In 2016, Scott Durrah swore he was getting out of the restaurant business for good. He had just sold Jezebel’s Southern Bistro and Bar after a successful four-year run in LoHi. Now, he’s back and dishing up smokehouse meats with a Caribbean twist at The Jerk Pit Smokehouse in Highland.
A Joy of Cooking and For Cannabis
Durrah, a Boston native, got into the restaurant business in 1995, though his entrepreneurial spirit dates back to childhood.
“I’ve basically been working for myself since I was eight,” he said, adding that he opened his own car wash before many of his classmates had learned to tie their shoes. His love of cooking also started early. “I’m half Italian and from Boston. Grandma had me cooking at six.”
When he and his wife Wanda James opened Jezebel’s the menu burst with fine takes on classic dishes like vegetarian gumbo, fried chicken and waffles, and a blackened catfish filet. Despite the accomplishment, and fans who kept the restaurant going, Durrah and James wanted to spend time focusing on their cannabis business Simply Pure, which still remains strong, located kitty-corner to where Jezebel’s once stood.
Getting Back In the Kitchen
When The Jerk Pit appeared in a rather nondescript LoHi haunt in September, fans of Durrah’s cooking celebrated his return to the public world of casual dining. He hadn’t actively looked for a new space, his catering and private chef businesses were doing just fine and keeping his culinary chops sharp. Yet, the chef got the itch to run a restaurant again.
“I saw the for rent sign on this building and it was blowing in the wind,” he laughed.
Durrah didn’t need to start a new business, especially since he had spent the past several years cooking for tailored, high-calorie diets for the likes of Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil. Yet this small event, it was a literal sign, he said.
The Jerk Pit Smokehouse
In the relatively small space, about 20 bar seats, Durrah and his team transport guests to the Caribbean watering holes that inspired him at the dawn of his career. It’s a safe haven, filled with enticing fragrances that can be smelled for blocks. The place is casual, and the food is exquisite.
“It doesn’t present the same challenges as my previous restaurant,” said Durrah. “This is a hangout.”
The menu is relatively compact. Guests order a selection of meats and sides from the counter. For best results, come with a crew who is prepared to feast on a plethora of dishes. Unlike Durrah’s previous ventures, The Jerk Pit is decidedly centered around smoked meats.
“The others were more Carribean, but this is a smokehouse,” he said. Each meat slow-smokes over a combination of apple, maple, and cherry wood. And the seasonings, those come straight from Jamaica.
The Menu
The obvious starting point is the smoked jerk chicken ($17), a half-bird covered in Durrah’s signature 13-ingredient jerk seasoning. It’s the same blend he developed at his first venture in Los Angeles.
“Once you have a red sauce, you don’t need another one,” he said. Turns out, the house red sauce is made using his grandmother’s recipe.
That sauce also shines across the menu’s five pizzas. While the menu is ostensibly an ode to Caribbean and Jamaican cooking, Durrah has no problem making space for his Italian heritage to come through.
The Regent ($18.75), honors Durrah’s wife’s appointment as a Regent of the University of Colorado in 2023, a big deal given she was the first Black woman elected to the board in over 44 years The pie comes with smoked jerk pork, pineapple, diced roasted peppers, and mozzarella cheese.
Durrah and James are no strangers to the political sphere. James was Jared Polis’ campaign manager, and Durrah has cooked for Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris. The two also broke ground when they opened The Apothecary of Colorado, the first licensed, African-American-owned dispensary in the country.
Finding Home at Work
With The Jerk Pit, Durrah seems right at home. He’s in there daily, greeting guests, manning the smoker, and steering the ship with grace.
“I’ve never worked in anyone else’s kitchen,” he said. “My game plan was never to open more than one restaurant.”
While he’s clearly not a hobbyist, Durrah runs the place with the ease of someone who never saw business as more important than the love of the craft. Durrah also uses the large kitchen space for The Chef’s Table Catering, his client-centered business that prepares food for events large and small.
“Catering is when we get to be more creative,” he said, adding that while clients can order Jerk Pit items, the menus for The Chef’s Table are unique. The Jerk Pit will also offer a new bar program and pop-up dinners. The latter comes from both Durrah’s team and from outside chefs, the first of which will be a ticketed event that focuses on Caribbean classics served at his previous restaurants.
The launch of the Jerk Pit speaks to something the couple has always aimed for. In fact, during Durrah and James’ relationship the couple went to a famous jerk pit in Port Antonio, Jamaica.
“I looked at her and said, ‘We’re gonna be rich off of weed and jerk chicken’,” said Durrah. Now, though not rich, it appears the two have found the right path.
Visit The Jerk Pit Smokehouse on Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 9 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. 3210 Wynadot St., Denver, jerkpitsmokehouse.com
