Bakery Four Launching New Evening Pasta Concept, Night Off

Since leaving his corporate job and moving to Denver to launch a cottage bakery that became one of the most popular places to pick up pastries during the pandemic, Shawn Bergin has continued to push his culinary boundaries.

In 2022, he and his wife and business partner, Alex Urdanick, moved Bakery Four from a small Highland cottage to a large space at 4150 Tennyson Street. This year, they introduced Rich Spirit, a spinoff bagel concept in Wheat Ridge. And now Bergin is turning his attention to pasta.

Night Off, which will operate out of the Bakery Four space, will launch as a prix fixe tasting-menu concept with seatings at 5 and 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. The opening menu is priced at $80 per person and includes six courses; there will also be natural wines from Colorado-based Yes Wines. The first two services, on May 30 and 31, have already sold out, but reservations for June will open soon and will be available on Tock. Eventually, Night Off's hours will expand and a la carte options will be added.

The name Night Off is an homage to the life of a baker — when your day starts before the sun rises, your only free time is a night off.
Bergin, who has a passion for using the highest-quality ingredients for everything he makes, has been honing his pasta skills for over a decade. “The Bakery Four fans who have long supported our pastas, which up until this point were sold as a takeaway addition to their morning treats, know that a stand-alone pasta concept was long overdue,” he says in an announcement of the concept.

The opening menu starts with imported buffalo burrata with pesto and country bread, followed by three pasta dishes: tortellini with wagyu brisket, butter sauce and chive oil; lumache with porcini ragu; and papardelle with wagyu ragu. Guests will then enjoy pork belly with leeks and bitter greens, followed by a cookie flight for dessert.

“Pasta has always been a passion of mine," Bergin notes, "and from the humble beginnings in our basement to now, opening our third concept, I’m incredibly grateful for the community support that has allowed me to keep creating."