Gabe Stallone, ex of Vesta, Steuben's and, most recently, Izakaya Den, called on Monday to let me know that he'd recently been brought on as either sous chef or chef de cuisine, depending on how one defines such titles. "I'll be the one handling the food," he said, "so whatever that would be."
Stallone will be doing his thing on the line under the command of new exec Marcus Jimenez. The two of them -- along with managing partner Anna Jordon who, to hear Stallone tell it, basically went all Corporate Rambo in order to get her galley back on track after some disappointing work by the former chef -- will be attempting to bring the Samba Room more in line with some of the excellent restaurants that line Larimer Square.
For example, by cooking food that people actually want to eat and that the cooks can be proud of.
At Samba Room, there really wasn't any direction to go in but up, so this change comes as very good news.
