Leftovers: Just as restaurant critics do not collude on the timing of their reviews, they do not announce themselves when they show up at eating establishments. Would someone please tell that to Wise Guys Pizza? The new thin-crust, New York-style pie joint owned by Gabe Reid(ex of Anthony's) recently opened its doors at 2740 South Wadsworth in Lakewood, and their grand opening was attended by another faux Jason Sheehan demanding free food and claiming to be me. He wasn't. Once again, all you restaurant folk out there should keep this in mind: I'll never come up to you looking for free grub. I'll never come up to you asking for free anything. As a matter of fact, I'll never come up to you period, because I am an anonymous critic -- which means that if I'm doing my job right, you'll never know I'm there.
Apparently the guy got stellar service and a couple of great slices courtesy of Gabe and crew. But for everyone else, just remember that the next time you get some punk-ass loser in the joint claiming to be me and using my good name to extort free drinks and chili dogs from the help, just kick him in the nuts and 86 the prick.
Location Info
Related Content
More About
Peet's Coffee and Tea -- the coffee-shop group that grew up in Berkeley's so-called gourmet ghetto, which spawned everything from The Cheese Board to Chez Panisse -- has its first Denver location. The new spot, at 2500 East Second Avenue, opened on October 30 and is staying true to the fresh-roasted/artisan-blend philosophy that's kept Peet's growing and the joe flowing since the opening of the first Peet's coffee shop and roastery on Vine Street in Berkeley back in 1966.
Trattoria Stella is moving forward with a second location at 3201 East Colfax Avenue, but things are moving sloooow. I talked to owner Thomas Sumners, and he assured me that while it won't take a year before Stella's the Second makes its debut, it also won't be anytime soon. The biggest issue is a giant billboard on top of the building that has to come down before the crew from Stella's can start moving in, and that's proving to be easier said than done.
"It's always something, isn't it?" Sumners asks. "I wish it was the kind of thing where we could just throw money at it until it went away, but we don't have that kind of money, so it's going to take time."
While he's waiting, Sumners and his crew -- along with new chef Jennifer Blakeslee -- are discussing menus. "Probably American nouvelle," Sumners says. Since the two restaurants will be sharing staff, Sumner and his wife, Marna (who also does the baking and Sunday brunches at Stella's), want a setup where their cooks will be able to do different things without getting bored. "But we're still going back and forth on that," he adds. "We didn't want to do Italian, because we're already doing that here. And the cooks wanted something where they'd be able to do some more of their own dishes."
Speaking of doing their own thing, two of Denver's big names are moving on -- again. Jeff Saudo, the chef at Mel's ("Hum Enchanted Evening," October 9), is leaving his post at Mel and Jane Master's temple to new American cuisine. He plans to spend more time with his family, including a new daughter, and eventually head back East, toward North Carolina and home. "It is a loss, but it will be good for him personally," says Mel. "The good news is, we managed to get my old chef and friend Tyler Wiard back."
Yup, that's right. Saudo's last day at Mel's will be on January 1, and Wiard's first day back will be January 2. He worked at Mel's in the late '90s, then again briefly as a fill-in before Saudo came on. This means the Fourth Story, where Wiard has been working for the last year and a half, is now looking for another chef -- the seventh in seven years -- to run its embattled kitchen.
And finally, the owners of Boulder's Triana decided late last week to close up shop after three years on the Pearl Street Mall. "We've had a tough run financially in the last year," says Adam DeVito. "We really tried to be this accessible place -- warm, but still sensual. We wanted to be girl-next-door sexy, but not the kind of place where you had to hold your breath just to walk through the door." Unfortunately, thanks to some lousy positioning, Triana got lumped in among all the other weekend destination restaurants in Boulder and was never able to hold on to a weekday crowd. Not even some great menus and a fantastic happy hour helped. "And then "Eventually, the financial strain got to be too much." And what does DeVito plan to do next? "Never the restaurant business again."
Luckily, not everyone feels that way. The 1039 Pearl Street address has already been snapped up, and a new chef-owned restaurant called simply The Kitchen will be opening in the space come spring. No word yet on the food, but new owners Hugo Matheson (from Trios) and Kimbal Musk will try to create a place that will trade on the warm, intimate architecture of the old Triana while still creating a friendly, approachable weekday hangout.
And for any of you left holding (legitimate) Triana gift certificates issued after September 15, they can be redeemed for cash before the end of the year by calling the office of Aarone Appel, at 303-545-5755.
