The night before Tammy Cunningham announced that she was closing Strings, the 27-year-old restaurant owned and operated by her late husband, Noel Cunningham, she spoke at the Colorado Restaurant Association Industry Spotlight Awards where she gave out the Noel and Tammy Cunningham Humanitarian Award to Sharon Magness Blake.
“He’s up in heaven,” Tammy said, raising her arms skyward. “I learned many things the last year and a half (since Noel died on Dec. 1, 2011), plus how to use the f-word.”
Then she proved it by dropping f-bombs in sentences mimicking Noel’s Irish accent and turn of phrase.
But all through her speech on Thursday night in The Ritz-Carlton Denver ballroom, she never let on about the bombshell she would be dropping the next day.
Not that anyone in Denver’s close-knit restaurant community was shocked. Strings was never Tammy’s thing. She much preferred her profession as a life coach at her company Heart Intelligent (www.heartintelligent.com).
Still, a wave of wistfulness quickly swept over restaurant industry professionals and diners alike over the demise of the fine-dining restaurant that had been a fixture on 17th Avenue and Humboldt St. for more than a quarter of a century.
“The Colorado Restaurant Association is saddened by the decision to close Strings,” said Pete Meersman, president and CEO of the Colorado Restaurant Association. “The restaurant is one of Denver’s jewels in our fine dining crown … Noel Cunningham was unique, to say the least. He was a gruff Irishman inside, but also a very talented chef, and he always had that wonderful twinkle in his smilin’ Irish eyes.
“He was a passionate man who fought for the things he cared about and there were so many – maybe too many – things he cared about.”
Meersman called Tammy “the softer side of that relationship. Tammy tried very hard to make the restaurant work after Noel’s death. Running a restaurant was simply not something she could do as well as Noel. Her heart wasn’t in it, especially without Noel.”
Patricia Woodin, division chief with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, sent an e-mail to Strings the day the news of its closure came out.
She retold a story of Noel’s kindness during the Columbine High School shootings when various law-enforcement agencies worked around the clock at the crime scene. In the 10 days following the initial assault, the JeffCo sheriff’s deputies spent 10 days in the school to process the scene.
They didn’t have the time or resources to feed the 30 to 40 people who were in the school each day. Several benevolent people and businesses brought food, and Strings was one of those businesses.
“One day, Strings delivered portobello mushroom sandwiches,” Woodin recalled. “…One grumpy old cop asked, ‘What are those?’ We excitedly answered that those were portobello sandwiches from Strings … we began to talk about our visits to the restaurant. We spoke of the service, the food, the wine and the wonderful experience that most of us had the pleasure to enjoy.
“There was a moment in which we forgot about our mission and why we were there in the school. For about 15 minutes, Strings and those with the kindness to understand our need, brought us joy. In the midst of turmoil, hate and unbelievable sadness, we had a moment of joy … I will never forget the kindness of Strings, its owners and its employees.”
Cool Cold Crush
Cold Crush, a restaurant, bar and lounge, is busting onto a burgeoning business scene at 2700 Larimer St. in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. The grand opening party from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. April 19 is open to the public.
The Cold Crush name is inspired by the late-’70s hip hop group Cold Crush Brothers. The restaurant-lounge is the creation of Brian Mathenge, co-owner of the Killer Shrimp Restaurant and Bar in Marina Del Rey, Calif., and three other planned locations.
Mathenge, a longtime fan of Denver’s art community, has been coming to Denver for years to visit family, and now splits his time between Colorado and Southern California.
He is opening Cold Crush as an artist’s haven, a place where artists, poets and musicians can meet, mingle and dine on locally sourced food.
“Lots of places hang and sell art on the walls, and call themselves an art bar,” Mathenge said. “Our vision is for Cold Crush to be part of the art community, to be a place where artists can hang out, eat great food, and even showcase their own work.”
Cold Crush’s management team consists of three longtime Denver residents: DJ MU$A, a local musician, DJ and producer; Cassie Stevens, a model and DJ and Eric Cunningham, general manager and art enthusiast.
Cold Crush’ fare includes a juice bar, fresh Panini sandwiches, soups, salads and entrees from lunch until late.
Cold Crush, a restaurant, bar and lounge at 2700 Larimer St., holds its grand opening party on April 19.
Celebrate good times
One of the fastest foodie fights you can get into is bringing up the subject of who’s got the best pizza. Nice way to disturb the peace.
But you can argue until your face is the color of sauce over who has the best pie, fact is that many pizza places have come and gone over the years. Not Beau Jo’s.
Say what you will about the Mountain pies piled high with toppings and thick crust with dippin’ honey or Prairie Pies with a more traditional crust and a lighter amount of ingredients, fact is that Beau Jo’s has been putting out pies for 40 years.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Beau Jo’s Colorado Style Pizza wants to say “thank you” by offering 1973 pricing on its top five selling pizzas and by giving four winners free Beau Jo’s pizza for a year.
The five bestsellers – the three-pound hamburger or sausage combo Mountain Pie, the three-pound Dude Ranch Mountain Pie, the three-pound Pacific Plantation Mountain Pie the large L’il Italy Prairie Pie and the large Margherita Prairie Pie – will sell for $19.73 each through the end of April.
To register to win free Beau Jo’s pizza for a year, “like” the pizza place on Facebook this month at www.facebook.com/beaujos. The four winners will be randomly chosen in early May.
Chip Bair opened the first Beau Jo’s in downtown Idaho Springs on April 1, 1973 – a tiny 570-square-foot store with seating for 15 people. The Idaho Springs flagship restaurant is now more than 10,000 square feet and seats 600 diners.
Beau Jo’s has expanded to eight stores, including six owner-operated locations in Arvada, Boulder, Denver, Evergreen, Fort Collins and Idaho Springs. There are two licensed restaurants in Steamboat Springs and Rapid City, S.D. More information: www.beaujos.com.
Beast + bottle + brunch
Beast + bottle, the new “nose to tail” eatery from the brother and sister team of Paul C. Reilly and Aieleen Reilly, opened recently among much fanfare for its “farm to fork” philosophy.
All animals are butchered on site (with the exception of a steer, which is too large to handle in a small space). The restaurant opened for dinner only recently in the former Olivea and Aix space at 719 E. 17th Ave.
Last Friday, beast + bottle added brunch to the menu on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with plans to offer brunch Tuesday through Sunday in a few weeks.
beast + bottle boasts its own flock of Rhode Island Red hens, which lay organic eggs just for the restaurant. As it says on the brunch menu, “These girls are living the ‘life of Reilly’ at Cottonwood Creek Farms in Merino, in northeast Colorado.”
Most of the brunch menu offers gluten-free options. Check out the menu and make reservations at www.beastandbottle.com.
Eavesdropping on a Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel employee on Friday: “You know it’s opening day when work sends a strolling cart of popcorn, peanuts and root beer floats through the offices.”
Did you hear that I have a new column, “Mile High Life,” in Colorado Community Media’s 17 weekly newspapers circling Denver? Be sure to like my Facebook page! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m now the social-media liaison for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, so read my latest restaurant news there. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.
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