View up Little Nell from new outside bar at Il Mulino.

The inside restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and there were a fair number of people at lunch today, which may be proof positive that the recession has bottomed out and we're on the upswing. No, it is not news if a group of people are having lunch at a nice restaurant at the base of Aspen Mountain, but it does show that there is still a market for high-end lunches in a high-end town. That's something, no? By the way, Nell is not skiable yet, but it is getting there. And nice to see the guns blowing even at 2 p.m.