By Kerry Hammond
Please notify us of business-related news within your neighborhood so we can provide coverage in “Business as Usual.” This is the place for business anniversaries, key personnel changes, relocations, openings, new product or service offerings, residential or commercial developments, political intrigues and ownership changes. Call us at 303-778-8021 or send an email to bau@washparkprofile.com.
Belcaro/Bonnie Brae
A Happy One-Year Anniversary to the independently owned and operated Papa Murphy’s (papamurphys.com) located at 383 S. Broadway. Owner, Karen Harrison, is proud to offer high-quality take and bake pizza. “The beautiful thing is that all of our ingredients are completely fresh,” said Harrison. The restaurant makes the dough and slices all of the toppings, fresh daily. Everything is completely custom; you choose your ingredients, they create your pizza and you bake it at home. “It’s hot and ready when you are,” added Harrison. If you order online, you can skip the lines and go right to their pick-up counter to save time, although their goal is to get every customer in and out in 3-8 minutes. To try them out, look for a coupon in this month’s Wash Park Profile.
Cherry Creek
Olive & Finch is scheduled to open its second location in January 2017 at 3390 E. First Ave. “This location will not only be bigger than the Uptown location, but it will have a huge patio,” said owner, Mary Nguyen. Diners can also expect a more expansive menu, which will go beyond sandwiches and salads, and offer entrees such as steak, salmon and pasta. “We will also be doing more custom cakes for birthdays, showers, anniversaries and weddings,” added Nguyen. oliveandfincheatery.com
The Cherry Creek Bed Bath & Beyond (bedbathandbeyond.com) has decided to leave its 2500 E. First Ave. location. The plan is to reopen in Glendale near Target on Colorado and Alameda Avenues sometime next year. The new location formerly housed Sports Authority.
Lowry
Chef and restaurant owner, Clint Wangsnes, is opening a Chop Shop (coloradochopshop.com) at 200 N. Quebec St. The restaurant will serve the same “skillfully crafted, quickly served” cuisine as the Colfax location, said Wangsnes. The Lowry restaurant will be more spacious, offering a larger seating area and hopefully more craft cocktails on tap. The eatery is, according to Wangsnes, “fast casual with an elevated style of food that is chef driven and crafted.” They are due to open in January in the space that was once Salty Rita’s.
Platt Park
The Former Future Brewery, located at 1290 S. Broadway, has a new name and a new, exciting concept. Now called The Black Project (blackprojectbeer.com), they are brewing beer exclusively in the traditional Belgian style, which means using a coolship—a big open vessel that collects the wort and cools overnight, while allowing microbes from the air to enter. Owner and microbiologist, James Howat, takes the concept of keeping it local to a new level. “Hypersonic is our newest IPA, brewed with a strain of yeast that James pulled from an apple tree in Baker,” said co-owner, Sarah Howat. She describes the brew as having a hoppy taste without a lot of bitterness. She is proud that they are “one of a handful of brewers in the country, and currently the only one in Colorado, that is exclusively using 100 percent wild yeast.” It may surprise you that using this Belgian style brewing process doesn’t mean that all of the beers are sour.
Rosedale
Maddie’s Restaurant has moved, but is just next door. The restaurant, named after the owner’s daughter, is now located at 2425 S. Downing St. inside what used to be a service station. The grand opening was at the end of November, so they are in full swing and serving during the breakfast and lunch hours: 7:00a.m.-2:00p.m. maddiesrestaurant.com.
Speer
Uno Mas Taqueria (unomastaqueria.com) is now open at 730 E. Sixth Ave., in the former home of Lime XS. This new location is larger than its South Pearl Street sister, but offers the same menu, which includes “elevated street tacos.” These are the tacos that owner Patrick Mangold-White, who also owns Kaos Pizza and Gaia on South Pearl Street, modeled after a taco he had on the beach in Baja. The tacos earn their title by using high-quality ingredients like slow-braised brisket, pork shoulder and sea scallops.
Wash Park West
Artisans’ Apothecary is now open at 330 S. Broadway but their website is still under construction. The store offers 100 percent natural and organic loose, bulk herbs, including Kratom powder from Indonesia that is used for relaxation. Manager Lenny McKinnon explained that in addition to herbs, they sell “concrete planters, homemade soaps, bath balms, and even moisturizers and hair products.” He said the store is “excited to offer alternative and herbal products to better yourself and your health.”
Around Town
Are you too busy to plan a date with your significant other? Too stressed to be creative enough for a night out with friends? Now, you don’t have to plan, you can use Denver Date Nite (denverdn.com). Owner Gretchen Bartek explained the concept, “Customers define the parameters—budget, vibe, etc.—and we put together a custom night made just for them. We book the reservations and they get a detailed itinerary via email outlining the night ahead.” Their flagship product is a date night for two and their fees begin at $15 for a quicky plan that needs to start in two hours and go to $50 for an overnight getaway for two. Bartek said, “Our goal is to 100 percent send you to places you’ve never been and give you experiences you’ve never had.” The company receives no commissions from restaurants or hotels; they want to be able to choose a location that fits the client rather than only pick from a select group.
Kerry Hammond investigates and reports on the neighborhood happenings in the Business as Usual column and is a freelance book reviewer for the Washington Park Profile. Contact her with any business-related news at the email above.
