During a busy evening dinner service last night, around 9:15 p.m., a small fire broke out in the kitchen at Tavernetta, the newly opened LoDo Italian restaurant from the team behind Frasca Food and Wine and Pizzeria Locale. “Every seat was packed,” said a spokesperson for the restaurant. “The fire appears to have been in the walls, but it didn’t affect the hood or any of the kitchen equipment. As the restaurant was swiftly evacuated, the staff was beyond gracious and the guests were amazing.”

We will update this post with a re-opening date as soon as one is set, and we wish the Tavernetta team the best of luck with repairs and clean-up.

“Tonight, we had a small kitchen fire at Tavernetta that was swiftly contained by the Denver Fire Department.  The restaurant was evacuated to ensure the safety and welfare of all staff and guests but unfortunately, Tavernetta will be closed for a few days to repair the damages.  The adjacent Citizen Rail and Hotel Born were not impacted.

On behalf of the entire Tavernetta team, including partners Bobby Stuckey, Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, Peter Hoglund and Mark Falcone, chef Ian Wortham and GM Justin Williams, we want to thank the Denver Fire Department and Emergency Services for their dedication and professionalism in handling this incident; our staff for the way they gracefully navigated this unforeseen emergency; and we thank our guests for remaining patient and understanding during the evacuation.

The team is hard at work to re-open the restaurant and we look forward to serving our guests again as soon as we are able.”— Tavernetta Denver Instagram

Denise Mickelsen
Denise Mickelsen
Denise Mickelsen is 5280’s former food editor. She oversaw all of 5280’s food-related coverage from October 2016 to March 2021.