Why is Red Diamond Gastro Pub so damn good?
The answer could easily be singular items on its menu. Like the chili-lime chicharrones, the wild mushroom arancini or the kimchi reuben. Hell, even the house-smoked salt fries.
But thereās a more sinister answer to that question, too. Not unlike the legend of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil, Red Diamond owner/chef James Deimling, by his own telling, nearly gave his life to become a great chef.
Alcoholism. Divorce. A stroke. Acute kidney failure. āIt was 20 years of poor choices,ā he says. āI wasnāt taking care of myself.ā Illustrating with a single story how the brutal food and drink industry consumes some people, he offers an example from his early years when he badly burned himself at work. Instead of getting him to a hospital, his chef at the time pulled him off the line just long enough to give him a bump of coke and triple shot of Tuaca. Then told him to go finish the shift.
In his most recent role cooking for another company, as Executive Sous Chef at the Westin Westminster during a $3M renovation, overseeing 47,000 feet of banquet space, he says the restaurant group managing the hotel ābroke me.ā
That was it. He tried jobs out of the industry but he didnāt take to any of them. It wasnāt until he started his own food truck back in his hometown of Woodland Park in late 2020 that he realized āI wasnāt meant to work for other people.ā
Heās 40 now, five years sober, and finally seeing the other side of the coin: āThereās other ways to do the things you love,ā he says.
Enter Red Diamond Gastro Pub.
The Pub, and advancement of Deimlingās earlier Red Diamond Gastro Truck, celebrated its year anniversary on Jan. 23. And things are off to a great start says the chef. āIām a hundred times busier than I initially expected. I would call this a huge success.ā
Backing up to earlier in his story, Deimling started working at the Donut Mill at age 13; his friendās parents owned it at the time. At age 16 he moved down the highway to a now defunct, catch-all-menu, family restaurant named Austinās where he worked up to lead line cook. At 17 he left for culinary school to the Colorado Mountain College Culinary Program in Keystone. The summer after graduating from the intensive three-year apprenticeship, he became one of a few contracted personal chefs for the Denver Broncos.
Heād already caught the bug for the restaurant industry in his earlier years. āIt wasnāt just the cooking, it was the after hours partying,ā he says. But here he was cooking three meals a day (plus midnight snacks) for his childhood football team ā The Broncos! ā getting playfully teased as a scrawny little cook by giant defensemen at the morning omelette station heād set up in the locker room. Then there was the seemingly real harassment: āRod Smith threatened to kill me twice.ā Once was for serving Beef Stroganoff, and the other for not cooking Smithās eggs to his liking, as Deimling tells it.
After his contract expired he moved out to Seattle and spent 12 years in fine dining, which included three years at the Four Seasons Hotel downtown. His marriage brought him back home to Colorado eventually, where he leaned into family support to get healthy and recover after his body had crashed out. His dad is still his āmaintenance manā today, having retired out of the engineering field.
James gained an easy following with the food truck once it launched, attending rallies around Teller County, popping up at places like Paradox Brewing Co. in Divide and parking regularly outside of a since-closed wine bar in Woodland Park. Heād made a play to buy the spot but something in the whole deal went south, as he tells it, which led him to exploring his current location, a former bakery. It needed a lot of renovation, including an expensive hood system, to become what it now is. Deimling pulled four loans and ran up nine credit cards, he says.
The risk is paying off.
āWhen I came back after 20 years, I noticed itās the same food. Nothingās changed,ā he says about Woodland Park. He acknowledges that itās never escaped its meat-and-potatoes vibe, but the place is growing and thereās definitely a consumer appetite for good (read: better) food. So, what to cook?
āI joke that my food is elevated stoner food,ā he says. āI keep it recognizable so that people know what theyāre eating. Iām aware Iām serving Woodland Park. I know my town. I have that going for me.ā Ā
āI know my town. I have that going for me.ā
Deimling says he aimed for the āin betweenā of fine and casual dining. He reaches for āold flavorsā that are familiar and appealing to an older-aged demographic in town; theyāre many of his regulars. But thatās not to say itās not exciting for everyone else. āMy food is simple, not too extravagant. Iām doing it the way I believe food should be prepared. I cook the way I want to eat,ā he says, adding āsimple and consistent is what will keep you alive.ā
My opinion after dining through a handful of dishes with a discerning friend (and Side Dish subscriber/supporter) who tipped me off to the spot (thank you, Warren), is that Deimlingās self-assessment is accurate but understated.
Yes, itās fare like a patty melt, pot roast dip, pulled pork mac ān cheese and loaded nachos. But thereās also a dedicated veggie section with smoked tomato falafel, chickpea fries and charred broccolini. His chef in Seattle was an inspiration toward vegetarian food ānot having to be a pain in the ass,ā he says. āIām not skipping the veggies. A lot of people up here eat my chickpea fries alongside a steak special.ā
And Deimling brings truly elevated (French foundational) techniques to everything he touches, gifting a distinct gourmet character to common plates. Example: my simple basket of coconut shrimp over the aforementioned epic, applewood-smoked salt fries come perfectly battered and fried crisp with a coat of browned coconut flakes and topped with a brightĀ coconut-lime aioli and a side dip of mango-habanero chutney. Deimlingās obsessive about properly crisp fries, he says, and he views the smoking and house-grinding process on the salt as that tiny extra step that makes an everyday item like fries really pop.
āIād be faster at getting food out if it werenāt 14 steps for each dish,ā he jokes. Even with plating composition each item has a sauce and at least three garnishes. āItās my process, the way I was trained. Things need crunch, acid, etc. My classical training is makes us stand out.āĀ
For Red Diamondās chili-lime chicharrones the chef confits the pork after sugar- and salt-curing it for 24 hours. Then he deep fries it before plating the crispy chunks with pickled onions, sweet corn purĆ©e, tomatoes, cilantro and Cotija cheese. For a fried item it eats rather vibrant and not too heavy/guilty. All the fresh components balance out the rich, fatty pig bits. Itās a great bite.
Ditto on the wild mushroom arancini with truffle aioli and a bounty of fried mushrooms. They offer an explosion of earthy flavors and deep umami with big truffle aroma and pleasant textural counterpoint between the crispy risotto balls and almost jerky-like, chewy mushroom slivers. This is a dish to definitely get, a fan favorite dating back to its debut as a special on the food truck, which had a weekly-changing menu. In fact, Deimling says about 90 percent of his pubās current menu originated as food truck experiments. āIām not much of a planner,ā he says. āMy specials come together best when I wing it.ā
I donāt happen to catch one during my visit, but the chef does typically offer weekly specials. He bucks the trend of Mondays and Tuesdays being dead by running specials like lamb shanks on those nights. Or a filet and crab combo, or beef tartare, or a soft shell crab sandwich that likely will make the next menu update. He says he packs the house out. (On a Monday ā¦ in Woodland Park!)
We also try a seasonal salad made with spinach and sweet potatoes thatās perky from salty feta and a sharp red wine vinaigrette. We pair it with the excellent house trout chowder, a simple twist on a classic clam chowder, with trout giving it a localizing touch to Colorado. (Less than an hourās drive away and at many honey holes beyond fishermen and women hunt for rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout in nationally celebrated waters.)
Our final flavor from our visit is Red Diamondās Kimchi Reuben, which is apparently a Seattle-popularized item. Deimling calls kimchi āmaybe my most favorite thing in the world,ā and says heās kept this sandwich on his menus ever since working in the Pacific Northwest (where Asian culture and foods are significantly more prominent). By adding the fermented kimchi in place of the traditional sauerkraut, you achieve the same desired acidic tanginess, but the Korean red chile (gochugaru) adds another welcome dimension of subtle heat and spice to play off the pastrami, Swiss cheese and house dressing on toasty marbled rye.
I know Iāve left many menu items to try and I truly am excited for whenever I make time to return to Woodland Park to eat at Red Diamond again. I ask Deimling what I should eat next time, that I missed, and he says I need to get his beef patty melt with bacon red onion jam and Gouda, calling it āa game changer.ā That, and the Honeyās Buttermilk Pie with berries and butterscotch sauce ā his momās recipe.
After having heard his industry-life story and noticing that Red Diamond is open seven days a week until 11 p.m. ā opening at 11 a.m. Wednesday-Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday-Tuesday ā I try to sensitively inquire how Deimling wonāt eventually burn himself out again, even if itās on his own terms.
He concedes he does 98 percent of the cooking himself and has struggled to find reliable kitchen help. Other than major holidays and a for a week that he decided to close for a personal break in early February (something he plans to do annually), heās on all the time with only a bar manager for assistance.
āBut Iām good with it. I have a purpose and I have a goal,ā he says, before winding our discussion back around to mortality (or morbidity) one final time: āIām gonna kill this if it be the death of me. Iām gonna destroy this.āĀ
Which in the end does satisfactorily explain Red Diamond Gastro Pub is so damn good. All thatās left for you to do is go taste it for yourself.
Thanks for the shout-out (and the food! Wow!)
As a local, I can attest that Red Diamond opening full time was one of the best things to happen to this town since I moved here four years ago. Everything is always delicious, and he's really dialed the timing in. Don't forget to give yourself those much deserved breaks James!!