Update: Now that Brodo is open, see my 2/20/17 review.Jane Knauf and Rachel Shaheen, owners of The Wooden Table in Greenwood Village, are getting ready to open new restaurant in Belmar. The restaurant, which they describe as an 'Italian Scratch Kitchen,' will be called Brodo, and will take the place of The Oven and the original Jamba Juice location at 7161 W. Alaska Drive.
Business Den has the details, but Knauf and Shaheen apparently plan to Americanize the fare, making it less authentically Italian than at their other restaurant. Personally, this sounds like a terrible idea. With entrees expected to run between $18 and $25, I'm not likely to drop in for red sauce and chicken parmesan. Not unless it goes beyond the 'really good' category and enters that of 'Platonic ideal.'
My worry is that if the good citizens of Lakewood are unwilling to try anything more cutting edge than spaghetti and meatballs, then I'm not sure how Brodo is going to compete with the chains. After all, Mark Tarbell tried much the same thing with the late Mark and Isabella's, and that didn't work out so well.
Of course, I'm no expert on the Lakewood palate. If I were, maybe I wouldn't be so shocked whenever I go by our local Red Lobster and Olive Garden locations and see how many cars are in the parking lots. I mean, really. Sheesh.
The concept at Brodo seems to be one of familiar favorites-- made from scratch and with quality ingredients-- served in an inviting and modern space. Will it be enough? I guess we'll see...
Update:
Voland1935 stresses the involvement of Rachel Shaheen's husband, Brett Shaheen, in Brodo. Brett has an excellent reputation-- Westword, for example, refers to his cooking as "stunning."
It might also be worth taking a look at the Yelp reviews for The Wooden Table. The trend seems to be excellent food held back only by a 'meh' atmosphere (it's in a strip mall, and the decor is decidedly low-budget). Brodo's Belmar location should solve this problem.
I think you are misreading the comment about Americanization - article says it's more Americanized compared to Wooden Table. Check out that menu - they got sweetbreads, for crying out loud. Pretty sure there is room between that and Olive Garden. If Brodo's quality is consistent with its pedigree, I think this will be a very exciting addition to Belmar. As I mentioned back in August, the chef, Brett Shaheen, is a branch of Bonnano tree - Luca D'Italia and Osteria Marco, Wooden Table has great reviews, and he is moving over to Belmar location, according to the article you linked. At a minimum, I hope they are comparable to Tstreet, in terms of quality and competence, which I think is a good benchmark.
ReplyDeleteBelmar palate had tended towards less adventurous - all the chains are here since inception, whereas standouts like Chama (remember them?) are long gone. Mark and Isabella was no standout, in my opinion. Its food was not merely not good enough for the price, it just was not very good.
I don't have to tell you Belmar has changed quite a bit, especially with the recent inflow of new residents. Just look at the current crop of non- and smaller chains - sushi, Indian, Vietnamese (times 2), new American (times 2) - all doing well as far as I can tell, all are pretty good. The one exception is Grappa, which I am hoping Brodo pushes out, if all those bad Yelp reviews are not enough - too bad, it was so promising in the beginning.
Brodo's price range is in line with Tstreet, Little India, Wasabi, or even PF Chang, and those are the busier restaurants here. The inflow of residents into Belmar has created a shortage of restaurant seats - everything is packed. Then there is the lack of a decent Italian restaurant within a fairly large radius - Cafe Jordano aside, we are talking Colorado Mills (also chains) and West Colfax. Full Olive Garden's parking lot underscores that. Take all that together, if Brodo can execute, I think they will do well for the duration of their 10 year lease. So far, Oven had been the best Italian in this neighborhood and they did pretty well, until owner decided to move on.
Voland-- I think you make a good point, especially when you bring up Cafe Jordan, which for many years was one of the better Italian restaurants in the metro area, not just Lakewood. I think the food there has gone down hill, but for many years they did build a following serving up excellent vodka penne and eggplant parmesan, along with a few more adventurous items, in a ho-hum space decorated with 'travel to Italy' posters.
ReplyDeleteBrodo is going to have a space that's much more fun to visit and linger over a meal at, and if the food is top-notch, then I could see them filling their table tops.
For me, it's a question of how I want to spend my $100. For that kind of money, I'm perfectly willing to drive 20 mins. to the RINO to eat at Acorn, or to the Highlands to stop in at Linger, because I know the food, service, and ambiance will be stellar. Of course, I'm probably unusual in being willing to travel so far. In fact, it's a little ironic, given that I choose to live in a walkable neighborhood and generally extoll the benefits of walking and biking in my blog, but there it is.
Still, I think you're right that Brodo is a big step forward. It sounds ambitious in the same way that Tstreet has been ambitious. According to Business Den, Knauf and Shaheen are spending a cool half million renovating the space, so they clearly know the importance of ambiance. I'd just like to see more of the same menu as The Wooden Table-- crispy veal sweetbreads, candied baby turnips, and all.
Brett Shaheen, however, who Business Den says will moving over to run Brodo, does have an outstanding reputation. In fact, I don't think I realized how outstanding until you brought it up. If anyone can take Italian-American classics to the next level, it's him.
Interesting what you say about Cafe Jordano - I have not been there for a long while, and then not long ago I Door-Dashed from them and was disappointed. I attributed that to delivery, but sounds like it would've been off on site too. So if you take CJ out of equation, the dearth of decent Italian places is even greater. I forgot about Garramone's, but they were pretty hit-or-miss, as I recall, more on the miss side... This area begs for good Italian, I think it's obvious without any sophisticated market research...
ReplyDeleteAlready made reservations for opening night tomorrow. If its like the Table in Greenwood, I would expect nothing less than BOOM.
ReplyDelete