On a roll, dressed to impress
On a roll, dressed to impress
Sushi Row launches via the Dos Santos/White Pie folks + more food & drink news
The tables are set for you: Get ready for the underhyped opening of Sushi Row at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 6 at 316 N. Tejon St., the former YMCA office space next to the Poor Richard’s complex.
I say underhyped because the eatery’s not coming from a newbie, but instead industry veterans who’ve been quite busy in the past seven years. And the project has thus far managed to mostly fly under the radar. The faces behind it? Riley and Jason Wallenta, co-owners of Dos Santos, Dos Dos and White Pie. They started the original Dos Santos in Denver in 2015, followed by Denver’s White Pie in 2017. Then came the Springs Dos Santos in 2018, the Springs White Pie in 2021, and Dos Dos in late 2022.
This time they aren’t partnering with Jason’s brother Kris, but with minority partner and sushi chef for the venture Zaya Altbish. He’s coming from Denver’s Sushi Sasa, and has been a friend of the Wallentas for 15 years, they tell me. He was their go-to sushi chef in the area back when they first started dating, and “fell in love with the culture, food and romantic nature of sushi,” says Riley. “We’d said one day we want to open our own spot, and this is the right time, right place, right feel,” adds Jason. “This is our little baby, it’s the next level up from what we’ve been doing. More creative, the space is more refined… It’s sexy. It’s going to be a full sensory experience.”
That said, the couple says they want to avoid a pretentious atmosphere with Sushi Row. They wish to welcome new or seasoned sushi eaters and be all inclusive, meaning they’re happy to sell you a California Roll if that’s your speed. But if you’re more adventurous, there’ll be plates for that, including some off-menu items. There’ll also be non-sushi items, such as pork belly or eggplant bao buns, steak and cooked fish like miso cod. (I haven’t seen the menu as of this writing; staff tastings are happening on Thursday and Friday just ahead of opening, but I was granted access to photograph the space earlier this week.)
Also look for small plates that include West Coast oysters and caviar with Champagne service. They say they’ll let the neighborhood and demand dictate how they expand the menu in time. (I mention the fare at Denver’s Uchi as I try to gauge their ambition, and they say “Zaya would like to get us there in time.”)
“We’re always proponents of keeping it simple,” says Jason. “We get indecisive with long menus and find that tends to take away from the experience. But there’s certainly room for us to bring things in with specials.”
Sushi Row will feature a custom cocktail menu with some plays off familiar drinks. It’ll also have an eclectic sake list that “covers all the bases, not just two of each genre,” both at entry-level and higher price points.
“And the patio’s going to be amazing,” says Jason. “I’m excited to sit out there and eat caviar, oysters and a spicy tuna roll with a sake bomb.”
The way he says that to me, almost as if he’s placing an order, makes me think he’s already picturing it in his head, perhaps a reward for the many months of hard work to bring the place to fruition.
“It’s going to be fun and cozy, a hot new date spot,” adds Riley.
Given the story of their own special connection to sushi in their dating life, it makes sense that the couple is leaning on such romantic language to frame this latest endeavor. Cliché as it is to say, it’s clearly a passion project.
Sip with Schnip at The Carter Payne
Hey subscribers — you, reading this — I want to meet you. So I’ve arranged an opportunity (many, in fact) for that to happen. I’m pleased to announce another PartnerSchnip: my first venue partner, The Carter Payne, home to Local Relic Artisan Ales, Immerse Cuisine and more.
Together, we’ve concocted a plan for Sip with Schnip Happy Hour, third Thursdays monthly, from 5-7 p.m., where you can mingle with me and fellow foodies (“Schnipsters” if I really want to keep the puns rolling — thank you Jeff, Melissa and Marlee for the brainstorms). Join us for a drink or two, play some cornhole on the patio and just hang out real casual like. “I always say this is a place to be human together,” says co-proprietor (and self-described “guy with all the words”) Jeff Zearfoss.
In support of Side Dish, The Carter Payne is offering the first beer, featured wine or cocktail free to any of my paid subscribers. ($7-$10 value; tip accordingly.) Free subscribers can get 20% off their first beverage.
And, special for our first event on May 18, chef Brent Beavers (State of Plate, Ep. 2) has lovegrudgingly (that’s my own portmanteau of lovingly and begrudgingly) agreed to prepare a limited amount of chipotle chicken entrées as a dinner special, should you wish to dine. The quick story behind them: Back 20 years ago when I was a waiter at Sencha, working for then-chef/owner Beavers, the chipotle chicken was our bestselling dish — it was a butterflied chicken breast stuffed with nutmeg, whipped Parmesan, jalapeño slivers and crispy potato threads, topped in chipotle cream sauce. It takes 30 minutes to cook.
He grew tired of making it, but customer demand kept it on menu long past when he began yelling at us every time we sold one instead of that night’s special, or really anything else. We were helpless, he was frustrated, the customers could care less, and mayhem ensued on the nightly. That drove our need for post-shift drinks on the patio, where an out-of-the-weeds, calmed-down Beavers would apologize for his antics and we’d all go back to jovially planning the next literary dinner — a beloved, staff-performed series the years it existed. Good times. (Beavers is more zen now, which, if I’m honest, is kinda boring, like Hulk in the later Avengers movies after he gained control of his anger, but that’s how it goes as chef’s age and shed rage, I guess. Yawn.)
Man did I just digress down industry memory lane … anyhoo, while on the topic of The Carter Payne, you can find their upcoming events on their website. That includes a Sunday School - Talking & Tasting wine class on May 7 and A Chef’s Heritage - Mexico dinner on May 21. That last one is seven courses in four acts, with paired drinks ($125 pre tax and tip) and a pre-meal salsa dancing class taught by Latin Grooves. It’s not being helmed by Beavers, who’s Mexico traveled, but instead Sous Chef Marcus Herrera, who’s also spent time in-country and has hispanic heritage. The menu’s being kept a surprise, but I know Herrera’s been refining his ideas for months to create it, so it should show a lot of heart. “We’re asking you to trust in us — trust in our artists, creators and cultivators to conceive a culinary experience that pushes the boundary of familiarity,” says The Carter Payne.
A final note of transparency about Sip with Schnip at The Carter Payne: This is a mutually beneficial partnership; we aren’t trading dollars. Potential conflict-of-interest with Beavers as a past employer is already inherent. When I write about the outfit in the future, I’ll likely refrain for much critical commentary and stick to news/events reporting, and I won’t be a booster or show favoritism. But I also won’t be shy to be honest about something that honestly impresses me. For example, the simple delight of the coconut-serrano cornbread that’s on the latest small plate menu. It’s served with lemon-cranberry butter and a fried green garbanzo bean garnish that we found creative and interesting during a recent meal, paired with a fine, French-style farmhouse ale. Long before considering this partnership, I’ve been a patron, on my own time and dime, not wearing my work hat, even though it’s hard to turn that part of my brain off and not snap pics or post something quick to social media anyway.
Get out of jail, free
“There’s something wonderful going on behind the scenes that you’d never necessarily know about, and for some would-be diners, it might equate to reason alone to go.”
Free subscribers may now read my full review of Sivar at The Well, published behind my pay wall last month.
All the things
• Roots Cafe celebrated its grand opening this past weekend at 330 E. Colorado Ave., the space that was formerly the legacy eatery El Taco Rey. Roots is a family-run Hawaiian eatery, serving everything from beloved spam musubi to kalbi, chicken katsu and teriyaki tofu. Check out a cool welcome video they posted on their instagram page.
• Westside Cottage Foods Market kicks off on May 7 with its first and third Sunday markets at 1 S. 24th St. in Old Colorado City. They’ll run from noon to 3 p.m. each day, concluding for the season on Oct. 1. It’s billed as an “outdoor market for locals selling homemade foods under the Colorado Cottage Foods Act.”
• Ben E. Keith Foodservice Distributors is hosting a Colorado Springs Food Show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday May 17 at The Broadmoor World Arena. The free event is more for industry people, but the invite is open for those wishing to attend area sales rep Eric Hill says. Registration is requested, which you can do below:
• Head over to Focal Pint, Side Dish partner Focus on the Beer’s Substack, for news this week on Atrevida Beer Co’s 5th Anniversary plus a list of Cinco de Mayo celebrations at local breweries and upcoming events, such as the Feast of Saint Arnold beer festival, set for June 10th (get tickets now).
• The San Francisco World Spirits Competition took place last month, and the big winner from Colorado in the coveted whiskey categories was Breckenridge Distillery, who earned four Double Gold Medals. Those distinguish “spirits that are given a gold medal by all 65 judges in the competition.”
• This is a reminder to get your early bird tickets to Taste of Pikes Peak before prices go up on June 1. The event takes place downtown the evening of July 27.
Parting shot
Those Sencha literary dinners I mentioned above with Brent Beavers and crew back in the day … yeah, they were pretty involved on costuming and design. We really got into character. Here’s some archival images from the early aughts:
Will “Todd” ever join us at a SipNSchnip?