A flurry of foodies flocked to the pre-opening dinners Friday and Saturday at the new Elway’s in The Lodge at Vail.
Invited guests from the Front Range as well as mountain burgs came to sip, sample and see the new digs. The restaurant, owned by Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and business partner Tim Schmidt, opened Monday at 2:30 p.m. for apres ski and dinner dining.
The restaurant, which seats one-third fewer people than the original Cherry Creek space, has a design of its own with lighter wood on the walls, a smaller bar and exhibition kitchen.
The Vail restaurant is the third that bears Elway’s name. Elway’s in The Ritz Carlton Denver operates under a licensing agreement with a slightly varied menu and employees hired by the hotel company.
Vail’s menu is a pared-down version of Elway’s Cherry Creek due to the smaller size of the kitchen.
The new place received rave reviews from guests including kudos from competitors such as Brian Nolan, owner of The Chophouse steak places in Vail and Beaver Creek.
“This place will do killer business,” he said. “It will make us all better.”
Other business types who checked out the new place were Ryan Sutter, of “The Bachelorette” fame, and his Vail firehouse buddies; Food Network competitor Kelly Liken; Vail Resorts co-president John Garnsey; Hotel Gasthof Gramshammer founders Sheika and Pepi Gramshammer; Sneak Peak Vail newspaper editor Erin Chavez; and Denver chefs Sean Yontz, Matt Selby and David Query.
Next up: Elway’s on Concourse B at Denver International Airport next year.
Biscuit bus.
The Denver Biscuit Co.’s food truck, the Biscuit Bus, will be featured in an “Eat Street” segment on the Cooking Channel at 6 tonight.
” … we hitch a ride to the Biscuit Bus in Denver, Colorado, for some home cooked southern goodness like their best selling Franklin Biscuit filled with fried chicken, bacon, cheese and sausage gravy,” the show’s website says.
Viewing party starts at 5:30 p.m. inside The Atomic Cowboy, 3237 E. Colfax Ave.
Fiesta.
More than 100 politicos — including U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, Mayor Michael Hancock, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, former first lady of Colorado Jeannie Ritter — gathered at the Blue Bonnet Restaurant on Friday to toast two terms served by Theresa Pena and Bruce Hoyt with the Denver Public Schools Board of Education. The two-term twosome threw their victory party at the Bonnet eight years ago.
Rough waters.
Chef Justin Brunson, co-owner of the much-lauded Wild Catch fish restaurant on East 17th and Downing, abruptly left the eatery after service Saturday.
“It got down to a point where we weren’t getting along,” Brunson said about the other owner Daniel Kuhlman. “I wasn’t getting paid to be there, and I couldn’t work for free anymore.”
On Monday, Brunson said he was tracking down jobs for other restaurant staff who also left.
A phone recording at Wild Catch says it’s closed for Thanksgiving week, and will reopen Nov. 30. Kuhlman couldn’t be reached.
Brunson said he’s looking for a space for a sustainable seafood and pork restaurant. Meanwhile, he still owns and works at Masterpiece Deli, the sandwich shop in the Lower Highland.
EAVESDROPPING
A man watching the preview of Steven Spielberg‘s “War Horse” at the United Artists Denver Pavilions.
“Saving Private Seabiscuit?”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
