Johnny Ballen, owner the The Squeaky Bean, a farm-focused award-winning New American restaurant in LoDo, has hired Chris MacGillivray as the new executive chef.
MacGillivray, who comes to the Squeaky Bean with nearly two decades of high-end cooking experience, is taking over the burners from outgoing chef Theo Adley, whose two-year tenure at the Bean concludes Saturday. And while Adley is departing to explore new culinary opportunities, MacGillivray is returning to familiar ground. He originally cooked at the Squeaky Bean in 2012 alongside then-chef Max MacKissock.
MacGillivray’s other stints include sous-chef positions at Vail’s Sweet Basil and Beaver Creek’s Grouse Mountain Grill. In addition, MacGillivray was chef de cuisine at the now-closed Olivea under then-chef John Broening, as well as the opening sous-chef of Linger. Mostly recently he was the executive chef of Uptown’s Caveau Wine Bar.
“Chris was an integral part of our kitchen crew when he worked with Max, and there’s no question that he’s a super-talented chef and leader who’s meticulous, takes immense pride in his work and pays a great deal of attention to details and technique,” said Ballen, adding that MacGillivray is also dedicated to accentuating the vegetables that are grown – and plucked – from the Squeaky Bean’s three farms: a small plot in Highland that produces herbs; a second, larger expanse of land in Lakewood that grows everything from heirloom tomatoes to edible flowers; and a three-acre organic farm at the Center at Warren Tech, also in Lakewood, that just received a Community Sustainability Award from the City of Lakewood.
“It makes sense for us to make vegetables the star of our menu, and I’m really looking forward to having Chris utilize the bounty from our farms, in particular the fantastic farm at Warren Tech, a collaborative partnership between us and Warren Tech High School,” Ballen said.
MacGillivray views his new executive chef role at the Squeaky Bean as an opportunity to focus on what he loves most: the purity of ingredients unearthed from the soil. “When I first worked at the Bean, I was really captivated by the unwavering commitment to their farms and their zeal for cooking with impeccable ingredients, and as the executive chef, it allows me to work even closer with…the farms, and that makes me super-excited,” he said.
The Squeaky Bean is located at 1500 Wynkoop St., in the historic Saddlery Building, serving lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, dinner from 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and Saturday and Sunday bingo brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For additional information, visit www.thesqueakybean.net, or call 303-623-2665.
Chris MacGillivray
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