In this month’s cheat sheet, an S-tier chef duo launching their first restaurant, a Western-inspired bakery for the girlies, and a Japanese restaurant known for fire-kissed food makes its way to Denver.
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I keep a list of all the new and upcoming restaurant openings in and around the Denver area and every few weeks I filter through them to find the ones you actually need to know about. While January was an unusually busy time for openings, February was incredibly quiet. That said, there were a few interesting spots that started welcoming guests that I’ll tell you about today:
New restaurant concepts
1. Casa Juani – Boulder: Two chefs with S-tier credentials break out on their own
After years in some of the country’s most well-known dining rooms and kitchens, Eduardo Valle Lobo and Kelly Jeun have launched their own restaurant. The duo is best known locally for their tenure as co-executive chefs at Frasca Food and Wine; Lobo later served as the culinary director for the Frasca Hospitality Group, while Jeun previously worked at Eleven Madison Park in NYC.
Named after his mother, Juani, Valle Lobo and his wife, Jeun, view the restaurant as an opportunity to inject more of their personalities into their food. As Jeun explains, “This menu is our way of expressing ourselves as chefs together for the first time.” This includes honoring the flavors of the Iberian coast – a project that hits particularly close to home for Valle Lobo, who is of Spanish ancestry.
“Casa Juani brings everything full circle,” he says. “Returning to my heritage is deeply personal, but the most rewarding part is the opportunity to honor my mother, Juani, who is my north star.” For Jeun, the feeling is mutual: “It’s beautiful to work alongside Eduardo as he shares his Spanish roots and honors his mother.”
- Vibe: Located right in the heart of downtown Boulder on a prime corner off Pearl Street, the space was designed by the firm ARCH11 – the team who’ve outfitted other upscale restaurants like Corrida and Oak at Fourteenth. The interior goes for sophisticated comfort, featuring a large bar area and a striking set of horseshoe-shaped, camel-colored banquettes. Thoughtful touches like artisanal plateware brought in from Madrid and Barcelona round out the experience.
- What’s on the menu: The menu is a seafood-driven homage to Spain, divided into six categories that celebrate the country’s bounty. You can start off small with a bit of jamón ibérico or choice selections from the marisquería section featuring premium raw seafood dishes, such as razor clams as well as sea urchin paired with cured meat. There are plenty of heartier fish and meat options to choose from as well as “garden” dishes – like Catalan rice with mushrooms. To fill out the meal, order one of the larger plates designed to share. The beverage program, led by general manager Daniel Dirth (a fellow EMP alumni), focuses on a wide selection of Spanish wines and introduces touches like Basque cider on draft. The cocktail menu pulls from Spanish classics, making drinks like the rebujito – a well-known sherry-based cocktail from Seville – available to Colorado diners who want a taste of the Iberian Peninsula closer to home.
2. Aguanile – Baker: A social club brimming with Puerto Rican pride
Aguanile bills itself as a Borícua – or Puerto Rican – social club. The new restaurant and lounge is situated on the ground floor of the Cortland Alameda Apartments and according to Westword, the spot is owned by Brooklyn native Christy Rivera, along with her husband Ben Oakes and friend Terwanda McMoore. Operating Wednesday through Sunday since its grand opening in late February, the spot sits directly across from the Alameda RTD station, making it a convenient stop for anyone taking public transit. (Street parking is extremely limited in the area.) For those looking to visit on a budget, the club has been running Sunday happy hours after 4pm where food is 50% off, then jumping to 60% off from 6-8pm, or until sell out.
- Vibe: The interior is primarily black and coppery orange, but the space gets a dash more personality from colorful couches and artwork honoring Puerto Rican celebrities. The walls feature Andy Warhol-style screenprints featuring the faces of musician Bad Bunny and legendary actress Rita Moreno, alongside a large flor de Maga, the national flower of Puerto Rico, that glows with the help of some twinkle lights.
- What’s on the menu: The kitchen serves a brief but focused menu of comforting dishes and PR-focused takes on bar food favorites, such as seasoned wings and sliders made with roasted pork, cured ham, and sofrito steak. Among the small selection of entrees is a limited daily quantity of pollo a la casa made of oven-roasted seasoned chicken thighs that guests can opt to have served with arroz con gandules (a PR national dish). You can also find spirits like small-batch Ron del Barrilito and Havana Club rum, both made in Puerto Rico.
Bars, cafes, and coffee shops
3. Velvet Lasso – LoHi: A western-themed bakery for the girlies
Velvet Lasso, a new bakery and cafe in LoHi, swung open the saloon doors on Valentine’s Day. Owner Bree Licata, who formerly ran the buzzy Portland bakery Flour Bloom, has filled the menu of her new Denver business with treats that remind her of growing up on Long Island, NY: cannolis, Italian butter cookies, and rainbow cookies that are dolled up in shades of red, pink, and purple.
Licata teamed up with GM/chef Cole Sinatra (opening chef at Yampa Valley Kitchen in Steamboat Springs) who got in-house breadmaking capabilities up to snuff, and together they’ve slid in nods to classic NY deli culture onto the menu. Rounding out the team are pastry pro Wynter Sierra (Sweet Anarchy owner, Bakery Four, GetRight’s) who is in charge of filling the bakery case, while Katie Pratt runs the coffee program brewing Middle State Coffee.
While the café is the first part of the project to launch, construction has also begun on the main space, with plans to open this spring as a bar/lounge. For this phase, Morgan Weeber will join as bar director, applying their savory cooking knowledge in crafting a creative drink program.
- Vibe: Inside, the look is blazing cherry-red walls lined with butterfly and horse tchotchkes, honey-oak furniture, and velvet-trimmed seating, creating a vintage cowgirl dreamscape that breathes new life into the former home of the much-loved French restaurant Noisette.
- What’s on the menu: Notable savory dishes include a B.E.C. zhuzhed up with tomato jam and hashbrowns, a veggie sandwich stuffed with preserved rapini and marinated Corona beans, and a hoagie named after Pagliacci’s — the family-owned Italian restaurant that once occupied the same location — loaded with River Bear meats, stracciatella, and chopped peppers.
Want to get a better feel for the place? Watch my short Velvet Lasso video tour.
Expansions
4. Uchiko – Cherry Creek: Fire-kissed Japanese concept arrives in Denver
In 2018, Austin-based Hai Hospitality debuted on the Denver food scene with the opening of their flagship Uchi concept in RiNo. Now they’ve expanded their footprint, this time taking on Cherry Creek, with a new outpost of Uchiko. Meaning “child of Uchi” in Japanese, the restaurant – conceived by James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole – opens its fifth location under CDC Andres Araujo, who previously led the Uchi RiNo kitchen for half a decade.
While Uchi is understated and sushi-centric, Uchiko goes bolder, with flavors driven by hearth cooking. Diners can navigate the extensive à la carte menu or opt for the set 10-course daily omakase or completely customized somakase experience. There’s also a nice deal for a nine course tasting for two at $120 during the daily happy hour, 4-6pm.
In my mind, Hai Hospitality has managed to become the Hillstone — and I mean that as a compliment — of a certain style of sushi and Japanese chain restaurant that hits a lot of sweet spots. Uchiko in Denver is a “nice” place for anyone with disposable income to splurge on for date night, girls’ night out, or dinner with mom and dad and even your kids, if you’ve got ‘em. It’s reliably good. The experience is pleasant. They’ve spent enough money on the interiors so they look and feel sophisticated. There’s zero whiff of snobbery or pretense from the well-trained staff, and honestly, that’s good enough for me when I just want to kick back and enjoy a meal.
- Vibe: Taking over the former Ginny Williams gallery, the mid-century space has been reimagined into a chic, 163-seat restaurant. The low-slung ceilings remain, now accented by a dark walnut, slate, and leather details that lend a clubby feel to the restaurant. The expansive 7,400 -square-foot space is divided into three different rooms, each with their own distinct feel.
- What’s on the menu: Though Uchiko’s expansive menu ranges from Tokyo-sourced fish to wood-fired steaks, I visited wanting an almost all-vegetarian meal. Araujo’s hearth-driven kitchen delivered with plant-based selections that didn’t feel like throwaways: charred mushrooms with miso hummus and grilled vegetable sushi (like an exceptional confit mushroom nigiri). Some favorites from Uchi cross over into the menu, like the crispy-rice take nabe. Desserts here are a highlight, like the sweet potato okashi off the daily specials menu, built around a scoop of burnt honey ice cream, surrounded by a smear of sweet potato and beautifully grounded by the salty, sour punch of a Kalamata olive crumble. For drinks, there’s a seasonal cocktail menu (the Nikko martini is particularly good), NA options, and a wide list of Japanese whiskey, sake, and other spirits.
Want to get a better feel for the place? Watch my short Uchiko video tour.
5. Convivio – Union Station: Guatemalan coffee spot gets second outpost
Convivio’s original West Highlands location is already on my shortlist of favorite coffee shops, so I was thrilled when they announced a downtown expansion. Co-founders Kristin Lacy and Vivi Lemus, who originally launched Convivio in 2022, have brought their Guatemalan specialty coffee to the small cafe space inside the Alliance Center – just half a block from Union Station. Just note that this new outpost caters to the commuter and coworking crowd: it is only open weekdays from 7:30am to 3pm. Online ordering for pickup is available at this location.
- Vibe: Taking over the former Serendipity Coffee bar, the team has managed to infuse a bit of the cozy vibes people have come to expect from a Convivio location. They’ve added ample seating and draped the space in greenery, featuring plants hanging from the rafters and lining the windowsills. This new spot is still a great place to get some remote work done, with free Wi-Fi and a welcoming, bilingual (Spanish and English) staff.
- What’s on the menu: Despite the smaller setup, they are still dishing out similar food and drink that you’d find at their flagship location. The coffee program remains highly intentional: Lacy and Lemus work directly with three Guatemalan producers – two of which are women-run – who grow, process, roast, and pack the beans at origin. You can grab lattes, espressos, or their café del día, alongside artisanal teas sourced from the highlands of Totonicapan. For food, they offer savory staples like burritos, tostadas, and homemade soups. A fully stocked sweets case features blue corn cookies and a rich chocolate/beet/espresso bread perfectly designed for dipping into your coffee.
One final craving
Illustration: Laura/New Denizen
On Sunday, I attended the kickoff for Up NXT Denver, a new eight-month residency program taking over BearLeek in RiNo. From March through October, the space will host a rotating lineup of up-and-coming chefs showcasing their own concepts.
Every chef participating in the series was on-hand at the event offering samples of their food. Across the board, the dishes proved that Denver is home to a lot of talented chefs working hard to develop their own voices in the world of food. The bite I went back for more than once was the tortellini en brodo from Matthew Drazick Halip. Having recently left job at The Wolf’s Tailor to focus on his handmade pasta project, Domi, Halip is slated to carry out his residency this June. His tortellini, stuffed with five-spice porchetta and Parmigiano Reggiano, sat in a delicate mixture of chicken consommé and lacto-mushroom dashi. It was deceptively simple, yet possessed incredible layers of depth.
ICYMI: Last month, I shared a glittering Spanish wine bar, an Italian spot exploring one of Italy’s most storied food regions, and a Cuban pastry concept that upgraded to a permanent home. ✨Read it here✨