Bryan Dayton understands that life has its ups and downs. But what happened to his flourishing Oak at Fourteenth restaurant and bar in Boulder is, as he says, “just crazy.”
Dayton was bar manager at Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder’s high-end munch mecca, when he left to open Oak four months ago.
Oak, just off Pearl Street Mall, started packing people in with its comfortable food and well-crafted cocktails. Then on March 9 came a rave review from The Denver Post’s Tucker Shaw.
“I was on the phone with a partner, saying, ‘Did you see The Denver Post? It’s killer. Killer,’ ” Dayton says. “And then 15 minutes later, my bartender called and said, ‘There’s a fire.’ “
Indeed, there was a fire burning in the stove’s hood and a crawl space between the ceiling and the roof. The building was saved, but the water damage is severe. Dayton says he hopes to reopen in six to eight weeks.
Then came more ill-timed good news: Food & Wine magazine came out, naming Oak one of America’s Best New Bars, complete with a picture of Dayton mixing a drink.
“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” Dayton says. “We just have to keep the momentum, stay positive. Right now there’s not much we can do; we just have to wait for it to dry. We shed a tear. Now we just have to take care of business and get reopened. And no one got hurt — that’s important.”
Intern.
Kathy Lee is the candid sidekick to shock jocks Lewis & Floorwax on 103.5 The Fox radio, so she knows all about bad boys.
She married a good boy, Eric White, last month. But now she wants to be the intern for extra-bad boy Charlie Sheen.
She saw the job listing on Andrew Hudson‘s Job List online and applied — and somehow broke through the reported crowd of 74,000 applicants to make it to the second round. Hudson says he just reposted it because he saw it online and thought it was funny.
Lee heard back from Sheen’s people, who wanted more info — her resume and credentials.
“I figure I’ll never have a dull moment with Charlie Sheen,” Lee says. “I don’t have a dull moment as it is. So who knows?”
The search is quickly coming to a close. Let’s hope Lee is winning.
Stars in Vail.
People in Vail probably don’t know how to pronounce “Christopher” the way Christopher Moltisanti’s wife did in “The Sopranos,” but they can try when actor Michael Imperioli and Lois Lane actress Kate Bosworth come to town for the Vail Film Festival, which runs March 31 to April 3.
City spirit.
Anna Quindlen will be honored at the Damon Runyon Award Banquet on April 29 at Marriott City Center . . . Sez who: “As a restaurateur, my job is to basically control the chaos and the drama.” Rocco DiSpirito
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or at bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at husted.
