Welcome to the Orchid, LoDo's New Upscale Music Venue

For the past six months, the building at 1448 Market Street that was once home to the Dorchester (and the original Purple Martini long before that) looked like just another shuttered club in LoDo. But inside, massive renovations were underway, adding velvety red booths, striking red chandeliers, a stylish bar and Art Deco stylings. The space was being transformed into a 1920s-style jazzy supper club that will finally debut as The Orchid on Friday, April 28.

The venue's name came easily to co-owner Pete Foster. "I'm kind of a plant nerd; I like to garden a lot. I was thinking about what plant reminded me of this space," he says. "Because it's been sitting dormant for so long, it reminded me of an orchid, because orchids sit dormant for a long time. And that gave me inspiration, because this place is about to bloom in a big way."

And it'll be a big bloom, with an impressive music lineup. The venue is booked through June, and opening night will include a performance by Brionne Aigné & Dax Oliver before a set from local legend Ramakhandra, whose ethereal harp trickling over synthy sonics will create an atmosphere perfectly suited to this mellow yet upscale venue. From there, the Orchid will showcase talented acts that include Mile High jazz supergroup Convergence (April 29), Denver soul singer Dzirae Gold (May 3), jazz-scene denizen Annie Booth (May 12) and many, many more. "We don't want to just focus on jazz, although we really love the local jazz scene here," says Foster. "But we will play a lot of jazz. We will have jazz brunches every Sunday, so that'll be fun. And during the week, we will definitely have free shows and bring in local talent. We're trying to do that during the week, and then we'll have two ticketed dinner shows per night on the weekends."

The room just past the entrance has booths and seating as well as a bar, with a big screen on the wall showing the live-streamed action happening on stage in the adjacent room, which carries the stage and more seating. Foster decided to forgo a big dance floor there in order to leave ample room for dining tables and booths; the Orchid can seat more than 100 people on the first floor (out of a total capacity of 210).

"There are three main things we're focusing on: the music, the food and the drinks," Foster says. "We spent a lot of time finding the best of all three."

For food, he didn't need to search far. "I convinced my brother [James Foster] to move out here from Boston for a nice short term to develop the menu, get the kitchen open, hire all the people," Foster says. "He's an executive chef in Boston for a bunch of different companies; he's cooked for people like Obama. He's got a really good reputation. I definitely couldn't afford him full-time, but he definitely helped get the food get really dialed in here." Foster also recruited Benny Bloom, the Grammy-winning trumpeter for funk band Lettuce, to give his two cents on the menu. Mary Allison Wright and McLain Hedges with the Yacht Club and Jellybone Consulting, meanwhile, designed the cocktail menu. "All the drinks are named after certain jazz songs," Foster says.

For the music lineup, Foster enlisted some scene veterans, including talent buyer Eric Imbrosciano, who has run jazz jams at Denver stalwart Dazzle, and Grammy-nominated Adam Deitch, who performs with Lettuce, Break Science, Pretty Lights and BTTRFLY Quintet — the supergroup of Lettuce and Break Science members that won a 2023 Best of Denver award for Best New Band. The band played a soft opening for the Orchid earlier in April, and Deitch has been a consultant for the new club, lending a hand with booking and other general visions.
"I'm very excited about this space opening, and I've never done anything like this before. And I'm very excited to do that game with basically all my friends in Denver playing who play locally," Deitch told us ahead of his latest solo album release. "I wanted it to feel really warm and to be really nice for the musicians and that sort of thing, so it definitely has my fingerprints on it. And just having a really cool owner that loves cool music — it's really a wonderful thing. And it's great to have another place. It's a really classy joint."

While Foster is an avid lover of "cool music" and has visited countless venues, he never dreamed of owning one. "I had never at all planned on getting into this business," he admits. "I was happy doing real estate; this just kind of happened. Never, ever even thought about it, but I do love music, obviously; I go to a lot of live music, but I never thought I would be working in the industry or anything like that. But now that I'm in it, I love it. I've been able to meet a lot of really awesome people. To learn a new industry, it's fun to me. Commercial real estate for eighteen years — it's not that exciting."

He and longtime business associate Steve Kalifa started looking for a spot in 2020, and the former Dorchester presented the perfect locale. "I am constantly searching the market for good locations and good opportunities," Foster says. "We located this in early 2021 and put it under contract by the end of 2021." After that, Foster had to persuade the neighbors that the club would be a good addition to the block: He says that the process of getting licensed for liquor and cabaret, as well as negotiating a Good Neighbor Agreement with the LoDo Neighborhood Association, took a little more than a year.
"The last tenants had a lot of noise complaints from the roof and other issues with the patrons as they left the venue. [The neighborhood] wanted to make sure that would not happen again," Foster notes. "I met with all objectors individually and explained to them our concept, our vision, and negotiated some noise agreements for the rooftop with the neighborhood association in order to calm their fears."

That roofttop, which has great views, is slated to open in June. It will have a 160-person capacity, with a bar and lounge areas, and a trellis archway covered in greenery to provide shade during the day. There will be live music, too, but no music after 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.

Meanwhile, the first floor of the Orchid will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays through May as the club gears up, then move to a six-day schedule.

Foster hopes the Orchid will play a role in the revitalization of LoDo. "With the stadium right there, after the games people come streaming down this street," he says, adding that a new restaurant will be opening next door, as well as a bottle service club. "It's nice that we're there's gonna be other options down here now.

"LoDo hasn't always had the best reputation," he adds, "but that's about to change."