How a newly-opened local sandwich shop is changing the restaurant industry in Denver

Exalted Sandwiches(Photo courtesy of Exalted Sandwich)

By Steven Bonifazi

(DENVER, Colo.) Small batch sandwich operation, Exalted Sandwich, launched last Wednesday at 810 N Vallejo St. to serve sustainable-craft sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts that aim to forever alter the restaurant industry.

Open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Exalted Sandwich is a local, woman-owned, minority-staffed operation opened by Jennifer Hayes who began her restaurant career bussing and waiting tables in Cape May, New Jersey.

The 174 sq. ft. operation works as a ghost kitchen along with 51 other kitchens inside of an industrial building built and owned by business-to-business service, Cloud Kitchens. There is no dining room area as Exalted functions solely as a pick-up and to-go style experience.

Once inside the building, customers will enter a reception and lobby area with kiosks and order tablets to all the kitchens available, with a 15-minute max turnaround time. Hayes works alongside her kitchen manager and line cook, executing and expediting orders daily and creating all the recipes.

Relocating to the Centennial State in 1996, Hayes is now on a mission to turn industry standards upside down through her donation-based foundation, Love IS Now.

"The industry is notorious for antiquated frameworks that do not support first and second-tier workers. Love IS Now is my answer to that void," said Hayes. "Restaurants are the second largest industry in our country and most of the workers in this industry I love are not supported, whether its health care, paid time off, transportation or living costs."

Jennifer Hayes, owner of Exalted Sandwich.(Photo courtesy of Exalted Sandwich)

Customers will have the option to donate to Love IS Now when checking out at Exalted or anytime on the website, however, the foundation is currently underway and will be running within the next few weeks. Funds donated to the foundation will go to Exalted employees as well as directly to industry workers' needs such as paying for transportation assistance by purchasing a bus pass to help enable them to get to work.

Hayes believes that she is creating a conversation about an invisible part of the industry and hopes that other restaurants will align with and implement Love IS Now. She is also raising the bar by paying her kitchen staff a living wage to ensure they can make ends meet.

"My baseline wage per hour is $20 and that's unprecedented for someone at the entry-level," said Hayes. "At checkout, there is a living wage surcharge that is 2 percent of anyone's bill that is added on and goes directly into paychecks."

The scratch-made menu provides customers with sustainably sourced protein including Colorado grass-fed beef, certified humane chicken, Colorado pasture-raised pork or organic tempeh. From kale salads with chipped parmesan, massaged kale and onions with black pepper vinaigrette to borscht soup with crème fraîche and keto-friendly heirloom carrot cake, there are plenty of options for all types of food lovers.

Exalted sandwiches and soups.(Photo courtesy of Exalted Sandwich)

The sandwich shop gets its name from taking sandwiches that have recognizable flavors and executing them at a higher level. Nevertheless, Hayes claims that while the flavor and ingredients are unmatched, it is the integrity behind the recipes that matters most.

"By coming to us and really enjoying it, it's two-fold as you are helping support living wages disrupt an industry," Hayes said. "It is a mission-driven for-profit business, but the mission drives what we are doing."

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