Arista’s upscale ‘meatery’ is Taylor made

BROOMFIELD — Devotees of upscale Denver dining know iconic chef Kevin Taylor for white tablecloths, sterling and crystal.

Colorado business casual? Not so much.

And yet that’s what they’ll find at Hickory and Ash — once they find it.

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The bright, wood-accented eatery — Kevin Taylor calls it a “meatery” for its locally sourced, hickory-smoked beef and chicken — is deep within Broomfield’s mixed-use, master-planned Arista development, on the ground floor of a six-story office building between the 6,500-seat 1stBank Center and a stop for inbound Boulder-to-Denver regional buses. No formality inside; instead, it’s wide windows and warm woods.

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If you go

Hickory and Ash
8001 Arista Place, #150, Broomfield
720-390-4400
Hickoryandash.com

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The name Hickory and Ash “is the whole idea,” Taylor said. “Hickory feeds the fire and ash is what’s left over.”

The 5,500-square-foot restaurant, designed by Taylor and Denver-based architect A. Riddick Semple, seats 60 to 70 diners in the restaurant, another 48 in a back room and 36 on a seasonal patio, Taylor said. Small, evenly spaced ash logs laid atop restored railroad ties make up much of the ceiling. Pine accents are spread throughout, and birch bark accents the archways. A long open bar spreads out along the south wall, and seating stretches along the windows that face U.S. Highway 36. Guests can peer through a tall pane into a cabinet holding from 70 to 100 bottles of wine.

“We definitely wanted to do more approachable restaurants,” Taylor said. “It’s very expensive to do luxury restaurants. The china, the silver, the tablecloths — that’s all expensive. This is where the future’s going.”

Taylor had his eye on Arista for nearly a decade after being approached by Wiens Real Estate Ventures, Arista’s developer. “We had looked at the project and got pretty fired up about it — and then the economy happened,” Taylor said of the Great Recession. Things finally came together for Hickory and Ash to open in July 2017.

“We didn’t want to do something as a steakhouse that would be viewed that way. We wanted fish, chicken, other items. We looked at what the market was and where the holes were — and everything’s worked.”

The “we” includes Taylor’s wife, Denise, and sons Ryan and Cooper. Ryan, Hickory and Ash’s executive chef, spent some time working at Mugaritz, a restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain, but most of his culinary career — dating back to high school — was spent working at Kevin Taylor’s at the Opera House in downtown Denver’s performing-arts complex. “He’s just kind of grown up in it, and after spending 10 years working with us, we knew that he was ready, and this is what we wanted for him,” Taylor said. “He’s 29, and he’s been cooking for 15 years.

“Cooper, one of our other sons, is general manager of Hickory and Ash, and Denise is our director of catering. She’s also a manager and does a little bit of everything.”

The menu features many locally sourced selections including meats from Aspen Ridge Natural Beef in Kersey and Denver-based Tender Belly Pork as well as Avalanche Cheese from Aspen, a custom-made amber ale from Broomfield-based Wonderland Brewing Co. and a butterscotch pudding spiked with Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey.

The menu offers a shrimp cocktail that’s a tribute to the first dish Kevin Taylor taught Ryan, but its text also is spiced with whimsy. A Yukon Gold mashed potato side is served with “butter, butter and more butter.” The “Duck Duck Goose” appetizer has potted duck, foie gras and gooseberries. Then there’s a dessert called “Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk.”

Kevin Taylor, who said he’s been cooking for 41 years, opened his first restaurant, Zenith American Grill, at age 25 in 1987. Today, the Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group includes Limelight Supper Club and Lounge, also in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and Mila, a Mediterranean-inspired concept at 999 18th St. in Denver Place.

On the group’s website, Taylor shared his recipe for success:

“When I cook, the first and foremost thought in my mind is that each guest needs to be wowed,” he wrote. “I take perfection seriously and am constantly looking for ways to improve myself as a chef, the food, the ambiance and setting, and how people feel when they dine in any of our restaurants. Food is just a portion of the overall guest experience. I often ask myself how contemporary cuisine can be better, and go from there.”

Buoyed by the success of Hickory and Ash, the Taylors also seem sold on Arista and plan to open a second restaurant, Masa, this month at 8181 Arista Place. Ryan Taylor and Frank Blea will partner at Masa to create what Kevin Taylor called “casual but very refined Mexican food.

“It’ll be low-key, fun and loud.”