A little more than half a year after closing up shop on West 38th Avenue, The Way Back is ready to reopen at its new Tennyson Street location — and they brought on a new executive chef for the occasion.
Partners Chad Michael George, Kade Gianinetti and Jared Schwartz imported Jon Lavelle, formerly of Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, from New York City to lead the kitchen when the restaurant reopens on Feb. 27.
A graduate of the Culinary Arts program at Denver's Johnson and Wales, Lavelle went on to work at Olivea and Duo for two years before shipping out to New York, where over the course of seven years he advanced from line cook to sous chef, according to a press release.
Back in Denver, he'll be joined in the kitchen by sous chef Michael Calabro, formerly of New York's Maialino.
“Throughout my career, my passion for using the most local ingredients and developing true partnerships with farmers and purveyors has continued to grow,” Lavelle said in a statement. “I’m so excited to be a part of The Way Back team and am even more thrilled to be back in Colorado, where you can become friends with your farmer in your own backyard.”
The Way Back's opening will be a big change for the space, which previously housed Patrick Carroll's, then Paddy the Yank. Now, instead of Irish pub fare, you'll find craft cocktails and a seasonal menu built on responsibly sourced ingredients at 3963 Tennyson St.
The menu will highlight vegetables and grains, though it won't totally leave out meat. It'll also include two handmade pastas and dishes like a smoky Japanese-style dashi and Steelhead trout marinated in fermented citrus with guajillo chilies.
"We love working and living in the Berkeley neighborhood, and when the opportunity came to move The Way Back to a location that offered a more efficient physical plant for the restaurant and bar, as well as increased foot traffic, we made the business decision to move for the health of our growing company," Gianinetti said in a statement.
The Way Back will be open for happy hour and dinner from 4 p.m. onward Tuesday through Saturday. They'll add weekend brunch hours sometime this spring.
