When foodies and dining critics across the nation (and even the world) discuss Boulder, one word is usually on their lips: Frasca.
At the age of 20, Frasca Food and Wine is the most acclaimed restaurant that has ever opened in Colorado by many metrics. With a Michelin star (for the second consecutive year) and a bundle of James Beard Awards, the little eatery on Pearl Street is a must-visit bucket list destination.
Diners pilgrimage to Boulder to sample fare like aged carnaroli risotto with black truffle, Colorado corn and montasio cheese paired with rare wines from Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, and spectacular service.
How did such a temple of white tablecloth fine dining arise in a small city that isn’t exactly at the crossroads of American cuisine?
Fixer-upper
Survival, not success, was on the menu the night Frasca Food and Wine opened in 2004. In the beginning, Frasca was just two people with an idea to feature the food and wine of an obscure Italian region.
Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson met while working at The French Laundry, chef Thomas Keller’s legendary Napa Valley restaurant.
“The night we opened [Frasca] was supposed to be the second practice meal we served to family and friends,” Stuckey says.
“I had to call everybody on the invitation list that morning and say, ‘You’re still invited to come in, but I can’t comp your dinner. I’m totally out of money.’”
The duo were complete unknowns and didn’t have deep-pocketed investors to support their new spot.
“We did it on a shoestring budget,” Stuckey says. “My wife, Danette, and I used the sale of our little two-bedroom fixer upper in Napa Valley as our seed money,” he says.
The future Frasca space had previously been the site of a gourmet market, Daily Bread bakery and the legendary Penny Lane Coffee House. The space needed a lot of work, according to Stuckey. To save money, the wine guy and the chef volunteered to work as construction laborers.
A ‘Boulder’ restaurant — with reservations
Frasca ended up in Boulder because Stuckey — who had been working at the Little Nell hotel in Aspen — was an athlete who loved running and cycling, and the couple had relatives nearby.
“At that time, Denver wasn’t the food city that it is now, so we went for Boulder,” he says.
When the restaurant opened, few Boulder eateries required reservations.
“Reservations weren’t part of the Boulder aesthetic then, or arriving on time,” Stuckey says. “We thought Frasca would be a Boulder neighborhood restaurant, but from day one, most of our guests have come from Denver. We have guests that have been with us two decades.”
Boulderites did filter through the doors, too. And they stuck around.
“We have these incredible connections with Boulder regulars,” he says. “We’ve seen these families grow up here. We are a Boulder restaurant.”
Why Frasca keeps growing
Opening more than one establishment was not originally on the dance card, according to Stuckey.
“Of my business partners, I was the one least wanting to have multiple restaurants,” he says. “I just wanted to have one restaurant: Frasca.”
The first expansion was the opening of Pizzeria Locale — now Pizzeria Alberico — next door to Frasca. Next, Tavernetta and Sunday Vinyl opened near Denver’s Union Station. Osteria Alberico recently launched in Englewood, and a second Tavernetta is set to open soon in Vail.
Along the way, the duo also launched Scarpetta, a company that imports Italian wines. The Frasca Hospitality Group now employs more than 250 employees, with more about to be hired.
“I was wrong about opening more restaurants,” Stuckey says. “That was the rudest, most insensitive thing I could do to my staff. If I was still the general manager here and Lachlan was still in the kitchen, there would be an ironclad ceiling that no one could grow from.”
Of the many Frasca spinoffs, the newest and hottest is Sunday Vinyl, an intimate restaurant, wine bar and listening room already attracting national awards nominations.
Sunday Vinyl is also Stuckey’s most personal venture.
“Danette and I never had children. It’s just the two of us, and I work a lot of shifts,” he says. “We started a tradition of listening to some vinyl and having a glass of wine on Sundays when Frasca was closed.”
Sundays have become sacred in the Stuckey household.
“She’ll let me work as hard as I can,” he says, “but she’s like: ‘Be there on Sunday.”
From her days working as a hostess to her decade-long streak of polishing wine glasses without breaking one, “I don’t think Danette gets enough credit for how much she helps me,” Stuckey continues. “The reason I can work so hard on our projects and do all these things is that I have her.”
Twenty years after popping the cork for Frasca, you’ll find the famous master sommelier polishing glasses and bussing tables on most evenings.
“I still think of it as, ‘Hey, let’s get open tonight. Let’s get the team in place, and let’s take care of our guests.’
“To be squarely in the fine dining camp in Boulder, Colorado, is not an easy task. I feel humbled and honored, and I totally understand that responsibility of showing up every night ready to do it.”
John Lehndorff is the former Dining Critic of the Rocky Mountain News. He hosts Radio Nibbles and Kitchen Table Talk on KGNU. Read more local food news from John.