New Denver Art Museum restaurants to open
The Ponti and Café Gio, the new restaurants at the Denver Art Museum, will open Sunday in conjunction with the debut of the redesigned Martin Building, with both situated on its first floor. The fast-casual Café Gio will operate daily during regular museum hours, while the full-service Ponti, for which Jennifer Jasinski served as consulting chef, will serve lunch daily and dinner on Tuesdays and be available for private dining and events.
The Ponti will offer approachable menus from Jasinski, the James Beard Award-winning operator of local restaurants such as Rioja and Bistro Vendome, that are vegetable-forward but not vegetarian, with a specific focus on local sourcing. Ancient grains, heirloom legumes, handmade pastas and items like a blended burger — with a patty that is 70% beef and 30% mushroom — will be on the menus, which will change seasonally and offer salads, sandwiches, fish and meat.
“I’m super excited to create the menus and concept for the Denver Art Museum’s new restaurant,” Jasinski said in a news release. “I’m a big fan of the arts and feel like food is a form of art all its own.”
Local coffee shop opens new location
Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii, which relocated its headquarters in 2019 to Centennial, opened its first Denver location — and 22nd in the United States — Friday at 2990 Speer Blvd. In addition to coffee, lattes, espresso drinks, blended drinks and teas, the store will feature breakfast and lunch menus, including “The Aloha Sandwich,” a breakfast offering of ham, egg, Swiss cheese, pineapple and sweet barbecue sauce served on King’s Hawaiian bread.
Bad Ass Coffee, founded in 1989 on the Big Island of Hawaii, specializes in 100% Hawaiian coffees and other international drinks. Operated by Royal Aloha Coffee Company, it is planning an aggressive expansion of 150 new locations in the next five years, including one slated to open in Colorado Springs in early 2022.
Charcuterie program launches
Hickory & Ash, the Kevin Taylor-helmed restaurant at 8001 Arista Place in Broomfield, has launched a new charcuterie program and “meatery board” after 15 months of research and development. All charcuterie is cured and made in-house, and the restaurant is now one of the few Colorado-approved Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) charcuterie programs.
For the program, Chef Ryan Taylor combines new-world and old-world techniques to create a selection of hot and cold cured meats, including Finocchio/Finocchiona (Italy), Spanish Chorizo (Spain), Coppa (Italy), Bresaola (Italy) and a Mortadella corndog with creole mustard (USA). For $15, each board includes a section of five meats, served with grilled sourdough bread, Jardinera and miso cherry jam; a selection of cheese can be added for an upcharge.
New menus
- Le French, at 4901 S. Newport St. in Denver, has new fall menus for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. New brunch menu items include Senegalese fried chicken yassa and toast, plus roasted pork belly benedict en brioche, and the dinner menu includes salmon tartare as well as a confit duck leg served with stewed white beans, pork sausage and pork belly.
- Jovanina’s Broken Italian, at 1520 Blake St. in Denver, has launched its new fall menu, which includes sugar pie pumpkin cannelloni and seared big eye tuna carpaccio, plus a pair of new cocktails.
- Nocturne, at 1330 27th St. in Denver, has launched a fall menu with entrées that include maple roasted squash, Icelandic Arctic char and braised rabbit cannelloni. Two new specialty cocktails are on the menu as well.
New menu items
- On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, which has three Denver-area locations, has revamped its menu with the introduction of seven new items — smokehouse fajitas, honey-chipotle shrimp tacos, tacos al pastor, tacos al carbon, Monterey ranch chicken torta, braised carnitas torta and a loaded queso burger.
- Fazoli’s, which has three Denver-area locations, has introduced three limited-time dishes — panko-crusted mac & cheese, angus beef mac & cheese and lobster mac & cheese. It also is serving The Cheesecake Factory Bakery’s pumpkin cheesecake for the season.
- Newk’s Eatery, which has two Denver-area locations, just debuted seven new adult menu items — a cheesesteak sandwich, portabella veggie sandwich, salmon Caesar salad, supreme pizza, sweet & spicy BBQ steak sandwich, portabella veggie pizza and double club sandwich. It also added a cheeseburger pizza and cheeseburger mac & cheese to its kids’ menu.
