Bonanno Concepts Debuting Dumplin' in Former Salt & Grinder Space on November 7

"We have been looking for iterations of Bones for years," restaurateur Frank Bonanno says of the Asian-inspired eatery he ran at 701 Grant Street for ten years before shuttering it in 2019. (The space is currently home to another Bonanno Concepts spot, cocktail bar Salita.)

Now Frank and his wife, Jacqueline, are opening a brand-new concept partly inspired by Bones. Dumplin' is set to debut on Thursday, November 7, at 3609 West 32nd Avenue in the West Highland neighborhood. For a decade, the Bonannos operated the sandwich shop Salt & Grinder at this address before closing it in September.

"It just wasn't really making any money," Frank says of the deli. "It wasn't losing money, but it just wasn't what I wanted it to be toward the end. ... I loved the sandwiches when we opened, but things evolve, and I should have been more involved, but I wasn't."

The neighborhood wasn't involved enough, either. "There used to be some offices around here," he recalls. "Those people are not out having lunch, and there's just not enough moms and kids to support [Salt & Grinder] Monday through Friday."

The Bonannos hope Dumplin' will bring something fresh and complement other neighborhood staples such as El Camino, Trattoria Stella and Hapa Sushi.

While a riff on Bones sparked the initial idea, Frank was also inspired by the food in Chicago's Chinatown, where his son, Marco, goes to school — and where he's eaten a lot of dumplings recently. But, he notes, "I'm not Asian, and I've never worked in an Asian restaurant. I ran Bones. Bones was absolutely a Mizuna [his French eatery] combination with Asian."

So with Dumplin', Frank isn't aiming to make traditional Asian food. Instead, he's leaning into his Italian heritage. "The one thing I kept coming back to is that one of the most successful pop-ups we've had was Itameshi, our Italian-Asian fusion," he says, noting that it included dishes like cacio e pepe ramen, one of the items on the opening menu at Dumplin'. The signature lobster ramen from Bones will also be served at the new spot.
The most traditional Asian item in the lineup is the pork and scallion dumplings. Wrappers will be housemade, and all the dumplings will be available boiled, steamed or pan-fried. Other iterations include shrimp and lobster, and wagyu beef with grated Burgundy truffles and Parmigiano-Reggiano, an indulgent combination that inspired Frank to test out an alternative to black vinegar for dipping dumplings: balsamic vinegar. "It worked really well," he says. Guests will also be able to dunk dumplings into Calabrian chile oil.

Along with meat-on-a-stick, starters like whipped tofu with green chile crunch and Calabrian chile oil served with fried wontons, and desserts such as mochi and a double chocolate s'mores sundae, the menu will include a rotating dumpling and ramen of the day. "That's what I think will keep it fun and interesting," Frank notes.

The space is small — "We'll probably only have like 26 seats," Frank says — but it will be full-service and will include a bar stocked with sake, beer and Italian wine, plus a trio of cocktails on tap.

It will also be walk-in only and "a little wait may be part of your experience," the Bonannos note.

The focal point of the dining room is a brightly colored, 1968 7-Up billboard that the Bonannos found in the basement of their "very old" West Highland home. The billboard, Jacqueline explains in an Instagram post, "Asks you to consider the 'un.' We honor that with cacio e pepe ramen, whipped tofu hummus, oreo mochi, extinct whiskeys and jelly beer in the spring. Expect the un."

"We're still married after hanging it," Jacqueline jokes. They're still married after a lot of restaurant openings, too, but this is the first one in a while where the two are getting back to the way they opened their first eateries. "This just feels kind of authentic to be doing it ourselves. We've been here painting and figuring it out and just doing everything," she says.

There may be more projects coming as well. In July, Bonanno Concepts temporarily closed its downtown restaurant French 75, which remains on pause. It, too, may get a concept reboot in the future.

But for now, Frank and Jacqueline Bonanno are excited to soon introduce Dumplin' to the neighborhood they call home.

Dumplin' is located at 3609 West 32nd Avenue and will be open from 4 to 9 p.m. daily starting November 7. (Note: It will be closed on Sunday, November 10.) For more information, follow it on Instagram @dumplin_denver.