"That's good, though, right?" he continued. "I mean, I wanted something where I didn't have to be in the kitchen all the time. You know, where I could be here enough, but not too much. Not too little, either. But I don't want to have to be up here all the time like I used to be back in the kitchen. I don't want people coming in, not seeing me and going, 'Where's Sean?,' right?"
I concurred. Let Rocco DiSpirito deal with that kind of crap in New York. There's no place for it in Denver.
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The walls at Somethin' Else smelled like fresh paint (warm earthtones now -- dark browns and oranges instead of Clair's Van Gogh blues), the credit-card machine (which Kelly had never allowed at Clair) had just been installed Friday, and the menu is still in flux. Right now it's a mass of small plates, figs and nuts, some seafood, some Aubergine classics like fried baby artichoke hearts and other dishes that made the grade at Clair. It looks like it's tailor-made for Black, who's always at his best handling garde-manger duties, doing amuses and cold plates and little tastes of this and that.
In the coming days and weeks, Somethin' Else will find its niche, and no doubt come into its own as yet another entirely new restaurant from Sean Kelly. One without fine dining. One without white tablecloths. "It's going to be fun," he said. "Simple. Just the kind of place anyone can stop at any time and get a little something to eat."
While he was talking, two people did just that -- strolled by, stopped when they saw the menu in the window, and came in for an early dinner. No fussing with reservations, no wondering whether there'd be space enough for them in the notoriously small dining room. Everything about Somethin' Else feels looser and more casual than at Clair de Lune. The smiles come quicker. The food is easier. It's just dinner, after all.
Leftovers: It hasn't been long since 2 Boys Bakerythrew in the kitchen towel. And now, Manna Bakery,which has survived seventeen years of boom and bust in the Woodlawn Shopping Center, at 1500 West Littleton Boulevard in Littleton, may be the next to go. "It's been a horror show down here," says Jeff Noble, the bakery's third owner. "People just aren't spending money. They come in complaining about the crap they get at Costco or whatever, and then their eyes get as big as dinner plates when they see what I'm charging."
Which isn't much, all things considered: $3.50 for a fresh-baked artisan loaf of handmade bread; $4.50 for a whole pastrami sandwich and a pickle; $1.25 for a cupcake as big as your fist. Still, when people can get a loaf of machine-extruded Play-Doh masquerading as a baguette for $1.19 at their local grocery store, they tend to suffer sticker shock when they see Manna's prices.
"This is what it costs to bring it from the mixing bowl to the front of the house," Noble explains. "That's what I tell them. But people are willing to settle for an inferior product just because it's cheaper. I'm from the East Coast, and back there, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a great bakery. And you never see them close. But out here, the Costcos and the Wal-Marts, you know? They're really breaking it off in me."
For now, Noble's hanging on at Manna. He's working 75 hours a week with one other baker in the kitchen and a zero balance in the business's checking account. He's gone a year without taking a paycheck, comes in every day at 2 a.m., and last Thursday, took in exactly $432.
"And this isn't just me," he adds. "For God's sake, the whole city just sat back and watched Clair de Lune go away. That just doesn't happen back home, you know? I've been baking and cooking around the country now for twelve years, and I've never seen anything like this here."
So once again, I'm putting out the call. If you're near Littleton Boulevard and feeling peckish, stop in for a sandwich -- and pick up some fresh bread for dinner. Just coming off the South Beach Diet? Go to Manna to celebrate. Taste some bread, some pastries, some cakes made with real, fresh buttercream. Just try something, Denver, because if you keep taking your trade across the street to the chains, the grocery warehouses and the corporate-theme restaurants of the world, remember, one of these days you're gonna wake up and discover that's all that's left.
