What's a Bear Leek? Soon, It Will Be RiNo's Newest Restaurant

"The pandemic kind of cut Denver at the knees. Five years later, we're starting to build that momentum up again," says Harrison Porter, who has teamed up with partners Rema Maaliki and beverage director Carlos Meza on a new restaurant coming to RiNo this summer.

Bear Leek will take over the space at 2611 Walnut Street that Osaka Ramen occupied for a decade before it closed last month.

It's the first solo venture for chefs Porter and Maaliki, who met while working in the kitchen at Mercantile in Union Station nearly a decade ago. "Of anyone I've worked with over the years, I trust Harry the most. I know we have a similar vision," Maaliki says.

Both she and Porter grew up in Denver and, separately, spent time living and working in Melbourne, Australia — Porter went there in 2017 after working in kitchens in New York City, while Maaliki went Down Under in 2020.

After returning to Denver, she reconnected with Porter and joined him at Brasserie Brixton, where she became his sous chef. "That's really where I was able to hone in my own style," recalls Porter, who also cooked at Jacques after it opened in 2023.

Porter's most recent job was at chef Johnny Curiel's Alma Fonda Fina. "I started there two days before it got its first Michelin star [in 2024]. The first two weeks were absolutely insane," Porter admits, "but I fell in love with it — not only being busy and creating great food but interacting with guests," mostly at Alma Fonda Fina's à la carte chef's counter.

Around the same time, he approached Maaliki with the idea of starting something of their own and began looking at spaces. When his broker, Meg Hammerbeck of Fuel & Iron Realty, showed him the former home of Osaka Ramen, "It was too good of a deal to pass up," Porter recalls. "I had always loved that space."
But there was one hurdle. "Rema, I always thought, would be hardest to convince," he says. "We went and got pho when we found the space." Although Maaliki was planning to turn him down, she changed her mind.

"Soup really warms the soul," she jokes about her decision to join the project, which came together "a lot faster than both of us expected."

While the two had bounced around a couple of concept ideas, "We didn't want to jam a concept into a space," notes Porter, who will be the restaurant's executive chef while Maaliki will be its chef de cuisine. Now that they know where Bear Leek will be located, they're working together to create something they feel will be a good fit for the neighborhood.

"I had always stuck to the name," Porter says, which is a nod to the English translation of the German word for "ramp" and "reminds me of places in Brooklyn and Melbourne."

The menu will be "new American, though I don't like saying that," Porter adds. "More importantly, it's our journey." While the dishes are still being developed, diners can expect "a little kitsch," including gummy bear butter molds that will be used for bread service to start each meal.

The space comes with equipment, and the Bear Leek team doesn't "have to change too much," Porter says, so they're hoping for a fast and smooth transition. Kevin Nguyen's Regular Architecture is behind the design, which will "pull in the underground vibes and industrial feel," with "darker, sexier vibes."

Porter notes that one part of the space will be more "high energy," with the bar/chef's counter and a communal table, while the other side will be more intimate, with two- and four-tops.

Recently, diners got a taste of what Bear Leek is cooking at a pop-up at Somebody People, and the team says more pop-ups are in the works, including one next month at La Fillette.

"In RiNo specifically, you're kind of seeing places that were hanging on for so long and couldn't quite bounce back [from the pandemic]," Porter says, "and I feel like that second generation is starting to pop up, so we want to be a part of that and be leaders best as we can."

"It's definitely scary," Maaliki admits. "But we're excited to do our own thing finally. It hasn't quite hit either of us, the actual reality, yet — but I'm sure it will soon."

Adds Porter: "Times are tough — the future is scary. It's hard to know what's gonna happen, but food has always been a place to escape. ... You're providing a meal, you're providing comfort for people. I just want to be able to create our vision and bring our style in a way that people can forget their worries."