A conversation with Troy Guard of TAG

A A A Comments By Lori Midson Thursday, Aug 27 2009

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You're making a pizza. What's on it? Fresh basil, Pecorino Romano and grilled eggplant.

You're making an omelet. What's in it? Two eggs (but only one yolk), vegetables sautéed in duck fat or olive oil, whatever cheese we have in the refrigerator at home, and salt and pepper.

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TAG

1441 Larimer St.
Denver, CO 80202

Category: Restaurant > Asian Fusion

Region: Downtown Denver

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After-work hangout: After a long-ass day working twelve to fourteen hours, I'm completely wiped out. All I want to do is to go home and chill on the couch, have a beer to unwind, watch ESPN, play some Ms. Pac-Man, hang out with my teenager and my dog, Tag, who's always happy to see me.

Favorite Denver restaurant other than your own: The Wazee Supper Club. It has a great late-night scene and really good pizzas.

Favorite celebrity chef: I like Bobby Flay. He's here, there and everywhere, and he seems like a cool guy who genuinely likes cooking. We did some events together in New York years ago.

Celebrity chef who should shut up: Duff Goldman, the host of Ace of Cakes. He has a goofy laugh, and I've never seen him make one cake on the show. His assistants always do it. He's all bake and no cake.

Hardest lesson you've learned: It's not easy mixing family and business. When it's good, it's really good, and when it's bad, it's the worst! My wife and I work together and we're both passionate people, so we have a lot of differing opinions on how things should look, sound and taste. We have to balance all of that, and it's been a learning process. But at the end of the day, I'm the boss at work and she's the boss at home.

What's next for you? I'm going to focus 100 percent on TAG. I've been cooking in other people's restaurants for sixteen years, and now that I have my own place, I want to focus on becoming a kick-ass business owner. Sure, I'd also love to open a hundred different restaurants, author cookbooks, host my own cooking show and travel around the world again, but the reality is that I promised my wife that I would just focus on making TAG the best and most lucrative restaurant we could. We gave up a lot to get where we are, and we have a baby coming in October, so I'm anticipating a lot of sleepless nights and poopy diapers.

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