Barolo Grill general manager Ryan Fletter paced outside his house Thursday while a wrecking crew ripped out the kitchen cabinets inside his 1889 Highland Victorian.
“Whoa!” he told me as he watched the demolition crew do its stuff. But this was the scenario that Ryan and his wife, Erin Fletter, had hoped for. After many rounds of interviews, the Fletters nailed the chance to have a room redone for free for an episode of “HGTV’d,” a new show in which a well-known designer works magic on a tired space.
The Marshalls, a Broomfield family of six, were selected for another episode where designer Antonio Ballatore, winner of HGTV network’s Design Star, revamped a kids’ room for the family of musicians.
Episodes are filmed over three to four days using crews from HGTV and Aurora- based High Noon Entertainment. Jill Hodges, creative director for Denver-based Silver Spur Productions, was hired as a designer on the metro-area makeovers.
“It’s an amazing experience,” Hodges said. “We busted (the Marshalls’) house out in four days from demo to finish. It was around-the-clock work — definitely not glamorous.”
John Gidding, an architect, TV actor and former model, drove the design train on the Fletter home.
“(Gidding) is my best friend from high school in Switzerland,” Hodges said. “We were big art dorks together.”
The budget for the HGTV’d treatment comes from the network, designer discounts and a lot of donations, Hodges said, without specifying a dollar amount.
The design and construction teams travel cross-country in an 18-wheeler for “a jaw-dropping makeover,” Hodges said.
Denver Diner not done.
Denver Diner owner George Skordos
thought that the announcement of the Rocky Mountain Diner’s closing might boost his business, but it had the opposite effect.
“We had a party of seven come in (Friday) and say, ‘We came in to have our last meal, we hear you’re closing down,’ ” said Skordos, who added that customers have been calling about the mix-up.
The Rocky Mountain Diner, which was at 18th and Stout, did close, but the 21-year-old Denver Diner at the corner of Speer and Colfax is very much alive and open 24-7.
More foodie fodder.
Denver’s Sage Hospitality, owner of the Westin Westminster, is changing the design, concept and menu at the restaurant O’s later this year.
“We’re going to do a modern Southwestern concept called Kachina Grill & Bar,” said Sage Restaurant Group chief operating officer Peter Karpinski. “(The restaurant) will focus more on Native American Indian cuisine and the tribes indigenous to that region more so than most have in the past on that overall genre of cooking.”
• Colorado-based Red Robin, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Noodles & Co. made the Parents magazine list of top 10 Best Restaurant Chains in the country for their family-friendly atmospheres, kid-centric accommodations and nutritious kids’ menu options. The list will run in the magazine’s April issue.
• Denver-based Qdoba, a chain of quick-service Mexican food, has added mini street tacos to the menu. For a limited time, customers can choose from pulled pork or shredded beef tacos. Denver Foursquare users will get 50 percent off an order of street tacos for checking in and showing the cashier their phone.
• Closed: Gelato d’Italia at 250 Detroit St. in Cherry Creek North. An e-mail to the owner was not answered.
Deli Tech at 8101 E. Belleview Ave. closed after its lease expired and the store’s owner and the landlord were not able to reach an agreement on a lease extension.
Owner Fred Anzman is running a delivery and catering business out of a kitchen in Aurora while looking for a new location for his deli.
Wedding bells.
I wrote in October about the Wish Upon a Wedding contest to grant a $20,000 wedding to a special couple, one of whom faces a terminal illness or a life-altering circumstance.
On Saturday, Loveland’s Dominique Dean, a mother of three who was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, walked down the aisle and tied the knot at The Ritz-Carlton Denver with Myles Stockwell, the father of their children.
Eavesdropping
on three women chatting with drinks in hand: “We may have to check into Betty Ford.”
“Do you think we could get a group rate?”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Hear her on “Caplis & Silverman” between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
