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Horse & Tiger inside Fort Greene Bar. | Photo by Nicole Rezner

What Happens When A Cambodian Chef And A Puerto Rican Chef Walk Into A Bar

Get a taste of American-Cambodian cuisine and a bit of Puerto Rican food at Fort Greene Bar thanks to Horse & Tiger and Dos Abuelas.

BY Colin Wrenn

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Fort Greene bar is enigmatic. The almost bunker-like exterior and limited signage make it look like your favorite dive bar’s favorite dive bar. Fresh, fake, and dried plants cover every inch of the place. Lurking just beyond the nondescript surface, an oasis of good drinks and food awaits.

The cocktails are elegant without being chichi. The entertainment ranges nightly from austerely-dressed folk singers strumming to gray-haired analogue synth aficionados casually dropping absolute fire. It’s a place where guests never quite know what they’re going to get. 

At the beginning of September, Keigh Crespo, owner of the nomadic Puerto Rican food concept Dos Abuelas stepped into the Globeville haunt. “When I came here, I came to party,” she grinned. 

Keigh Crespo, owner of Puerto Rican food concept Dos Abuelas. | Photo by Keith Crespo
Keigh Crespo, owner of Puerto Rican food concept Dos Abuelas. | Photo by Nicole Reiner

Two Years of Horse & Tiger

That evening, Viruth Cheng tended to his usual business. Since April 2022, Cheng has been running his own concept, Horse & Tiger, out of the bar’s compact kitchen. The menu presents a tight list of Cambodian street food classics. Look for the Num Pang ($8.50), a Kmer-style banh mi, and the Short Rib Plate ($18). The latter comes topped with a tangy lemon tamarind sauce and a healthy portion of jasmine rice. If Cheng resides at the window, make sure to order it.

Cheng grew up cooking Chinese food at his aunt’s place in South Dakota. He was washing dishes at 13, jumping to the wok by the time he graduated highschool. He spent a couple decades in IT before returning to the world of cooking during the pandemic. The reason, he said, was because he missed the rush. 

Even though he proudly served his food, on the fateful night when Keigh Crespo walked through the doors he was feeling a bit burnt out. 

“I was ready to go,” said Cheng, noting that despite his love for the craft, running the place as a one-man show had grown tiresome. As the evening pressed on, Cheng and Crespo got to talking. 

Khmer style Banh Mi sandwich. | Photo by Nicole Rezner
Khmer style Banh Mi sandwich. | Photo by Nicole Rezner

The Puerto Rican Connection

Crespo has been serving some of the city’s best Puerto Rican food since she opened Dos Abuelas as a truck at Finn’s Manor in 2017. Having bounced around a bit, she was looking for a new space and clientele who could pick up what she was putting down. 

The night the duo met, Cheng received an auspicious Tarot card reading. Crespo’s arrival seemed serendipitous. A pact formed, and at the beginning in October the two split kitchen time, each working one week on and one week off.

“I wanted somebody who understands the community,” said Cheng. 

“I was like ‘say less’,” smirked Crespo, her Bronx attitude in full effect.

Crespo was born and raised in the Bronx. She learned to cook from her grandmother Genoveva, who was famous for preparing large daily meals that she’d pass out to anyone on the block who was hungry. 

“She taught me without teaching,” said Crespo. “As I got older and I left the hood, I’d go to the supermarket. But I still was buying all the right ingredients.” 

All of Crespo’s dishes showcase this love for cooking, and each one offers a vivid and sincere ode to the concept’s namesake grandmothers. 

“My sense of relief, my sense of therapy is when people pull up to the window,” said Crespo. “Food is emotional, that’s why there’s comfort food.”

Short Rib Plate at Horse & Tiger inside Fort Greene. | Photo by Nicole Rezner
Short Rib Plate at Horse & Tiger inside Fort Greene. | Photo by Nicole Rezner

Love is clearly the main driver of Crespo’s cooking, but her plates are also highly technical. She cut her teeth with famed Philadelphia restaurateur Jose Garces after a rather meteoric rise at the DoubleTree Manhattan, a job she got immediately after graduating from Monroe College’s culinary program. 

“I was blessed to work for a chef who was a woman and a [person of color], she was Haitian and ready to teach,” said Crespo. Sensing Crespo’s ambition, DoubleTree’s then chef Fabiola was quick to pass the torch. “I was washing dishes for three months and then I was the chef, and that is what I was meant to do. I’ll cook sleeping.” 

Dos Abuelas Landed In Fort Greene Bar

First timers should not miss the Mofongo ($16), a heap of chicken and veggies covered in mashed fried plantains. Supplement the dish with the Triplerican sandwich ($17), which combines shredded pork, Swiss cheese, sliced sirloin steak, romaine, pickled red onions, and garlic aioli. 

“I just wanna take everybody to Puerto Rico without a flight,” said Crespo.

Grab an order of Crab Cheese Wontons right from the food window at Fort Greene. | Photo by Nicole Rezner
Grab an order of Crab Cheese Wontons right from the food window at Fort Greene. | Photo by Nicole Rezner

Brought together by a mutual love of Anthony Bourdain, a keen sense of political awareness, and a legitimate love for feeding the community Cheng and Crespo clicked immediately. 

“We have the same particular goals. It’s good to have someone who is trained culinarily,” said Cheng, clearly delighted by Crespo’s presence. “It’s been a really cool growth process. She’s got me hyped up too. She’s a really cool person.”

A Match Made In Bar Heaven

While each chef has an allotted time, they’ve already started developing dishes together. Beginning this spring, they also plan to throw a collaborative monthly cookout, showcasing the easy compatibility of Cambodian and Puerto Rican flavors. Crespo’s signature mofongo already received a treatment and comes topped with some of Cheng’s curry, a dish Cheng says may become a constant on both menus soon.

Going forward, Cheng says he plans on opening another Horse and Tiger in Battambang, Cambodia, where his parents currently reside part time. Crespo added that this is just the start of a growing empire. 

Viruth Cheng, chef-owner of Horse & Tiger. | Photo by Nicole Rezner
Viruth Cheng, chef-owner of Horse & Tiger, serving from the food window at Fort Greene. | Photo by Nicole Rezner

“I’m gonna keep bringing food from back home and African dishes and bring Colorado the flavor it’s been lacking,” she said. “I’m trying to spread the love but I’m also trying to spread the awareness and show these kids that even through pain you can push through and become somebody else.”

Crespo says she will relaunch her famed food truck come April, and looks forward to expanding the Dos Abuelas brand.

Cheng also plans to launch a new menu in the coming weeks featuring some of the Indigenous Cambodian dishes he recently regained a taste for while visiting his parents in Battambang over the holidays.

“I’m gonna add a few street food items from when I was in Cambodia [since] the visit rekindled the flavors from when I was a kid,” he said, adding that his aunt helped explain the history of some of the dishes. “These are items that weren’t affected by Chinese and Vietnamese influence. There’s a cold noodle dish that is only made in this one region in Battambang.”

Visit Dos Abuelas and Horse & Tiger at Fort Greene Bar. Food hours for Horse & Tiger are Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. To find out when Dos Abel’s is in the house, check the eatery’s socials. 321 E. 45th Ave., Denver, fortgreenebar.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Colin Wrenn

Colin Wrenn is a Denver-based food and beverage writer. He enjoys eating, reading, and long strolls with his dog Tanuki.
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