The owners of Brutø, an acclaimed Denver restaurant serving fine-tuned, Latin-influenced bites, are opening a home-goods market and sharing with the public some of the secrets that led them to win a Michelin star three years in a row.
The market and kitchen laboratory, called Studio (stylized Studiø), opened this month adjacent to the restaurant, at 1801 Blake St. in Denver. It’s part retail shop and part classroom, according to Brutø’s restaurant group, Id Est.
The shop area will sell kitchen and dining ware and products like those found at the restaurant: ceramics from Colorado-based sculptor Kazu Oba, wines picked by the restaurant’s beverage director, pickled and fermented goods and limited-edition whiskeys in collaboration with Longmont’s Dry Land Distillers.
Inside of the test kitchen, Brutø’s cooks are expected to bring customers and the public in for classes and special events. Those classes will focus on the process used to make the fermented, sauce and pantry products used by the kitchen in its dishes.
Byron Gomez, a past contestant on Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’ who took over as the restaurant’s executive chef last year, is expected to lead some of the classes. At other times, Studiø will serve as a waiting area and lounge for the restaurant’s customers.
Brutø was one of five restaurants to receive a Michelin star in the travel and tire company’s inaugural guide to Colorado dining. It has retained its star in the years since.
Id Est. was founded by restaurateur and chef Kelly Whitaker and lists other acclaimed upscale restaurants, including Hey Kiddo and The Wolf’s Tailor, among its operations.
Brutø and Studiø are found within the ‘Dairy Block’ complex downtown, with the market located specifically inside the FREE MARKET retail area. Studiø will be open between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the weekends in December.
