Denver has just bagged one of the sexiest chefs on the culinary planet. Lon Symensma, a former New York kitchen magician with a helluva lot of kitchen street cred and pedigree, is leaving the Big Apple, where he was the former chef of Buddakan, to open ChoLon Bistro in LoDo.
"I have decided to leave Buddakan & NYC to join the culinary scene, and open my first signature restaurant, in Denver" writes Symensma on his Facebook page. ChoLon, which Symensma is billing as a "Modern Asian Bistro," is skedded to open in the fall of 2010 in the SugarCube building, at 1555 Blake Street.
The news of Symensma's departure from New York initially broke on NYeater, which ballyhoos Symensma as a "strong contender for the title of New York's Hottest Chef." Aside from having plenty of sex appeal, Symensma is also a CIA grad who's worked with star-chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, not to mention an Asian cuisine addict and expert who worked the line at several five-star properties in Malaysia and Hong Kong. His Denver restaurant will be Southeast Asian with French influences.
