Chef Ashely Novelo has moved on from her role as executive chef at the LoHi prohibition-style speakeasy Williams & Graham. She left to take the position as chef de cuisine at chef Dana Rodriguez’s modern steakhouse Carne in RiNo. Carne. This comes as Rodriguez opens a second location of her RiNo restaurant Work & Class. The new spot is housed in the former The Feedery Restaurant on Hampden Street in Englewood. Williams & Graham continues to search for a new head chef.
In another big move, chef Amanda Singh has left Apple Blossom, the in-house restaurant at the Hyatt Centric in Downtown. She’s moved on to help get the new Briar Patch brewpub off the ground in Congress Park. Briar Patch, which opened just two months ago, is billed as an American-style gastropub, and an offshoot of the Briar Common brewery in Jefferson Park. Apple Blossom is currently advertising for a new executive chef.
We expect other big changes too given the amount of executive chef job listings in the Denver area. Odyssey Italian is seeking a new executive chef. The restaurant changed hands after 20 years in the Governor’s Park neighborhood from founder Ignazio Mulei to the husband-wife restaurateur duo Jason Alfonso and Hallie Thomas in 2022.
Meanwhile Platt Park’s Ototo Den, part of the Sushi Den family of Japanese restaurants, is also advertising for an executive chef. Not surprising, the listing calls for a chef with “strong sushi-making skills” to lead the culinary team there. It’s not clear who the new chef would be replacing. Ototo Den’s original executive chef Kenta Kamo left in 2020 to help open Temaki Den.
On the beverage front, there’s a slew of new openings across the city. Boombots Pasta Shop is looking for someone to lead the beverage program at the soon-to-open restaurant, founded by Cliff and Cara Blauvelt of Odie B’s. In RiNo, Michelin-starred Beckon seeks a wine director. Also on the hunt for wine experts to hire are Uchi in RiNo, and The Brown Palace in Downtown Denver.
