When Jason Sheehan bemoaned the loss of Nosh last month, I shared in his solemnity. Not only was the gelato parlor in my 'hood, but it was damn good gelato, and the spot's lovely courtyard gardens, bedecked with wrought-iron benches and chairs and a trellised gazebo, were a communal pit stop for gelato junkies, hippie (and hipster) parents with kids in tow, and anyone else who wanted to plop down and nosh under the shade of tangled greenery.
So, yeah, it was a major bummer when Nosh closed.
But guess what, kids? By the time summer on South Pearl Street is in full sunshine mode, the vacated space at 1439 South Pearl Street will have a new lease on life, thanks to Patrick Mangold-White and Jon Edwards, the co-owners of Gaia Bistro at 1551 South Pearl. That's where I had lunch Friday when I happened to run into Mangold-White, who filled me on all the juicy details.
Like the name, which will most likely be Chaos, but not because Mangold-White and Edwards plan to open a restaurant in disarray. See, it's like this: In Greek mythology, Gaia is the goddess of Earth, so it makes sense for the guys to name their second restaurant after Gaia's father, who just happens to be Chaos, the very first Greek god who also represents the original state of the universe.
But the food won't be anything close to Greek. When Chaos opens at the end of May, Mangold-White, Edwards and exec chef Shawna Peterson, formerly of the Pajama Baking Company, also on South Pearl Street (busy little block, isn't it?), plan to push wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pizzas, plus paninis, salads and baked pastas from a little house barely bigger than a barn. "This will be the kind of place where you walk up, order a pie, get a number and grab a seat outside in the gardens or on the new covered wooden deck, which will have about 25 seats," explained Mangold-White.
As for the pizzas, "They're going to be fired with all organic wood -- peach, cherry and apple -- that we're getting delivered from Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss," added Mangold-White, who's also got a four-acre farm co-op in Arvada that's his source for everything from beans and herbs to melons, tomatoes and field greens. "When we open, the neighborhood can expect garden-fresh ingredients from Colorado-based producers, and when their produce is ripe and ready, we'll grab it."
Neighbors in Platt Park and Wash Park can also expect a few quirky pizza-delivery methods. "During the warm months, we're delivering pizzas on Vespas, and when the weather's cold, we're going to deliver pizzas using Smart Cars," Mangold-White told me. Seems like a smart idea to me, as do the joint's hours, which will be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.