Former Restaurant Chef and Owner Is Feeding People in a New Way

In 2022, chef Scott Schaden opened his first restaurant, the Western-inspired Terra, across from the Colorado Convention Center but just over a year later, it closed its doors. Now he and his previous general manager-turned-business partner, Nikki Stack, are back on the scene with a culinary concept that’s tackling the restaurant industry from a new angle.

The duo launched the Prep Kitchen in March, serving Italian food via several different channels including pop-up events; wholesale and retail pasta and sauces for purchase; private chef and catering services; and pre-arranged meal kit deliveries all around Denver, including holiday packages for those looking for an easy meal at home this year. “The eight-hour sauce and the hand-cut noodles, that part’s done for you,” notes Schaden.

“The cost of dining has gone up so much, people can hardly afford to do it, and at the same time, it hasn’t gone up close to enough for the restaurants to make any money,” shares Schaden. Amids Denver’s rapidly changing dining scene, the Prep Kitchen strives to honor the magic of dining out while offering ways for consumers to enjoy top-notch Italian food at home.

“We’re able to do the dirty prep work, the heavy lifting, that sort of really labor-intensive piece, and then we have all these different outlets to allow you to enjoy it, gathered at a table together,” Schaden explains.

The Prep Kitchen hosted the final installment of its first pop-up series, Turistico Italy, in late November. It consisted of seven prix fixe dinners over seven months. The next pop-up series will feature rotating proteins and will be hosted at one of the Top 100 Bars in Denver, Noble Riot. The first event is set for Valentine’s Day, though tickets have not yet been released.

The inspiration for Turistico Italy came largely from Schaden’s background in Italian cuisine – specifically, the Piedmont region in the northern part of the country bordering Switzerland, where he spent several months on an externship getting familiar with the local cuisine. Schaden’s intention with the series was to avoid a generalized Italian theme and instead hone in on details. “What do they eat in this one little village? What are these specific recipes that have been handed down?” he says.

Each dinner focused on a different Italian region and aligned seasonally with the time that ingredients would be at their freshest. “We made sure Naples was during August so that we had all these great, fresh Colorado tomatoes,” notes Schaden. “We were very intentional about it throughout the year.”

The dinners are communal, with seating at five to eight community tables. “We assign seating, so we get to play a little bit of matchmaker,” says Schaden. “It turns into a ton of fun. People get to know each other. We’ve had people sign up for the dinner and then call us and be like, ‘Hey, did so-and-so sign up, too? If they did, can I be seated with them?'”

This dining style fulfills one of the central tenets the Prep Kitchen wants to incorporate into its business model as it aims to revamp dining as a way to socialize and share stories over shared food. “A big thing that we are trying to bring back to the community is the idea of dining. I feel like a lot of that got lost during COVID,” says Stack.

“One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Michael Pollan, and he says, ‘When we learn to cook for one another is when we become truly human,'” adds Schaden. “I just love that whole ethos, that idea of getting people together around the table.”

The final dinner of the Turistico series featured a nine-course Piedmont white truffle dinner, with a generous twelve grams of imported white truffle per guest. The fine-tuned menu included decadent bites of tajarin noodles in a flavorful butter sauce topped with white truffle and a bold carne crudo featuring mushroom three ways. The meal was served with an artisanal wine and vermouth pairing, with bottles available for purchase.

Guests of the upcoming protein pop-up dinner series can expect everything from chicken and pork to vegetable protein dishes accompanied by wine pairings influenced by the wide selection at Noble Riot.

Aside from tantalizing flavors and conversation, the warmth radiating from Schaden as he made brief speeches throughout the dinner was palpable. His commentary was full of personalized anecdotes about the many recurring guests, and there was even a perfect attendance award presented to one diner who hadn’t missed a single meal across the series. The prize was a T-shirt personally designed by Stack, and its reception was accompanied by a heartfelt round of applause.

“We were kind of creating this little dining community of people that were excited not to just come experience the food, but were excited to come and spend time with each other,” notes Schaden with a smile. “Kind of like a little supper club, so to speak.”

“I think that Denver really, really enjoyed [this],” he continues. “I think the people that we have reached have totally latched onto the concept, but I think there’s a lot more people to reach out there.”

Whether it’s the private chef experiences that can ebb into full-blown interactive cooking classes if that’s your style, or the pop-up dinners that function as a celebration of all the flavors of life, the Prep Kitchen is designed to meet you where you are.

For more information on the Prep Kitchen’s services and upcoming events, visit tpkdenver.com or follow it on Instagram @tpkdenver.