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Rosetta Hall may have won the race to become Boulder’s first food hall, but Avanti Food & Beverage is making sure it’s no afterthought with the announcement of its first three Boulder tenants. Spoiler alert: It’s an impressive trio.
Avanti’s forthcoming Boulder location, in the former Cheesecake Factory space on the Pearl Street Mall, will have a total of six vendors, in addition to two bars. For now, they’ve only announced three concepts, which includes a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Southwest, a popular Jewish deli, and an accomplished Denver chef going out on his own.
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First up is New Yorkese, a neo-New York-style pizza from Steve Redzikowski (Oak at Fourteenth, Acorn, Brider). He’ll have the lone concept on the rooftop, which has incredible views and its own bar. “That rooftop is insane,” Redzikowski says. “You can see all of Boulder. You can’t beat it. I’d been looking for spaces [to open a pizza shop], and I thought that if I don’t do it here, someone else is going to do it. It was kind of meant to be.”
The proximity to his “baby,” Oak at Fourteenth, just across the street was a big selling point for Redzikowski. That and the freedom to make the kind of pizza he’s been craving, which is a sort of New York-meets-Naples-by-way-of-Philadelphia style. Using his dream PizzaMaster oven, he’ll cook his pies at 650 degrees for five to six minutes, getting a blistered, crunchy crust that still maintains that Naples-style chew. In addition to pizza, New Yorkese will serve giant stone-hearth pretzels, mozzarella, burrata, and ice cream sandwiches made with pizza dough.
Meanwhile, Rye Society will open its second location, with a shorter menu stacked with the RiNo deli’s greatest hits. Expect a couple breakfast options during Avanti’s weekend brunch (egg sandwiches; bagels and lox) and pastrami and corned beef sandwiches for lunch and dinner from the family recipe-filled Jewish deli.
The last stall that’s been announced is Rooted Craft American Kitchen, serving refined American classics, like burgers, fried chicken, veggies, and grains. Chef Nicholas Kayser will leave his role as executive chef at Vesta to lead Rooted, his first solo concept.
No doubt Avanti’s success in LoHi has earned the food hall its choice of chefs and vendors. A late spring opening is projected, and more vendors will be announced in the coming months.
“These guys have their stuff together, and I like to surround myself with people who know what they’re doing and want to push the bar a bit and make things better,” Redzikowski says. “From the beginning I knew this would be a good fit.”
