These Denver restaurants are hidden inside other restaurants

Tucked into back rooms or hidden under unassuming storefronts a inadequate Denver restaurateurs are carving out intimate chef s counter concepts within existing restaurants With room for just a handful of guests typically no more than or dining experiences can feel like secret invitations to several of the city s the majority exciting culinary excursions Unlike restaurants like Beckon or Bruto which were built entirely around the tasting menu model where guests eat whatever they are given rather than picking from a menu these chef s counters are more like passion projects where chefs can let their creativity run wild At spots like The Counter inside Odell s Bagel The Chef s Counter at Hop Alley and Sushi by Scratch in the basement of NADC Burger business owners are using off-hours or underutilized space to showcase techniques and dishes they might not otherwise offer Even legendary sushi chef Toshi Kizaki lately launched one such counter inside of Denchu a building that he and his brother own on South Pearl Street Dubbed Kizaki the venture is described as a solo omakase restaurant where the chef pays tribute to traditional edomae-style sushi through an approximately -course menu These tasting ventures aren t just creative outlets they re smart business The chef s counter at Hop Alley Photo credit Jeff Fierberg The Chef s Counter at Hop Alley Larimer St in Denver was born almost by accident after owner Tommy Lee took over an additional square feet to expand his acclaimed modern Chinese joint It has an entirely separate menu from the rest of the space Originally the goal was just to add more seating But we d also been getting a lot of requests for smaller private parties so I decided to add a kitchen in the new space Lee explained Then I started thinking If we re not using the space for private parties all the time how else could we use it That eventually led to the idea of building a chef s counter According to Lee chef s counters are viable from a business standpoint if you can find the right audience for it When you know exactly how multiple guests you re serving and exactly what food you re preparing it s much easier to control costs But of subject you also need guests to be spending to for it to work he explained Hop Alley s chef s counter only has six seats and runs Thursday through Saturday with two seatings per night so Lee must find those customers Related Articles Denver pho spot closes after years Four restaurant dishes we loved in April including crab-stuffed mushrooms at Alte o Split Lip closes at Number but the same chefs have designed a creative new menu A new class of Latin American coffee shops is gaining steam in Denver Casa Bonita opens summer reservations to strong demand At The Counter at Odell s which launched March inside Odell s Bagel Irving St financial sustainability means being laser-focused on food waste and ingredient management Operating only on the weekends The Counter transforms the casual bagel shop into an intimate -seat kaiseki-style dinner venue offering a traditional Japanese tasting experience highlighting hyper-seasonal ingredients Margins are too slim to be turning out any ingredients stated owner and chef Miles Odell There s a Japanese word that really sticks with me mottainai which means to waste nothing Let s say we re peeling an onion and we have onion skins Instead of throwing them in the bin we could make a stock or dry them out and make a powder out of them turning them into something delicious Even larger hospitality groups are embracing the model Sushi by Scratch which operates locations nationwide has made sub-restaurants part of its core business strategy For instance its location in Dallas is housed on the eighth floor of a hotel and in places like Miami and Healdsburg they are housed within other restaurants They do tend to be speakeasy vibes you need to know where we are to find us and that is definitely intentional revealed Gavin Humes CEO of Sushi by Scratch In Denver the luxury omakase concept lives in the basement of NADC Burger a fast-casual burger spot opened by the same association When we were approached about the Larimer Square space they really needed us for sushi They manifested us the basement and we loved it It s an amazing space with so much character Humes stated But it didn t make sense to take just the basement and leave the street-level storefront empty so we decided to bring in NADC Burger to help offset several of the rent and generate additional revenue A dish is prepared at Sushi by Scratch in Denver Nikki A Rae Photography Sushi preparation requires minimal infrastructure which also makes it ideal for unconventional spaces he added You could never put a hood in the downstairs space at Larimer Square it would be logistically complicated wildly expensive and maybe not even workable Doing something like sushi is really the only way to activate that space Beyond the business perks tasting concepts also allow chefs to flex their creativity in procedures they wouldn t do on their normal menus The Counter for instance allows Odell to show off the skills he learned working in top kitchens in Kyoto including the three-Michelin-starred Gion Sasaki I don t really want to be locked behind a door and just cooking I want to be interacting with the customer I think the real reason I became a chef is to make guests happy and see their reactions when they re eating the food His counter s focus leans toward sushi in addition to a broader array of Japanese-inspired dishes grilled steamed fermented and otherwise using local Colorado ingredients when practicable For Lee at Hop Alley knowing that his kitchen was stacked with talented chefs from places like Frasca and The French Laundry he saw an opportunity This gives the company a chance to have their own small business within the bigger picture he explained They have almost unlimited freedom to bring in whatever product they want cook however they want and serve it their way The tofu garlic chili at The Counter at Odell s in Denver Photo credit Jeff Fierberg For a chef that kind of creative control is a dream he added Instead of attracting regulars though Hop Alley s kitchen-within-a-kitchen has been more of a success with out-of-town diners or people specifically seeking chef s counter tasting menus various finding the experience through websites like Michelin or Tock Similarly at The Counter Odell has seen a surge of interest from unfamiliar names It s a lot of people that we don t know on our regular site Odell mentioned adding that Denver diners are increasingly seeking out full experiences I think guests are looking for something where they get to interact with the chef watch them cook and really be part of it he revealed Instead of just a meal where you eat pay the check and leave Subscribe to our new food newsletter Stuffed to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox