Brodo Italian Scratch Kitchen to Open in Belmar

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.

First Take: Brodo Italian Scratch Kitchen is Good, Really Good

I stopped into Brodo today to take in the lovely February weather (!) and try a few things off their menu. The short story is that I had an amazing meal made even better by outstanding service. The longer story? Here goes:

As I wrote back in October, I've had some reservation about owners Shaheen and Knauf's decision to focus on Italian American classics instead of the more authentically Italian dishes they offer at their Greenwood village location, The Wooden Table. And I still have this concern. But I was able to find more than enough interesting choices on today's lunch menu to make it difficult to settle on just a couple of items.

As expected, the menu had plenty of pasta and red sauce, along with a meatball sandwich and chicken or eggplant parmesan. None of these choices stood out as particularly interesting, but I was tempted by the braised pork shoulder and chicken marsala, especially as they seemed likely to come with homemade pasta.

In the end, though, I started with an order of mussels in white wine, butter, and garlic, topped with a slice of grilled ciabatta. I paired it with a house chardonnay, and I got to say, I love mussels and white wine. This is a classic dish, but one that's easy to screw up if the mussels aren't top notch, or if they're over cooked. The ones Brodo served up were perfect, with not a single unopened shell or too-chewy bite. Instead, the mussels were tender and buttery, and the broth that they were served in was so good that I requested a side of bread to dip into it. The bread was crusty and fresh, and together it was practically a meal.


The mussels are on the appetizer menu, which means they're a couple of bucks off at happy hour (making then $12 instead of $14). The side of bread was just a couple of dollars, and at happy hour glasses of house wines are just $5. Taken together, this is a combination that I'm looking forward to going back to try again sometime soon.

After the mussels, I went for the hanger steak salad, which involved slices of the aforementioned hanger steak atop a plate of spring greens, gorgonzola, roasted grape tomatoes, and a sherry and gorgonzola vinaigrette. The steak was as tender as any steak I've ever had, and cooked exactly to my requested medium rare. The salad was perfectly balanced, and a true delight, especially when matched with a glass of a 2015 Posta Fazzio malbec. At $12 a glass, it was a bit of a splurge for a humble blogger like myself, but had deep cherry and plum undercurrents that went beautifully with the steak salad.

At this point, I'd eaten enough to call my appetizer and salad a meal, but obviously I was very pleased with the quality of both the ingredients and the cooking. Brodo seems like the real deal, if you can get past the conservative, ultra-classic nature of the menu.

I also want to highlight the quality of the service, because my server was outstanding. He clearly knew the menu, the food, and the ingredients, and he orchestrated the arrival of each course perfectly.

My only complaint was with the ambience, and specifically, the decor. The renovation of the space itself has been tastefully done. There's a large garage door that opens onto a spacious patio (hello spring and summer happy hour!), and a warm, open dining room under high ceilings and modern lights. But the tables and chairs seem a little institutional, and the wall art appears to have been plucked from a Bed, Bath, and Beyond discount bin. If Shaheen and Knauf really want to compete, they need to hire an interior decorator to finish the job.

But I really enjoyed my meal, and I think Brodo is going to be an outstanding addition to Belmar and downtown Lakewood. If you haven't gone over to try it yet, you really should. Order the mussels and a glass of wine, sit out on the patio, and enjoy a warm, February afternoon.

Brodo Scratch Kitchen Opening Friday Dec. 12th

Downtown Lakewood's new Italian restaurant, Brodo, opens this Friday, December 12th. Westword has all the details, along with a note about the availability of free appetizers and prosecco on opening night.

Meanwhile, Brodo's regular menu is up for your perusal at http://brodoscratchkitchen.com, and I confess that the steamed mussels look promising!

Change Is Good, Mostly.

Change is good. Mostly. I think. Or at least, it's good on balance. 

What change am I talking about? New businesses. New landlords. 

I'm excited by the soon-to-open Lady Nomada, because I live in Downtown Lakewood, and what I really want is a patio to go and have drinks on in the summer (if it's ever going to be summer again, which is a different topic altogether). At the same time, I'm sad to see Sur La Tabla gone, along with Baker Street.

Actually, it doesn't matter what I think, change is happening. The pandemic closed a lot of businesses. Others retrenched. The old ownership structure of Belmar in Downtown Lakewood went belly-up and Bridge 33 bought the property with the goal of finishing the project.

Bridge 33 has been aggressively trying to fill empty storefronts, and that work is starting to bear fruit. A Lululemon pop-up has filled the space vacated by Guess at the corner of Teller and Alaska. Directly across from the Lululemon pop-up is Garage Sale Vintage, a pop-up thrift store/bar. 

As I mentioned above, Arvada-based Mexican restaurant Lady Nomada is renovating the space that was previously the Italian joint Brodo. And the old Sur La Table location on Teller has become...a Fidelity brokerage??? Well, as I said, change is good on balance, but perhaps not in every detail.

It's also been a busy few years for me personally, and I haven't had a much time to write this blog. I'm still busy, but I'm going to try and post more regularly, now that Belmar and Downtown Lakewood have come out of their pandemic lull.

So yeah, change is good, mostly. Let's see what the year brings.