Sean Huggard is going back to Nantucket.
The Coastal Service, the local restaurateur’s newest concept, is an homage to his five years as an executive chef on the Massachusetts island. He plans to bring “harbor vibes” early next year to the On the Square development at Belleview Avenue and Ulster Street in the Tech Center.
“The Denver Tech Center is known for having some of the best, highest volume and most expensive restaurants in Denver, between Del Frisco’s, Shanahan’s, Ocean Prime, Guard and Grace coming down,” Huggard said.
“But those are steakhouses. They’re very expensive. They’re very formal, and thatap not what we’re doing,” he continued. “We’re doing fun. We’re doing relaxed. We’re doing this Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod vibe. Fresh seafood is not inexpensive, right? But we don’t have $120 steaks on our menu.”
Sean Huggard (Courtesy SGH)
Huggard’s restaurant group, Shucking Good Hospitality, already operates Blue Island Oyster Bar, Ash & Agave and Oliver’s Italian.
The Coastal Service’s name is a play on the postal service, which the restaurant group uses to ship seafood from both the East and West coasts seven days a week.
Huggard said the new spot will serve the oysters that Blue Island is known for, but stay away from the fried clams and fish and chips-type meals. Instead, he’ll serve more fillet varieties from the East Coast, like black bass, tautog and hake, along with the salmons and halibuts that Coloradans are more familiar with.
He’s also excited to show locals a classic New England scallop, broiled and basted with a garlic butter-white wine mix and topped with cracker crumbs. Huggard said itap his favorite thing to eat.
“When you’re on Nantucket Island, it was about the local sourcing, which clearly we cannot have that same local sourcing of seafood in Denver,” he said. “But those relationships that are 20-plus-years-old now are still relationships that we keep. We’re still buying from a lot of the same boats that I was buying from back then.”
The Coastal Service will be divided into three areas, Huggard said. The raw bar will greet patrons when they walk in the door, with a mixture of high-top tables and booth seating to give it more of a New England feel.
At the back side of the bar, sliding doors will lead into a four-season, covered patio. Huggard said the final dining area is meant to feel like you’re in someone’s dining room on Nantucket. Many eateries there are housed in converted homes
“It just has this real relaxed, simplistic elegance to it,” he said. “I think of one restaurant in particular. … It has a white linen tablecloth with maybe a single flower in a vase. Nothing was overbuilt. Everything was old.”
A rendering of On The Square
Work on the new retail and apartment development began last summer. (Courtesy Shea Properties)
Huggard signed a 20-year lease for the 4,000-square-foot space, which will be next to other retail and restaurants like RiNo’s Barcelona Wine Bar. The $200 million project On the Square is being developed by Shea Properties where the Marina Square development once stood.
“I’m just picturing sitting on that Adirondack chair at a specific restaurant on Cape Cod, watching the sailboats come in, seeing that sunset over the harbor,” Huggard said, noting his family had a home on Cape Cod during his childhood. He also opened his first restaurant there at age 19.
“Thatap something that we feel is different for the Coastal Service,” he continued. “Itap just trying to create that lifestyle.”
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