In Flagstaff she worked at Macy’s European Coffee House, Bakery and Vegetarian Restaurant, where she was able to learn the ins and outs of running a restaurant.

While living in Flagstaff, she became a river chef, cooking for raft and camping trips on the Colorado River and in the Grand Canyon.

In 2000, Jen and her friend Blake moved to Utah when the opportunity arose to own and run Hell’s Backbone Grill. The grill is the most highly rated restaurant in the state according to Zagat’s and has won any number of awards. It was selected as a Fodor’s Choice recipient in 2006, and was named at the Best Restaurant in Southern Utah in 2007 by Salt Lake Magazine. It also was awarded the Utah Governor’s Mansion Award for Culinary Artistry, presented by Governor Jon Huntsman.

Jen and Blake received an award from the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Center for Sustainable Environments for being “Culture Bearers of Sustainability in the Four Corners Region.” Additionally, Hell’s Backbone Grill was chosen as one of four restaurants representing Utah’s Slow Food movement in an exhibit in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

The restaurant has been featured in O, the Oprah Magazine; the New York Times; Sunset Magazine; Bon Appetit; Organic Gardening; Outside Traveler; Travel and Leisure; the Washington Post; Men’s Journal; and National Geographic Traveler.

Jen and Blake support a number of charities including  Local First Utah. Local First is dedicated to strengthening communities and local economies by promoting, preserving, and protecting local, independently owned businesses throughout Utah. They also support The Whale Foundation; Grand Canyon River Guides Association; Slow Food Utah; The Road Home; Grand Canyon Youth; Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance; and Utah Museum of Natural History, to name only a few.

Jen lives in Boulder, Utah. Her website is www.hellsbackbonegrill.com. The website for Local First is localfirst.org