As the craze for food halls spreads across the country, the much-anticipated opening of Avanti Food & Beverage in LoHi is scheduled for June.
There will be seven restaurants housed inside, some located in shipping containers. It’s like an incubator for new restaurants, an inexpensive way for established chefs and startups to test out different concepts. Tenants can rent space for a year or two, and the kitchens are already in place so they won’t need to spend money setting up that space. Jon Robbins of Bistro Barbes will be opening Souk Shawarma, a Lebanese place, and others include a concept from the popular food truck Quiero Arepas.
Last week, construction was going full force at the corner of Pecos Street and West 32nd Avenue, with traffic being diverted to give more space, and one of the co-owners, Rob Hahn, talked with a construction worker about the latest details.
Hahn got the idea for this food hall when traveling in Spain with his wife, and they visited the legendary San Miguel marketplace with more than 30 stalls that promote Spanish gastronomy.
“I thought, wouldn’t something like this be great?” said Hahn.
Back home, he got to work creating Denver’s first food hall, conveniently located next to his home in LoHi, where he’s lived since 1995.
With Avanti partners Patrick O’Neill and Brad Arguello, he took over the building that housed Avanti Printing & Graphics, which has a stunning view of Denver’s downtown skyline, perfect for patio dining.
The exterior facing 32nd Avenue is mostly dark wood in the style of shou sugi ban, a Japanese technique of torching wood to make it beautiful and long-lasting. There’s a section of original brick, and on the other side, after old cement was removed, they discovered a vintage mural painted on the brick that reads “Dodson’s Variety Store,” advertising hardware, groceries, and furniture, along with the antique Pepsi-Cola logo.
Preserving that mural is still on the long list of things to do, but Hahn is optimistic about opening in June.
Avanti Food & Beverage, 3200 Pecos St.
OrderUp Denver
Two young entrepreneurs are celebrating their success in the competitive food delivery business. They’ve just rebranded their company as OrderUp Denver, connecting to a national brand that’s growing quickly across the country.
Mike Rolland, 28, and his brother Dan Rolland, 26, celebrated with a party at Mile High Spirits.
“It’s something new and exciting to party about,” said Dan.
Now they have access to OrderUp’s latest technology for ordering food online from restaurants — the company just rolled out a new app for the Apple Watch, which means you can track its real-time delivery with a quick glance at your wrist.
To use the service, go to orderup.com via computer or the app for iPhone or Android. Put in your address, and a list of all available restaurants pops up. Those marked with the red-car icon have the new tracking technology. There is no surge pricing. There is a 95 cent processing fee and a delivery fee that varies according to restaurant, but is never more than $4.99.
Mike met OrderUp’s co-founder and CEO, Chris Jeffery back when he was a college student, starting a food delivery service at Indiana University in 2005. Dan, watching his brother’s success, started his own food delivery website, Hungry Buffs, when he was a freshman at University of Colorado in Boulder.
They tapped their connection with Jeffery, who started OrderUp in 2009, to gain technological help, and two years later Mike moved to Colorado to work with Dan in launching MileHighMenus, which is now OrderUp Denver.
In metro Denver, the brothers say their biggest competitors are GrubHub, Eat 24, and Uber — and their biggest rush hour is dinner.
“Singles, couples, young families — they’re our bread and butter,” said Mike.
Toast of Colorado
Want to know more about Colorado wines? Ramp up your savvy at Toast of Colorado in Lone Tree, where you can sample more than 70 wines from 16 Colorado wineries.
You can learn about such places as the Colorado Cellars Winery in Palisade, Silver Vines Winery in Arvada, Black Forest Meadery in Colorado Springs, Ten Bears Winery in LaPorte, and Wild Women Winery in Denver.
It’s all about the wine, but Colorado whiskeys, beers and scotches also will be available for sampling.
And, naturally, you’re going to want some food to go along with drinks, so food vendors will be manning their booths.
Part of the proceeds will benefit Empower the People, a Colorado nonprofit organization dedicated to making sure small business dreams become a reality.
The tickets are $20 for one person, $35 for two.
May 9, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. , 9145 Park Meadows Drive, Lone Tree.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083, coconnor@denverpost.com or twitter.com/coconnordp
