French Twist

And this, of course, is true. At a hotel, one must be all things to all people. One must cook the motherfucking jalapeño poppers with a smile on one's face no matter how much it kills one to do so. But Thomas was also a classically trained chef. In the years before he'd ended up at the ass-end of the industry doing cheeseburgers and fisherman's stew for day-trippers, he'd worked at the Tivoli Deer, at Sacre Bleu. He'd earned his stripes. And when the time came for him to interview for the top gig at French 250, he did it by cooking for Reece.

"His interview was a six-course French meal," Reece told me. "And I did what I always do: I sat down and ate. After that, I knew this was someone I could work with."

Not only that, but this was someone Reece could spend money on. At French 250, Thomas has a proper brigade — two chefs de cuisine (Jonathan Brown and Chuck James) and a full line beneath them. And Reece is looking at putting in a new kitchen to replace the one that's been there since the days when this space held Bistro Adde Brewster.

"Sixteen more burners," Reece said. "Three more ovens, one of those double burners for making demi. It takes them 48 hours to do a demi in there." He explained that Thomas had said there was no need for a grill in the kitchen, no need for anything, really, except more fire — because everything in the classical French canon can be cooked with nothing more than pots, pans, burners and ovens. And Thomas was right.

Reece was lucky to find the right chef at the start, but he's had to make other changes at the restaurant. The PR person, for example. And he brought in a new sommelier, who's improved the wine list, about a week before I visited. The menu will change soon, too — for the third time since the place opened last August, in a seasonal adjustment that hasn't exactly been seasonal.

But who cares? As the menu's evolved, it's become evenly divided between dishes Reece loves — the frogs' legs, the French onion soup, some of the more sturdy Provençal plates — and dishes that Thomas has always wanted to cook. Their partnership is a good one, the split between back-of-the-house and management just deep enough that both sides can do what they do best. And the result, weird as it is, works just beautifully.

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Leftovers: Last week saw the opening of Second Home in the old Mirepoix space at 150 Clayton Lane, inside the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek. Second Home is another concept by the Sage Restaurant Group, the gang that gave Denver the Corner Office, which I raved about last November. This time around, rather than going for the sexy, Mad Men-style banging-your-secretary vibe, Sage stuck a little closer to home and came up with a comfort-food concept that should make a mint in this space where, toward the end, chef Bryan Moscatello couldn't give away his vegetable-centric, haute New American grub. In contrast, Second Home's menu features pizzas, hangar steak, battered baby artichokes, specials of buttermilk fried chicken and New England fry-ups of cod, clams and sweet corn fritters.

Fleeing Cherry Creek, a couple of former Brix bartenders have opened Dougherty's, a heavy-drinking Irish pub at 5 East Ellsworth Avenue, which is already infamous for its biweekly Big Lebowski-themed party, complete with cheap White Russians and a bus trip to a bowling alley. When I talked to Wes Ingram, one of the joint's owners, he explained that they've been offering the "Sunday Afternoon Lebowski League" under the code name Sally.

"So, what?" I asked. "You've got to know the code word to get in?"

"No," Ingram said. "People just call it that. I don't really know why."

The way it works, the bar pours $3 white Russians while the first half of the movie plays. Then everyone piles into the Rasta Bus for the ride to Elitch Lanes, where they roll two games, and then everyone gets back into the bus and returns to Dougherty's, where they "continue to toss back a few libations," Ingram explained. "It's way too much fun."

The next Sally is March 23; give the bar a call at 303-777-5210 for details.

"We get enough people," Ingram promised, "maybe we'll have to rent a second bus!"