Arcana, the restaurant that opened Monday in Boulder, is centered on an intriguing concept: tracing true American cuisine to its earliest roots in American Indian, European and African cultures.
“A lot of great restaurants in America now call themselves ‘new America,’ with influences from all over the world, from Japan to Spain and France,” said Elliott Toan, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Annie Toan. “We think a quicker way to get to the true identity of American cuisine is to understand why our food production is what it is, and what got left behind as we raced into the 21st century.”
The husband and wife are veterans of the local restaurant scene. They met working at Bradford Heap’s Salt in Boulder. She later worked at Sushi Tora and , while he spent time at Centro and .
When they decided to open their own restaurant, they landed a spot on the ground floor of the ., near the posh St. Julien Hotel
And then they hired Matthew Lackey, named a to helm the kitchen. Lackey is among a group of young chefs expected to become the “next stars” of the culinary world.
Before getting hired at Arcana, Lackey spent time in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the forefront of the world’s cutting-edge culinary scene.
He also worked for Sean Brock, a leader in the preservation and interpretation of America’s heritage foods in Charleston, S.C., and the restaurants Husk and McCrady’s.
Arcana, which refers to the mysteries and secrets found in the natural world, features an opening menu with such heritage ingredients as laurel-aged Charleston gold rice and bison ribeye, and Shawnee cakes, a cornmeal flat bread American Indians taught pilgrims in New England how to prepare.
