If all the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted, the popular Cherry Cricket restaurant in Cherry Creek North will be adding 46 seats inside and a 70-seat patio that owners hope to have open in time for the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in July.
The expanded space became available when the Fast Frames store next door found a new space on Clayton Street between Second and Third. In honor of Fast Frames owner Norm Smith, who’s owned the business for 42 years, the Wyn koop group of restaurants, which owns the Cricket, will name the new space Norm’s Room.
The Fast Frames space will be added onto the restaurant with a doorway that will be built between the nonsmoking room (the entire restaurant went no-smoking when the statewide ban was adopted) and the shop.
The patio will run along Second Avenue, then wrap around the north side on Clayton.
“It’s scary to stick our necks out like this in a horrible economy, but we’ve got an hour wait on the weekends,” said Lee Driscoll, Wynkoop CEO. “I don’t want my customers going somewhere else if they have to wait an hour.”
The t’s to cross and i’s to dot? If there are no objections filed from the Cherry Creek Neighborhood Association and the liquor license is approved.
The Cricket opened in 1964 — at least that’s the date that Driscoll has traced — and was bought by the Wynkoop group (which Mayor John Hickenlooper co-founded in his former life) in 2000.
“We really haven’t done much to it,” Driscoll said. “It was so well-run when we got it.”
Horse sense.
Reader Wayne Yaffee, a radio guy who writes jingles, sent in a ditty dedicated to the hideous blue mustang statue that glares its red eyes at motorists traveling to and from DIA. To the tune of Mustang Sally:
“Mustang Redeyes, guess you’d better put your big hooves down.
“Mustang Redeyes, guess you’d better put your big hooves down.
“You been scarin’ folks out at the airport,
“And givin’ little kids nightMARES all over town.”
Reputation?
Zac Folk, the short-lived publisher of the Shine magazine, sent one of my gal pals a networking invitation via e-mail Thursday.
“Please join my Reputation Network on Naymz…” the e-mail says. What reputation? Folk left Denver and some pretty unhappy folks behind when he abruptly folded the city ‘zine after one edition.
Catering king and queen.
Denver’s Catering By Design, owned by Ingrid and Cade Nagy, was named Catering Company of the Year during the annual Catersource/Event Solutions conference in Las Vegas last month.
The conference, hosted by the trade publication Catersource magazine, is the world’s largest gathering of caterers. Catering By Design was the only Denver caterer to win during the Spotlight/Catie Awards Show, a black-tie affair.
’60s nifty.
Happy belated birthday to Nancy “Neiman’s” Sagar, who turned the Big 6-0 on Wednesday. She celebrated with 40 of her closest friends during dinner (hosted by hubby, Chip) at Elway’s.
The seen.
Political pundit David Kenney huddling with architect David Tryba at Caveau Wine Bar at 17th and Pennsylvania Thursday. What were they chit-chatting about? “The damn economy,” Kenney told me.
Eavesdropping
on two guys at the bar in the Irish Hound: “So, what do you want for your 60th birthday next week?”
“Breasts that don’t jiggle when I walk.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
